Our new activity

October 8, after what seemed like a very long search and process we bought a brand new Fifth Wheel.

We really don't look happy, do we. Well we were and are thrilled. I think we were in a bit of shock, maybe a lot of shock. Our new camper is a 2012 Laredo by Keystone.

                                   

Finally on Oct. 21-24 we went camping. We spent a few days not far away, you know, to test everything out.

It's just so gorgeous, strangers at the park came up and asked if they could look inside. I am so proud of this 'vacation home'.

Of course Max and Tucker had to come along, we all had a very good time out in the forest.

Wallace State park is about an hour north of Kansas City, and this time of year, it is gorgeous.

We all took a hike down the trail to the lake, and even Tucker and Max seemed to enjoy it.

Every thing seemed to work as planned. We discovered some items that we still need to be more efficient in our experience, but all in all it was great. The fall colors seemed to have waited for us and the whole area was really pretty.
The park was packed on Friday night and Saturday, but on Sunday morning it was as if someone hollered "FIRE" in a crowded theater. By about 1pm the place was all but empty except for two campers, and they left by five pm. So we were completely alone.
Our friends the Fords came up with their two grand daughters, just to visit for an hour or so.

Well long about 6 o'clock, this little tiny trailer hitched to a pickup truck comes into the camp ground, and where do you think he wants to park,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,yep right next to us. The entire place is empty mind you, but then I guess he reconsiders and moves on to a place that is about half way to the entrance. His companion arrives in a moment in a car with two of those little tiny yippee dogs. Of course Max and Tucker were very interested in those two, but they wisely did not venture over to play.

As darkness fell we built a fire and sat outside in the gathering night, and the stars were brilliant, it got a little chilly and pretty creepy. You hear all sorts of sounds in the dark that you just tend to ignore in the light.
After a while even Tucker seemed to be a little uneasy, so we doused the fire and went inside.

Monday morning we packed up and got ready to come home. It was a great way to spend a few days, and the camper travels well, as did the dogs.

I think we're really going to enjoy this, I can't wait until the next trip. All of our friends have winterized their units, we're going to take ours south. I think that's the way to winterize.




Watch Dogs.

 As someone else says, "Happy trails"

The Blog

I started to write a post today about my darling 14 year old grand daughter and her huge accomplishment on August 13. I have a lot actually to post about, but my creative juices seem to be occupied in a different direction at the moment.

I did however, get a surprise when I logged into this blog and found that Blogger has changed it's format. I guess we are making it easier to be illiterate these days.

Where it used to say NEW POST, now it has a pencil symbol. I don't know, all these pictures and symbols instead of words just makes me a little uneasy. I understand they are no longer teaching cursive or penmanship in schools.

I think it's too bad that today's children don't have an opportunity to enjoy the art of writing, it's relaxing and for some quite beautiful.

As Edward Bulwer- Lytton declared " The pen is mightier than the sword" maybe it's mightier than the computer. LOL

I'm just saying.

Congratulations Dawn

Our very bright and talented, not to mention athletic daughter, Dawn competed in the all women's Win for KC triathlon today. The morning started out a bit less than promising. It stormed and due to lightening the start was delayed by more than an hour. But, start it did and they were off. Dawn , Lori Terzopoulos swim, Tiernan Fehling Good running entered as a team from the Epic Bike shop where she works part time. Dawn took the second leg of the course with her strong suit, the bike.

The race consisted of a 500 meter swim, 10 mile bike and 5K run.  Dawn and the team from Epic Bike and Sport won the relay division of the event.

Congratulations girls. I wish I had a picture of the three of you, but I don't, so here's our girl.

We are so proud of you!!!!

Movie Test

Be honest and don't look at the movie list below till you have done the math!


Try this test and find out what movie is your favorite.




This amazing math quiz can likely predict which of 18 movies you would enjoy the most.



It really works!



Movie Test:






Pick a number from 1-9.










Multiply by 3.










Add 3.










Multiply by 3 again.










Now add the two digits of your answer together to find your predicted favorite movie in the list of 18 movies below.











Movie List:





1. Gone With The Wind


2. E.T.


3. Blazing Saddles


4. Star Wars


5. Forrest Gump


6. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.


7. Jaws


8. Grease


9. The Obama Farewell Speech of 2012


10. Casablanca


11. Jurassic Park


12. Caddyshack


13. Pirates of the Caribbean


14. Titanic


15. Raiders Of The Lost Ark


16. Back to the Future


17. Mrs. Doubtfire


18. Toy Story





Now, ain't that something..?

The itches

For a couple of weeks I have been getting up early and going out to work in the yard while it's cool enough to be outside. That first week it was in the 90's quite a bit, but then it cooled off quite nicely.
I had not gotten out to do the spring clean up of the yard, we just had so much rain and things were just wet and yucky. what, that's a word.  So I was quite pleased that the clean up went so well and the yard was looking really good. But as I stood on the porch to survey the tidy little site, I was disturbed by the mess that remained on the north/west corner of the yard. The trash had been hauled away, and there was a wheel barrow and an old swimming pool that we used for the dogs, but that didn't bother me as much as the 5 ft. high weeds. There were a couple of huge stalky looking things and I just wanted them gone.

So I headed out there to the edge of the yard and just stepped on the bottom of the stalk and pushed it down with my foot. That was pretty easy, so I did the other one. There were some more weeds and such, so I pulled and plucked and before you knew it the whole fence line was looking neat and trim. I felt proud, fulfilled. I needed a cold drink and a nap.

That was about Tuesday, on Friday I began to scratch my ankle a lot, and then I noticed a few little tiny blisters on Saturday. Nothing really,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Sunday was coming out day. I had a huge red patch on both legs above the ankles, my arms, elbow neck and I think I even have it on my head. Poison Ivy. I hate this stuff and since I am diabetic steroids are not a great option. So I have itched all week, and lost considerable sleep, hence my middle of the night blog posts.
I have used caladryl, hydro cortisone cream and a few other 'home remedies. Nothing has helped much, freezing ice cold water running over the itches seems to help the most.
I am so ready to be over this, I hope it's gone in the morning.

What are my chances?

Happy Father's Day

I know it was last week, don't think I'm senile. You know, sometimes life happens and special occasions can not be celebrated as the calendar dictates.
Last week every one was busy and 'dad' had to work, so we did it tonight. This evening our daughter Dawn and son Bill and his family came for dinner. We enjoyed a very fun time and after dinner we sat around reminiscing about 'classic' dad and mom events. So, not to be out done, Bill and I recited some of our favorite Bill and Dawn stories which resulted in some Kim and Bailey stories. It was a fun evening. It's good to laugh at yourself and the mistakes we've made along the way to where we are. It makes it easier to enjoy the journey.

Earlier today Bailey and I looked through a couple of scrap books. I showed her the old family album that has Bill and me from our infancy through our military service, wedding and early marriage. It was fun for her to see where her family has come from.

I thank God for who He is, and for how He has brought me through my life. He sent His son to die for me and He saved me and He has promised me a home in heaven for ever. I'm glad for my family and for the family of God into which I've been adopted.

I'm Older

A few weeks ago was my birthday. I am now 62 years old, I love it. This is the one that counts. It's the big one. The actual best one. Know why? It's the one where the government pays me. Yep. They start to pay me back for all the years I worked and they took big chunks of my pay check. I am looking forward to drawing Social Security, going into places and getting the senior's discount, and having more time in my life for the important things. Like quilting, scrap booking and just hanging out with my honey and my friends.

Getting older is not bad, but don't be fooled,,,,,,,,,it's not for the faint of heart. Getting older is a challenge, one you can't avoid, and stay alive, that is.

Today I met an acquaintance in a fast food restaurant. I spoke to the young man, calling him by name, but he was confused as to how I knew him. His co worker said "Oh, I bet she's an old teacher of yours." I said "what's up the OLD?" And he quickly amended his comment to former.

It's stuff like that, that you have to watch out for. I know I'm getting older and slower, but I think in many ways I am better than ever. I know my faults and short comings and I do try to get better at being the kind of person people will want to be with, especially my family.

God help me to be the kind of person that is kind and caring to those around me and help me to remember that every one I meet is put there by You.

Family History

I have scrap booked for a while now. I started in 1995. I know that was a bit late. All three of our children were out of school. I mean clear out, finished with college and one was already married. I took a class with  a group of people interested in chronicling the history of our church. It turns out we moved to Texas shortly after that, but I had been bitten by the scrap booking bug. It's quite a determined bug and once it has you, it won't let go. Up until this point I had taken as many pictures of our children, family, events, occasions, graduations,etc as any one else. But they were all in boxes, or drawers or under the bed or what have you. I had started one album when Sharon was little, I think there were three pages in it, but that's all.
I am pleased to announce that I have completed well over a dozen albums now and have several more that I am working on.

Genealogy has interested me, but I have never gone to any lengths to dig. That is until now. I signed up on Ancestry. com last week and have made some progress in documenting my mother's family tree. My mother was not married when I was born and I have only a sketchy idea of my father. So I was trying to find something on him. It seems, though, that if you don't know anything finding something is pretty impossible.

I did make contact with a cousin from Syracuse, NY, however, and found that she has been digging also. I am anxious to compare notes with her and see if she has names and dates from the German ancestors. I know that all of our grandfather's family was here in this country from the late 1800's. It's interesting and pretty exciting when you find something unexpected.

The best thing that could come out of this search would be if I could re-connect with my living relatives. I haven't had much contact with any of them since I left home in the 60's and joined the USAF.
My family and I moved back to the Buffalo area in the late 80's for only a couple of years, but the contact was brief and since my uncles, and mother have passed away, I never had much contact with my cousins. We weren't really close when I was growing up either, don't really know why, but there it is.

I think family is important, and even if you don't agree politically, or religiously, you do have a common heritage that is part of what makes you you. For better or for worse, it's who we are and should not be disregarded. Therefore, I am going to look into the past for at least a little while and see what I find. Who knows what's out there. A lady I used to go to church with once discovered that her great, great, etc grand father was part of the troops with General George Washington at Valley Forge. How cool is that?
                                                      
                                                            
                                                                               

Final pictures of the quilt.

Here are the final pictures of the queen sized quilt I made.

This is the label I attached to my quilt. I understand this is expected on hand made quilts. I missed the birthday by a couple of weeks, but better late than never. I am still working on the pillow shams.

The only thing I need now is a picture of our girl with her quilt. Hurry up and send it Sharon.

The Quilt story

This is the finished quilt, folded up ready to ship to my darling first born.

I said that I knew I would need a lot of those 9" squares, and I made a lot of them, but I was very surprised when it took them all and in the end I had to scrounge to make a half dozen more squares to finish the quilt and the shams. You have to have shams. I made about 144 9" squares of random scrap fabrics. I guess it's true, I don't throw anything away.
I also found a lot of yardage which I decided right away would be used for the backing. In the photo above you can see it between the blocks as sashing.

As I worked on the quilt I received a lot of advice and ideas. One great idea was to use a technique called quilt as you go. I thought this would work well for me since I didn't want to spend $150- 200. to have it professionally quilted. So I did a simple stitch in the ditch and then double stitched across the block from corner to corner. It looked nice, but not spectacular. Then I found 'stippling paper'. You place this paper, which has adhesive on the edges, on your quilt block. It's sort of like tracing paper, but you sew on the lines and then rip it off when you're done. So I ripped out all of the quilting I had started and then did this. I liked it right away.

Getting close to finishing I saw the *Scallop Ruler*. I loved it right away and knew it had to be the finishing touch for this amazing quilt. It took some extra time, but I love how it turned out.

I learned so much from making this quilt, every step was a new lesson and I think I am ready to move on to new quilts. I like quilting very much. You should know that it isn't without consequences however. There are hazards along the way. Being stuck repeatedly by hidden pins, and the needle pokes are so unpleasant. I have even shed blood. My wrists and fingers ached from the twisting and pulling and just manipulating the huge thing toward the end stretched my shoulders and neck. But I think it was all worth it. I love it, I think it looks great, my friends say it looks great, and even though I know where all the ugly oops are, I still think it's a great first effort. Who knew I could quilt?

My first Quilt

I finally can reveal all of the pics I've taken over the last 7 months of the quilt that was inspired by a magazine picture and then translated for me by Jenny, at the Missouri Star Quilt Co.
I decided that I since I wasn't at all sure I would love quilting ( I have sewn for years, but I like stuff that can be completed quickly) I did not want to spend a lot of money. So I went to the stash. I have friends and family that make fun of me for never having thrown anything away. I guess I am guilty a little. I had scraps from years of sewing and as I sorted through them I realized that the one person for whom all of this fabric would be suited to is our first born, Sharon. Sharon is our married preacher's wife. They have two sons and live in Pennsylvania. Some of the fabric was from a dress I had made for her and bedspreads, and curtains, and things around our home and stuff I couldn't even remember.  As I cut each 9 inch square I thought about how this quilt would be used and I wanted it to be able to fit their queen sized bed, so I knew I would need a lot of squares.

I had a lot of some fabrics and some of them I only had one or two pieces. But I started sewing them together. Nine squares to a block then cut the block in half twice, shift the cut pieces around and sew them back together. Now you have a disappearing nine patch.

This was a labor of love. Every stitch was sewn with one person in mind. I learned very quickly that I loved this new hobby. I sort of thought I would, and I was happy to be making something that would be handed to my daughter for her use.
More to come.

Flowers in my Garden

 It has been a wild spring here in the mid west. Freezing cold, snow, wild winds, hail, and oppressive 90 degree heat. Not all in one day, mind you, but a couple in the same week. We actually put our window A/C units in on Saturday. It was hot and humid. Yuck. Today it is kind of chilly. go figure.


But the yard, though un mowed and full of weeds is pretty with the wild violets. I thought I would take some pictures before the hubby goes out and mows them all down.





Wild Violets



The jonquils really came and went quickly this year. I guess it was because of the wild variation in the temperatures. These are the ones that are left.

These are the only  tulips up so far, out of the dozens I planted. I don't think they appreciate the dogs running all over them. There are more of them than last year. and these are a different color than the ones from last year. I don't know what happens to the flowers. I guess they do what they want.

Happy Birthday to Sharon

Today is the happy occasion of my darling first born's birthday.  I won't say how old she is, that would be a little harsh for both of us.

I don't think you ever really forget all the anticipation and nervousness of that first pregnancy and the birth. I was down right terrified. I had read a few books, but seriously had no idea what to expect. I don't think any of the reading actually helped. I would think it's like bungee jumping. You can watch, read accounts of people who have really done it, but there's nothing at all like experiencing it for yourself.

Then holding that darling little one in your arms all soft and warm and snuggley. Yep it's kind of great.
Being a parent is a lot of responsibility and sacrifice. The reward is when they're grown up and they become your friend. I think that's the reward of a job well done. When they are adults and you actually like them and want to spend time with them.

I love you, Sharon, you are some of our best work. I hope you have a wonderful birthday, and you should make it last all week. You've earned that.

You're a jewel in my crown.