Update 18 on Missing Plane - keep praying!

Many have asked for continued updates on the missing plane my girlfriend in Tennessee brought to our attention through her "Nevrdun News". As we continue to pray let's pray specifically for HOPE - that the survivors will not have lost hope of their rescue and that the search team will not loose hope that there are survivors. Our God is a God of Hope, all He asks is that we trust Him. He brings hope to the hopeless and help to the helpless.

This morning's email:

Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 6:48 AM
Subject: Nevrdun News - Prayer Request Update 18


We'll let you know when we hear more from Wes, but for now here are a couple of articles pulled from the Internet.

From Nov. 16 guyanachronicleonline.com . . .
Missing aircraft search area widens
By Sharief Khan

THE search area has widened for the light survey aircraft that disappeared in the Mazaruni earlier this month but no sign of the missing plane has emerged, officials said yesterday.

Police and other officials are to check reports that miners and other persons heard the sound of an aircraft further northwest of where the aircraft was operating when it went missing, they said.

Foot patrols mounted by a Guyana Defense Force (GDF) Special Forces team backed by personnel from firms linked to the aircraft have been scouring an identified area surrounded by a mountain range.

Police are also checking with persons in Chi-Chi who said they heard the sound of an aircraft in the area around the time the plane went missing, an aviation official said.

Aiding the search are other light aircraft taking high resolution pictures of the area for detailed analysis, officials said.

The Special Forces team was inserted into the area by helicopter Sunday and was joined by the others for a more detailed ground sweep within set boundaries, Mr. Zulficar Mohamed, Director of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority told the Sunday Chronicle.

The ground party is following lines, including creeks and valleys, parallel to the flight path of the aircraft while it was doing the survey, he said.

He said the area over which the aircraft was to have been doing the survey includes the Eping River gorge near the Mazaruni River, and two valleys between the Merume Mountains and the Tomasing Mountains.

He said the search has now been widened further northwest of this area.

Two Beechcraft aircrafts outfitted with specialised equipment, including heat-sensing cameras have done sweeps over the area with no sighting.

The United States-registered Beech King aircraft, registration number N87V, went missing while conducting geophysical surveys for uranium deposits.

A Rescue Coordination Centre has been established at the Control Tower at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri.

On board the missing aircraft were Captain James Wesley Barker, 28, a U.S. citizen, First Officer Chris Parris, 23, also a U.S. citizen and Geophysics Technician, and Patrick Murphy, 20, a Canadian citizen.

The aircraft was chartered from Dynamic Aviation Group Inc. by Terraquest Ltd to do the geophysical surveys on behalf of Prometheus Resources (Guyana) Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian uranium company, U308 Corp.

Prometheus has contracted a helicopter from Suriname to help in the search.

U3O8 Corp last September announced that the Guyana Government had granted Prometheus Resources Inc. a one-year extension on the company's reconnaissance permits for uranium exploration in Guyana.

The company said it contracted Terraquest Limited, a specialist in airborne geophysics based in Markham, Ontario, to conduct a geophysical survey in the interior of Guyana under the permission of the Guyana authorities.

Terraquest contracted a twin-engine, turboprop Beechcraft King Air from Dynamic Aviation Inc. of Bridgewater, Virginia to undertake the airborne survey, it said in a statement received here.

And from caribdaily.com . . .
Missing aircraft…
November 17, 2008 | By knews | Filed Under News Crew may have perished - official

It’s been 15 heart-wrenching days since a U.S. twin-engine aircraft and its three-man crew disappeared over the Mazaruni jungle. It has also been a week since the search team picked up any signals from the plane’s Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT), and an official from one
of the companies that are coordinating the search and rescue operation says that this may indicate that the crash victims have not survived their ordeal. “The signal has not been heard since Monday, and this may be a sign that they have perished, and we now have to recover them,” the official, who declined to be identified, told Kaieteur News yesterday. “Even if you are optimistic, you also have to be pragmatic.”

And Azad Khan, an official for Prometheus Resources Guyana Inc., said that the team is still conducting its ground search in the area where the aircraft is believed to have crashed. “We are still conducting the ground search. We intend to search for the next month; we are in this for
the long haul.” He had suggested that the intermittent signals from the ELT could mean that a survivor was switching it on and off to conserve on battery power.

But search and rescue expert and veteran pilot Captain Gerry Gouveia believes that the time is “fast approaching” when the search will have to be called off. “It’s very difficult at this time (for the company with which they are employed). They are spending millions searching for these
people. They don’t want to give up. “I don’t rule out the possibility of the crew being alive. People have been known to survive in harsh territory. “I don’t believe in giving up, but…there comes a point when a decision has to be taken, and I believe that time is fast approaching.
“My heart goes out to the people conducting the search, especially their friends. It is a heart-wrenching thing.”

Captain Gouveia described the Mazaruni area where the ill-fated aircraft vanished as harsh territory, and said that any survivors would face several challenges. “The challenges are exposure to the elements, rain, being wet in the jungle most of the time, running out of supplies; and the biggest thing they may be running out of is hope, if you sense they have stopped searching for you.”

Captain Gouveia knows first hand the odds that the missing crew faces. In 1994, Gouveia was flying some eleven miles west of Timehri when he crashed. He spent 15 agonising hours, including nightfall, in the jungle, before he was finally rescued. “The night after they searched
and could not find me and the place silent, I felt myself sinking into a state of depression. A sense of hopelessness swept over me, but I felt a burst of excitement the next day when I heard the planes overhead. “I was very lucky. I was testimony to the fact that people can crash and
survive.”

However, others have not been so fortunate, and their bodies have never been found. He recalled that one pilot crashed in the Mazaruni jungle some two decades ago. Despite a massive air and land search by Civil Aviation Department and the army, he was never found. Another plane, with its pilot and about six European passengers, disappeared while flying between Anna Regina and Mount Roraima. A third disappeared while flying to Kaieteur.

The ill-fated twin-engine Beechcraft King Air disappeared two weeks ago while doing uranium survey work for Prometheus Resources Guyana Inc., a subsidiary of U308 Corp. of Toronto. Those missing are pilot James Barker, First Officer Chris Paris, and Canadian technician Patrick
Murphy.

Kreativ Quilter Award

I’m sorta slow sometimes. I am just now acknowledging an honor bestowed upon me two months ago when I was surprised with a message from Susan Loftin of Sunrise Quilt Studio that I had been awarded the Kreativ Quilter Award for my blogging efforts. (click here to read original post) That was a few days post Hurricane Ike (actually a day after we returned home from our mandatory evacuation) and I really didn’t know what the award meant or what to do about it (smile). I read the “rules of the award” and knew this was both an honor and a challenge.

An honor because it proved that someone was actually reading my blog (imagine that) and a challenge because as a recipient I am to nominate 5 other bloggers for this award. Well, I was so new to blogging that I was clueless who else to nominate that hadn’t already received the award.

Time marches on. First of all let me give Susan another belated thanks and encourage you to check out her blog, Sunrise Quilt Studio – I enjoy her mix of quilting and beautiful photography – I think you’ll enjoy it to and want to add her to your favorites.

Next let me share with you the responsibility and challenge of being a Kreativ Quilter Award winner...

The rules of the award are:

1. The winner may put the logo on her blog.

2. Put a link to the person you got the award from in your blog.

3. Nominate 5 blogs.

4. Put links to the blogs.

5. Leave a message for your nominees.

Well, Susan shared that she read so many blogs that it was difficult to narrow down to only five…me? I spend so much time writing my own blog that I don’t get around blogville very often. Okay, not very humble, but true. I’m a rambler not a reader. (sigh) So I’ve been trying to shake my narcissism and take time to find and enjoy other bloggers. Hence my procrastination in the public acknowledgment of this prestigious award (smile). Oh a couple I’ve pegged right from the get-go, but five? well that took some thinkin’, especially since it had to be folks that hadn’t received the award before.

Drum roll please:

1. Muddling Through, Elaine is a long-time, at times long-distance , email friend even though she really lives just a few miles north of me in Houston. We met years ago when I hired her teenage daughters to work with us in the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream booth at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in 1999 and 2000. (That’s another story for the rambler, but right now this is about Elaine). She is the one who encouraged me to start a blog and helped me muddle through. Her blog is refreshing to read and I dearly love this sister in Christ – talk about a prayer partner! Elaine’s your gal. She cooks, she sews, she quilts, she experiences life with a positive attitude so therefore I award her this top honor of the Kreativ Quilter Award.

2. Minding My P’s and Q’s – Cathy is a longarm friend I met through an internet online discussion group for longarm quilters. She’s always been encouraging and supportive of me when I’d write in to “vent” or share a link to my photo album, we also share in common the fact that we dearly love Jamie Wallen as a longarm teacher (grin)… I was pleased to find she is a blogger and PDQ (pretty darn quick) started following her blog. By the way P is for painting and Q is for quilting. One day I’m going to twist her arm to come visit and teach me how to make a quilt from a photo of Pixxie. This lady is multi-talented and her blog is full of inspiring photos from her handiwork. Bookmark her blog and you'll see why I think she deserves the Kreativ Quilter Award.

3. Ginnys Quilts – I have found Ginny to be an amazing woman! We were connected via email through a mutual online friend who participated in both a piecing online group that Ginny was in as well as the longarm online group I was in. Ginny is the inspiration behind Quilts of Hope – Blankets of Love for the Hurricane Ike survivors. Besides being my hero (she and her daughter can whip out a charity quilt faster than I can type) she has some interesting tales on her blog, so take time to check things out. Love ya’ girlfriend! Thanks for being so inspiring in your gifts of generosity. A positive pick for the Kreativ Quilter Award, I just know you're going to agree!

4. Sue Garman – Sue is a local celebrity that I’ve had the privilege of getting to know a little better each year through guilds and classes. Her work is amazing and so over the top inspiring. I’d really like to just go home with her after guild one night and hope that an inklin’ of her talent would escape and attach to me. Sue produces beautiful patterns for piecing and appliqué as well as designs fabric. Oh and did I mention, she's also a longarm quilter! Talk about multi-talented. She’s a gifted teacher, a fabulous quilter, and an all around nice person. I think you’ll enjoy reading about her numerous projects and agree with me that she indeed deserves the Kreativ Quilter Award. Okay, maybe a little cheesy for someone who’s been on TV and such, but I think she’ll giggle when she gets this email – after all, she knows I’m a little quirky. All that aside Sue, you are a most creative quilter!!

5. Geta’s Quilting - Geta is a new blog acquaintance to me. She first emailed me because I had photographed a few of her quilts that were on display at the 2008 Houston International Festival Quilt Show and she was pleased to see them since she could not attend the show….she lives in Romania!! No wonder she wasn’t in attendance! I then found her blog and more information about her amazing shadow trapunto quilts that caught my eye at Festival. Technology enables me to read her blog in English! I can hardly wait until she has her patterns translated – I’m ready to purchase! Beautiful lady, beautiful quilts. Geta hope you enjoy this Kreativ Quilter Award because you certainly are creative!

So there you have it, I’m finally getting around to posting the coveted award logo on my blog and passing on the honors to these other creative ladies. Thank you Susan for bestowing this privilege to me. Be sure to visit her blog as well as the other ladies. Isn’t it amazing how we can connect and make friends as well as admire and be inspired by the works of others through this mind boggling media known as blogging!

Thanks for reading mine! As I’ve said before, a rambler needs an audience. My family thanks you too, it’s less they have to “hear” when I share through my keyboard with you (smile) I try to type pretty quietly!!

When Quilters Gather

The Bayshore Longarm Quilters meet in my studio every so often, we call it "gatherings" as in the gathering of friends. There's a good group of us, some quilt for hire, some quilt for their own pleasure. Some have longarms, some midarms and some have domestic sewing machines mounted on frames. All machine quilters sharing the same passion.


Seems whenever we gather there's always a new friend to get to know. Our usual format is to just go around the room, introduce ourselves, what machine we have, if we quilt for others and then it's open to share whatever...show and tell, ask questions, etc. So I guess you could say most of the time it really is just a hen party. At least that's what my husband calls it.

Sometimes we have specific topics, but most the time its just whatever topic comes up. Always fun, always good ideas, sharing of websites and locations of where we found that new gadget we can't live without, etc.

But my favoirte part is always the show and tell! What we are working on personally or perhaps for a customer. And sometimes we get to see the quilts that have won awards in local and national events. Here's a taste of today's show and tell.

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Peggy shows her Square in a Square Tumbling Block sampler that she has almost finished.

Delores is our oldest member at 81. This is a quilt she pieced and quilted.

Cindy, Amy and Dee worked on a project together - the story goes they purchased the fabric together on a major shopping spree at Hancock's of Paducah. What stunning results!

Mary shares a quilt she pieced and I finished quilting for her last night. Wanna see close ups? (smile)

I took these last night. What a treat to get to quilt for a fellow quilter! I had fun with this little guy - I love the colors and really would like to one day make a similar quilt for myself.

.

Mary also shared her Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo 2008 Best of Division winning quilt. Just recently she was able to take a class with Jacqueline DeJonge, the designer of this pattern, and was able to share her version of Jacqueline's pattern with Jacqueline herself. How cool is that!

Sara brought a top to share and asked the quesiton "how would you quilt this" of the group - she went home with several design ideas.

Cristyn share a new tote bag that she made - said it took longer to cut it out than to sew it! Cute bag - everyone wanted to know the source of the pattern (Amy Butlter).

Yep, today was a good day -- it's always a good day when quilters gather!

Quilts of Hope, blankets of love update

3 boxes FULL of quilts arrived this afternoon (Friday) I will be photographing them tomorrow (Saturday) and attaching a note before they go out to our Ike survivors. The note includes the name and address of the person who made the quilt...just a piece of information and encouragement.

I'd really like it if you'd link to Ginny's blog to read a letter she got today concerning the blankets of love http://ginnysquilts.blogspot.com/2008/11/letter-from-fernando.html

For reference, Ginny and her daughter Torrie were the ones who started the in flow of quilts...on the side bar of my blog you will see a link to Torrie's interview at her local TV station.

Thanks to all who have sent quilts and to those who have sent notes that quilts are coming! I hope to have more to report about soon.

ko

Update on Missing Plane - please continue to pray

These are emails I've been receiving concerning the missing airplane and three men aboard. Please continue to pray for their safe return and for their families as well as the rescue team members. (one of rescue team members' mother is the author of the prayer request updates that I have been sharing with you)

Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 9:17 AM
Subject: Nevrdun News - Prayer Request Update 15

For those who might be interested there is a short embedded video here

http://www.wsmv.com/news/17958972/detail.html which includes an interview with Dara's mother. Dara is Chris' fiance.

Sent: Friday, November 14, 2008 7:42 PM
Subject: Nevrdun News - Prayer Request Update 17

It has been an unprecedented search.

We learned this evening that a normal search for a small plane that had disappeared in the jungle would only last about two days. This search has lasted two weeks. Two aircraft used in the search are en route back to the US. They have done all they can do within the country. Does the return of the planes signify the culmination of the search effort? No.

Pictures of the entire area have been taken and experts here in the US are continuing to analyze them, looking for anything unusual. People on the ground continue to scour the rugged terrain following the flight line the plane is believed to have taken. It will take them a couple more days to complete the path.

At this point, details may or may not work out for an aircraft with even more advanced technology to be utilized. My initial reaction to the possibility of it being unavailable? A sinking feeling accompanied by an

exclamation of, "Oh, no!" But then Psalm 20:7 came to mind, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God." God is still in control. No doubt whatever His plan is in this entire situation, it will ultimately bring glory to Him. Perhaps He has in mind some means other than man's advanced technology to accomplish His purpose and His plan.

No matter what the outcome, we can still trust Him.

Update on our little visitor yesterday

A friend sent me this link about parrots http://www.parrotchronicles.com/departments/parrotindex.htm#LOVEBIRD the peach faced love bird is more like the little visitor yesterday.

The Quaker Monk parakeets are the ones others mentioned they saw in the wild here in our area http://www.parrotchronicles.com/departments/parrotindex.htm#QUAKER I can't say I know for sure -- it was a while ago when I saw the wild flock and I've slept since then (grin) all I can remember is they were the beautiful tropical green (double grin).

Perhaps our little friend indeed was an Ike victim and is now homeless. If so, God has certainly taken care of him as we are now two months post Ike.

And no, I didn't see him today (sigh) but I will keep a bowl of millet out in hopes that he will return.

Reminder of God's Beauty in Creation

I was working in the studio early this afternoon when my son said "there's a bird trying to get in through your window" I looked up, sure'nough he was right! I rushed to find my camera then went outside hoping to capture this special occasion on film.

My first thought was this had to be someone's pet and it had escaped -- perhaps a displaced Ike victim -- then I remembered something I learned a few months ago when we were eating out at the Green Parrot Restaurant in San Leon (post-Ike) - these little beauties are actually native to our area. Not long afterward we were at the Spillway Park near the Bay between Bacliff and San Leon where we were delighted with an entire flock of these most colorful birds. Hum, they must be native just like the information on the restaurant menu informed us. How wonderful!

Whether this is a wild bird or someone's pet, no matter, all I know is that it was a most pleasant distraction! The colors on this little fellow are some of my favorites - I love using lime green in my quilts. I really like the turquoise on his tail feathers and the vibrant rose/bright apricot on his head was simply stunning. I would have never thought of putting these colors together, but then again, I'm not the Master Creator! I think I will mimic this is a future quilt though (smile).

When I held out my arm the little fellow flew and landed on me. I tried to pet it with my outstretched finger, gently, but he playfully pecked at me, letting me know he wasn't pleased with my gesture. Reluctantly I gave up trying to touch his beckoning softness. He then tried to fly into my window again and I knew we needed to do something to keep him from hurting himself. What to do? Hum... Offer food!!

Back in the day I was a very active bread maker -- from scratch -- really from scratch, as in I was the little red hen kind of scratch -- just like the little red hen in the olden story I read to my children as they were growing up, I ground my wheat berries to make my own flour for wonderful whole grain goodness. I also added several other ingredients when I made my whole grain Ezekiel bread, one of which was millet - what we commonly refer to as "bird seed" -- I still bake occasionally and have a 5 gallon bucket full of millet (among other grains) so I rushed into the house and poured some into a bowl to try to entice our new guest to eat and get away from the window.

We were pleasantly surprised that he trusted us and took our humble offering.

We were equally pleased that he came off the window sill to perch on the bowl of millet. As he was eating we noticed that one of his wings had been injured. Facing us it was the left side. When he would bend down into the bowl for his nourishment we could see there had been damage and some missing feathers underneath. Pleased, we discovered that it did not look to be infected - perhaps he was on the mend and a good bowl of millet would hit the spot and help him heal.

Somehow we knew that this beautiful little bird needed the safety of our backyard with it's large canopy of trees instead of the uncertainty of the carport where cats and squirrels are known to run under the studio window to the irritation of our forever pup Pixxie who dutifully barks through the window letting it be known her turf has been violated.

Slowly we walked the bird perched on the bowl of millet to the backyard. And I mean slowly. I was amazed at the beauty of this creation of God and I must have taken a hundred photos (smile). I even figured out how to take a video with my digital camera. If you listen carefully you can hear the crunching noise of the little bird breaking open the grain of millet.

Eventually we made it to the backyard where we placed the bowl with the bird still attached on our patio table. The wind was picking up, it was getting a tad bit cooler, so my thoughts began to dwell on providing a shelter from the upcoming storm for our new little guest...my husband went inside to find a shoebox and filled it with a couple of washcloths. He brought it outside and set it on the table. Our fine feathered friend hopped off the bowl to the top of the box, we thought "He likes it!" and then to our amazement he flew up into our tree.

I stayed outside and just looked up at him. Amazed at his beauty. Amazed at his trust. Praying that his wing will heal and that he will want to make our backyard his forever home. Reluctantly I returned to the studio - going out about 15 minutes later to see if he was still there. He was, right where I left him .. and then the rains came... I went outside with my umbrella and looked for my little feathered beauty. I couldn't see clearly up into the tall shelter of our tree...there was nothing else I could do. Honestly I was a bit sad.

I was reminded of a verse from Sunday's message ... Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Then my mind wandered back to earlier years and a portion of a song "His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me"

What a delightful reminder of my awesome Creator God who delights in His children -- enough to share with me, today, this beautiful little bird and the thought that I somehow assisted in providing him food. More importantly, a reminder that I am of more value to Him than the beautiful things He created. That He loves me, cares for me, and provides for me. Whatever storms may come, whatever storms may destroy or thieves steal, nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing can take His love away from me!

I hope I see the little bird again. He will be a beautiful reminder of the love of the Master Creator who cares about us both.