My very favourite interest is reading; I read almost anything I can get my hands on! I read at the laundromat, I read at the doctor’s office, I read at Canadian Tire waiting for my husband! At this very moment I probably have 20 unread novels in my part of our clothing cupboards which are not huge in a 5th wheel. My best reading time is in the morning after my husband gets up, readies the coffee and brings me my first of 3 “in bed” cups of coffee. I can go through a lot of pages on 3 cups of coffee. I also read in the evening, since there’s never anything on TV.
Since I have been in Retirement Mode, I have taken on the domino game of Mexican Train with a bunch of my lady friends. We play every Wednesday afternoon in Quartzsite and those games get pretty hot and heavy sometimes. We eat, drink and are merry! And I have learned several new words over the past few years. Our husbands have learned never to plan anything which might interfere with Mexican Train.
I have taken classes in Iris Folding cards and Card Embroidery over the past few years. I love doing the embroidered cards, such a nice way to spend an infrequent “all alone” afternoon. I taught my 91 year old mother to make the Iris Folding cards and together we make and donate many cards to the Gift Shop at the hospital in Creston, British Columbia. I have also put many cards into hospital sales and the like. It is very rewarding to make these cards and have so many people praise them.
The cards below are Iris Folding cards made by my mother; she does such beautiful work – we are so proud of her!
A couple of friends and I took a class in long pine needle basket weaving last winter; our instructor who is from New Hampshire is so talented. Unfortunately, none of us is! She keeps telling us that “your basket will tell you what it wants to be” and to a point that is true. We start off with a resined piece of rock; Quartzsite is the capital of rock and rock products! Each rock is a different shape and so each basket will start off in a different shape. I can’t honestly say that mine have spoken to me, but they are taking shape. I did find, over the summer, that it’s not too much fun doing it by myself, I much prefer to sit out under the awning and weave with at least one other friend. We live close together during the winter, but most of us go our separate ways from May to the end of October.
I also do online calendars of Quartzsite each year. They have become very popular with all of our friends, this year I have sold 35 of them. They are photo calendars, with many photos of our friends, our activities and all the fun that we have. “As good as scrapbooks” is what people say and we all save them to keep our memories alive. I am very proud of my calendars! The photo on the front of the 2015 calendar is our “front yard” on the desert in Quartzsite.
Finally, this winter, my friend, Cathy, and I are laboriously learning to make a beaded wall hanging, which is supposed to look like this:
Our latest refrain is: “Beading, beading, beading/though our hands are bleeding/keep those needles beading, RawHide!! We have so much fun beading and taking out so many of our rows, but….things are finally coming together! And about time too! Our friend, Maggie, who is generously helping us, is very patient with 2 rank amateurs!
Quartzsite abounds with crafters – beaders, weavers, jewellers, and many varieties of artists. It is such an interesting place to spend the winter. If you can’t find what you want at one of the vendors, you probably don’t really need it!
turday night, Sunday night too when it’s really busy in January/February. There is karaoke there Wednesday, Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons, under the competent direction of Donnie Miller, who also leads Hot Country.
granddaughters here. We spend the summer in British Columbia where we have a son, his family and many “snowbird” friends.
Our House Has Wheels 