Quilting in a very hot Malaysia

This time Duncan is away and Ingrid, my niece in Holland, asked me, “what do you do now you are alone in Malaysia?”.
All sorts of things.
First of all, getting rid of animals! I had to get rid of the biggest spider (well, in my eyes, he/she was big enough :-) the first day Duncan was gone. I came back from a shower and there he was, sitting on our couch, waiting for me. It's like cats, they know exactly who does't like them and then they jump onto their laps (and I love cats!). I sprayed him first, as I didn't dare touching him. But then, he had the courage to walk away, a bit like a man who is drunk, but he was walking alright! Mmmm, I had to hit him; I found Duncan's tennis shoe, which was not used anyway, and hit the thing so hard, there was not much left. Dead!.
The next morning I woke up slowly, enjoying my lay-in, I walked out of bed and I saw a big cockroach, and when I say big I mean big! I thought he would not like the spray: he didn't, but whatever is in the spray, it does not kill them. This one ran away.....oh my. I had to hit him as well, otherwise I would never be able to take another step in the boat again.......He went down the toilet! I must say, Duncan's tennis shoes are good for something when he is not playing!
The next day I was ready for a snake, but......Moose seems to have only one living thing on it at the moment: me!
What else do I do besides getting the biggest frights of my life?
Reading. I really can’t find a good book in the book swap here in the marina at the moment (lots of Danish and German books, as if anybody reads those), but fortunately I found Barrack Obama’s book in our own collection and at least that is a good read. In general we read a lot on board. We have no T.V. (we don’t want one either) and so we have ample time.
I have been cleaning the decks. That is quite necessary here in Malaysia. It is so humid here, the decks, ropes and our bimini turned green after a few weeks. I felt like I had done something wrong, I was on my knees scrubbing the decks. But I must say, it really does look better. Duncan will not recognize the Moose ☺
I have been running at least every other day, between 6 and 10 kilometers. I love it! When Duncan is here we play tennis every other day and then I run the other days. Playing tennis on my own is no fun so I have been running a bit more…
This marina has a gorgeous swimming pool, and I convince myself that I really need to cool down every afternoon….
Also, when I want to go shopping here, it takes a whole morning. We take a bus that the hotel provides for yachties and they drive us to town (well, Sungei Ringgit is a very small place where you can find lots of fresh vegetables and cleaning stuff) at set times and bring you back as well. A very friendly and handy service.
And I have been quilting a lot. Our saloon looks like a fabric store: fabrics all over the place, sewing machine somewhere in the middle, my sewing box and my quilting books here and there and of course, the quilts I am working on. You can see why I am doing this when Duncan is away….
I started quilting in New Zealand where I met Rikkie, an American woman who taught me a lot about it. She is a master quilter and I really got inspired. My first quilt was a big one; when you want to do something, start big ☺. It took me 3 months to finish but I am rather pleased: a queen size quilt full of sailboats; what else?
It was ok to work on the quilt in New Zealand since it is hardly ever hot there (one of the reasons we left the country). Over here in Malaysia, it is a different matter. It is 33 degrees (around 90 F) and putting a thick quilt over your legs makes it a very hot hobby…..
When we were one year in Australia I made another quilt. The fabrics were so beautiful and colorful that I just bought and bought. I especially liked the Aboriginal fabrics which, like their paintings, are made of tiny colorful dots that represent their dreamtime (the patterns of life for the Aboriginal people and the beginning of knowledge). I used only Australian fabrics and my own design.
Mandia, a South African friend of ours told me I should make a quilt of every place we visit…..I did like that idea, but we’re running out of space and I can’t use them as sails…..
I better start cleaning up here, Duncan comes back tomorrow and he needs a place to sit!

Duncan and my Australian quilt in the Burnett River, Bundaberg, Australia

My Moose wall hanging