Theresa, I hope you are feeling better soon. I got a cute email yesterday. Maybe it will cheer you up. OMG, I'm rich! Silver in the hair, Gold in the teeth. Crystals in the kidneys, Sugar in the blood. Lead in the butt, Iron in the arteries, And an inexhaustible supply of natural gas! I never thought I would accumulate such wealth. Best wishes from another wealthy woman. Lois

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

Glad we could be first on your schedule, Sharon. I'll make deposits while we are there.

Add me to the Cloud Cuckoo Land "the editor was AWOL" team. If Mr Doerr didn't have All the Light We Cannot See in his portfolio, his publisher would have gently patted his hand and told him "Tony, props for a grand idea but let's settle down now and focus on creating a real book". Meanwhile I started The Maid and am loving it so far. Experiencing an unreliable narrator due him/her viewing life from somewhere on the spectrum is always interesting, often funny and uniformly touching. It definitely reminds me of other books including The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, and The Rosie Project. I've enjoyed them all! Though he was never given a diagnosis, my husband is a few steps along the spectrum himself. So I quite often feel as if I'm getting a bit of a glimpse into the ways his mind works too!