Fall

As fall rapidly approached and I was unprepared for it, I saw my Zinnias, my tomato vines, and my nasties, which were still in a full glory of bloom, disappear overnight this week. Wow! We have had such a beautiful summer and it has remained for the most part, a steady day after day 70-80 degrees. All of a sudden....mother nature looked at the calendar. I finished my garden sign, which will grace my veggie garden next year and the dozen or so Virginia Creeper that my neighbor gave me, rooted very rapidly and will no doubt climb up this ugly retaining wall next year. This one took root and just put out new leaves like crazy. I had plenty and even had a few to give to
another neighbor.

My friend, Pat and I met Saturday for breakfast in a small town in Colorado south of Greeley and drove to Hygiene (not our destination). I always say I am not lost, I just don't know where I am. Our goal was to attend a quilt show in Longmont, and we did eventually make it there but as there was a lot of highway construction, the side roads were not clearly marked and we missed our turn. Perhaps I was talking,--who knows? Anyway, when we discovered where we were, Pat said she had been to a really cute country shop there and by golly, we drove right to it. The proprietor was very helpful and directed us back when we were finished at the shop, which was really cool by the way. The quilt show was spectacular and it was so inspiring to see all of the creative efforts in completed pieces of artwork. As far as I am concerned, each quilt was a piece of art. In addition, there was so much to see from each of the vendors with their wares. It appeared that people were buying too, and since these vendors came from all over the united states, I hope it was a successful endeavor for them. I am so glad we went. Then we had lunch of course, and found a great flea market there and before we knew it, the time to leave and head home had arrived. Weather was beautiful and it was a great day!!

My first session of a new quilt class started last week and I finished my first square today. Will post a picture and that of another project I started this week. As I talk about fall being here, I am not sure is we will actually have a fall. With the one early freeze this week, lots of the trees will not have a chance to turn and predictions from the weather "guy" indicate snow toward the end of the week. If that happens, the leaves will just fall....that will be the only "fall" we will have. I am not ready for winter yet....let's have a little FALL!!!

"Life isn't fair, but it is still good." - Regina Brett

Cottage sign

Look at the chairs....When I went to Elk Mt. this year for our painting retreat, these chairs were sitting on the front porch of the smaller cabin, in which we were painting. I nearly fell on my face. When the Mr. and I bought our first home in 1974, we purchased from Sears a dining room table and 6 chairs. The upholstery was a yellow checked vinyl and those chairs followed us to Shoshoni in 1976, back to Rawlins in 1979 and I remember reupholstering them at least 4 times. When we left Rawlins in 1996, I sold the table and all 6 chairs at a garage sale. The upholstery on these two are the last I did and the one in the background went downstairs to my sewing room.
Imagine my surprise when these two chairs met me at the front door of the cabin!

Here are two views of the "Teacup Cottage" sign for Sal's arbor. She was pleased with it as was I.
Click on the snaps for a better picture. I am off to a quilt show tomorrow. Have a good weekend.

Garden sign

Ok here is the garden sign...OK...here is NOT the garden sign. For some reason I am not able to upload the images today. I am hoping that blogger is getting this option fixed or I will have to call my computer guru (alias Erica). I have so much to blog about and now I am at a loss for words. (NOT). Last week, my 80 year old neighbor and I went across the border to Ft. Collins, took the back roads, and saw some beautiful country and had a good lunch. It was a good day. Thank you neighbor!! Then on the weekend we had good friends come and spend the night Saturday with us. The last day of summer, we had snow showers and until today, the sun hasn't shown. Although it hasn't been as cold as was predicted, fall has definitely arrived. I have a funeral to attend tomorrow in Rawlins and a quilt show in Longmont on Sat and a quilt class here tonight so I will try on Sun to get the pictures on here. Today, the Mr. and I put an epoxy floor down in my studio to replace the painted floor with the stenciled roses. It came out pretty good, but it will be until tomorrow before we can put furniture back. Will post pictures if I can get this thing to work. This is short as I am short on time.

Vacation

We allowed ourselves a short vacation last week, a much needed break from the window installation, the tree planting and summer work in general. Among our sights were Mt. Rushmore (you can barely see the moon over the heads of the presidents), the Crazy Horse endeavor, Deadwood, museums and the beautiful scenery of the Black Hills. Living so close to these pieces of history, we had never ventured into the area. The weather cooperated and other than a little road construction on the return trip, it was enjoyable. Although we didn't get to see any buffalo, we did speak with others who had been stopped in traffic by the creatures and as you can see, we did get close to some mt. goats and encountered several wild donkeys alongside the roadway. The visitor centers at both, Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore were so very interesting. The manpower and limited technology and primitive resources at the onset of these undertakings and really for the first part of the century, are amazing. Deadwood is still another part of western history that continues to maintain it's original image of the wild west. We were able to work in a couple of museums, an antique store, and lots of good food everywhere.














Back at home, we have started to feel the beginning of the fall chill in the air and I have noticed a very few leaves starting to turn colors. Sal and I went to an antique show here this weekend, oh to get a windfall of a few thousand bucks!!! Beautiful furniture and glassware and a perfect way to spend a rainy day. Today, another friend and I signed up for a fall quilt class and I am anxious to correct some of my bad habits perhaps. Mostly, I have been doing my projects from the seat of my pants and think some basic knowledge of correct procedures will improve my quilting. (You are never too old to learn.) Little Spencer got a new haircut...a little shorter this time and he continues to bloom. It is amazing how much he changed from the little guy we first adopted. I finished my garden sign and have started to paint a sign for Sal's cottage arbor. Will keep you posted on the progress and pictures to follow soon.

"I have found that if you love life, life will love you right back." ~ Arthur Rubenstein

Yucky yucca

First of all..here is the skeletonal remains of the yucca that Sal salvaged for me. Who but a best friend would go dumpster diving for me? Actually my other best friend, Barb has been dumpster diving for and with me. She once called me about a small child's chair that had been discarded and a woodworker let us dive several times in his dumpster for wood scraps. Ahhh! Thank goodness for recycling! Anyway, after the yucca was dissected with the aid of a reciprocal saw, I soaked the 4 little ones in a bucket of water and we planted them in the back yard. Time will tell.

I also decided to throw in a picture of my chandelier...it will hang under a finished ceiling one day I hope.














These little yucca didn't have much of a root system, only a lard bulbous type of base so I hope with a little bit of encouragement, they will take off.














Hope everyone had a nice labor day weekend. We went to a bluegrass festival here on Saturday night and again on Sunday, but it began to rain so we ended up at a flea market instead. Unfortunately, where we live, the rainfall was not very heavy and we are so very dry here. We are taking a few days off for a mini-vacation, so when I am back at the keyboard, it will be preparing for fall plantings and the inevitable snowfall just around the corner.

More about quilting

Finished!!! This is the Venetian Tiles quilt which I finally got bound. Before I started to think about really learning to quilt I learned of a series of books by Jennifer Chiaverini based on the Elm Creek Quilters. Fictional in content, her research and attention to detail, will appeal to quilters and readers in general. As I read "The Winding Ways Quilt", I discovered this week, a chapter that caused me to reflect upon my life and the parallels were actually a bit creepy. One chapter is exploring a quilter in the guild whose name is Bonnie. How many people do you know named Bonnie? There are at least 6 who have touched my life in positive ways, most of whom still do. This Bonnie tells of sitting under her grandmothers quilt as a little girl listening to the quilters talk as they quilted. I remember doing this under MY grandmother's quilt. She tells of the quilt her grandmother was working on---The Glorified 9-Patch. This is the quilt I am working on at the moment....the red and white one. Coincidence? She also talks about her grandmother wanting to go home to Erie (PA). My grandmother was born in Erie (CO). Her grandmother was grandma Lucy. MY grandmother's name was LUCY. As I continued to read the chapter, I kept reflecting and it brought back so many memories of my grandmother Lucinda, whom everyone called Lucy. She was gone from my life before I was out of grade school, but as the oldest of the four, I was privileged to be able to spend a lot of time with my grandmother. I spent many nights with her and she poured me a cup of coffee to drink with her at breakfast...we would call it a latte now as it was mostly milk. She made bread with butter and sugar sprinkled on top...a favorite of mine as a child. We made May baskets and delivered to the neighbors. She taught me to crochet. She let me dress up in her pretty dresses and wear her high heeled shoes (She wore a size 4 shoe.)
Perhaps I find quilting a way to connect with her as she was a talented quilter and it brings back those wonderful memories of sitting beneath the quilting frame trying to listen to the chatter above.

"A grandmother is a person with too much wisdom to let that stop her from making a fool of herself over her grandchildren." ~ Phil Moss

TV Stand

Picture this stand all black. I intended to document the transformation of this garage sale purchase of Sal's as we went through the steps, but old age is chasing me faster than my brain will travel. Instead, here is the finished piece, minus the shelves, which are being given a 2nd coat. Hope you can see the crackle finish well enough and if you click on the picture, it should enlarge it for better viewing. Sal cut the motif from a wall paper border which encircles her room near the ceiling. It also matches her sofa and love seat and the storage boxes in the background. We think it looks great and are pleased with the outcome.

She has a neighbor who is renovating the house next door and I noticed earlier this summer that the yard is quite overgrown. Among the foilage near the alley were several yucca plants. Since we are trying to put native plants in our yard and since we have such a large yard, I thought some yucca would be OK. I was there last evening and asked her if she though he would let me have one. She said she would ask when she saw him.
Tonight as she came home from work she was shocked to see the yucca gone. (They have been there for years.) She saw him and he told her they were in the dumpster!! We could have all we wanted. He helped her pull a clump out and she put them in her trunk, strapped the trunk closed and brought the huge cluster to me. Yeah!!!
Beg, borrow, steal. Well, beg maybe. Reuse, recycle,--whatever. My yucca garden will be named "Sally's Succulents". I finished my veggie garden sign today, except for a little more paint on the trim. It reads "Peter Rabbit's Bed and Breakfast''. Now if I just had a veggie garden. I am not sure a few tomatoes, some overgrown lettuce and a couple of herbs qualifies as a veggie garden, but this was my first year with some very poor garden soil, so I plan to do better next year.

Stay tuned for more garden news and I am just about finished with my Venetian Tiles quilt and the teacup chandelier is up. I need to grout the birdhouse and pictures will be forthcoming!

"Happiness walks on busy feet." ~ Kittie Turmell