Time for another Roll Call?

One thing I miss about all those years in the RAAF - when someone gave you a really bad day you could always imagine their face on those little cardboard silhouettes at the end of the range! (OMG - I wonder if that was why I always scored so high on my shoots?)

Good luck in the championships!

Sorry to be so late in joining in. I am Pat (on the hill), from Shropshire in England. We moved over here

11 years ago. We had planned on retiring over here - it's quiet and beautiful - and DH's programmed redundancy (company move back to the US), just made it happen a bit earlier. I am 66, for a little while longer!. We could have no children (though I love babies). After a few years, I wanted little souls to cuddle, so I started my first pets (never had them as a child). First one rabbit, then another and so on. Later we fell in love with cats. Yesterday, my answer to how many pets would have been different: today I bought a new baby bunny (photos on my site when he has settled in enough for me to take pictures!) So, we have four cats and four rabbits.

I learned to knit, with my grandmother's knitting bag of scraps! then crochet and embroidery. As I grew, and grew, when I was out of school uniform I had to start making my own clothes. This I did until I 'met' quilting. My life changed (for the better). A few months ago I found a dressmaker near here and all the pieces of fabric I had bought are being made up for me. Hurray!!

I have pictures of quilted 'stuff' on our website and my photo site:

and

I also write articles for British Patchwork and Quilting magazine, and have had the wonderful (eventually!) experience of having a book published. I am fairly conservative with my quilting, and don't run to amazing ideas. I have ideas, but they usually get worked in semi-traditional ways. I do almost all of my own designing (my favourite part). I am well aware of short-comings of mine in the quilt-making process, and I do work to improve them (mostly by buying books!). .

So sorry, I forgot to add the photo site:

. In message , Patti writes

Prayers on their way to you Judyanna.

Buy the pink one and make a statement, it will look very pretty.

Di Vic Aust.

Thanks. Today is wig shopping day, I'll keep you guys informed! All I know is, if I cut my hair and what's left of it doesn't fall out

- I'm going to one pissed off lady! It's going to be like another "shot heard 'round the world" ! It hasn't even done anything yet and I'm already looking into hair extensions! Judy

Judy: Sending prayers and good wishes from Virginia. I am Co-Captain of a Relay for Life team. We will be raffling a quilt for fund raising this year. This way I can do good and have fun! PAT

- I'm going to one pissed off lady! It's going to be like another "shot heard 'round the world" ! It hasn't even done anything yet and I'm already looking into hair extensions! Judy

My mom is getting a 'crew cut' today in preparation for losing her hair. Her first chemo isn't until Feb. 14, so she's s bit early on that. Best of luck with your treatments. You are another heroine in my book.

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

- I'm going to one pissed off lady! It's going to be like another "shot heard 'round the world" ! It hasn't even done anything yet and I'm already looking into hair extensions! Judy

Hi and welcome back Judy! Hugs, prayers and positive healing vibes enroute for your chemo!

I've been reading the responses to this thread for days and am amazed at the similarities in so many of our lives. There are several entries which could have been mine! Anyway, I started sewing in ninth grade; my mother wouldn't let me touch her machine until I took classes in school! From then on, I made my own clothes, my children's clothes, and lots of home dec things. In 1990 I started working part time at a Fabric/Craft store. That led to making model garments, conducting craft classes, and becoming an Asst. Mgr. fulltime. When the store was bought by another company and went through bankruptcy, I left...it wasn't fun anymore! I then went to work as a Teacher Asst. in an elementary school.

My DH and I have been married for 35 years and have three sons, one DIL, one grandson, and another on the way. My DH and I are both retired. We've lived all over the world (New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, Italy and Germany) while he worked as a civilian employee of the Air Force. We are now in Pennsylvania and moved here to be closer to our boys. I joined a Guild and a Bee, and participate in an online Interquilt group. The clothes sewing has come to a standstill since I took up quilting in 2004. Just recently I purchased the Babylock Quest and love it. I also have a Singer Featherweight (and its table), a Babylock serger and my recently retired Singer 6267.

When I drive to work I can see the Adirondacks and when I drive home I can see the Green Mountains . Mary

DH's family had a summer camp on the Raquette River. Two brothers still live up that way--one at the house on the river and the other in the Adirondacks.

I'm a relatively new (6-7 yr) quilter although I've been doing just about all forms of sewing/needlework since my grandmother taught me to crochet at age 5-6! Quilting gives me the best of both worlds as I machine piece and hand quilt. I'm certainly not creative enough to design quilts on my own so finding the 'right' pattern and figuring out color ways is about as creative with the process as I currently get.

I live in central NJ with DH and 2 QI's of the Chocolate Lab variety. No QI's of the 2-legged variety. Turned 50 a couple of years ago and decided to let the hair go natural. I work full time FOR a major telecommunications company AT a major pharmaceutical company. Oh, the politics! My DH and I are both hot air balloon pilots in our spare time. He's also a volunteer firefighter and volunteer EMT. I'm currently president of the fire company Ladies Auxiliary. A dubious honor to be sure. Oh, and chocolate preference is dark - sugar free.

I've only recently become somewhat active on this group but have been a long-time lurker. These folks are the most helpful and generous group of people one could ever hope to 'meet'. And talented beyond words!

Kim in NJ

Cheryl, what are Cherry Ripes, Crunchies, and Tim Tams? I'm assuming that they are candy of some kind, but you have intrigued my brain. (Not too difficult to do...just put a mystery out there and I'll always want to know more! lol)

Mary in Mesa

CATS wrote:

Simply put- manna of the gods!

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

Married 22 years

DH is a network engineering manager (the job that pays money). Once the kids are done with college, he would like to retire, get a Masters in Education and teach high school math. He spends his time as President of Choral Boosters for DD's school and playing Everquest. Rather than be an Everquest widow, I play EQ as well.

DS is a sophomore in a tiny college in West Virginia, majoring in math and physics. He is brilliant with rather severe ADD, so a tiny college is perfect. Everyone knows him, he has classes with 6 students in them, and he is able to accelerate as much as he wants.

DD is my drama queen. She is a senior in high school, plans to major in Music Theater next year to pursue a BFA degree. Performance programs in college are COMPLETELY different than academic programs. The students are expected to have taken the SAT or ACT and graduate from HS with reasonable grades, however the major part of the admission process is the audition before the department. She has auditioned for 2 colleges, has 3 more to go. In the meantime, she was in her school's production of Comedy of Errors, our church's production of Godspell, directed a one-act play at school for the competition (they won for her school, and were third in the district), is in rehearsals for Thoroughly Modern Millie (she is Miss Dorothy), and will audition in 2 weeks for the children's theater production of Peter Pan. Later this week is All-District Choir where they will audition for All-State Choir. Somewhere in this overloaded schedule she has to get homework done and see her boyfriend. Our lives will be much quieter next year when she is away at school!

We have 2 quilt inspectors, Ruby and Moose. They are both female daschunds, Ruby is the standard red, Moose is a black/grey dapple. They are not allowed to go upstairs where my sewing room is, but they LOVE the quilts once they are finished!

I'm a pharmacist at our local hospital, supposedly half-time, but have been working far more than that recently. I quilt and make wacky clothes for the drama queen to wear to school. Like many theater kids, she enjoys outlandish clothing.

Kim E

Cherry Ripe - cherry and coconut filling in dark chocolate

(old ad from the 80s)

Crunchie - honey comb in chocolate

(this one is even listed on Amazon under gourmet foods!) Tim Tam - choc malt biscuit sandwich with cream filling and choc coated (now available in double dip, dark, and a couple of flavours) (yuk!!, very messy, but I have friends that also do this with Port) Another Aus classic is Mint Slice biscuits - choc bisc with mint cream on top and choc coating. And then there's Minties - kinda like a mint chewy nougat. The list goes on.

These things are familiar to some (Canadians and UK maybe) but are not generally available in the US. There are some on the ng who would swim Polly's 'gator infested swamp for a Cherry Ripe bar lol. I only know of a few shops in the US that sell them - places that offer ex-pat Aussies stuff from Oz on-line. These items are the secret weapon Oz will one day use to take over the world and subjugate the masses!

There are other culinary delights from Downunder that have been mentioned here from time to time -

pavlova

, falsely claimed to be a NZ invention), pie floaters , don't ask, they are blessedly almost restricted to one state over here!)

and - of course - Vegemite

, - I did send some over to some school kids in the US once but I never heard what they thought lol, it is DEFINITELY an acquired taste). It was a dark day in Australia when Kraft was sold to a US-based multi-national and the recipe for Veggie went overseas (it was even raised in Parliament at the time amid fears the formula would be contaminated/changed!) but we should have known that we are the only nation on Earth with the sophistication to appreciate this delicacy.

I do like an occasional Cherry Ripe bar and like all Aussie kids I grew up with Veg on toast for brekky, but I have never developed a taste for the rest.

Should have noted - even as I type this I am supposed to be packing some Tim Tams for DH of a friend in the US so he can try a TTSlam