Pam Holland Designs and Productions

The trials of travel.

It's been a long day today I left Alamogordo NM at 8.30 and I spent most of the day traveling...(that in itself was interesting)

Now I'm in a most beautiful suite in Trump Tower in Las Vegas. I've just had spa and I'm finding it hard to stay awake..

Now how did I end up here?.... well, that's a long story too.....

I've even got a TV in the mirror in the bathroom' Hm,might think of that for the new house.

I've got heaps of work to do, I've been film editing almost all the way here, but I will get up early in the morning to do it...

Notes for the next class have been floating around the USA and it's been a little worrying that they hadn't arrived... (well one package did) But.... they arrived today, just in time so I'm mightily relieved.

flying over boulder dam.

The Ipad

This ad was on the side of the bus shelter in Chicago.

  I've had my Ipad for 10 days now and each day brings new surprises and uses.

First and foremost it is a computer in my handbag, smaller than a file of papers and it contains:-

The book that I'm reading which happens to be "Three cups of tea."

But waiting in the wings I have reference books on quilting which I downloaded free, the history of art and many other reference books.

The Help, by Katherine Stockett. 

Fine, Just the way it is, Annie Proulx

The interface is just like reading a real book, not a typewritten page. The pages flip with reality.

I have over 10.000 photos installed.

I write a personal journal in handwriting and add photos each day.

It stores all my plane tickets, hire car vouchers, accommodation, etc... so does my computer, but that's not in my handbag!!!!

It syncs to my other computers and updates my diary instantly.

Apps in a much larger form, (unavailable on a computer) keep track of everything I'm doing and remind me of up coming appointments just by sending my receipt for travel to a central point.

I can sketch on it, paint on it...listen to digital radio and watch television.... and it's stored  in my handbag.

I was in the bank today and Rainee, my friend showed it to all who ventured through the door.

I've used it every day, in fact when I told the story to the children at school yesterday, the pictures and sound were on the Ipad.!!!!

This is a digitized image of my new slippers created on the Ipad.

I just can't quilt on it, but I'm going to work on that.

Can you tell I'm in love !!!!

An update on the little boy who gave me the orange seed yesterday.

I made him a than you card and drew an orange tree on it and added a little message.

His teacher gave it to him this morning and said "Miss Pam drew this by for you by hand."

He ran over to his Mum.... "Miss Pam drew this with no hands..."

Happiness is a state of mind.

Just been driving that big white charger down the country road listening to very loud country music...

The sun on my back and blue sky above.

A busy day.

It was  a whirlwind of events yesterday.

I woke every hour watching the clock until it hit 5.30, we had to be at the radio station at 7.00.

 

Spent 30 minutes chatting on the radio and then I decided to have a good breakfast because I wasn't too sure if I would have time for lunch after the presentation.

We went to a super little cafe. It was like walking into a Norman Rockwell picture.

There were a group of men in the older age group, check shirts, braces and hats pushed back at a jaunty angle to show that they had sort of taken them off but they were still on the head of the owner sitting at a long table. They all greeted us with smiles and friendly dialogue.

The special was $3.50 and I couldn't cook eggs, pancakes and sausages for that price.!!!!

About 8 local police arrived, boots sounding loud on the wooden floors and they had heavy belts of menacing policing tools at the ready. They went into a private room to give them privacy to eat.

The presentation went well. I admire the 1st national bank for their commitment to the community. It was held in a huge atrium and the place was full.The crowd is a testament to their hard work.

It appears that our fundraiser will be a success with half the classes full just from the attendees at the presentation.

The next stop, a visit to Year one students at the local school. I almost wanted to cry as their little faces looked up at me. me and they listened intently to the story and then we talked about, Koalas, kangaroos and kookaburras.

One little boy came up  quietly and gently touched my arm. He unfolded his hand and in the palm he had a dried orange pip. "You can have this, it will grow a big orange tree" he said sincerely.

It was a special moment.

I'm not working on a quilt, but there's a huge amount of background work done in between events.

But this year we've made plans to have a little time off after out June event. We'll go camping in the woods for a few days with Lisa's family.... I can't wait.

Preparation

It's been a busy day today.

Armed with a list of "To do's" we met with our amazing team of organizers from the 1st National Bank at the venue of the Quilt Event at the end of June.

I can't believe it... it's tailor made for our program.

There will be a huge area for the booths to set up... catering booths will be outside with cafeteria eating space under the huge veranda.

My classroom is massive and the students will have a lot of space to work.

Classes will be longer than normal and there are great incentives for people to take two classes on the first day, they get the dinner as a bonus.... the restaurant is just a hop, skip and jump away.

All the money raised will be assisting the youth in the area and with the interest shown to date we hope to make this an annual event.

We adjourned to truck stop diner with a reputation for great food...our  lunch was green chili burgers, cornbread and beans.

One of the ladies was met at the door by a friend and by the time we sat down she had negotiated to sell some of her goats.. (as you do)

I can highly recommend a business meeting over a burger.

Our meeting finished and I went and bought a super pair of cowboy boots... (I'll show them to you tomorrow)
I saw a pair in Mexico I liked... they were beautiful leather with an orange Madonna of Guadalupe tooled into the front... but then, I thought maybe they wouldn't be understood at home.

These are a little more sedate.

Um, but I wonder what you think of my new publicity photo taken by the big old blue dodge truck.

It's midnight, I need to be up at 5.30, I have a live radio interview at 7.00 am, a luncheon presentation and then I'm reading "how to train a dragon" to a year 1 class in the afternoon.

Who said being a quilt teacher was boring.?

Gabriella Goodness and her Angelic friends.

via pamhollanddesigns.typepad.com

I posted the rest of this blog in the wrong format....!!

This weeks Podcast from Alamogordo New Mexico

 

Download Thelma and Louise Podcast.

Our Thelma and Louise Podcast has just been completed...

I guess I'd better explain about the Thelma and Louise bit. Friend Lisa and I took off once on a Thelma and Louise trip a few years ago and we've talked about it ever since.

Lisa and I are chatting about the quilt program we're working on at the moment.

So Join us over a cuppa.

We spent a hilarious morning assembling her new Gym equipment and then we had to try it out...we actually ended up sitting down on the settee ad watching the instructors and then felt we'd done a days exercise.

I'm a bit short for the equipment.... well that's my excuse anyway.

Finished Chicago challenge block illustration

Another place.

The secret is OUT, I have a new Ipad... 64gb....Oh my gosh, it's amazing...

I can even draw on it.

I've been using it for the past 10 days.....

I'm writing my book on it, I carry it in my handbag and whip it out in coffee shops to read and write on.

Today I arrived in El Paso Texas, I whipped it out with my car reservation and Insurance information. It's better than a piece of paper... because you have the information stored for as long as you want.

I left Chicago early this morning, it was cold and windy.

As I drove through the city everyone was dressed in suits, women and men...the women in stilettos and fancy handbags and the coffee set were in the cafe's.

Now I'm in big sky country, I drove my fancy  dodge charger through the sun kissed country side. At a distance huge snow capped mountains flanked each side of the road. The sky is spectacular with rolling clouds and drifts of grey rain and the radio played very loud country music.

Yesterday I was extremely homesick, today I'm smiling.

I have four really busy days... tomorrow an event to meet folk in Ruidoso, then some media interviews etc... Meet and greet and meetings and time to have fun with my Thelma and Louise friend.