Scenes from the Weekend

No big motorcycle ride, no grandbaby cuddles, no quilting. But a just a few events that made a pleasant weekend.

Friday night, after picking up the repaired motorcycle from the local dealership, we joined some friends for a night at Derby Dinner Playhouse. After stuffing ourselves with the wonderful buffet supper and these totally fat free desserts (!) we enjoyed the play. It was "Smoke on the Mountain" a cute musical about the homecoming of a gospel singing family. The old time hymns brought back lots of memories. Remember "We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder" and "Do Lord"?

Saturday morning, before the heat and humidity set in, neighbor B and I checked out a local art fair, Art in the Park . It is not a very big fair with only about 100 or so juried artisans. But there were some wonderful artists with sculpture, metal art, woodworking, jewelry and lots more - but no quilts! Believe it or not, we both came home empty handed, though we spent quite a while in one jewelry booth, before we decided we didn't really need anything.
Sunday morning, we got the Harley out to test drive the repairs. After a great breakfast at the Word of Mouth Cafe (Neil and Patti's Fireside Grill for any local folks) we headed up to Huber's Farm Market to buy some healthy fruits and vegetables. Look at these beautiful, locally grown peaches! We bought a whole basket and have been enjoying them all week. I see a pie in the near future!We also bought some pretty green beans but these blackberries stole the show. They were huge! See how just one filled an entire spoonful!
They were sacrificed to a blackberry cobbler. The recipe came from the July issue of Southern Living magazine and it was delicious (especially with frozen vanilla yogurt) but next time I think I'll try a recipe I found at Pioneer Woman (one of my new favorite blogs/websites).
So, I guess our weekend sort of revolved around food. I didn't even get photos of my potato salad and the baby back ribs from Preferred Meats (almost as good as Cheddar's) or the homemade pizza on Sunday night. But they were all good! I'm telling you, Weight Watchers has a chair with my name on it. But first I need to make that peach pie!

More Missouri Trip

Before I forget - I want to tell you all a little about the rest of our trip out west to Missouri last week. It wasn't all grandbaby cuddling, even though that was the highlight of the week!
As we headed down I-64 into the sunset, we first stopped at The Log Inn in Warrenton. This is Indiana's oldest continuously operating restaurant and lays claim to the fact that Abe Lincoln stopped here back in 1844. In fact I think we ate in the same log cabin dining room as Abe! We've eaten here several times in the past when we used to shoot trap at the Evansville Gun Club. If you go, get the fried chicken !
Since D's company has an office in St. L also, he was able to work out of that office for a couple of days while I played with little J. This is the only time the little Harley booties will be worn, as his little feet aren't so little! But the Harley bunny will have to provide some Harley influence.
We left the new parents in charge for the weekend and decided to explore a little of Missouri and the northern edge of Arkansas. We didn't get far. The bike had been losing oil pressure, getting hot (or hotter than usual!) and becoming more noisy. So the first dealership we saw, we pulled in to see if they could diagnose the problem. Even though it was near their closing time, these nice guys at Bourbeuse Valley Harley Davidson began pulling parts off right and left. About 45 minutes later, we were back on the road with what we thought was a smooth running machine. For the next twenty-four hours, D bragged on the mechanic that had made our Harley run better than ever. Unfortunately, that's about how long it took before the problems returned.


The guys at the dealership did give us a good tip for our dinner that night. The Missouri Hick Barbecue restaurant in Cuba, Missouri. Decorated with old tools and playing some hillbilly music, they serve a good barbecue here. I think it is located on the old Route 66.Here's the first food photo for you all! We both had the sampler plate. Weight Watchers here I come!
Our Harley-Davidson map has featured rides outlined in each state. This one may have had nice smooth roads and the scenery had some nice highlights, but not much variety. Just a lot of curvy tree-lined roads. There were a lot of river rafting and canoeing places along the way. We talked to a group of 50-somethings at our motel in Cuba, MO that were headed to a canoe trip on one of the rivers. Sounded like fun, but also a lot of work! Next stop, Fred's Fish House in Mammoth Spring, Arkansas. We had something here that was new to us, pickled green tomatoes. If we ever go back to this part of the state, we'll have to spend some time at the state parks and maybe do some hiking or canoeing - then maybe we wouldn't need WW! We didn't make it to Eureka Springs or Branson either. Someday we'll get back there when we can spend some time doing the tourist thing. We covered several miles on this leg of the trip and even stopped at another H-D dealership, Ozark Harley-Davidson. More super nice folks there, but still couldn't fine the source of our problems. We spent the night in Osage Beach and continued our trip back to St. L on Sunday morning.
We followed the Missouri River and traveled through the Missouri Wine Country with stops in Herman and Augusta, Mo. Two different but interesting little towns. This would make a nice little day ride from St. Louis. I'm not sure how many wineries there are in this area, but I think there's quite a few. We had lunch at the Vintage Restaurant at the Stone Hill Winery in Herman.

By now, you've figured out that we only stopped for food and Harley Dealerships on this little trip. However, we did stop at a few little shops. My favorite was The Uptown Store in Augusta.

We made in back to St. L in time to give little J a few Grandpa cuddles before he headed back toward home on Monday. One last Joey photo in this epic post. Training for a road trip to come visit Grammie and Grandpa some time soon I hope! Sorry this has been kind of a long one but thanks for sticking with it if you've made it this far! After all, we truly were "on the road"!

(Harley update. We continued to have problems on the ride home even stopping at a couple more dealerships. But the guys back home at Louisville Harley-Davidson worked some magic and we're back in business. I can't explain what the problem was or what they did to it, but as of today, Sunday, D is a happy Harley guy!)

Cupcake Cuteness

It has arrived! My carton of cupcake cuteness from Susan at Blackberry Creek! Isn't it fun to get a package in the mail? Thank you Sharon for organizing this Cupcake Swap! Now look and see what I got! I love the cupcake pincushion, the cupcake ornament, the cupcake stickers and cards to be crafty with, a cute chicken kitchen timer, some sprinkles for the next batch of cupcakes and this darling cupcake banner! I'm pretty sure the banner is a Susan original and presume she made the pincushion too. Quite the talented lady she is!
Susan did a beautiful job on all the little details. I only could choose one photograph for here, so chose the E, for daughter E!
Right now the banner decorates my little kitchen cabinet, but I think it will eventually go to my sewing room. It will provide some much needed inspiration when I get back in the sewing/quilting mode!
Thanks so very much Susan! This was a wonderful way to meet another blogger with similar interests. Sharon, when's the next swap!? Thanks again girls!

Cuddling or Blogging? Guess Which Won.

Guess where I've been! A few days of grandbaby cuddling took precedence over blogging this week. He is such a sweet little guy, it was hard to leave him behind. His mommy says he likes to be held a lot, so I was happy to comply. Sorry I haven't posted in ......wow, over a week ! But a few days with J, J & J then a couple of days of motorcycle riding with my hubby, followed by another evening and morning of cuddling little J, then another two days on the Harley with hubby and now home again. Over 200 photos and where do I begin! So tonight I'm sorting through all of them and will get them online tomorrow for those of you who want to see more and then I'll get another blog post together about the rest of our trip.
So tonight I'll leave you with this quilty photo, but somehow a baby got in this shot! And just in case you all want to see why he was so easy to cuddle - take a look at this. And I've got many more! Miss you already, little J!

And the Winner Is.......

As promised, today is the day to announce the winner of the giveaway for my One Year Blogiversary/100th Post. Beamer was chosen as the designated drawing helper. It was a nice response to my first giveaway. Some new readers responded as well as some of you who are nice enough to give me your comments regularly. I put each name on a post-it note, folded them with the sticky part outside and placed them in a box. As Beamer didn't quite get the idea to just put his paw inside and pull out the winner, I had to throw a kitty treat in the box and wait to see if a name would stick to his paw. Sure enough, it worked! After all, Beamer is on a diet and he'll do (just about) anything for a treat!
Can you read the name? It is (drum roll here)........JESSICA !!! This was not rigged, I promise!! So if you are reading this, and you are not the Jessica who commented, please don't tell her! She'll be here eventually then she'll have to send me an email with her address. I know there are people out there who would gladly give it to me, but I'll wait for her!
Now I have a suggestion for Jessica - why don't you start a blog too? After all, your sis and cousins are getting in the act. Then you can post a photo of the cutest Amy Butler designed bag that you will receive! I think you'll like it. I'll be starting on it soon.

It was such a pretty day here yesterday (and today, also) that we just had to get out on the Harley. This motorcycle riding is coming in handy, because all I have to do is suggest a quilt shop out of town, and we're off! Sunday it was Clementine's Dry Goods in Franklin, IN. The owner has a blog too, Camillaknits. She has a wonderful selection of Amy Butler and Anna Maria Horner fabrics which was just what I needed for the giveaway! I almost missed her as she was ready to close up when we arrived but graciously let me come in anyway. I think I made it worthwhile for her!

Here's the pretty things I found. I can't wait to get started on projects now!
Now that you are here in blog land browsing around, be sure to jump over to Polka Dots and Rick Rack. She's having a giveaway too for her One Year Blogiversary. She and I have a lot in common, especially that we are both newcomers to grandmahood! Her little Luke is almost as cute as our little Joey! But then, you know I'm sort of prejudiced ! So like her, I'm going to close with another photo of our handsome sweetie.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for all the nice comments and well-wishes. Come back again!

More Joey!

Now that the big event is over and little Joey has made his grand entrance, how about a re-cap of some of the weekend events? When we arrived Wednesday evening, J & J unwrapped little J's quilt. I am so pleased with how this turned out. I hope they like it too. The lady who quilted it for me lives in Louisville and did a beautiful job. Thanks Sandi! Isn't it amazing how much difference it makes in a quilt when it is all quilted and bound!


Thursday was to have been the day of the birth. But instead it was a day of preparation and waiting. Poor Daddy was hungry so we brought him (and little J) a cookie that said "let's go Joey!"
Years ago, the Dads were the ones filling the waiting rooms. Now it is the rest of the family. Here B was able to get a few minutes to stretch out to pass the time. We brought books and stitching projects, but neither one of us was able to concentrate. We were actually one of the smallest family groups waiting for word on the arrival of new babies. Some seemed to bring all the in-laws and the littlest cousins. The date of 08-08-08 is supposed to be lucky so it was a popular date for those moms who had an option to pick their baby's birth date!

The big moment finally arrived and little J (or maybe I should say "not so little" J) made his appearance. Mama J was super tired after a long, exhausting morning but the joy of motherhood is obvious! She's going to make a terrific mommy! What a lucky baby you are little Joey!
It's been several years since this proud Grandpa held one this small!
Joey's other Grandma was lucky to be there for the birth of her second grandson! Our little one has two Grandma Janet's! What is he going to come up with to call each of us?!All it took was one cuddle and Auntie B now has the baby fever ! Auntie E was on vacation in Colorado and can't wait to get her hands on the little guy too.

Well, here's my little boy with his little boy. It doesn't seem like it was twenty-seven years ago, but he turned out pretty good! I have a feeling he'll make a good Daddy too.
Isn't he adorable? Of course I'm not prejudice at all. He's definitely got our family resemblence, but I can see a little of his mommy there too. J had the same hair, but a little darker. His chin, lips and nose remind me of his Daddy and his Grandpa. It will be so much fun to watch him grow. I wish we were a little closer, but I'm sure we'll get to see him often. Grandmahood will be good!

P.S. For those of you looking for the give-a-way drawing winner, I will draw the name tomorrow and post it then!

Introducing another J.M.D. !!!

He's here! Meet Joseph Morton ! All 8 lbs., 9 oz of him! I told you there would be BIG baby news! He is one stubborn little guy and took his sweet time in arriving, making his mama work extra hard, but he entered the world today, 08-08-08 at 1:34 pm. The happy parents with little Joey!
Yes, it is yours truly with Grandbaby #1 !
Just a few photos of our sweet, healthy and beautiful grandson (yes, we think he favors his daddy!) ! I'm sure you will see more of this cutie in the future. In the meantime, we say a prayer of thanks for his safe arrival and a wish for a healthy, happy future!

Packed and Ready!

All packed and ready to go! D, B and I are heading west to Missouri tonight. The little guy is being encouraged to make his appearance tomorrow! I'll post info and photos as soon as I can so please check back. I'm sure there will be BIG baby news soon! We received this photo of the great-grandpa-to-be with his latest woodworking project. This cute cradle can be dis-assembled and stored in it's own wooden box so it can be passed on to future great grandbabies. Now you see where my DH gets his talent! I'll make sure to get a photo of it in use. Thanks so much for all the nice comments on my blogiversary post! I've decided there will definitely be a "giveaway" drawing, but not until we get back from welcoming Grandbaby #1. But if you didn't post a comment before and would still like to enter your name in the drawing, you can still enter by posting a comment on the blogiversary post, today's update or the next one ! I'll assign numbers to each comment and draw a number next Monday. I will make an Amy Butler Frenchy bag (my color choice) for the winner!

Beamer is tired of being the subject of my photography experiments this week so he will be happy to have the house to himself for the next few days. He gets along fine without us - just as long as the food bowl gets filled. But when we get home, he'll do a lot of out loud complaining!

Have a great day everyone! Please come back and see what's new!

Blogiversary - A New Word

Greetings everyone. I am back in blogger land. After continuously getting an error message last night from blogger about Internet Explorer not being able to access the site, I finally am able to post. All I had to do was check out a few of the blogs that I normally read (translate: am addicted too!) and I found the solution to my predicament at Polka Dot Pineapple. Thanks Lettie!

The Gerber Daisy Siamese Twins continue to bloom! Doesn't this kind of look like an exotic bird face if you stare at it long enough?

So today is my blogiversary. You'll not find that word in the dictionary but it is the one year anniversary of my first post here at Blogspot. I've been debating if I should give away a prize in honor of my sticking with this little project for a whole year as so many of my blog friends have. What do you think? Maybe if I should get enough comments here at the bottom of this post I might surprise one of you! Just click on the comment link and tell me what you think. You don't even have to have a blogger account, you can comment anonymously but will have to check back to see what happens! I finished a bag from the new Amy Butler pattern yesterday. It was quick and pretty easy. (Could I be convinced to make a similar one as a give away?)

We were hoping all week for "the" call from the parents-to-be, but not yet. I know we're not near as anxious as they are! One of these days! In the meantime I have been working on a few things. Of course the purse above and then also this small quilt made from a Fresh Squeezed jellyroll. It went together pretty fast too. Now to figure out how to quilt it. I need some suggestions please. I also spent some time practicing my free motion quilting, but I still don't feel I'm ready to do a full quilt. Maybe I need to put this aside for awhile and keep practicing!
Today I've been experimenting with my newest toy. I'm upgrading my digital camera from the little Kodak I've dragged everywhere for the past few years. This is the Panasonic Lumix. I'm still studying the manual and trying out all the features. More than I'll ever need I'm sure! But it does have 10x zoom, optical image stabilizer and a 28 mm wide angle. I'll let you know if it becomes my new best friend!

Today we participated in a motorcycle ride to benefit the Eric Hall Memorial Fund. Perhaps you remember my mention of this young Marine, the son of friends of ours, who was injured in Iraq and suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. He disappeared last spring in Florida and was later found deceased. It is such a sad story but his parents have formed a foundation to help other veterans who suffer from mental health issues. Eric was a motorcycle rider so what better way to raise some money for the cause than to sponser a fun event for area riders.

Staging was in a local church parking lot with a local radio host, Francine, as MC. There were lots of donated raffle prizes and hot dogs, chips, watermelon and cookies waiting for us but soon it was time to hit the road.

One rider, a veteran who had helped search for Eric, rode all the way from Florida to participate.
Eric's parents thanked the 80 plus bikers and their riders for coming to the first annual Eric Hall Memorial Ride. They were pleased with the turn-out and hope to continue this every year.

We rode about eighty miles through some of the same back country roads that we drive on our own explorations.


It was a beautiful day to ride and this time we felt like we helped make just a little difference. No matter what your political beliefs, we shouldn't forget those suffer from the effects of war, even if their injuries aren't as noticeable as some. The Hall's have bravely dealt with their son's death in a way that will continue to honor him and others. There should be a website coming soon with info about the foundation. I'll post a link when it is available. Eric's birthday was August 5, so I'm to pass the word along that that date would be a good day for a baby boy to enter the world!

Thanks again for stopping by! Have a great week.