Yes, I fell behind with the update. March, particularly the end of March, was a very busy month for us: both me and Kumiko had to go out of town. There literally was no time to work on the web. So what were we up to?

Kumiko went to Dallas to help out at the quilt show. She was also exhibiting her new miniature quilt. (Click on the images to see a larger version). She won the third prize. Considering the size of the show and the competition that is quite an achievement. What is even more remarkable is that this is the third year ( in a row) that she has won a prize with her miniatures.

Third prize in 1999

and first prize in 2000.

I did not do anything even remotely as intense. Our team (Kazakhstan) went on a field trip to look at some carbonate analogs in the modern and ancient sediments. The pursuit of modern examples took us to Turks and Caicos. This is an group of small islands in the south part of the Bahamian archipelago. The islands are still a colony of Great Britain and apart from the sun, beaches and coral reefs they are known as a tax haven. So if you get rich and do not want to share you can get a permanent residence here for a lump sum fee of 10, 000 dollars and an investment of a quarter million dollars.

Yes, I know, trips to places like this are tough work, but somebody has to do it. The rest of the trip was to west Texas and New Mexico.

Meanwhile, on the home front in warm going on to hot Houston it is study, study, study for Monica and we assume more of the same for Alice in sunny but not so warm Calgary. The blueberry bush finished flowering and now has small green berries.

This is just a counter. If you click on it it will take you somewhere else but you can always return to my page by using the back button at the upper left part of your browser.