A Hop on a Motorcycle!

I know there are several of you out there wondering - but nope, no grandbaby news yet! Poor J is very anxious, as we all are. I guess the little one is just too comfy where he is. As I told her, it may feel like you've been pregnant forever, but I don't think anyone has been! Don't worry, I will be sure to keep you all "posted"!

In the meantime a few random things from my week. Sharon at Red Geranium Cottage posted photos of her "flora and fauna". There's no comparison to her California garden but here's a look at some of my "flora" I've got a gerber daisy that has become a freak of nature. Looks like siamese twin flowers! I didn't put out many flowers this summer and some of what I put out front aren't even doing very well. Some good rich dirt is needed in my front flower bed but that won't happen this year. But my daisies are looking pretty.
This weekend was the Jingle Bell Shop Hop for some of the local quilt shops. I have never actually been to an organized shop hop, so off I went. On Friday, I took myself to the two shops on the Indiana side that were participating. First stop, the Quilting Bee in Edwardsville. A nice shop with nice helpful ladies. I made a couple of purchases here and they seemed to be very busy with "hoppers".
Next stop, Patch As Patch Can, in New Albany. A small shop with a big dog as their mascot! It was pretty crowded in here, so I entered my name in their door prize drawing and went on. Looks like they have quite a few thirties type prints though.
The rest of the shops were over in Kentucky. I didn't have to twist D's arm too much to get him to take a motorcycle ride Saturday morning to a couple of them. Of course, we took the back roads! We went to Madison to cross the Ohio River bridge then down some twisty, country roads along the river. There were lots of deer playing in the fields. Don't know if you can see these two (sorry, should have zoomed a little!). We startled them as we came down the road and at first they started running toward us then took off in a safe direction! Sometimes I wonder about the roads D takes us on but we always somehow find our way to our destination. At least we don't encounter much traffic. But I don't like when we are out of cell phone service! What a cute shop this was in La Grange, KY. It is called the Gathering Room Quilt Shoppe. Several rooms of nice fabrics, especially cival war prints. More nice ladies working here. D wasn't the only guy browsing around but we were the only customers to come (at least at that time!) on a motorcycle. I found a really cute purse but they were out of the patterns. This might require a trip back ;) But other purchases were made!
The last shop of the day was Three Pines Designs Quilts and Crafts in Buckner, KY. This is a pretty small shop too, but boy have they got some pretty stuff! I saw several Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler fabrics. I will definitely be back. (B - you've got to go here with me!) There were three other shops on the Shop Hop. We didn't get to them but they were Among Friends Quilt Shop (which I frequent quite regularly!), Forget Me Knot Quilt Shop and Happy Heart Quilt Shop (I couldn't find links for those two) all in Louisville.

We made a short detour for a late lunch at the Westport General Store. Hard to imagine finding such a nice meal in such a location but we've been here before and have always had plans to come back someday. We were just about the only customers, but it was late in the afternoon. They were very, very busy the night we were here a couple of years ago.


They use a lot of locally grown produce. These heirloom tomatoes and fresh mozzarella were wonderful. We should have stopped there but D tried the bison burger and I had the baby hot brown. What is a hot brown you say? Check out the history of this area favorite at this hotel website. Rich, but yummy.
The afternoon heat had been turned up so we headed homeward shortly after lunch. Here are my shop hop purchases. Christmas fabric was 20% off at all of the shops but I only bought one selection at the first shop along with the charm pack of Pumpkins Gone Wild. At the Gathering Room, I purchased a kit for a "stack and whack" type table runner. I've never done any of those so it will be interesting. Looks easy if I can just stay organized! I'm thinking I might try to make a Kaffe Fasset style quilt one of these days so I bought his book at our last stop. Also the Amy Butler pattern - because I need another purse pattern! So, time will tell if I get any of these projects completed! Seems too early to be thinking about Christmas! I'm working on something using Fresh Squeezed fabrics right now. It is very summery so it will be hard to change directions. Maybe a pic of that next time! Unless I have something or someone more exciting to photograph! Have a great week everyone!

A New Baby - In 1981 !!!

I got your attention didn't I ? !!!

This is the Happy Birthday Post for the daddy-to-be !!! Twenty-seven years ago, we welcomed our little boy into the world. What a cute little guy he is too ! (Just look at those long legs J!)
It's hard to believe that in just a few days he'll be a Daddy to his own little trouble maker!
But I think he'll be able to handle it!
You will make a wonderful father JMD! We are so proud to see you grow into the man you've become.
And we are looking forward to meeting our grandson! Hope you have a very Happy Birthday!

BIRTHDAY HUGS FROM YOUR MOM, JMD!

My 100th Post !!!

Here it is..... my 100th post! Many bloggers celebrate this milestone in different ways. Some host nifty give-a-ways and contests, some post a list of facts about themselves, and some have flashy graphics. But I think I'll just give myself a rose! When I started this blog stuff almost a year ago (yes, my bloganniversary is coming soon too!) I didn't have any idea what kind of response there would be or if I would even keep it up. But I have to say that overall it has been a great experience. My cousin over at A Little Something EEEEEkstra (who also celebrates her 100th post this week!) was one of my inspirations. As were many of the folks over at RV Dreams . Once I got hooked and began following several other bloggers with similar interests, the addiction began. I'm sure many of you can relate! Probably the most satisfaction that this has brought me has been the fact that my crafting interests, particularly quilting, have been stimulated! Plus, the connection with friends (old and new) and family has been wonderful . Though occasionally we may be a little boring, I hope you all get some enjoyment from reading about our adventures and if nothing else, a little amusement!

E, our first born, visited this weekend. It's hard to believe, but she hasn't been here since Christmas so it was about time she came to see Mom and Dad! We did nothing special, just hung out, shopped and ate! She had a little re-finishing project for Dad to help her with, though she is quite capable on her own, they made a good start on it. While I sat in on the B.O.M. meeting over at Among Friends Quilt Shop she browsed and found some pretty batiks to try a sewing project for herself. Just another one of my talented children!

Dad was thrilled that she agreed to a short ride on the Harley with him. He really enjoys showing off his toy! The company she works for has gone to a four day work week so the drive to our house is a little easier now. It was great to have her home!
Saturday evening, we enjoyed a family dinner out with E, B and N. I've not quite acquired the taste for sushi as the rest of them have, but some of these were cooked and really pretty good. For you foodie photo fans - here you go! I forgot my camera, but the iphone met the challenge!
This was a new restaurant, Beijing Grill and Sushi Bar (no website yet). I even tried a Vietnamese noodle bowl, Bun Xa Ot. Interesting and worth trying again sometime.
Cupcake swap time! Hey Sharon, I've got my swap gift just about ready to mail! Hope I'm not giving too much away here, but Susan at Blackberry Creek will soon be getting this package filled with ?????. I know I have to get this done before I take off to welcome grandbaby #1. This is all for tonight. I'm ready to aim for the next 100 posts! Thank you all so much for stopping by and reading. Thanks also to those of you who take the time to post a comment. Maybe some day I'll surprise you all with a give-a-way for commenters! Stay tuned and have a great week!

Happy Anniversary Wishes!

July 20, 1974 - A wedding day in Kansas! Happy Anniversary to the best sister and brother-in-law ever! Aren't they cute!
I'm sure they're glad that my spy was able to send me these scanned images from photos I'm sure were taken on a little Kodak Instamatic! They've aged well haven't they! Still cute tho!
Enjoy your day K & J! Love to you both - (the card is in the mail!)




Now, if you are a relative and are soon to give birth - please close your screen NOW!

Here's something to tease you all with! Recently retrieved from a wonderful Long Arm Quilter across the river, this secret project has found it's way back to Grandma's. This photo does not truly do it justice. I was so pleased with how it turned out, I could cry, literally. Almost like giving birth too! (Okay J, I know you peeked!)

Our eldest is visiting this weekend, so stay tuned for another post soon.

Three Posts In One

I know that I should have made this post into about three different ones, but that ole' procrastination bug got to me instead.

A few quilty type things did get done though! I had considered not posting this picture, but because I haven't decided who will be the recipient, here it is. Grandbaby #1 is going to have lots of quilts, so maybe he'll get this one, and maybe he won't! Or, I may just leave it here at my house for special visits! Anyway, this was made using a pattern I found in the Summer issue of BH&G's Quilts and More. I really like this pattern and will probably use it again. No decision yet on the quilting but I'm considering do this one myself after I do some more free motion practicing. On Thursday I drove over to Among Friends Quilt Shop to pick up some "ingredients" for my cupcake swap project. I really need to get started on that! That is at the top of the list for this week. But before I stopped at AFQS, I did a little research and found the location of another quilt shop that I had heard about. Forget Me Knot Quilt Shop (Sorry, I couldn't find a website) is located in an older mall, but the store front is really quite fresh and bright. An interesting exhibit of quilts made by men (yes, men can quilt too!) adorned their walls. Overall I was impressed by the shop and I'm sure I'll be back!
I found lots of interesting patterns, but limited myself to just one!
On Friday, the new 3G iphone was released. Many of you know I've had one of the first generation iphones since last Christmas. Overall, I've been pretty happy with it and now feel lost when I don't have it nearby. Since the 2.0 software update was issued last week also, I thought I should go ahead and download it to my phone so I would be (almost) as cool as some people in my family who were getting the newer iphone. Well, let me tell you, when Apple decided to issue new phones and new software on the same day, they didn't think it through too well! In the midst of downloading my new software, itunes crashed (which you need to sync and update the phone)! I was sure I was now going to be cell phone less! My phone was completely useless, except for supposedly being able to call 911. Finally, about 2 hours later, I was able to complete the download, but I've now realized how addicted I am to my iphone! Visions of the parents-to-be trying to call me with grandbaby news plus not being able to check my email in the grocery store almost made me panic!! (Ok, I don't always check my email in the grocery, but you get the picture!) But all is well and I'm back in iphone heaven - but I still haven't figured out what all the new software gives me!

Saturday was a Harley riding day again. Of course! We dodged a few thunderstorms, but made a nice drive (on the back roads again) to Berea, Kentucky. With a stop at Shakertown in Pleasant Hill. We didn't take the time to do the tour there, but decided to wait and do that the next time we've got relatives to entertain with tourist activities. It looks like it would be really interesting though and I've heard that the food there is excellent too!


I like this sign in front of the apple orchard at Shakertown.
These fences are everywhere in Kentucky and even near here in Southern Indiana. They remind us of the stone fences that we saw all over Ireland when we visited a few years ago.
Berea, Kentucky is a great place to visit if you enjoy folk arts and crafts. We had intended on checking out an craft fair nearby but after some rain delays, we decided to not fight the muddy park and just browse the shops near the college downtown. There is a Quilt Extravaganza coming up the first weekend in August. If you are nearby and love quilts, I'm sure this would be worth the trip. This is just one of the areas of shops and galleries. There is also Old Town and several other places to visit. We both really enjoy looking at all the high quality craft items here.
We managed to stay dry for our entire trip home. Even extending it a little to drive up to La Grange to have dinner at the newest location of one of our favorite restaurants, The Irish Rover Too. We noticed when we drove into town, the train tracks running right down the middle of Main Street. D wasn't too fond of driving the bike across them but we found a parking spot near the front of the restaurant. Sure enough, while we enjoyed our Fish and Chips, the train came through town. No wonder one of the slogans for this town is "La Grange, Ky, a train runs through it"! (That's our Harley, behind the street sign as the train came down the street) Thanks for stopping by again. I'm getting very, very close to my 100th post and also my "bloganniversary". Thank you to anyone who has taken the time to read and send me comments (I really like comments!) I should do something special for that 100th post - but don't know what that will be yet. Stay tuned!

Missouri Trip - Part 2

We closed out the long weekend with an extended scenic route home. B drove my car home on Saturday night as she had to work early Sunday morning. After breakfast the next morning D and I climbed on the Harley for our ride home. We had a "support" vehicle with B and P following us for the first half of the ride. Some of the areas to the south of St. Louis were still feeling the affects of the Mississippi floods. In fact we had a detour for a portion of the way to Paducah which probably added about 40-50 miles to the trip. Sometimes the back roads can be a little boring and there were a few stretches that qualified for that. But there were a couple of cute little towns, still with their 4th of July flags flying and lots of corn fields even if the corn seemed to be a little behind in its development. In some spots, the water was still pretty close to the road.



We stopped for a late lunch at Cape Girardeau, MO. On a Sunday afternoon there weren't many people around in this historic downtown area. There were several interesting shops that I took note of, for future reference!
D's step mom, P is a quilter (and a stitcher, see her website here) also and had never been to Paducah. So first thing after breakfast at Bob Evans, we headed to Hancock's of Paducah. We were quite impressed and almost overwhelmed by the selections of fabric.

The guys waited patiently while we made a few purchases. It is so nice of the store to put the benches out for bored husbands. I could have spent more time fondling fabric but I did control myself! After a stop at the American Quilt Museum and Eleanor Burns Quilt in A Day Shop, B and P headed back to Arkansas and D and I sought out the nearby Harley dealership.Four Rivers Harley-Davidson is located a few miles outside of town in a beautiful new building. They've got two floors to display all the bikes, clothing and accessories and lots of outdoor space which I'm sure is great when some of the big rides come through. We sat outside with our map and cold drinks to plan our trip home.

We decided to take more back roads and headed back up into Illinois to follow the Ohio River back to Evansville. Along the way we stopped in Elizabethtown, IL where we found this great little floating restaurant. They catch river catfish, clean and fillet right there and fry up into great fish sandwiches. Their homemade potato salad, beans and cole slaw were good too. It's always fun to find these little out of the way places - especially if food is involved! We had a safe but uneventful trip the rest of the way home. I'm not aware of any extended trips in the near future but I'm sure there will be short ride of some type this weekend. Now that the big arrival date is fast approaching, our next trip might be back to MO!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great rest of the week!

An All Star Baby Shower!

Here it is Tuesday morning and I'm just now getting around to blogging about the baby shower! It has been one busy, exciting weekend and we just got home last night. So that is my excuse and my apologies to those of you who were not able to come to the shower and are anxiously awaiting pics of the mom-to-be and all the fun!

I really don't know where to begin but the highlight of the weekend was the J's (J, J & soon to be here, J) baby shower on Saturday. We needed to get J out of the house so we could decorate, so B was in charge of getting her to her pedicure appointment and detaining her for a couple of hours. With help from D, E, J and P we were ready to party! We had a hard time keeping the mommy away from the food table!

Here she is - sneaking a sample! But she is eating for two you know! Our menu included some of her favorite foods, including chicken salad. Daddy J thinks she's eaten so much chicken salad the past few months, she'll soon be clucking! It's not often that we're all together, so here's the latest photo of the mom, aunts and grandma (or nana?) - to-be. Isn't it great that the empire dress is trendy? It's almost hard to tell who's the pregnant one!B made this cute diaper cake, carrying out the Baby All Star theme there were lots of goodies in there! We had everyone guess how many diapers it took. Eighty-nine to be exact.
More decorations - the sports themed onesies and socks on the clothesline with diapers. We had more strung up on the wall in the living room. It turned out pretty cute I think!
This is one of the secret projects from last week. The favor bags for the shower guests. I used a free pattern from All People Quilt. Then E brought blue and brown M & M's to put inside. The poem is a variation of one that a friend had given me.

Of course there were lots of nice gifts for little J. I don't know when he's going to be able to wear all the cute clothes. There will be several to pass along to the next baby in the family. The little drooler sleeper came from a cute store in California that E found on her last trip there. Sorry I can't put a link because I don't know the name!
I've created my own competition! B has learned to quilt and can't stop! I think her latest creation for her little nephew pleased the mom-to-be. J and B go back a long way as high school BFF's even before J & J knew each other. So there's a special bond between these two!Here she is again - by the food! Dessert was an ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery. It was yummy - but for future reference, never have them use a peanut butter filling. Cutting through frozen peanut butter is extremely difficult. Eating frozen peanut butter is even more difficult! We had plenty of cake and I suspect that when we make the next trip to MO we'll find CSC cake in the freezer to snack on (unless J has a late night craving!)! J wasn't left out of the fun. We got him a shower gift too! He'll probably have the little guy dressed up in the little St. Louis Cardinals uniform every game day! This is a little out of the timeline, but along the same theme. On the 4th of July we all went out to dinner at Pujols 5 Grill. Of course, someone had to explain to me who Albert Pujols is, but we really did enjoy his restaurant!This dish belonged to dear hubby. He's trying to eat healthier so went with Shrimp Tacos. Looks yummy! I've got photos of more of our dishes, but I'd better be finishing up this post before the day is over ( and the relatives get restless!).In fact, some of the best photo ops I missed. I know - "bad blogger"! B rode with her Dad to MO on the motorcycle and I forgot to take a photo of them when they came in Thursday evening, in the rain, with rain gear and big smiles. Even though they drove through a mean rainstorm, they still enjoyed the father-daughter bonding. Now, she just has to convince her hubby N to get a Harley too!

Then there was the trip to the furniture store on Friday afternoon to pick up the new furniture J & J had purchased for the living room and the newly finished basement! Dad and J were expecting to take at least two trips with the pickup truck but the guys at the store just kept loading it on. In true family tradition and looking like Jed Clampett relatives, they made it in one trip. Wish I'd been there with the camera then!

Now that the showers are all over, all they have to do is wait! The next few weeks will go by slowly, but then the next 20 years will be gone in a flash. It seems like just a short while ago that we brought home our little baby boy! In fact it will be 27 years ago in a few days! Maybe little J will put in his appearance in time to make a nice birthday present for his daddy!

Sorry it has taken me so long to get this up ! Thanks for waiting, and thanks for reading! More of the last half of our trip will come soon, so please check back in a day or so!