We Made It Across!
11:09 AM - Posted by Sarah Klayman - 0 comments
Keenan and I have made it to Scotland!  Wanted to do a quick post about our journey and our happenings so far.  We flew out Monday night and when we tried to give our boarding passes to the attendant to get on the plane, they weren't working and we were asked to step aside!  I think we were both a little bit worried at that point but then they came back telling us they had changed our seats and guess what....we were upgraded!!!  We were upgraded to World Traveller Plus, which is behind first class and the business class cubicles.  We were even in the front row of this section so Keenan was able straighten his legs out COMPLETELY in front of him!  Isn't that amazing!!!

Made it to London and had a short layover so we exchanged a little money and got some breakfast!  Then, we took a short flight here to Scotland and Iain picked us up from the airport.  We went to their home and visited a bit with Norma then went back to Paul and Kathy's house which is where we are staying for about a week.  We ate dinner and couldn't keep our eyes open past 6:30 and so we headed to bed.  Woke up around 9:30 and at 1:30.  At 1:30 we were so awake that we decided to watch an episode of Planet Earth.  Then, right back to sleep until morning!

On Wednesday, we went to the Allens for a sort of planning session for the trip.  We filled in our calendars with dates and times of various events.


Iain cutting up some cheese for lunch.


Setting the table and Keen getting very ready to eat!!

We went up to the church (first time for me!) and then ran a few errands with Mo.  After dinner with Kathy, David and her 2 grandchildren we came back to the Link for a get together.  We got to meet so many people...it was so fun!  Keenan was very happy to see some of the same faces and some new ones.  We look forward to spending some quality time with them!  We talked to them a bit about the Athens Link and what's going on there.  Then, there were some questions for us and Iain and Norma said some very sweet things that were very special to us.  From there we just went back to Paul and Kathy's home and went to bed.

Today (Thursday), we went to the church for some of the group meetings until about lunch.  Then, Keenan and I walked to the Abbey (just up the road) where Robert the Bruce was buried and walked around.  Here are some pics:



Robert the Bruce is actually buried underneath this pulpit.




It was raining outside so I wasn't able to get too many pictures but it is a beautiful Abbey.  I am sure I will get some more later on our trip.  After we left the Abbey, we walked to the bus station for some information on the buses then came to a coffee shop where we are right now.  We are just relaxing/doing some work until it is time to take the bus back to Paul and Kathy's for dinner.  We will be going to a garden party tomorrow in celebration of the Queen's Jubilee and then will be going with the youth to Ireland tomorrow.  I think we will be driving along the coast doing a little sightseeing while we are there and then attending a youth conference on Saturday afternoon.  We will return on Sunday and I think Keenan and I have Monday off to rest up so hopefully we will be able to post about our Ireland trip then!


Things I have learned so far:
-bacon is not the same thing in the UK
-you have to look right, left, right
-plugs are different
-it rains a lot (haha, j/k, I already knew this!)
-it only gets dark for a few hours here (about 11pm-3:30am)

I'm sure there are plenty of other things that I just can't think of right now.  I will try to remember some more of them for my next post!!!


Quilt Retreat
1:19 PM - Posted by Sarah Klayman - 0 comments
Oh quilt retreat.....I look forward to it like an 8 year looks forward to Christmas.  For real.....I count down until it comes and the minute its over, I begin the count down for the next year.

I started going to quilt retreat in 2010, though it has been going on MUCH, MUCH longer.  I just am lucky enough to get to go now.  I think I did an earlier post about my MIL getting me a bread machine as I was going through cancer treatment....well, she also got me a sewing machine.  And not just any machine, its a BabyLock Grace.  I have come to be VERY particular about machines....wow, I could do a whole blog (or 5) about this, but this post is about quilt retreat.  I will leave it at this: if you are having trouble sewing, its probably your machine...NOT YOU!!!

Anyways, when I tell people about quilt retreat, they always ask what it is.  Sometimes its hard to explain.  It is a 3-day "retreat" that Liz (Keenan's aunt) hosts every year where about 20-ish wonderful ladies get together to eat, I mean, sew!  We all work on the same quilt and this is where it throws people off.  In the end, we each have our own quilt, they just look the same or are very similar.  So, when we arrive, we each have our own kit with all the things needed to make our quilt top.  Each kit is the same, but we are each making our own quilt.  Does that make sense?  Doing it like this allows us to order more fabrics so there is more variety in our quilt!  Some years, Lori (my MIL who cuts the kits each year with help from some ladies) collects money and orders the fabrics herself and other years, we are given a specific amount and type of fabric to buy, like 2 yards green batik and 2 yards blue batik.  Not going to lie, I like it when we just give her money and she orders it all, like this year :).  So, we all get together starting Thursday afternoon and eat, I mean sew until Saturday afternoon.  It is so fun.  This year we are making a quilt from this line of fabric called "Countdown to Christmas" and it will be a log cabin design.  Sadly, I have not finished my quilt yet.  I normally finish it during the retreat, but I got a call on Friday morning that my Grandmother was ill.  Then, within a week, there had been 3 deaths between my and Keenan's family so I did not finish it.  Also, it is tough to just get out my machine if I don't have a significant amount of time to devote to quilting.  I am very close and I promise to get a pic up whenever I finish it!!!






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Here are some pics from the retreat:

Liz, the fabulous host, watching over us!

Quilters in action, sewing, cutting, ironing and of course, asking Lori for help!  Its something I do at least every 5 minutes!  Ha!

Mabel Ann and Dottie....I seriously LOVE them!  I look forward to quilt retreat because I see them there every year.  Dottie was so sweet to let me borrow her heating pad when I was going through chemo and I can honestly say it improved each treatment SO much!  

PS- Chemo is kept in the freezer up until the moment they pull it out to put it into your IV.  Yeah, frozen liquid straight into a vein please.  Doing that for 4 hours leaves you very chilled!  I would put the heating pad behind me and cover with a blanket!

 Front half of the room.....

Back half of the room. 

Snack bar and location of Happy Hour, I mean, appetizers. 

A big cutting board.... 

and another iron.  I think there are 4 or 5 irons going at once!! 

And the other start of quilt retreat.  The food.  Oh, the food.  SO. GOOD.  

I really look forward to the food as much as the quilting!  

And the company of course!!  My mother in law, Lori, and Renay.  She is one of my favorite people and I enjoy getting to hang out with her for an entire weekend.

They are so silly! 

So, thats quilt retreat.  How many days until next year's????


PS- Just to let you know what's going on in real time here is Sarah-land.  I tried to figure out a grinder today, it didn't work.  So, all I really managed to do was spill about 2 cups of wheat berries into the floor of my pantry.  For real.  I know I swept them up, but I'm sure I will continue to step on them for months days to come.  Ha!

PPS- More real Sarah-stuff.  I just went back to put my strikethrough font for some words and accidentally made most of the post in that font.  Just spent the last 20 minutes trying to undo it.  Couldn't figure it out.  Then, saw a strikethrough button (blogger redid some things so I don't have to go into and edit the html code anymore).  Yeah, all I had to do was highlight the text and click the button undo it.  Just like it was a bold font or something.  I thought about just leaving it and just telling you to read through it.  Sigh....