Halloween?

Is it really almost Halloween? What have I been doing? I know someone has complained that I haven"t posted lately.  Don't have an excuse.  I did have to harvest my tomatoes and spent some time freezing them as they ripened in a box in the closet...below is just a small sampling of the harvest.  I make sauce from them mostly, pizza etc.  We also got a storage shed which was ordered in July..(finally), and I took a trip south of the border (WY) last week with my buddy.  We got stranded for 2 1/2 hours behind a 3 semi-truck accident going down on Friday and snowstorm on Sunday coming home in Laramie.  But we went to a quilt show, a Maggie Magee craft show and The French Nest outdoor market in Ft. Collins.  In addition, 3 of my quilt buddies from Cheyenne met us in Ft. Collins and we also had lunch with them, we stayed with a friend (Thank you Ruth) and had great food!!!

I have been working on a double wedding ring quilt and spend most afternoons paper-piecing small pieces of fabric (I never throw anything away), to the arcs below.  I think I will need about 116 and I am close to having 80 finished. For me it is therapy.  I have already used the fabric in the plastic bin and have resorted to my stash for more now...but as a (use what you have) quilter, it gives me great satisfaction that I didn't throw these small pieces away. 

In my sewing room, I have the buggy above, a relic from much earlier times and have not had the heart to let go of it.  I also have a baby blanket, crocheted by one of my grandmothers I think, that was mine, in the buggy.  For some reason Coalette has taken it upon herself to take her afternoon naps in the buggy, as Roger sleeps at my feet while I sew.  Can it get any better? We don't get trick or treaters out here, so I guess I didn't realize it had been sneaking up on me.

Wyoming weather and such

 Having been absent from this blog for a few weeks, I am back at the keyboard.  Sometimes it seems like you just need a break and with this situation with our government (let that many mothers govern and the situation would never have happened), among another ongoing thing, my blood pressure has been boiling. However, it is under control and life goes on.  A week ago the snow on my little balcony off my sewing room had 12 1/2 inches on it and a couple of days ago, we trekked to the Bennett Peak area to search for chokecherry seeds and check on our Geocasche and the leaves on the trees were just still in glorious colors.  The weather is fickle. It was a solitary drive and the furkids got to go, but it was really pretty.

 A few weeks ago I promised the picture of more rolling pins recycled and it is perfect for hanging my apron.  I use aprons!!!  Another piece of history which is fading is the apron.  Well, maybe not completely fading as I see a new interest with those younger generation crafters who quilt and try to revive some of the lost skills. After all, who tats any more?  That is a craft forgotten for most.  Lots of young people are crocheting and knitting though and that is a good thing.  Good for the soul!!

Last year, on one of my trips to Denver with my buddies, we spent the day at the Brass Armadillo and we were seeking a cookbook for my friend here to convert into a clock and I was looking for Christmas themed old handkerchiefs.  A booth there was literally loaded with handkerchiefs!!  Not only was it loaded, it had so many Christmas hankies that I couldn't decided which ones to purchase.  In a magazine I had seen a Christmas tree skirt completely made of these and quilted.  Recycled and quilted...just up my alley.  I have it nearly completed and will no doubt embellish it. I am also working on a wedding ring quilt with over 100 pieced segments of 11 small pieces each. How many is that? In addition, there will be many background pieces to stitch to these.  I have 25 finished so this will occupy a good share of my winter snow days won't it?  In addition, if the weather permits, my buddies and I are planning another jaunt sometime soon as it has been forever since I have done this it seems.  These are my two old friends (over 40 years) and as Dolly and Kenny sing----"you can't make old friends". 

I do love the seasons and don't mind the snow as long as I don't have to go out in it.  I grew up with long snowy winters and like my mother, do not like cold weather.  It is like chicken gizzards, you can not develop a like for some things, although she loved gizzards and liver, I still cannot handle either of those.  But I do share her dislike for cold weather and the wind.  Oh my gosh we have had wind.
Anyway, my dad who dearly loved my mother, took her to New Mexico for her last few years and I think she was happy there. So we started with cold weather and have ended with warm weather.  In a few weeks we will have Thanksgiving...I am looking forward to that and Christmas.  Thank goodness we have lots of holidays during the winter and our larder is always full, the coffee pot is on and the sewing bobbins are full!!!