I just want to know!! Am I the only one that checks this thread every time someone post on it?? I am so curious to know who is sowing and how many!! Especially interested in zone 6!! Whooooooo hoooooooo, lol go Zone 6!!!

The weather was indeed perfect, albeit hot and humid for such a meeting. Saratoga is a lovely, small and old city with lovely architecture. I was right at home with the horse statues that lined the lovely main boulevard called Broadway! Saratoga as you may know is home to some very elite horse racing, amoung other things. Raeanne and I met early and perused the shops before meeting DeeMarie. I spotted Raeanne immediately at our meeting place. Her hair is done in a modern cut that kicks out in a playful way! I love the color and style Raeanne, it's so you! Her eyes are still a beautiful and brillant blue! After shopping we went to the meeting place for Dee but she wasn't there so we proceeded to the restaurant meeting place. As we were crossing the street I could see a woman waving in our general direction and I knew at once it was DeeMarie!! How wonderful that she spotted us and I felt so special that as I waved, she waved back. It was a fun exchange. So it was there at the restaurant that I meet our wonderful DeeMarie. She has the most wonderful and expressive big brown eyes and I knew at once that I had a wonderful and caring friend for life! It's amazing at how we women, and man, communicate and have become such fast friends! We shared a wonderful lunch. Okay, Dee and Raeanne did. I had the luck to order one of the worst things I have ever had and it was ironic a because everyone else had a wonderful meal before them...........figures. We shared a bottle of lovely white wine alfresco which was really good against the heat of the day! After lunch we went to our card reading................boy was that enlightening!! This woman had a great deal to tell me that was very accurate!! She is a gifted woman and I think we all came away with some new info!! Then we toured the shops of Broadway, Saragoga Springs, NY. It was fun, fun, fun but way too short a time. I had to depart by 3:30-4:00 to be back in time to feed my steeds.................I could have stayed and talked all night! I had a lovely ride home full of fond memories of my time with my sisters. Ladies and gent, we must find a way for more of us to have this meeting and connection! BJ, I am sure that Las Vegas is too far for some but we sure should try to all connect.............it's so much fun. Thank you DeeMarie and Raeanne for a very special day.

Chicken rice soup was great, I made a big pot and it was all gone by nightfall. Made the stock from the chicken carcass, 1 hour in the pressure cooker, done as the meat was roasting. I diced the carrots, celery, and chicken breast into neat little cubes, and it really looked cute. Cooked some arborio rice in chicken stock and held it on the side, to be added to each bowl of soup at service (the rice gets mushy if left in the pot of soup). dcarch, that bike looks interesting. I have also seen e-bikes where the motor drives the crankset through an additional chainring, which allows the bike's gearing to act as the motor's transmission. Of course, your legs then have to pedal with the motor, so it is a more "active" sort of e-bike. Supposedly e-bikes are getting popular here in Portland, but I almost never see any on the roads. It makes a lot of sense for heavily loaded bikes - cargo bikes, bikes hauling kids and groceries. The type I'm most interested in use the motor as an intelligent assist - the bike senses if you are pedaling, and adds motor power to the human power in a constant proportion. The principle is sort of to simulate a very strong rider, rather than an electric moped. There is also a "stealth" system called the Gruber Assist that hides the battery and motor in the bicycle's seat tube, and drives the crank through a bevel gear on the bottom bracket, for an invisible and relatively light installation. But, reports say, the noise of the motor gives it away in actual use. This post was edited by johnliu on Mon, Nov 18, 13 at 10:38

G'day everyone! Kristene here from Australia. It was so much fun to read where everyone comes from. I'll have to mark you all down on my US & Canadian map. I grew up in Sydney, New South Wales (NSW) but now live in a city called Orange - which is 155 miles inland from Sydney. Kate - Leura and the Blue Mountains are roughly half way between Sydney and Orange. Leura is a very trendy, touristy, craft village, with even a "Christmas Shop" all year round(not many cities in Australia have these).You are correct about the beauty of the mountains being similar to your Grand Canyon - only ours is covered in Gum Trees (eucalyptus).The eucalyptus leaves emit oil which mixes with the air to produce a blue appearance to the mountains from a distance - thus the name "Blue Mountains". The oil in the leaves also makes the trees burn so quickly and easily in bushfires. Regarding Quilting Fabric shops - they are around but NOT in Sydney CBD. That area is for businesses and tourists. The majority of tourists want regular souvenirs (I know we're different). Rents would be cheaper in the suburbs. If going anywhere, it's better to look online and get addresses first and google directions for ease of transport/access. Any proper quilting fabric store would have some Australian patterned fabric - birds, flowers, animals but not always the Aboriginal prints. I usually buy mine on-line from Sydney -needs a larger market to sell this fabric to. My city, Orange, is in the Central Tablelands of NSW where it snows (a little) in Winter and have lovely mild Summers. Being in the Southern Hemisphere, my seasons are opposite to yours, so I am now in Summer and we celebrate Christmas and New Year in Summer in the heat - often with picnics and BBQs. There are 40,000 people in my city and 4 patchwork fabric shops - all within 15 minutes drive from my house! To get Civil War fabrics or any other special fabric, I just go on-line to Sydney and have the fabric within a week. Muslin/Calico - Here in Australia we have both! There are many grades of both fabrics, but generally CALICO is of poorer quality and MUSLIN is of finer quality. When I was faced with using Muslin in a Birthday Block, I asked at my Fabric Store and was told it was similar to calico, but finer and referred to as "Quilters' Muslin" You can get bleached (white) or unbleached (cream) muslin and it's lovely and soft. I lived in Japan for 1 year teaching English, so I adore Japanese prints/patterns/blue dyed fabrics. I brought a lot of fabric home with me (and each time I visit). Batiks also appeal to me with their bright colours that can mingle and mix. We don't have Quilting Guilds in my city, just groups of friends who get together to quilt. My group came about because we all used to have group quilting lessons from the same teacher. When she retired 4 years ago, we decided to band together, find a hall and meet each week to continue our quilting and help each other. The fabric shops all offer classes too. Kristene