Sunday, January 22, 2012

When stitchers get together...

Last Wednesday I went to Edmonton for my MRI so the doctors can figure out what's wrong with my shoulder. Lucky for me I have a stitcher friend living in that city. When she heard I'm coming, she generously invited me to stay with her. Let me tell you, she didn't have to say it twice! We stayed together while on the stitching retreat on Quadra Island last fall and we had an awesome time. Wanda travels to China a lot but, luckily for me, she was not traveling during my stay there. She even took couple of days off work so we can stitch together.

On the 18th of January the weather was beautiful. It was cold, just below -35 but nice and sunny. The view from the plane was breath taking away


While on the plane I was working on the Rose Sampler


and later at Wanda's on Protective Care


The top is just a dark background, very boring to stitch. I'm hoping that this week I will "get to" elephants and then stitching will become more interesting.

Wanda picked me up from the airport and we went straight to Polish Delicatessen. I felt like a little girl in a candy store. All long forgotten tastes of Polish food... I brought with me an empty suitcase so I can take home with me a good supply of Polish sausages and other delicacies.

My appointment at the hospital wasn't till eight in the evening and we had couple hours to kill so we went for a light supper and talked, and talked, and talked...

It was great, the first day and I'd accomplish everything - the shopping and the hospital were off the way. Next day it suppose to be our stitching day and movie night, how exciting is that!

And it was! We stitched and talked, stitched and talked, and had no idea when the day went by. It was time for a movie. I really wanted to see The Iron Lady and Wanda had this movie on her "to watch" list, so we went. And let me tell you - after the movie was over and credits came on, the whole audience was glued to their seats. If a mouse was running across, we could hear it. It was shocking. I needed a glass of whiskey after the movie...

Margaret Thatcher is a fascinating woman who changed the world for better (in my opinion),  who knew how to defend herself. I believe she was enormously significant and her influence extended far beyond Great Britain and far beyond her moment in power.

She was larger than life and she is my inspiration for most of my adult life. The movie shows and old woman with dementia. There was nothing relating to the Iron Lady she was, just an old, troubled woman... Meryl Streep played her role very well - role of an old lady... I guess she did what she was told to do... Anyhow, the movie title is absolutely wrong and misleading. There is no portrayal of Thatcher as an "Iron Lady".  Instead we get the wishful dream version of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.

There is a shocking absence of her strong moments:  the speeches, the war, her dominance of foreign affairs, her presence in the House of Commons, her Falklands war. Thank goodness for the you tube.



I like watching good movies more than once, this is a movie that I will never see again but I'm glad I saw it.

Friday morning we stitched again and just before we parted, John (Wanda's husband) took a pic of both of us:


I'm the one in red, Wanda is proudly displaying Cape Cod Girls - her latest WIP.

So long my friends,
Evalina

22 comments:

  1. What a fun trip (even if you did have an MRI!!)!
    I'm glad you had such an enjoyable time and even
    got a 'taste' of home with all the good Polish
    food. What all did you bring home?!

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  2. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. Just reading -35 degrees makes me feel cold. Isn't it frustrating when the title of the movie misleads you into thinking it will be something totally different when you sit down to see it. I think so.

    Enjoy your Sunday! I hope your test results turn out okay.

    Jen

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  3. So happy you got to spend some time with a stitching friend and enjoy some polish food. My daughter and I made about 10 dozen, maybe more pirogies yesterday and I can feel the arteries clogging right up but ohh they are some yummy. I'm a polish girl by blood, maiden name is Niedzielski. We don't make them often but when we do it is such a treat.

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  4. Sounds like a fantastic trip. What were the results of your MRI? A shame that you were disappointed with the film - everyone here in Melbourne is raving about it. My DH is not keen to see it though as he is a bit of an Anglophobe (not sure why he married me - lol!) and a republican (ie he thinks Australia should become a Republic).

    Hugs, Kaye xoxox

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  5. aw that a great time :) I hope your MRI went well!

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  6. Hi Evalina, rather than clogging the FTHW workshop loop, I decided to track you down here. Clarks Harbour is a lovely little town, and it's just down the shore a couple hours from our cottage in Lunenburg. The south shore of NS is so pretty I don't think you'd be disappointed settling in any of the small towns and villages.

    I'm a cross-stitcher, too! I've not done any projects in a few years though, as the writing bug takes up all my spare time. You've stitched some lovely pieces. Does your family get regular gifts? hehe

    My latest novella, Coming Undone, is already out from The Wild Rose Press. It's in the Scarlet Rose line, which means it's spicy, hehe, so beware!

    Cheers!

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  7. Sampler Rose looks wonderful! It's great that you got to visit with a stitchy friend!

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  8. It sounds like you had a fantastic time. Your wips look great.

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  9. hope the scan went well and you didn't make your shoulder hurt again with all the polish goodies you went back with ..... how lovely you could stay with a friend and have stitching time :) love mouse xxxx

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  10. wow you had a great trip and got to spend time with a stitching friend.I live a few hours north of Edmonton and you were visiting on one of our coldest times. Hope all goes well with your medical visit and hope you can come back when the weather is more friendly.

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  11. It sounds like you had a lovely visit with your friend! I hope the MRI does not show anything serious. I love that view from the plane! I have been looking forward to seeing The Iron Lady but am disappointed to hear it does not portray Margaret at her best. Blessings, Shirlee

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  12. I'm so jealous that you got to stay with Wanda!!! Sounds like you had a great time with her and had lots of time to get to know each other even better. I was thinking maybe one day I would meet up with her. With you living in the Yukon, I never thought it would be possible to meet you....but I guess it's not out of the question!

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  13. How wonderful to see you two together again!!! It sounds like you had an excellent time!
    Hugs - Janice

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  14. It's so nice to see a pic of you, Evalina! Loved reading about your trip. Hope your appt at the hospital went well.

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  15. Sounds like a fab-u-lous time! And hopefully, the MRI will figure out what's wrong. Thanks for the review of Iron Lady... I had no idea it was about MT as an old lady with dimentia.

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  16. I'm so pleased that you were able to spend some time with a friend to make up for such a horrible appointment!
    It's fascinating to hear non-British opinions of That Woman! I will not be seeing the film but for rather different reasons. Mind you, having read your previous post about life in Poland in the 80's it does make me realise that our idea of a bad Government is very different to that in many countries. Nothing her and her cronies put us through can compare with what your country went through. Thanks for sharing xxx

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  17. I´m glad you two had a happy time!!!!

    Hugs,
    Laurita

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  18. I'm glad you had a beautiful visit with your friend and a productive flight, the Rose Sampler is really coming along. I got carried away with my AW project that I didn't even touch my RS this past weekend but in my wonky rotation it is next up for some work. Hope your MRI shows something simple and easy to fix. Happy stitching.

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  19. I am glad you had a fabulous time! I am still very jealous that you two got to meet up yet again lol.
    I hope your shoulder isn't hurting too much and that they figure out what's wrong.
    Nice progress on your stitching!

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  20. Thank you for visiting my small blog.
    You do such beautiful stitching! I enjoyed your blog very much & have become a follower :)

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  21. Evalina, what a great summary of our visit. Thank you! We had such a great time, and I miss you.

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