More bags and changes

I apologize for the worse than usual quality of the pictures. My favorite little camera is busted. It still takes pictures, but the lid for the compartment that holds the batteries doesn't close anymore and so the batteries don't make good contact. I had to hold my thumb on there for dear life to make it work.
I'll miss my little camera, it's been perfect (all the wedding pictures were shot with it), small and, therefore, portable. Even though it only has 5.1 megapixels I have gotten some very good shots with it. We're going to look for a replacement tomorrow. Yes, I have (2) better cameras, but none of them are this convenient.
But, that's not all just yet. My cell phone gave up its ghost on the trip to Denver, too. So, more changes there. Not just a new and much more sophisticated phone (an iPhone, no less) and with it a huge learning curve (and I'm suffering from a serious case of technophobia) and, as if that wasn't enough, a new server which means giving up the plan that included Henry's phone. Yup, I can still call him and listen to his voice, but not for much more than the next couple of days.
I said, there'd be changes, didn't I?
About the bags: some newly made - the last two (same pattern as the ones in the last bag post) - some made a while ago and not shown yet. The first three are from the same pattern (The Practical Bag by Grand Revival Designs). I reduced the size (the pattern makes a really large bag), the red bag is 80% of the original size (possibly a little small for my taste), the other two are 90% and just right. The French bag has been to Denver and back, the other's haven't been used (yet).

The wedding in pictures

The wedding was held 21 August 2010 at the Evergreen Lake House, Evergreen, Colorado (CO) - Party Location, Wedding Venue at 6 pm. The setting was beautiful, everything went very well. There were a few raindrops while we were still inside waiting for everybody to be seated outside. A friend of Kate and Mark's officiated (Universal Life Church, ya know?) and he did a lovely job, his speech was personal, meaningful and had a few people sniffling.
Afterwards, there were pictures (the photographer is in the second to last photo, wearing two-tone sneakers, which came in handy when he took pictures during the ceremony from the water-side of the fence) and somebody took over with my camera (so, while I didn't take all the pictures shown, they all were on my memory stick). We're still waiting for the official pictures.
Next came cocktails and lots of socializing and, I am sure, candid photos.
Dinner was delicious, the speeches were fun and appropriate. Bridesmaids and groomsmen were introduced (there's a you tube video of an entrance that didn't go quite as planned) and then the fun started.
All in all, a very enjoyable evening. And, of course, the bride looked gorgeous (and I'm not just saying that because I'm her mother - really!).

Pictures

The above pictures are from the Barbecue held the night before the wedding at Bear Creek Lake Park. We met Mark's parents for the first time and reconnected with Larry's siblings and their spouses.
There was no rehearsal dinner, just a casual get together of family and lots of friends and off to the side a small discussion between bride, groom, bridesmaids, groomsmen and the friend who was officiating. And that was enough.

The wedding

Absolutely lovely - everything about it. But, since I'm still worn out and trying to get back to normal, rather than uploading all the pictures I've edited so far, I'm including a link to the album on Facebook. I've relaxed the privacy setting on it and it should be visible to all:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=194992&id=708398128&l=256ea33129

Let me know, please, if it doesn't work and I'll upload them individually.
Oh, and they are well worth looking at. Really!
edited later: I've changed the link, hopefully it'll work now.

Review of "Golden Gate"

My friend Marilee sent me a link to this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/13/AR2010081302371.html

It's a review of a new book about the Golden Gate Bridge by Kevin Starr and I'm glad to see that there's mention of the fact that it's a suicide magnet.

Nice! Not nice, obviously, that these suicides occur, but nice that this fact isn't ignored.

Addicted - oh, no!

No, I am not addicted to anything illegal or immoral. And nothing fattening for a change, either.

What I am a little obsessed with these days are thrift stores and old sheets. Vintage, funky, cool, soft, pretty and sometimes simply just old.

.

The above is a very small sample of what I have collected so far.

What do I do with these sheets? Well, first I wash and dry them, fold them and try to find a place to store them out of the light and out of the way. A little hard to do considering that I also have a considerable fabric stash. And that’s where the “oh, no!” comes in.

But I am buying them with a purpose, they aren’t just meant to sit there and take over the house. Oh, no! I actually cut into them and sew with them.

So far, I’ve made two very big bags and have cut out a few more (did you know that a king sized pillowcase is large enough for one of these bags?). One’s mine (the not so pretty one, I used a marginal sheet to try out the pattern (to be found here), the other is meant for my daughter. I hope she likes it. It’s not as blue as it could have been.

Money for the suicide barrier

Just really quick:

Today, the Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Bridge Authority voted unanimously to accept the money from the MTC to design and engineer the net that was approved as a suicide barrier. A huge step in the right direction. Of course, the money to actually build it still has to be found.

Flea market in August

This is my necessary flea market equipment: the cart, a hat (in case the sun comes out), backpack with water bottle and camera and other absolute necessities.







I obviously was quite fascinated by this elderly couple, or rather, by their clothes. Wish I could get away with something this interesting and colorful. Seriously!

The flea market is held monthly on the old Alameda Naval Air Base and it's huge, really. These are some of the buildings we pass on the way back out that are being put to good use these days. Many, many more stand empty and this is just a small sampling of the ones that aren't. The winery, BTW, was featured in the news recently. One that's not located right where the grapes are grown.

Time magazine article

Continuing on in the same vein and obviously having a one-track mind:

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2008158,00.html

I promise there will be pictures and text about something other than the bridge and the oh-so-necessary barrier. Just have to find the time ................