Creativity is like bunnies.  All you need is two and a little bit of time, and then you have LOTS, it just takes (ahem) practice.  Even in the few buildings and spaces of the top of Mount Washington and the observatory, I found lots of inspiration.  There is an OLD building half dug into the rocky top of the mountain that used to be an old hotel.  Inside were these gems….

An old lamp:

Wouldn’t that scrollwork and fill-pattern be wonderful in an applique or a quilting design?

And the woodstove…the top:

and the front…what a design!:

Then there are the converging lines of the observatory rooftop / pavers, with the guys at the railing:

Then there’s that cairn of rocks….

Repeating lines in the stairs:

And the stairs from the parking area up to the observatory from the side:

A grate over that stream by the entrance (with part of my shadow):

The screen in the Japanese (!!!) restaurant in Gorham:

Repeat after me:  harmony, rhythm, repetition….  and again but in circles:

I love that photo…the contrast of the red and black, the dark of the background/ceiling, the lines in the lanterns, the round shapes….

It all goes to prove that there are ideas for quilts, applique, piecing and quilting design EVERYWHERE…. once you get into the habit of actually SEEING what is there, instead of passively looking and absorbing, you can find inspiration all over the place…. the creativity breeds like bunnies….. the trick of course is weeding out the good ideas from the bad, but that’s another blogpost entirely!

This is a brief interlude to the Frayed Edges fun to return to the summer vacation fun, then I have a ton of stuff I’ve quilted to share… for once!  It has been SO LONG since I’ve been able to make stuff, and it feels SO GOOD… anyway….   after visiting Niagara Falls, we had a full day’s drive to Gorham, New Hampshire.   The weather observatory there sees some of the most wicked weather in the lower 48 states, and the highest recorded wind speed on earth.  It is always fun on the evening local news to see what’s the weather atop 6000-ft. Mt. Washington.

This beautiful stream is just as you cross to the entry gate.  You are greeted by this sign, which I thought was hilarious in a dry-humor sort of way:

And entering the park/facility:

The road up was wonderful, and you passed from forest to alpine zone remarkably quickly…the treeline in the mountains of the western states seems to be at a much higher elevation.  Here’s the lower part of the road, with lots of deciduous trees:

First Scenic view, from passenger-side window:

Second scenic pull-out…glorious…the sky went on forever…..

Then crossing above treeline…barren!  You can just imagine the winter winds here….

And the first view of the observatory–the low, hunkering, rounded building flat on the top of the mountain:

Once you reach the top (we drove, obviously tho you can hike), you can get to the tippy top easily.  Here are the boys and Paul.. it was windy and nippy, about 60, when down at the base of the mountain it was about 80:

And rarely enough, a photo with me in it:

Notice the tote…one of these days I’ll take pics and share… my summer sewing treat was to make it.  It’s not for a book, not for a class, but just for fun!  Anyway, back to the trip…. here’s a picture of Eli sitting next to a cairn of rocks someone had built, with the vista:

And Paul and the boys looking at the signage and the view:

I’ll share some of the totally cool photos in another post… they just prove you can find inspiration anywhere… quilting lines, abstracts, designs…….

One of the highlights of the trip was brief but memorable:

The Maid of the Mist first set float with tourists in 1846.  No, that is NOT a typo. Obviously it was a different boat, but there has been a boat taking folks into the mist of the falls for over 160 YEARS… amazing!  What else is totally cool is that the Ontario side park is ENTIRELY maintained (and beautifully, with wrought iron railings, gorgeous hanging baskets, etc) through proceeds from sales in the park and fees and whatnot…not a penny of tax money.  Cool.

And a warning….LOTS of water pics!

Waiting in line to board one of the boats you get a great glimpse:

Here’s the first view of the falls as you approach on the boat….and speaking of which, they give you mist ponchos…essentially garbage bags with hoods…good thing too as you get wet anyway!  It was a gas!

Here is a narrow section of the US falls–love how I got the bird in the photo:

And a closeup of the cascade hitting the rocks….

And a good wide shot of Niagara Falls:

Mist spraying out from the Horseshoe Falls:

I LOVED the power of the water as it plunges over the crest…this is as you have passed the American falls and approach Horseshoe Falls (the Canadian side), which is here it gets REALLY misty moisty wet.

And at the end of the half hour tour, happy and wet (we all gave up on the hoods I think….plus it was so hot that day the wetness felt good):

And the next morning, as we got into the car to leave, what should we see but one of the highlights of the trip for the boys (which Joshua had to take pics)…..a Ferrari and a Maserati.  No one should be this rich.  And they can’t even carry groceries in the trunk I’ll bet….yes, I know, that’s not the point.  But for the cost of those two cars you could buy a nice HOUSE……

Next on the trip:  Mt. Washington and finding inspiration wherever you are…..

We don’t usually do much in the way of vacations, as they are EXPENSIVE.  But we had promised Joshua, the wannabe rock star guitarist, to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  When I got a teaching offer for a five day workshop in West Virginia in August, that seemed the perfect opportunity to have the whole family come along, and travel home via Cleveland (for the R&Roll) and Niagara Falls (the requisite family visit).   Well…. as we all know the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.  Especially when the economy tanks and fuel prices skyrocket.   Not enough students signed up for the workshop, so they had to cancel.  Bummers.  But we went on an abbreviated trip anyway. This photo, a teaser to get you to read on, was taken from our   room overlooking Niagara Falls (on the  Canadian side):

Here’s what I did in the car (an aside:  Paul and I have been married for 25+ years; after year 1, I refused to drive with him in the car, so now he drives and I read and knit)–if I can find time later in the month, I’ll do a couple brief reviews of some of these….:

And here is Joshua (under the “E” in Help) in front of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

Alas, you aren’t allowed to take pictures inside.  I can see why though…lots of documents on cheap paper that will deteriorate with light, costumes, etc…..and many items are on loan from the artists.   All sorts of cool stuff… envelopes with the lyrics of totally famous songs as they were being scratched down for the first time, outfits worn by Tina Turner, Elvis, Mick Jagger, Elton John, John Lennon (his Sgt Pepper outfit among other things), David Bowie, Madonna, Michael Jackson (pre-freak era…SIGH…I do feel sorry for him…), Janis Joplin’s Porsche, Jim Morrisey’s Report of Death Abroad (death cert issued by the US Embassy in Paris), all sorts of neat things.

In some ways, I think it was more interesting for me and Paul than for Joshua.  He is really into hard rock and heavy metal, and the metal bands were not really represented there (even tho some have been inducted, there were really no artifacts)…it is mostly  the older folks and the musicians and singers and behind-the-scenes people who were represented.

So after an afternoon there, we headed to Niagara Falls the next morning.   We booked a Friday night, and Paul splurged on a room overlooking the falls.  When we arrived (before noon), our type of room wasn’t vacant, so (yippee!) the hotel upgraded us for free to a suite on a higher floor, with two rooms and a palatial bathroom (you could open frosted shutters and sit in the jacuzzi and enjoy the view!).  Here are some shots (don’t know who took these as Eli, Joshua and I all took a bunch) from the room:

Sunset:

And probably sunset, too…..

The US side of the falls, as seen from our room:

Looking down on one of the Maid of the mist boats:

And Horseshoe falls, the Canadian side, with Goat Island in the middle:

I was so tired after that day that I didn’t try to set up for night photos, but they illuminate the falls (spotlights) at night, and at 10 pm on some summer nights they have some fireworks over the falls.  We managed to stay awake until 10 pm for the fireworks, then crashed.  Thanks to a roll-away bed for Eli and a fold-out sofa for Joshua, there were NO sibling squabbles at bedtime!   A ride on Maid of the Mist $12.50 per adult, a fancy dinner for four about $150 (OUCH but good), no fighting kids, PRICELESS….

We went on Maid of the Mist, and I walked around town.  I think I’ll save the bazillion falls photos for next post, but here is one of the downtown which, alas, doesn’t have much to recommend it.   Kinda generic North-American over-touristed boardwalk type of stuff.  Blech.  Plus it was hot, steamy and expensive.

Paul and the boys rode the shuttle back to the hotel while I enjoyed a few blissful moments of solitude and walked home (dripping!).   We had a splendid, major treat for dinner at the steakhouse on the 9th floor, again overlooking the falls.   I don’t think we’ve EVER gone out to a dinner that nice as a family.  YUM.

Most of Paducah was work, with some notable exceptions:

The rides to and from the airport in Nashville (2+ hours away) with Jan Krentz and Rachael Clark in both directions, and Charlotte Angotti and Rami Kim on the way home, too…laughed, talked, learned a TON just listening from the masters and practiced teachers on the circuit. And had fun and dinner too! Major thanks to Kenny Shroeder for the rides!

Meeting Leslie and Caty, having dinner, and seeing Paducah with them… yeah Quilt Mavs! Meeting online friends in the real is the best!

And going to the Ricky Tims concert on Friday night. I lucked into a ticket (thanks to a certain benificent soul!), and went on my own. As Caty, Leslie and I walked to dinner on Friday, we saw a Looooonnnnnnggggggg line snaking around the Four Rivers Center of folks (mostly ladies) waiting to go to the concert. I was so glad I was going to eat instead, and was quite happy to arrive just before the show and sit in the rafters. Well… when I walked in, first I was WOWED by the building; click here for a video tour online (warning for those on dial-up… find a high-speed connection before clicking on the link). What a gorgeous building. Then I made a bee-line for the ladies room before the concert began and before heading to where I was directed, the upper balcony. When I came out of the ladies room, I noticed a hallway that led toward the stage and orchestra seating that said Orchestra 5. So I went down it. Luck was with me… a single seat, on the aisle, ten rows back from the stage and directly in line with the piano bench! Here was my view:

Does it get any better? Ricky began with a trumpet solo, then told us it was the first time he’d played trumpet in public in 25 years or so, but that the trumpet had been in younger days his best instrument. It’s still good…I swear that man can play any musical instrument he touches. And he’s a born entertainer. Alas, I didn’t get pictures of his entrance… picture this:

• The theatre is dark except for the screen in the center and the spotlights on his two large quilts flanking the screen. Then those lights dim.
• The curtains in the back of the stage part and you see “smoke/fog” backlit… (think dry ice).
• Suddenly a bright beam pierces the dark into the audience, followed by a HUGE rumble….varoom, VaRoooom, VAROOOOOM…. and slowly, carefully, (ya know what Ricky drives?) in he comes on a HARLEY onto the stage! It was a total riot!!!!!

So, he sings, he jokes, he does his thing, and introduces a friend / performer / Kit Bowser. And says she said “Hey, what are we gonna do special for MY entrance?” So…….

Kat Bowser’s entrance, on the not-quite-a-Harley , above, and a shot of her singing later in the concert, below:

The rest of the show was as hilarious and fun….Kat is very much a cabaret type singer / torch singer. You can see her MySpace page here and listen to her music at CuppaJoeRecords here. I enjoyed her singing so much I actually bought a CD, my first CD purchase in about 2 years! Oh yeah…work ALERT—don’t click on the My Space link with your sound turned up on your computer if you’re at work! But it is definitely toe-tapping music!

And during the show, as my throbbing, aching feet began to rest, I could sit there and mellow in the music (or laugh at the jokes) and enjoy the glorious color and dancing designs of Ricky’s quilts. Kat sang a song with “Glory Hallelujah Dance!” which I think would be the perfect title for a quilt…. I used to live to dance… took ballet for years as a kid and studied with the San Francisco Ballet Company. I’d probably prefer modern dance more now, but am too creaky… but I can still dance with my soul! Hmmmm…. I think I’m recovering from the past year, my creativity is coming back!

Next blogpost…some of my classes!