Westat – 50 years!

Today is the 50^th anniversary of the founding of Westat.  We had cake and other treats, plus banners and balloons and a big balloon hoop at the main entrance.  I am proud, as a long-time employee and owner.  That we are an ESOP makes this day really special.  I’ll have been at Westat 34 years in February.

This is so cute, it makes me laugh…(although I suppose I’d rather have a commemorative pen.)

Tonight I made some thank you cards using my Cricut machine.  I used the image of the jug of flowers from the Country Life cartridge.  I am having some difficulty controlling the sizes of the layers of objects that get assembled into a layered image such as this.  I thought I understood what I was doing, but clearly not.  However, even slightly goofed up, the card turns out kind of ok.  This is my third project.  My second project is still not published, but will be two sets of scrapbook pages.

Jug of Flower card made with Cricut Expressions and the Country Life cartridge

Yesterday I did some quilting on 2 quilts I started in 2011.  The method I am using is to quilt each block and then to join them.  This quilt will be 36 blocks, 6 by 6 blocks.  The fabric is African prints I’ve collected over many years.  Many of them are “real” rather than knock-offs.  The first photo shows the pattern of the 36 individual blocks.

Quilted block before joining, African series, quilt 1

The following shows the 6 block strips.  The join on the front of the quilt is done by machine.  The back seams have to be joined by hand.

African series, quilt 1, strips joined on top

 

 

2 WIPs

This was started Christmas Day. It is about 80% complete:

Another WIP, almost to the block assembly stage:

The 168 Regional to Boston

My experience with train travel is limited.  Until the route was closed, I took the train home from college in the late 60’s.  And I took the train from Boston to New Haven once, to visit my brother and sister-in-law and that would be in the middle 80’s.   And John and I took the train from New Haven to New York and back for Paul and Hung-sam’s wedding. 

 

My niece Becky is graduating from college tomorrow, and I am taking the train to Boston for the ceremony.  Before John’s final illness, we planned to drive to Boston today, after ESL classes were over.  John liked long car trips.  We made many drives to Connecticut and Minnesota to visit family.  We drove to Florida and to Newfoundland.  We went out on Sunday afternoons for drives.  I will miss those long car trips and the weekend drives. 

 

I suppose, to be evenhanded, I should note that on the other hand, John would not have been able to take a 7 hour train ride comfortably, or contemplate transatlantic travel, or plan on taking a trip to the Holy Land next year.  

 

I couldn’t imagine safely driving 10+ hours to Boston alone. And when you figure in the cost of gas, food and tolls, the train is cheaper.  I elected to go business class, so I have a tray table, all kinds of leg room, a guaranteed seat, and an electrical plug for my computer, phone, and camera.  I knit on the cable scarf (a WIP/UFO – is there a difference?), I read the Discover magazine, I took photos, I studied Welsh vocabulary, and wrote for the blog.  (This will be published when I reach an open network connection – possibly at the hotel tonight.)  I examined the sensation of being alone.  I avoided public weeping.

 

I’m on the Amtrak Regional 168, which I boarded at Union Station in Washington, DC.  Here are some photos of (parts of) Union Station.  I am especially moved by architectural detail — patterns in the ceiling, patterns on the floors, and the windows. 

The photo above is the pattern in the main hall ceiling.

This ceiling in the secondary hall echos the first, with a very quilterly pattern.

The floor, simple and grounding, polished marble.

There’s some classy statuary, too. These guys remind me of Darth Vadar.  (Taken from the rear [of the statues] overlooking the restaurant.) 

 

 

Here’s a sweet little detail from on of the buildings along the tracks.  I imagine these old building once new and someone’s pride of accomplishment.

 

 

Photos from a moving train are tricky to do, and the light got worse as we head north but the graffiti art along the tracks was amazing, and the colors are inspiring.  Tomorrow, maybe some photos from that.

Odin’s Saga

Odin is watching my front porch for me right now.  It is one of his all time favorite spots to watch.  Sometimes he gets a little anxious about something he’s seen from his window, but every time I go to look, there is nothing there.  So the little guy has a good fantasy life (or really bad eyesight?) 

 

Just by virtue of John’s being home during the day while I was at work, Odin became more John’s cat than mine over the years.  Odin especially liked to lie on John’s newspaper, and liked to sit on his lap and watch scary movies on DVD, especially ones with lots of explosions.  He wasn’t afraid of the explosions, and seemed to enjoy the movies quite a bit.

 

Odin’s companion cat, Ra, was three years older.  Ra was a barn cat, a large tom with markings similar to Odin’s but without the agouti pattern.  Ra became increasingly ill over the past 3 years and was so sick in January that he was put to sleep.   This was very sad for John and me. 

 

Odin has been pretty quick to adapt to being an ‘only cat’ with an ‘only owner’.  I doubt he will ever be a lap cat, but he does greet me at the door, and lays on the bed at night.  He also likes to help with quilting projects.  Here you can see him helping out with the quilting of our niece River’s quilt.

 

 

Here is River’s finished quilt.  River lives in California — by a river in the mountains.

 

 

Tomorrow is the funeral for Rose’s husband Jack, and I will sing in the choir to honor him and her.  Rose is an alto and choir member of longer standing than I am, and I’ve sung with the choir for 25 years.  Jack was active with the church athletic association, a service organization for the youth of the area.  Peace be with you, Jack.  Peace be with you, Rose.