Day 7 A Wreath and a Red Bow

Well it is supposed to be a wreath with a red bow but instead I've given you one of each!

December 5

I skipped the December 4 post, and I have a good reason.  There are no wrapped packages under our tree....yet.  Shopping is coming along nicely but the wrapping and mailing part will have to wait a bit.  But I did make somethings tasty.  Caramel Corn and Reindeer Food are all bagged and ready for some little thank you gifts.

The Reindeer Food is my variation of this recipe but using the red, green and white candy corn and Christmas sprinkles.  Very tasty!  

PS  I took this photo on my phone and tried to post using the Blogger app on my Iphone.  This just might be the answer to trying to blog more.  First attempt failed but I think it just might work!  Does anyone else use the Blogger mobile app? Any suggestions are welcome.

December 3

Today's photo is supposed to be of our Christmas tree.  Since our tree this year is still a work in progress, I'm using a photo of  the top of our tree last year. (It's actually the same artificial tree  and will be decorated pretty much the same). Now I just need to  make the bow for the top to finish it up.

Happy December 3 !

Number 2 on the List

Day 2  - A list

Love my iphone, but I need to utilize it more.  I do use the Notes app quite a bit, but need to remember to delete some of the notes once I've completed them.   This the list I started for today.  There's another list on here too, but showing my Christmas shopping list would ruin the surprise for some!

Have a wonderful December day!

December 1 and a List

Wow, it's December 1 ! There's not much more than an hour left of today but maybe I can still get this post in on time!  I'm going to TRY to participate in this fun photo challenge that some of my bloggy friends have brought to my attention.  Susan at This Day has the details on her blog but here is my entry for today - Something Red.

This is a quilt I made several years ago and one of my favorites.  This photo is old and taken before it was bound.  I should have pulled my camera out to get a new shot, but no, I took on the challenge of "digging" deep into my photo files to find this one.  ( A new photo might have been easier!)

Here's the list if any one else wants to join in!

1. Something Red
2. A List
3. The Christmas Tree
4. Presents Wrapped Under the Tree
5. Something Warm and Tasty
6. A Candy Cane, or Five
7. A Wreath with a Red Bow
8. Stamped and Addressed Christmas Cards
9. Santa Claus
10. Away in the Manger
11. Ribbons and Bows
12. Something Sticky
13. Reindeer
14. A Decked Hall
15. Silver Bells
16. A Hippopotamus (?)
17. Under the Mistletoe
18. A Cup of Cheer
19. Toys in Every Store
20. A Winter Wonderland
21. Tiny Tots with Their Eyes All Aglow
22. Holiday Greetings
23. A Shining Star
24. Children Sleeping
25. The Number "25"

I certainly won't guarantee that I'll get all of these but now I've got some blogging motivation.  Now excuse me while I go make a list for tomorrow's photo!

Thankful

The 2011 Thanksgiving Oreo Turkey Parade

 These were a hit with the little guys!

And these little guys are a hit with Grammie and Papa!  (Yes, a couple of us look a little tired in this photo, but it was still a great week!)

Just a Bit More October

I wanted to share a few more things from October before moving on to November.  

Here's my little quilting project.  I purchased a few Halloween fat quarters at Hollyhock Quilt Shop's open house last month and picked up a free pattern sheet.  The result was this cute little table topper for practicing my free motion quilting. I'm getting a little better at it but still need lots of practice.  I am better at baking though and it is so hard for me to not bake but goodness knows, I really need to avoid goodies like these.  Pinterest not only a good way to waste time, but to find so many recipes that look so good, like these Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I only made half the recipe to limit the temptation!  (This is not all that half of the recipe made - just  a few for the photo!)

 Back on the road weekend before last, we headed up toward Cincinnati.  I guess some folks find original ways to  make their political  feelings known!  Or maybe it's an art form?

We enjoy watching the Food Network show, Diner's Drive-ins and Dives and we've ventured out to find a few of the restaurants featured there.  This time we found Virgil's Cafe.  I wouldn't call this a drive-in or dive and more of a nice restaurant than a diner.  It was very good, and though I didn't embarrass ourselves by snapping food photos, we really enjoyed our late lunch.  We really need to find another weekend activity that doesn't involve so much food!

 It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is almost here!  All the kids and grandkids will be here at some point over the next few weeks. So there's some house cleaning, cooking and baking to be done. I'm not sure if any sewing projects will be completed but there are plenty of things to keep me busy for the month of November. 

Have a great weekend!  

More October

October has come and gone and by the time I finally update this here little blog, November might be almost half over!  We had hoped to be able to use up more of DH's vacation time with another RV road trip before the snow flies.  I know we shouldn't complain, but he has just been too busy to get away for more than a long weekend.  So we've tried to take a day here and there to take advantage of some relatively nice fall weather for some short motorcycle trips. The farthest we've gotten so far is to Nashville, TN and surrounding area.  

We usually try to venture downtown and sample some of the live music on Broadway.  We're getting old so one short evening of that is all we can handle any more!  We got an early start on Saturday morning with intentions of stopping for breakfast at The Loveless Cafe but it has become such a popular stop for tourists and locals that the wait time was  over an hour and a half!  I had read about a small, quaint town not far down the Natchez Trace Parkway, Leipers Fork and we decided to see what they had to offer.  It turned out that they were just setting up for a Chili Cook Off  and the town was  bustling with activity too.  But we were lucky to find the Country Boy Restaurant and were there, fed, full and on our way in less than the hour and a half we would have had to wait  at the Loveless.  I had some of the best french toast!

 Leipers Fork is a fascinating little community with some wonderful shops and galleries.  On the recommendation of one of the store clerks, we found a wonderful book store.  Yeoman's at the Fork is not your average book store, but almost a museum full of rare books and documents.  An interesting stop to start our day of exploring!

We will definitely have to come back to this area again someday! From there we followed signs marking one of the Tennessee Historic Driving Tours and traveled through some pretty ranch and farm country.  There are Civil War sites along the way if one would take the time to stop and check them out.  Once we got to Franklin, we discovered we had just missed a Civil War Re-enactment.  But we did meet this handsome couple on their way to the Factory Shopping District. 

So even though it was a short trip, and it was a rather chilly ride at times, it was nice to get away for a couple of days.  Unfortunately, I spent most of the next week in bed with some sort of upper respiratory crud.  Luckily no one else came down with it!  I guess that was payback for the weekend earlier this fall that D spent in the hospital with kidney stones!   

One day I had help with a little pumpkin carving!  We have neighbors down the street who are already decorating for Christmas.  I know I run a little slow on somethings, but I'm just not quite ready for that because I've still got more of October to add to the blog!  See you soon!

Hello Blog

It's been a while.  So long, I almost gave up on posting anything, but there might be one or two readers out there yet that are wondering if I'm still around!  Let me know if you're still there!

So what have I been up to over the past month?  

These two little brothers came to visit for several days back in September.  Seems like a long time ago now!  But we had a blast and they were really pretty good, considering it was their first time away from home by themselves for more than a day or two.  We picked them up in St. Louis on our way home from Kansas to give mama and daddy a chance to catch up on work stuff. 

They had fun playing with cousin D.  Watching Scooby Doo and Word World in Grammie's bedroom.

And checking out the aquarium at Bass Pro Shop with Aunt B.  We made a trip to Chucky Cheese too.

There was a little baking last month. I combined a couple of recipes to come up with Gingersnaps with a cream cheese filling.  They turned out pretty good too.

Guacamole Salsa.  Found on Pinterest,  my new favorite thing.  Such a fun way to waste time, but also a great way to find new recipes, craft ideas and sooooo much more.  

A neighborhood fall picnic and bonfire on one of the few chilly evenings we've had.  I made crock pot macaroni and cheese. Possibly the best way ever to make mac and cheese for a crowd! You can find a similar  recipe at Crock Pot Girls.  

We took a short overnight motorcycle trip last weekend.  The leaves are starting to change in parts of Northern Kentucky and Southern Indiana and Ohio and the weather couldn't have been any prettier for a weekend ride. 

On Sunday, we took this two year old to Montgomery Farm for a hay ride to the pumpkin patch.  He loved throwing the straw around on the hay wagon just as much as hunting for a pumpkin!  Typical two year old - we keep reminding ourselves and his parents !  

I've been trying to finish up some old quilting projects and also cleaning out some closets.  A trip to the Goodwill donation sight is necessary soon.  So there you have it, another exciting (ha!) month! Perhaps I'll be back again.  Thanks for checking in!

Can You Go Home Again?

Is there truth to the saying "you can't go home again"?  We found that there are two answers to that question when we recently traveled back to Kansas for an aunt and uncle's 60th wedding anniversary party.   

It had been several years since our last visit to the county where my husband and I both grew up.  In the early seventies, the small high school that D attended was closed  and combined with my "larger" high school in the county seat, twelve miles down the road.  When Mr. B assigned desks in Journalism class, our lives were forever changed when the handsome new boy in class was seated next to me.  We've been together ever since!  

After attending college (Kansas State, together of course!) and a couple of years in the mountains of Colorado (perhaps another blog post someday) we returned to start a small business and our family in that same small community.  Times, careers and lives change and now we find ourselves and our family spread across the Midwest.  So after an absence of several  years, we made a trip "home" again.

This is such a sad photo. I have to admit a few tears were shed when we drove out to the farm.  The house on the family farm homestead where I grew up is no longer standing.  It was bulldozed and burned last year to avoid it's inevitable collapse and ruin.  This was the view looking out the front door to the west.  The scorched trees are evidence of the heat from the century old walls, hardwood floors and white  porch posts that are only a memory now.  The white lilacs, irises and tree swing were gone long before that.

The lonely frame of the big old swing set still stands, giving a reference point to where the back porch door opened to the yard and garden behind the house.  Most everything else, the barn, chicken houses, grain bins and garage, are all gone.  So, nope.  Can't go home.

We drove up to the little town where D grew up.  Another sad sight.  The last time we were here, someone was living in the house that his dad had built back in the late sixties or early seventies.  But now it looks to be completely abandoned and in pretty bad shape.  Hopefully, it is only temporary.

A few miles outside of town was D's grandparents farm.  All that is left here is the skeleton of the windmill.  It was getting dark but we took a few minutes to walk around and take some photos.  D spent a lot of time on this farm as a boy while his mom battled cancer in a hospital in Kansas City. He sometimes would drive the lawnmower from his other grandparents home in town out to here. Not a speedy trip, I'm sure! 

 Another stop on the tour of homes that were.  This is the house that we built back in 1980 and where we lived when our two youngest children were born.  I'm not sure who lives here now, but it was satisfying to know that they are taking very good care of it.  The workshop now seems to be a barn and home to some goats and a horse.  Something our kids(at least one of the girls anyway!) would probably have loved to have done if we'd stayed here.  

But, even though those houses are either gone or occupied, that doesn't mean we couldn't go "home" again.  After all, these last photos are part of what we think of as home!

Thanks for riding along on this trip down memory lane!

Quilts, Superheros and a Tip

Well, we do occasionally stay home.  And when I get in the mood I do manage to indulge in a little quilting time. It seems like it takes me longer than it should to get a little project done.  This little lap quilt was to be part of my DIL"s birthday present.  Her birthday was in May!  Since she lives in a house with three boys, I thought she deserved a little something "girlie"!  This little quilt kit had been languishing in my stash closet for several months.  It's made from Kate Spain's Verna line that came out quite some time ago.  The little ruffles and raw edge flowers were a fun variation.

There was enough fabric in the kit to make a little baby quilt for the "new kid" in the neighborhood!  Sorry, this photo is a kind of dull.  I used this one to practice some free motion quilting, something that still frustrates me. I guess it turned out okay but I still need a lot of practice! 

Mama got the ruffles, but little J wanted to be a Superhero!  So with a little blog browsing I came up with a tutorial for this reversible Batman/Superman cape.  It was a BIG hit!  But I think the true Superman in this family is the Daddy who does dishes!  

So being frustrated with the whole machine quilting thing,  I signed up for a machine quilting class over at the Smocking Shop.  It was a great class, but I came home realizing the only thing that I really need is to practice, practice, practice!  And maybe take another class or two!  I'm doing much better with the straight line quilting and picked up some new tips to help with that.  Probably the best tip was this, the Frixion highlighter by Pilot.

You must try this for marking lines! Use it instead of chalk or the disappearing marking pens that are sold for quilt marking.  It doesn't gradually disappear like those purple pens do. It disappears with heat and you simply iron it away when you are done!  It works great for embroidery too.  (Of course you want to test it on your fabric first, just in case.) I found mine at Staples.

Aren't you all lucky!  This makes two posts in one week and now that I've provided my one sewing/quilting tip for the blogging world, I'll call it a night!  Thanks for stopping by!

This Makes Me Smile!

This photo makes me so happy!  Finally, all three little cousins together and they had such a good time! We spent an afternoon at Grants Farm in St. Louis where the boys had fun looking at all the animals and the famous Clydesdale horses.  I'm not sure how we got so lucky to get them all seated and posing for this photo but it makes this Grammie so happy to have this keepsake of a fun weekend.  The oldest on the left just turned three, his "little" brother in the middle is 16 months old and the Indiana cousin on the right turned two in July.

It was a beautiful day with a gorgeous blue sky and the young Clydesdale provided a perfect photo op for us!

 I don't know how many goats were in the petting zoo but they certainly were all well fed!   J and D were not so sure about the friendly little creatures as they begged for more milk but eventually complied. 

 No real reason, but I just thought you all might enjoy this photo my husband took of one of the friendly llamas! And I don't really have anything clever to add.  Maybe someone else can think of a good caption for the llama photo?  

We enjoyed our visit to Grant's Farm.  We've talked about going before but I'm glad we waited until we had three terrific little grandsons to enjoy it with us! Thanks for letting me do a little Grammie bragging with you.

Escape to the Mountains!

We escaped to the mountains for a few days last week, loaded up the Harley in the trailer, hitched it to the RV and headed for the Blue Ridge Mountains.  It was cooler than here at home and most everywhere else we could think of to spend a few days.  We stayed at the Honey Bear Campground near Boone, NC and over the weekend it was a busy place with lots of campers, kids and dogs. But we did have a nice shaded campsite.

As usual, the mountain scenery doesn't disappoint.  Lately I've been fascinated by barn quilts and there were several along the roads.  It's a challenge to get good photos though, especially when buzzing by on a motorcycle!

One day we took the drive up to Grandfather Mountain.   

The mile high swinging bridge is the highlight near the top of the mountain.  We could have hiked the remaining  trail to the summit, but after noting that it was recommended for experienced hikers, changed our minds!  

It was  fun to venture away from the Blue Ridge Parkway and explore some of the adjacent areas of Banner Elk, Blowing Rock, Valle Crucis.  The little community of Beech Mountain is the highest town in the Eastern US.  I had to snap a photo of their snow depth pole as a reminder that these hot days of summer will surely come to an end soon!

 

Summer Photos

We haven't been "on the road" very much this summer.  It's just too dang hot to ride the motorcycle.  But I'll share some photo highlights of the last couple of weeks.

One day last week, I accompanied D on a short business errand to Shelbyville, KY.  We stopped for lunch at the historic Science Hill Inn where we found this kitty making the most of any shade he could find on a hot summer day.

There's been a little pool time, in the "little" pool!  This little grandson enjoys it but sometimes it's almost like getting in a hot bath!

Before the heat wave made an extended stay, we had a few nice days.  The Belle of Louisville cruised by one evening when we stopped at the River Stage to check out the Friday concert.

I have been doing some sewing since it stays nice and cool in my basement sewing room.  These are some little bags I finished last week.  I've also been practicing some free motion quilting on a little baby sized quilt.  That technique still frustrates me so I've signed up for a machine quilting class at The Smocking Shop in a couple of weeks.

We do have a couple of RV/motorcycle trips in the planning stages for later this summer.  More on those later.  Hope you all are enjoying your summer!  Stay cool.