Weekly update: going to the dogs, remembering a dear friend, a little quilting + two great books

My friends Debbie and Bill brought their therapy dogs Buddy and Dandy to the Zion Woman's Club meeting on Tuesday.  They explained that therapy dogs differ from service dogs in that they are trained to be approachable to anyone (service dogs bond to one person).  They're part of  the Medinah Shrine Therapy Dog program and go to the Shriners' Children's Hospital, to schools, libraries, and other locations.  The dogs were a big hit with the ZWC, too!   

Buddy is a Yorkshire terrier and Dandy is a Shiloh shepherd.  When their vests are on they know they are at work -- no barking or yipping.  

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The memorial service for our dear friend Liz was held yesterday. She passed away last month at age 89.  (Do take a moment to read her obituary.)   I met her in 2003 shortly after I started at ZBPL and after she retired from operating a preschool.   She and her husband Bob were world travelers into their 80's.   They had four daughters and many grandchildren (great-grands, too).  They hosted more than 30 exchange students through Rotary Youth Exchange, and the first one (1976-77) came from Perth, Australia, for the funeral.    She was an avid gardener. She was a wonderful hostess with that marvelous ability to invite a group of people to dinner at a moment's notice with no fuss.  She had an ice cream social for the United Methodist Women every summer.  

 Liz loved to read and we talked about books.  The last time we spoke -- at church the Sunday before she passed away -- she said, "I'm looking forward to your book talk for UMW next week!"  and I dedicated the book talk to her.  

Her daughters asked if I would read a poem about her written by another friend (now deceased) and invited me to say a few words. I was honored. 

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The quilt guild meets the first Wednesday of the month. Our speaker was Sara Hochhauser who talked about quilted garments.  What a beautiful trunk show!  

Here she is modeling "A Little Somethin'," a pattern I've had for many years but have not made.  Maybe I'll make a garment . . .  some day.  (The insert strips are her contribution to the design.)  

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I haven't done much quilting this week.  Three of the Villa Rosa quilts are finished and the fourth is under the needle.  The blog hop starts Thursday, March 14, and I'll post the entire list of participants then. (My day is March 18.) 

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77-year-old Jennifer Quinn has always liked to bake. Her husband Bernard and their niece and her family praise the results.  On a whim -- and in secret ("am I too old?") Jenny enters the Britain Bakes competition. To her surprise she is invited to audition.  She bakes up a storm, still not explaining why ("am I really good enough?"), and she's made the cut!  Eventually the secret is revealed and she goes on the show.  But there is another, much older and far more deeply hidden secret:  when she was 17 she had a baby whom she gave up for adoption.   Will Bernard forgive her for not telling him?  As Jenny bakes her way to the finals she wrestles with her doubts.  But the new confidence she gains from the competition gives her the confidence she needs and Bernard (who is a truly dear man) helps her as she finds her long-unknown family.

The story is endearing (I stayed up much too late to finish it), and I learned a lot about how the Great British Baking Show is produced. 

Shannon Reed's memoir of her life in reading also kept me up too late.  OMG!  The first chapters/essays tick all my lifelong reader boxes (that was me! that was me! that was me!). Funny asides: "you might be a character in a children's book if.....you are a bear....who doesn't wear pants...." or "you might be a character in an Amish romance if....your name is Rachel....your intended is named Jacob....." But seriously: Reed taught high school English (there's wonderful episode about getting her students in Brooklyn really engaged in Jane Eyre). She now teaches creative writing at Pitt -- and reading those chapters I got insights into HOW to read (she teaches Gone Girl and Lincoln in the Bardo in one class). Funny and very thoughtful.

Linking up with Oh Scrap! Design Wall Monday

P.S. These are NOT MY QUILTS. They are in the women's restroom at the church where the P.E.O. Round Table met on Friday. No labels so I can't give credit. (No quilts in the men's room. I looked.)