On the Road Again....

 We've been on the road again.  We love to travel in the autumn months so we can enjoy the colors of the season.  Of course, the weather can prove to be challenging too.  This was a chilly trip with temps dipping into the teens and snow the first day out.  We travel the small highways so we can take in all the beauty around us, using interstates only when there is no other route.  Our country is so beautiful.
Can you help but sing.....OH BEAUTIFUL FOR SPACIOUS SKIES

..........FOR PURPLE MOUNTAINS MAJESTIES

Our final destination was my cousin's farm in Iowa, but we stopped in Kansas along the way to pick up three of our granddaughters to join us for their fall break.

One of the days in Iowa we headed to Dubuque and had a brisk walk on the Riverwalk.

We took the girls out to the Field of Dreams baseball field.  We should have taken our ball and mitts!

My cousin's farm happens to be in the middle of Amish country so a visit to their shops is always a must.  I always pick up my spices, nuts, pectins, grains and candies there.  Out of respect for the community, I will not include pictures, but it is great to see transactions made WITHOUT computers.  People can actually count out the change!

Harvesting of beans and corn was in full swing while we were there.  The farming techniques of the Amish are quite different from the large machinery used on my cousin's farm.

This is a photo of my grandparents home in town.  It is still a stunning looking home with the original leaded glass windows, wrap around porch and lovely bay windowed rooms.  My grandmother always had big pots of brilliant red geraniums on the pillars by the front entrances when the
weather allowed.   I wish I could pack the house up and move it to California. 

My grandparent's farm had a wooded area in it with the Wapsipinicon River running through it.  When my uncle took it over, he eliminated the farming land and planted various species of trees.  Each year he would plant 3-4,000 little sapplings.  I wish he could see how beautiful it has become.

He made sure to plant food for the wildlife too.  We saw turkey, deer and all sorts of birds when we visited.

This photo was taken just as the branch snapped.  Much laughter followed!

 The girls got to help with the harvest, even driving the combine for several hours.  It was payoff for getting up at 4:30 a.m to help feed the cattle!!

Look at these clouds over the farm! 

 ........FOR AMBER WAVES OF GRAIN

Coming home we headed across Nebraska and up into Wyoming.  While we did not encounter many cars, we did have to stop for these guys.  I wonder if they know Thanksgiving is quickly approaching.

While we traveled in a comfortable car, I could not help but think of the early settlers crossing in buggies.  We followed the Lewis and Clark trail for many miles and enjoyed seeing the spots we have read about.....Chimney Rock being one of them.

We stopped to visit Ft. Laramie and the Old Iron Bridge.  It proved to be a good spot for a photoshoot of my Seeing Stars quilt.  Guess I will have to name it Stars Over the Platte River.

I will be linking this post up with Soma's Wandering Camera series.  This was truly a wandering camera!

So Dearly - Part 7

I am excited to share my seventh and next to last part of the Sew Dearly QAL today.  This is the last week to download this section's pattern for free so be sure to grab it.

Again, the individual parts were paper pieced.  Like a puzzle, they were all laid out.

The pieces were then sewn into sections and the sections were sewn together.

Only one more clue to go before the background is filled in for the completed image.

I'm sure that there would be time to join in with us if you want to sew along and be eligible for some fabulous gifts.  Each section of the pattern is available HERE.  Gosia has done a great tutorial for each part on her blog, Quilts My Way.

October Days

Blogger is still misbehaving even after I have reset it several times.  If I do not reply to you, it is because I am not seeing your comments.  I tried comment moderation, but no comments came through so I have reverted back.  We will see how it goes.

Some old business first....I have drawn two names for my Words to Live By blog hop giveaway and have not received a reply to e-mails that I have sent.  Today I drew again and it is Pat from Life in the Scrapatch blog.  I have sent her an e-mail and I hope I finally have a winner.

It has been rather chaotic around the house as we have had painters working on all of the baseboards.  Nothing like having a washer and dryer in the middle of your living room.  Every room has had all the furniture pulled to the middle of the room.  It's an interesting way to live!

But....it has allowed extra time in my creative space.  I needed to keep Toby confined in the room with me so we had some good bonding time.

Fort Worth Fabric Studios had a Boo to You QAL that I joined.  I made a few changes, but really like the way it finally came out.  Of course, Toby had to inspect it too.

The Seeing Stars QAL is also culminating this month.  I was hoping to get it quilted before the reveal day on October 16th, but I don't think that will happen.  I do have the top all pieced.

I was one of the lucky winners in the weekly giveaways during the QAL.  This beautiful Portsmouth layer cake was a donation from https://www.greenfairyquilts.com/.  

My sister is the queen in our Gridster Bee this month and I love her idea for her blocks - black and white NYBeauty blocks with a splash of color.  Won't a quilt of all these blocks look fabulous?

October means another monthly marker for my square in a square (SIS) Temperature quilt.  Our September did not see the exceptionally high temps that we can normally expect, but the nights are cooling off a bit.  Only two more months to go.

  

October is a busy birthday month in our family.  We have ten birthdays, including my own.  There's no time for stale birthday cake!!!

We had one of our sons and his family for dinner Sunday night and we were treated to this night sky display during dessert.  A rocket was launched from Vandenberg AFB.  It created two sonic booms before returning to Vandenberg and landing as planned - a great accomplishment.  

Just to end with some super cuteness, I'll share this picture.  Our daughter's family got a new puppy and their older pooch loves the new companion.  

Minis and More

First of all ... a question.  Is anyone else having problems with Blogger again?  None of my comments are coming through my e-mails AGAIN and every post lately has spam posted in the comment section.  Since I am not being notified by e-mail, I have no idea they are there unless I go back to all the past comments.  It is beyond frustrating.  I tried the changing e-mail fix that worked last time, but it did not work this time.

Anyway....it's the end of the month which means it is time to post my Minis and More project.  Thank you to Sherri and Michele for hosting the event each month and selecting our projects.

This month was Sherri's Endless Summer pattern.  It was a fun little pattern to make.

Be sure to check Michele and Sherri's blogs on the 1st of the month to see all the versions that have been made using the pattern.

It has been a cooler than normal September for us, but we decided to take Toby for a walk on the beach.  It was a beautiful day and not a soul on the beach.

I love seeing how people build little structures with the driftwood.  There has been a lot this year with the fires last winter.

The Island Princess was in port in Santa Barbara.  It left Alaska and was headed to Mexico.

Another bit of sewing that I did over the weekend was the Swoon Sixteen through FQS.  The little points really reminded me of houses so I added windows and doors.  I think I will make it into a cushion.

The fabrics were from my Seeing Stars QAL.  This week we were to add twenty eight 4.5" stars.  The design called for applique, but I decided to piece stars instead.  After several stupid math calculations, I finally managed to get 28 stars.

Photographing them was a bigger challenge than the math!  This guy thinks everything on the ground is meant to be a bed.

The winner of my Words to Live By giveaway (Sharon) has not replied to my e-mail yet.  If I still have no response, I will select a new name tomorrow and post it on Thursday.