IF I still lived in Dallas

The itty bitty loft that was my home in downtown Dallas would be a great place to be . . .  to celebrate the Mavericks NBA Championship win.

No worries about traffic or parking, just a short walk to join the victory celebration. It's going to be quite a party.

The Word of the Day is Sweet

It was a sweet day at the Farmers' Market yesterday, as the vendors offered up sweet slices of fruits and vegetables, often served on the tip of the long knives used to do the slicing. I enjoyed samples of peaches, watermelon, tomatoes, mangos, pineapple and more and brought home a couple tote bags full of all of sweet, ripe produce.

I bought peaches from this gentleman.  There was no doubt that this guy grew and picked them.

In the times we live in, I think it's easy to forget how letting things ripen on the vine or on the tree and eating them soon after they are picked makes them taste so much better .  . . and yes, sweeter. 

Here's a closer look at the signs that are popping up now, a sign that summer has arrived in Texas and the sweet taste of fresh local produce has begun.
But I confess I had to smile a little when the collard greens I bought were described as "sweet." I was wondering how much stronger than my preferred green ingredient, kale (which I have never found at the farmers' markets here), they will taste when juiced . . . and remembering a less-than-wonderful experience a few years ago when I juiced some mustard greens.

The changing of the guard (and the design wall)

Lately, quilting has taken a back seat to life . . . but the block lotto marches on and means I will always be doing something quilty, at least a few times a month ;-) 

Today, I took the wonky shoo fly blocks I made for April off the wall and mailed them to the winners.

I walked the long way to the post office and took the straightest path home.  I wasn't sure I was going to be able follow that path, when I came up a closed road and a bunch of people setting up for a film shoot.

They were letting pedestrians through–some, including me, couldn't resist taking a break to watch the crew in action from the sidewalk across the street.

That's a very tall ladder those guys are scrambling on, installing a camera at the top . . . and it's a very windy day.



I chatted with one woman who had the scoop.  They're filming for a new show on Fox called The Good Guys, which will star  Bradley Whitford and Colin Hanks.

What remains on my design wall are my lotto blocks for May. They're kind of abstract and very organic feeling–I'm calling them reeds.

Over the weekend, I blogged the directions for making the block and the guidelines for May Block Lotto–including a virtual quilt made from photos of the blocks made by the sneak peekers.



One of the lotto block makers noticed that this block looks like asparagus. I really like the abstract, organic feeling . . . and am thinking I need to make more, for a bigger tote for the farmer's market.

Check out what everyone else has on their Design Walls at Judy Laquidera's blog  Patchwork Times.

I know why they call it Water Hammer

A strange noise invaded my environment Friday night. When it woke me up before sunrise on Saturday morning. I had been dreaming of jack hammers and, once awake, I wondered if it was possible that the crew rebuilding a parking ramp on the other side of the building could be jack hammering in the dark that early on a weekend. Unlike this guy, I wasn't smiling.

After I woke up and poked around a bit, I realized it was coming from somewhere in the building but it wasn't anything inside my apartment. When the Property management office opened, I went downstairs and asked them to help.

I won't bother you with the details of the unreturned phone messages and promises made (and apparently abandoned) by everyone on staff here over the past five days. If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know that the design fault which causes my 6th floor loft to flood whenever there's a big rain has still never been fixed . . . nearly a year later and that's pretty typical of "property management" here.

Over the last five days, the noise became louder and louder and unfortunately, was loudest exactly where my bed is. I've been getting less and less sleep until last night, it was so loud that I couldn't sleep at all. Extended sleep deprivation definitely makes you grumpy. When the office opened this morning, I went down and YELLED at them to fix the noise in the loft directly above me ... which coincidentally has been left vacant since the first flood because "it leaks." After my hissy fit in the building office,  I walked to the coffee shop for some caffeine–there was no way I could get through the day without it–and some peace and quiet. While I was there, the office called and told me that "the water hammer" was broken in the unit above mine and that it has been fixed and the AC turned off.  I came home to a blissfully quiet loft and am looking forward to bedtime tonight.

By the way, "the water hammer" isn't really a piece of plumbing hardware to be fixed, as the person who left the message for me explained, it's a specific plumbing noise. if you're curious or if you start hearing jack hammer sounds from your pipes, you can read about it on the How Stuff Works site, here: How To Stop Water Hammer.

So, what did I do all night for the past 5 nights when the noise was so horrific I couldn't sleep?  I've been devouring mysteries.  It's a good thing I live so close to the library, because I've been returning and picking up every day but Sunday.  I caught up with the latest adventures of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum (2 books), Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone (3 books) and one from Robert Parker's Spenser.  I particularly enjoy the last two series because their characters live in cities in which  I have lived–the San Francisco Bay Area and Boston.

My reading got me wondering if there are any light mystery writers who have series based in Dallas.  I could have checked on Google, but I thought it would be faster to just ask, when I was at the library. I somehow imagined that people from Dallas who worked with books would know that kind of thing.  The lady at the information desk ... Googled, then called upstairs and asked, then sent me upstairs to a man who had ... Googled and found a university site that had a list of mystery writers whose books take place in TEXAS.  I confess I was disappointed.  I really expected one of the three librarians I talked with to come up with a personal recommendation. But I took the printed list, wandered through the books and came home with two books set in mythical Kickapoo, Texas (mythically an hour away from Dallas) by Paula Boyd, who reviewers have compared to Evanovich. While Jolene Jackson was entertaining, her series seems to stop at three books and she wasn't quite what I was looking for ...

I doubt I'll need it tonight, but today, I returned the last published adventures of Sharon McCone, Locked In, and picked up the first in a series by William Manchee, who, according to one of the promotional blurbs on the back of the book, could be Dallas' answer to John Grisham.  We'll see how it goes . . . I'm still looking for that personal recommendation ;-)

The other thing I did when I couldn't sleep was post some block instructions for a couple of wanna be Lotto Blocks that we never used.  If you want to take a look, check out:

Quartered Star Quilt Block Pattern
Free-style Tree Block

After I get some sleep and can think straight again, I'll be back with something much more interesting than this stream of consciousness . . . and photos ;-)

Saturday Ramble

I went to the Dallas Farmer's Market this morning . . . I couldn't help but contrast today's market with the same place last week.  Then, it was raining in the morning and SNOWING in the afternoon; the farmers market was like a ghost town and no one was happy to be there.  Today it was sunny and warm and the place was full of people and vendors. People were sitting outside and enjoying lunch, the weather and everything. One of the food vendors even had a guy making balloon animals–it really felt like a party.

I came home with newly sharpened kitchen knives, tasty tomatoes that were picked yesterday on a farm in West Texas, fresh eggs from free range chickens, artisan cheeses and a couple tote bags full of other beautiful produce.

But I have to admit, I felt a little like Jamie Oliver on last night's episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, when he was asking a class full of young students to identify a bunch of vegetables and no one guessed correctly for any of them.  That's Jamie, dressed as a pea pod, talking to the principal of the grade school, in a scene from last night. Today, I kept asking the "farmers" where their produce came from and often, even the ones in the "local growers" shed, couldn't tell me.  I know that a lot of them walk over to the wholesale shed, buy stuff and bring it back to their own stalls and resell it, but I was still quite surprised how little so many knew about their veggies and fruits.  So I bought things from those vendors who knew what they were selling, and bought as local as I could.  The vendor who easily and very specifically answered my question about his avocados and the community in Mexico where they came from made me smile. This guy knew his stuff . . . ALL of his stuff.

On the trip home, as I was driving round and round my parking ramp I caught this view of City Hall and realized that this is what I would see from my loft IF the parking ramp wasn't there.

Of course, it wasn't always there. This photo, from the 1930's shows the back of my building BEFORE the parking ramp. when the building was filled with the offices of the Interurban Railway.  This is a photo of one of the historic photos that hang in the halls here.

No one lived in the building then, but the people working in the offices could have enjoyed the view.  Of course, City Hall wasn't there in the 1930's, either ;-)

A funny thing happened when I decided to walk out and over to the other side of the parking ramp to take the photo of the view I might have had . . . this guy, a safety patrol officer, came over and asked if I "was alright."  He startled me, but I didn't fall over the wall . . . nor was I intending to jump ;-)

I snapped this photo of him on my way back inside my building.  (No idea what he was doing up here.) 

I told him what I was doing–taking a photo of my theoretical view–and he commented how I can see two IM Pei designed buildings.  I figured that City Hall was one, but I couldn't guess which is the other one.  He told that the Central Library was also an IM Pei design.  (I couldn't confirm that on the web anywhere, but I did go the libraries Web site and "ask the librarian."  I'll let you know when I receive a response.)   Edited to add that my question was forwarded to and quickly answered by the Library's Texas/Dallas History & Archives Division.  My gut feeling was right.  The library is NOT an IM Pei designed structure, but was designed by the Dallas architectural firm of Fisher & Spillman.  It was completed in 1982.

Here's the wider view, with the library in the foreground on the left.

And here's my ACTUAL view ... I really wish I could see some of the trees, green grass and the fountain, but I will just have to continue to imagine that the parking structure isn't there.

Preview Night

Preview night at the Dallas Quilt Celebration begins with thank yous to the show committee chairs–I learned tonight that this show is one of the largest volunteer-produced quilt shows in the country–followed by presentations of the judges and their judge's choice selections, along with the Pride of Dallas award (curiously won by a quilter from HOUSTON, Texas). These quilts aren't presented to the assembled crowd, and none of the winning quilters were in attendance, which is a bit anti-climatic, but, happily the Best of Show Quilt was presented to the crowd.

Best of Show winner at Dallas Quilt Celebration 2010 is Brown Birds Lullabye, made by Sally Magee of Heath, Texas. No photo can do it justice . . . you're really going to have to see all the incredible appliqué and Broderie Perse for yourself to appreciate it.

Here it is hanging in the show, followed by a detail photo.

I'm planning to go back to the show–I'll be making my best effort to avoid the vendor booths because, despite assurances I haven't seen any sign of movement from the State of Michigan–and will have more photos to share, so stay tuned. In the meantime, here are the winners from the guild's  block challenge, Texas Boots, Baltimore Style. I wanted to make a block for this challenge, but had a hard time soering out what to do with my cowboy boot–one of the requirements–to make it Baltimore Style.  Maybe, I just haven't lived in Texas long enough . . . clearly, the winners had no problem ;-)

Tonya Littman's block won first place.

Second and third place were won by Paticia Kopeck (left) and Judy Kriehn.

Honorable Mention went to Cathy Bradley (left) and Marsha Senisel.

FYI, each year, the challenge blocks are made into "Keeper Quilts" which are guild quilts. All of the keeper quilts are being displayed at the show this year.

As I walked around tonight, the Pride of Dallas winner was one of the quilts that grabbed me, too. This miniature, Mission Impossible 2, was made by Komiko Frydl of HOUSTON, Texas

Notice that pin (holding the ribbon with the label and award ribbons)  in the lower right corner to get an idea of the scale of this incredible quilt.  Those are 128 point Mariner's Compass blocks.  The last ring of points is so fine, it looks like it has to be drawn or painted in ... but it's not.

I enjoyed the quilts, to be sure, but I have to admit that the thrill of the evening for me was running into Patricia Campbell and John.  I can't help but smile at the fact that John remembered that cold January in Ann Arbor, Michigan, more than a few years ago, when Pat was the guest lecturer of the Ann Arbor Guild.  Walking around last night, I realized that the two people who really taught me the fine points of appliqué were both there last night: Pat and Charlotte Warr-Andersen, who is one of the judges for the show.  I was feeling both incredibly grateful to both of them while also realizing that since their workshops, I'd come a long way baby ;-)

If you're headed to the quilt show this weekend, let me know and I'll look for you.  Depending on what the morning brings, I'm planning to head back tomorrow and connect with Michelle and her mom, whoa re driving down from Oklahoma for the day.

February Quilt Along Blocks

During a night of LOST and Mens Figure Skating, I pieced my February blocks for Bonnie's quilt along.

. . . speaking of Lost, When I walked past the Angelika theater at Mockingbird Station, I wondered if this happening in theaters everywhere?

Painting with a Twist

When I received the Groupon offer of the day about a month ago, I had never heard of Painting with a Twist . . . but the concept looked interesting. After I purchased my groupon, I signed up to paint the Dallas Skyline.

You arrive to a space set up with lots of table and easels.

The paintings on the walls represent other classes that you can take.

There's an area in the corner to set up the food and wine that you're encouraged to bring to class. Here are some of the early arrivals tasting the wine they had just bought around the corner . . . in downtown Grapevine.

Everyone is given a canvas with the outline of that night's painting lightly applied with carbon paper. Then the instructor steps through how to paint it.

After some progress is made, everyone breaks for more food and wine and a walk around.

As you can see, by looking at the handful of canvases in this photo, everyone paints together, painting the same colors in the same places in the same order.  It's a little like Follow-the-Leader. Or Paint by Number with alcohol (and no numbers).

The lady in the foreground is a frequent painter; she had filled up her card (buy 10 classes and earn a free one) and was given her own embroidered Painting with a Twist apron last night. She told me that learning to paint was on her "bucket list." And I could tell that she's having a ball doing it.

Here's the artist at work's view . . . or mine, anyway. I never really saw anything the instructor was showing . . . but she did a great job of describing things as she went along.

When we were all done except the "finishing touches," there was another wine and food break.  It was a little surreal to look across the room and see nearly 40 painted canvases that are essentially the same.

Then we add the finishing touches and took a group shot of the 35 painters holding nearly identical "paintings" of the Dallas Skyline.

If you live in Texas, Louisiana or Florida,  it might be a fun way to spend the evening, especially if you (or a friend) "isn't a painter" and wants to feel like one . . .  sort of.  I have had only limited experience with paint and brushes and it made me want to do more.  I also thought this abstract Dallas Skyline would be an interesting QUILT design . . .

Blue Skies

On days like today, with sunshine, beautiful blue skies–even in the "canyons" of downtown Dallas–and 70 degree temps, I am reminded of how happy I was to be here soon after I arrived from freezing Michigan last January.

I still treasure January days like today.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that a couple of tornadoes came through the area a couple nights ago and that the forecast for tomorrow is more thunderstorms.

But for the moment, everyone seems to be enjoying the sunshine, even these 4 Dallas policemen, patrolling downtown. Notice the short sleeves on the guys on the Sega scooters.

Fire Drill

When the alarm went off this morning, I didn't think it was our building because I heard it coming from outside (and in the past, the siren and message boomed from inside the loft). It sounded like the PA system at City Hall and I assumed there was some excitement over there today.

As I stuck my head into the hallway to double check that it wasn't my building, my neighbor was doing the same and we agreed, "It must be us." By the time I packed up the cats in their carriers and pulled on a sweater, I thought I smelled smoke. We left the building through the attached parking garage, went around the block and parked at the other end of the block and waited for the Fire truck to leave . . . which it did in pretty quick order.

I'm sure I'll be told by our property management that it was just a kitchen problem in one of the lofts (as usual), but I'm really curious to find out why our alarm system failed and the announcement to vacate immediately was only broadcast OUTSIDE the building. Sigh . . .

Update

I was told that it was it was a smoke alarm in the basement and a false alarm. I rode down in th elevator with the new maintenance guy who said to me, "at least we know the alarm system works" . . . except it didn't. The property manager told me that he didn't see anyone evacuating above the third floor and came to the conclusion that the alarm system isn't work in most of the building. Great news, huh?

Merry Christmas

As the song says, Have yourself a Merry little Christmas.

I hope that Santa Claus was very good to you . . . and that none of your gifts need to be returned or exchanged.

It's Raining, It's SNOWING . . .

. . . It's a winter storm warning in Dallas.

There's an impressive storm headed this way with snow predicted to start falling in another hour or so in Dallas and, while I expect the snow will immediately melt, it's still going to look a little like Christmas around here for a while.

Like a little kid home from school on a snow day, I can't stop smiling about it and waiting to look out the windows and see some white fluffy snowflakes fall.

In spite of how much of my tumbleweed life has been spent in locations where there is no snow, somehow Christmas and Snow are firmly linked in my memory and my idea of the perfect Christmas.

This tree, in the new Main Street Park downtown, just doesn't say Christmas to me, how about you?

And even these three evergreens seem oddly out of place, surrounded as they are by such blue skies, skyscrapers and trees that still have all their green leaves.

I've been walking past all of these Christmas trees since before Thanksgiving and they still all look wrong to me . . . although the one one top of the Neiman Marcus Fashion Cafe never fails to make me smile.

Despite the dropping temperature and wind gusts up to 44 MPH, when it starts snowing, you know I'm going to be out in it . . . quickly, before it melts ;-)

Give Thanks

I loved the illustration (a collage by Pringle Hill) and the sentiment in this post from the I live in Dallas web site.

Going to Mom's house for Thanksgiving? Give thanks by donating the cost of your meal to those less fortunate.

Follow the link to the article with suggestions and links for organizations to donate for North Texans.

I Surrendered

As much as I love being able to walk to work, I finally surrendered to the summer heat and now only walk about a third of the way, four-to-five blocks, to catch the DART rail, where I ride two stops in air conditioned comfort to Union Station, then walk a couple blocks from there to my office. If I have enough time, I pick up coffee at the Opening Bell along the way.

Many of the people who jump off DART at Union Station in Dallas with me are jumping on the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) on the adjacent tracks and heading to Ft. Worth, but I'm nearly at my destination, with only a couple more blocks to go on foot.

When the TRE to Ft. Worth pulls away, I have a clear view of what's left of Reunion Arena. Someone told me recently the plan to implode the roof hit a snag when they discovered some potentially toxic insulation in the ceiling. Exploding the structure would spread those chemicals around too much, so until they come up with a new plan, it sits waiting, looking like this.

The rest of my "commute" takes me walking around to the front of Union Station–that's Reunion Tower, "towering" above it–no, I haven't been up there . . . yet, but I hear there's great sushi up there.

Last week I started wondering if every city had a Union Station? I've personally been to Union Station in Chicago and LA and I knew there's one in NYC. I wondered what the origin of the place name was, went looking for an answer and learned that the name was used when a station was shared by two or more rail roads companies or lines. There are a lot of them–Wikipedia has a list, if you're curious.

From there, I pass the Dallas Morning News Building. On the face of the building is an interesting inscription.

If you can't see it clearly in the photo, it says:

BUILD THE NEWS UPON
THE ROCK OF TRUTH
AND RIGHTEOUSNESS.
CONDUCT IT ALWAYS
UPON THE LINES OF
FAIRNESS AND INTEGRITY.
ACKNOWLEDGE THE RIGHT
OF THE PEOPLE TO GET
FROM THE NEWSPAPER
BOTH SIDES OF EVERY
IMPORTANT QUESTION.

What a great mission statement for a newspaper . . . I'm not sure I believe most modern new sources–television networks, web sites and yes, newspapers, approach the business of publishing or broadcasting the news exactly like this . . .

Cattle Drive on my Walk to Work

Yes, I did say cattle drive.





And like many interesting things, it's beautiful when you drive by, but when you walk past, you have the opportunity to notice more, like just HOW MANY of those big, life-size bronze longhorns there are.


I didn't have a lot of time–did I mention I was on my way to work, an idea which truly makes me happy–and I realized after doing a search about this Monument to the West at Pioneer Plaza, created by Robert Summers of Glen Rose, Texas, that I may not have even seen it all, because I only saw two of the three cowboys. Here's one of them.



And a closeup of one of his longhorn steers:



After a few quick photos, I left the plaza, just as the first few of them were emerging onto the sidewalk ;-)