I have found my banana

A little family history here. I was second to the oldest of seven children. I had an older brother and two brothers just under me. Then came three little girls. For the longest time I thought I had to compete with my brothers to show them I could do anything they could.

With so many in a family there were hardly any leftovers. If you wanted something you had better eat it then because it would not be around later. When bananas came into the house we ate them then and there. There was not waiting around for them to get ripe. So I grew up knowing mostly green bananas. A ripe banana is just yucky.....it tastes too banana-y. I like my banana just a little past crunchy. None of the soft mushy stuff.

With my Meniers disease I was put on a diuretic. The doctor told me I would need to eat more foods with potassium, bananas being a good source. I was complaining to one of the area docs about ripe bananas and he told me of a variety of banana here that doesn't ripen as fast as the variety we have in the states.

The most common variety here and at home is called Nanica. They ripen quite quickly. The other variety that ripens slowly, doesn't ever get soft, and still retains that almost dry feel in the mouth is called Prata. Generally they are a little smaller than the Nanica and sort of flatter, not as round.

The Pratas are on the left and Nanicas are on the right. I am in heaven. I can buy a bunch of bananas and they stay edible for me for a long time. I wish I had know about this sooner.

A Quick Trip Home

Around the middle of March the temple closed down for maintenance and we went home for two weeks. I went to a hearing and balance center to figure out what was causing my vertigo. Turns out I have Meniers disease. New diet and supplements seemed to have taken care of the vertigo. I am very happy about that.

I finished the Brazilian Butterflies quilt and gave it to the new baby. I had all the blocks sewn up so I put them together, added borders and then quilted it on my big machine. I was so happy to know that my skill was still there. Dang, that was fun. I love this picture of my mom holding the quilt with just her eyes peeking over.

One of the first things we did was go to Costco. I laughed at the things we had in our cart. Gotta have the basics.

We were able to meet out granddaughter. She was so cute and so much fun to hold and cuddle. I am so glad her mother takes a lot of pictures and shares them with us. We feel as if we are almost there.

We took a family group photo. One is how we would like you to believe is how we normally are.

This one is the truth.

One of my favorite pictures is of my dad, me, my son and my granddaughter. 

While we were home it snowed. I think the snow came to encourage us to go back to Brazil.

I also picked up a bunch of yarn to knit socks, a scarf, and maybe a shawl. That has given me hours of entertainment. Will do a separate post on my knitting accomplishments.

We loaded our bags with peanut butter,  chocolate chips, walnuts, crisco, deoderant and such to tide us over for six months. We gave our kids big giant hugs, our granddaughter lots of kisses and came back. It was fun to be home.

Easter eggs

I was amazed at the walls they had of Panettone in the stores at Christmas time but I am really amazed at the display of Easter eggs. The other day Mike and I went to the store (I think of it as our Super Target) for some groceries. When we walked in this new display was hard to miss.

These are Easter eggs in various sizes. They appear to be about 6-8" tall and wrapped in a very colorful mylar wrapper. They are then attached to an overhead arch. See the blue and pink arch in the photo above?

 They also attached the eggs to some frame to spell out Feliz Pascoa or Happy Easter.

 They also fashioned a rabbit. There were crates and crates of the eggs placed in the aisles.

 Here you see the barber pole style design. Someone took a red one already.

 Then down that aisle the eggs are suspended overhead forming a very long, very colorful tunnel.

 All along cards are hanging which list the price of the eggs.

 This is one of the higher end eggs. That is about a $30 egg. All over were signs stating that you could buy your Easter eggs and pay them off in 10 payments with no interest charged.

 The tunnel goes on for quite a ways. I found some Kit Kat candy.

 After the tunnel we turned down the aisle and noticed bars suspended at regular intervals with eggs attached.

 All in all it made for some very colorful shopping.

Back to the Top

In January Mike and I went back downtown to do some shopping. There is an area that has bulk food items for a good price. I wanted to make some homemade bread and needed some gluten. So while we were in the central city we went to the top of the bank and I got to have another 5 minutes over looking the city.

It still amazes me how big this city is.

It just goes on and on almost as far as the eye can see.

It was a sunny, clear day and visibility was very good.

I am glad Mike was able to see this glorious sight.

This is ALL Judy's fault

I am currently on a church service mission in Brazil for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have been here for 10 months and will be here another 8. I am an avid quilter but quilting is just not happening here. Fabric is very expensive and the project I brought is not working out.

I have been reading Judy's blog for several years to see what she was doing with quilts and the knitting and chickens were an pleasant and often amusing side story. Then one day she posted this entry. I got to thinking that maybe I could knit socks in my down time. So being the obsessive person that I am I began researching socks and yarn and accessories. Goodness. There is a lot of knitting stuff out there.

I went to a local yarn store and picked up some unmarked knitting needles about the size of a pencil and some acrylic worsted weight yarn (for $4.50) and began to learn knitting. I had learned how as a kid but didn't continue. So with the help of Youtube I learned I had been doing it wrong. I then learned how to drop stitches unintentionally, how to do unintended yarn overs and other great tricks. Through a lot of study I have also learned what was causing the problems and how to eliminate them.

I found a great cache of abandoned yarn (former missionaries that went home) and one pair of DPNs! OH JOY! I could learn how to knit in the round. The DPNs are a size 5. My first knitty project was a hat for my new and very first grandchild. See previous post for lots of gushing. I'll spare you that here. I need a darning needle to finish it up.

I also found a pair of size 3 1/2 straight needles and have been using that to practice different stitches. That is a lot of fun and adds great variety to my knitting.

There are five different patterns. See the big holes? I learned wrapping the thread 360 degrees is not what yo means. The smaller holes above the big ones are what is intended.

Right now I am doing the Simple Skyp Socks on my DPNs and I think it is sport weight yarn. This is merely a learning piece and when I finish it I will unravel it and try something different.

We are going home to Utah the middle of March to meet the new baby. We will be there for two weeks. I have ordered some yummy sock yarn, Hiya Hiya circs, a DPN needle set (sock size) and a couple of books. All of this I will bring back with me. So I have three weeks until I can fondle my yarn. Three weeks to practice continental knitting and different patterns until I can cast on a REAL sock. I am looking forward to that along with playing with the baby.

All of this has come in handy lately because my vertigo has returned. It is not as severe as the first time but enough to have kept me home for almost two weeks. I can knit and not have any problems because I do not have to move my head. Head movement about does me in. So I want to say thank you Judy. It has been a life saver.

She is here!

Well, not here in Brazil, but here on the earth. My first grandchild arrived on Jan. 15. She weighted 8 lbs. 2 oz. And it looks like she has the red/copper color hair that runs in the family. Her name is Laurel. Of course I HAVE to share a picture.

Pictures will have to hold me over until the temple closes for maintenance in March. Then we are going to go home for two weeks. I will have to shower her with kisses and hugs to tide her over for six months.

Admit it. She is a cutie. Want to see another picture? OK. Just one more. Here is one with her eyes open.
I am so looking forward to kissing those chubby cheeks.

Not Exactly Temple Square

Living in Provo, Utah we are very close to Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Temple Square is so lit up during the Christmas season that many make the trek there to take in the lights. It is truly a sight to behold. I was curious to see what they did here.

This is it. There are some lights wrapped around the stable but no where else. Just this humble little display. I suppose that is appropriate.

When we were out walking we noticed this planter that had been filled with poinsettias.  We are in summer here and these plants love it. I think of how I had to shield the ones I would buy from the cold just to get them home. We did see a poinsettia tree the other day but I didn't have my camera with me.

I must admit that with the really warm (if not hot) weather I have a hard time wrapping my head around Christmas. I think that is a good thing since I am not yearning to be home. It just doesn't seem like Christmas, therefore it is not.

I have been talking to the natives and it seems that the average person does not spend as much money on Christmas here as they do in the states. The stores do not have Christmas decorations for sale. We couldn't find any wrapping paper. Imagine Walmart without that stuff. I think the people here are just making due. The Christmas gifts that I have seen (being marketed) are boxes of food staples; rice, beans, sugar, flour, etc. Not doing any Christmas shopping has certainly made my life easier.

I went looking for a calendar for my Christmas gift. I found a lot of them that were imported from the states. $35.  I decided I would print off months from my computer and use that until I go home for a short visit in March. I am not that desperate for a calender with pictures of quilts or doggies. After checking out stuff we decided to forgo presents this year. Heck, that really isn't any different from any other year.