Road Trip

The end of July brought all 4 of us together.

In the car.

Away from home.

Overnights.

The last time that happened was in 2004 when we went to South Dakota.   So much has changed since then…  Life on the farm and in the family has changed to the point of making outings nearly impossible.  I am not a very good long-distance traveler this year.    And all of us have jobs that don’t have vacation pay.  All this piled in but we did it!

Everyone got in a day’s work (or partial) and we headed through the big city around 8 p.m.

Phil & I love the kids and love spending time with them.  We cherished all the moments we had with the 4 of us.  (Phil was super glad to have 2 willing drivers!!)

The destination was camp for my side’s family reunion.  We spent more time sitting in the car to get there & back than awake at the reunion.

My mom & the 4 of us at the campfire.

 

 

All of 4 generations were there but 2 (+ 2 spouses) of the cousin (3rd) generation.

Saturday morning —

Saturday afternoon slip & slide.  Here go my 3 (you can click on the photo to see it larger) —

And back up the hill to do it again!

I got to hold the youngest model.  🙂  We gained 2 wee ones in 2013!  I was glad he was still at the pass-the-baby stage but more like the size & weight of wrestling with a 4-legged cinder block that wants to steal your nose!  

3/4 of the girl cousins —  A&E with my K

 

 

 

 

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Closet Become New!

No, I did not take care of all the closets before we moved in here.  It has been 26 years.  Many closets and rooms came “furnished”.  We moved ourselves and did it quickly.

Anyway.  It is the cleaning closet.  Who cares?
I finally did.

Over the last months, I’ve organized and cleaned it.  Added bins and tubs and hooks to make it more usable.  Thrown out unneeded.  Re-homed some things.

And now it is white.  Clean.  Polished.  Easy to use.

But really…. it is just for me.  The photos are even blurry.  And seriously, have you considered how crazy one becomes while painting a closet?  Don’t back up or you’ll get paint in your hair!  Don’t stay too long as there is no place to breathe.  Technique, not so critical!

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Pineapple Blossom

Here & there, I work on my own projects and this year I’ve been digging out UFOs to finish.  I quilted this in June but then was slow to finish the binding by hand and getting 2 quilt holders for me.

I started the blocks at a Bonnie Hunter workshop near me back in 2008.  (The pattern is free and listed on Bonnie’s website.) Soon after the workshop, I finished the blocks and had the center with sashings & cornerstones together.  This year I trimmed the leftover HSTs and made the flying geese border and added the other borders.  A non-pink quilting friend had the perfect piece of bright pink in her stash to donate to help with my borders.  Thanks!!

Bonnie’s main theme is using scraps and stash fabrics and this is my “free” quilt.  I didn’t buy anything special for this quilt.  I just pulled blacks & pinks from my fabric bins when I started the project.  It sings/screams the 1990’s but also has memories of little girl dresses, other quilt projects, and even a paintstick workshop at another guild.

I quilted it with pink thread and included feathered wreaths and funky feathers for the borders.

Even the backing of a weird pink flannel was in my stash.  My label is an extra block made at the workshop and includes Bonnie’s signature as well as mine.

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Beautiful July

 

 

It felt like an early June day instead of early in July.

 

 

And such clear blue skies.

 

I had to capture some of the beauty.

And our time together.

Grandma asked for a photo too.

Together to partner with family.

A beautiful woman.

Loved much.

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