Magdelana ~ Rest in Peace

Last night, a little before two am, my little 1997 honda civic coupe, innocently parked on the street in front of our apartment, was brutally totalled, by a chevy tahoe.
Photo courtesy of our neighbor Renita

We live on a one-way street where the speed limit is 25mph.

The dry spot is where my car WAS parked.

No back end! She had to be towed away last night. She bravely limped to the middle of the street to a spot where the tow truck could get to her.

She had a very full existance.
Here's me in 2002 putting a band-aid on a cosmetic bump on her bumper.

I have many fond memories with her. She helped me get to everywhere I've been in California for the last eight years. We've been to Canada and back, to Wyoming and back, up and down the entire California coast, and to burning man three times together. She was very reliable and patient. Here she is on the coastal dirt road, whose name I can never remember, through Redwood National Park.

I'm glad she had one last trip to Tahoe last weekend, even if Mark did break his collorbone on a mountain.

I'm also glad I didn't fill her up with gas yesterday.

A circle in a square

These lovely fabrics are all from Robert Kaufman Fabrics. The first one I bought from Eddie's Quilting Bee at the San Francisco Quilt Show last year. The second two I bought in Hawaii at a fabric shop in Kona on the day I stepped on a nail. My cut of the middle fabric with the butterflies has more blue in it (same blue as the third fabric) but the website didn't have that swatch. I didn't realize they were all from the same company until I got back and was collecting fabrics for a quilt top. So, I checked out the website and there are so many cool fabrics by this company.

The quilt top I made with these fabrics is a lovely circle in a square. The circle is mostly the butterfly fabric and is 22 inches across. The square is about 30 inches across, is made of four solids and is bordered by the fabric on the far right. It's the first quilt top I've made, probably since the one I made in my first class, that is perfectly square. I borrowed Mark's squaring ruler to help me out. The final quilt top is about 40"x40". I plan on hand quilting it later this year, once I learn from Grandma.

Elephant Hunter

Mark and I have been watching the BBC documentary Planet Earth. It is beautiful. But more importantly, it is educational.

The last episode we watched was on grasslands. One segment was about elephants going to water holes in the African prairie during the dry season and the ensuing tension with the lions, who also frequent said water holes. During the day, the elephants have the upper hand. At night, because of their superior vision, the lions are king. Scenerio: two elephants wander up to a water hole. The lions are hungry, all 30 of them in the pride. An elephant is big and will feed them for awhile. The big elephant stumbles into the lions, but gets away because it's just too big. The second elephant, about half the size of the larger elephant, isn't as fortunate. The lions proceed to chase the smaller elephant, and jump onto the elephants backside to gain the advantage. The show discreetly cuts to the scene of the lions feasting on the elephant.

This is grim, but enlightening. This scenerio has played out in our house at least three times in the last week. Scenerio: It's the rainy season and the cat (mighty hunter) is trapped inside. The large elephant taunts the cat, but escapes unscathed. The smaller elephant passes by the cat, which is soon attached to the leg of the smaller elephant. The ending is not as grim, but still painful.

I'll be so glad when Orson can go outside with more regularity.

=)