August

The heat wave has broken.  One can at least breath when outside now.  Everything is dead and dying, so I plan to clean off the flower beds and pots this weekend.   About a month early. However, I am done with watering to keep it alive.  Grandson,  Garet came for along weekend while his Mom was working.  He helped grandpa with an axle on the tractor, discovered the push mower, and helped me with some gardening.  In turn, we took him to Central Dairy for an ice cream and out to eat after church.  He must be getting ready to grow again, because I couldn't keep him filled up.  We bought some giant marshmallows and made smores one evening. He is lots of fun.   
     I am posting this picture of my antique irons.  I recently organized them on this shelf.  I especially want my friend  Gerry to notice how I have incorporated her lovely gifts into my display.  When I look at the irons, I see the dolls and smile when I think of Geri, Dianna with the Thimble, Betty with the coconut coin purse and beautiful lotus blossom pin cushion which I use every day.   Anna Marie with the picture purse stand and picture.   Betty Stuart with the Toledo scissor set in the box. as well as the sewing shadow box on the wall.   All my dear friends are in my favorite room ( my sewing room) and spend the day with me when I am free to create.  
   I love my Iron collection.  I have two more Irons in the guest room.  they are electric irons with porcelain on them.  The don;t quite match the cast iron collection so I placed them about on other shelves.  I probably have more than plenty but I am fascinated by them.    All so different, useful and HEAVY.  You would have great muscles if you ironed your sheets with these.   

   Life will return to normal now that school is starting and routines are returning to most of the country.   I am always glad when things slow down in the fall and I can enjoy the month of September and October by cleaning up the flower beds and sitting on the patio reading in the evenings.   I want to send out love to all my family and friends.  I don't say that enough to you all.  I cherish you all for your place in my life.   Till next time.  Bev

busy canning from the garden

The last few weeks have found us busy, as usual, this time of the year.  The youngest grandson visited the week of the 4th for the whole week.  He discovered the vaccum cleaner and cleaned the floors for me every day.  Great toy.  I, in turn, took him to eat Mexican and Chinese.  We also went to the Runge Nature Center, to the Cars 2 Movie and to see the Clydesdale Horses.   We also baked cookies and I managed to can some green beans.  He felt he had a wonderful time and is trying to figure out how to spend more time here.  I had to burst the bubble and tell him that every day would  not be play days if he lived here.  That I would also have chores to do.  We would not spend every afternoon playing  games and going to fun adventures.  Those are VACATION activities.   He decided that did not sound so fun and maybe his Mommy would miss him if he did not go home. He is turning 9 next month.
   Meanwhile, work has been busy.  After a few, months of not working full shifts, it is tiring to be back to working full speed, no time for lunch, 10 hour days.    I pretty much come home at 8 pm and go to bed.  I have canned 35 pints of green beans and 28 pints of horticulture beans this month.    The tomatoes are cooking on the vines due to the extreme heat and humidity.  Hope we have enough for a few jars of juice and some salsa.  I have plenty of spegetti sauce left from last year.  
    Hoping to find a few hours to go watch the Harry Potter movie tomorrow.  No time last week.  Last weekend we traveled north and finished the sorting of boxes and cloths at the Father-in-Laws home.  It is a sad job to pick through their belongings and try to decide what to sell, what to donate, what to throw away.  Two lifetimes of living to sort through.   My advise to you all, sort through your things now.  Throw out what you don't use.  Label things you want people to have or give it to them now if you no longer use it.  Label your pictures.  Your grandkids will not have any idea who that you pretty woman and handsome man from 60 years ago are.   Might be an important relative.   Might be the next door neighbor.  Who can tell.   Don't leave those things for whomever is left.  The task is too hard and sad.  Feelings get hurt and people are too emotional to be left to decide what to keep or not.   Anyway, be kind to your heirs, make a will and down size.  Really do you need 4 pressure canners and 4 bundt pans?    Blessings to all who read and comment.  I cherish my friends and their loving support.  Stay cool and take time to tell your family that you love them.    Beverly

Back from the cruise

My daughter and granddaughter and I went on the Inside passage Alaskan cruise.  We cruised for 7 days.   We were gone for 10 days.  Great pictures, great memories, great time.   I loved every minute of it.  Especially the being pampered on the cruise ship.    It was a big ship with 2000 tourist and 875 employees.  The size of the town my daughter is from.  So it was a little overwhelming for the granddaughter but she says she had fun.  She turned 18 on the cruise.      We had a most wonderful time.   The pictures are boarding the ship and of the Mendlehom glacier.
    Now we are back home and life has returned to normal.  Back to work, back to the garden and today, I am determined to finish this darn Queen and her court quilt.  I should have finished it last winter.   It needs to go away to the quilter and be done.   These lower pictures are of the garden.  From what I hear from my family up in Northern Missouri, I may be the only one with a garden.  Very wet up there.  They are having difficulty getting they hay in bales.

  I have faithfully read all post to the blogs I follow on my Nook while gone and have enjoyed keeping up with all.   I admire all that everyone accomplishes. 

     Cheers 

Graduations

What a long happy and sad weekend,   Two Grandchildren graduated high school.  My husband traveled to Boone Iowa to attend the Grandson's graduation.  I traveled to North Missouri to attend the Granddaughter and niece's graduations.  Those were both this past Sunday.  Then Monday night we attended a funeral visitation for DH step mother.   His dad had passed away last November.  Annie was very sad after Dad passed away.  I think she is at peace now.   We will miss here.   Now for the job of going through the house which has two lifetimes of living in it.   Will be a job.  I also wanted to post some flower pictures.  My flowers are always so lovely in May.  The prettiest that they will be all year really.  

    In one week I will be on a plane to Seattle.  Then my daughter, granddaughter and I will be on a ship, the Rhapsody of the Seas, to travel up the inside passage to Alaska.  I am very excited to be on the way.  I need a vacation in the worst way.  I hope to spend some quality time on the deck enjoying the view. 

  My heart and prayers go out to all who suffered losses this past week in the tornado's around the country.  This has been a very violent spring.   Hope it will soon be over.   I will post pictures from the cruise on my return.  In the meantime, have a safe Memorial holiday.

WHAT IS NEW

Prom the end of April in NEMO.  Pictured is a granddaughter, grandson, and parents.  I think she looks like Cinderella.   I wonder if the night lives up to the anticipation that precedes the event?  

   I was the lucky recipient of a Nook for Mothers day from DH.  I was surprised that he did that.  I wasn't sure that I wanted one.  But now that I have it I will sure use and enjoy it.  Today I am sewing together the Block of the Month blocks from Saturday morning.  Then I am going outside to plant some flowers in the pots and pull some weeks.  The refrigerator in the garage needs a good cleaning also.    Thanks to all who stop by and comment. 

Long winter gone

At last the long winter is gone and I have asparagus popping up as well as dandelions.   My parents were here for Friday afternoon and Saturday.  I took mother to the local quilt store, Specialty Quilts in Jefferson City.  Then we took them to breakfast at a local restaurant where 10 % of the sales plus all the tips were going to the March of Dimes.  A friend and her family serve as the waitresses and donate their tips.  So we had to support that.  We had a lovely weekend.  I was on call Sunday.   So did not venture far from the sewing room, where I am putting the applique pieces on the Queen and her Court Quilt.   

I had lunch with my the "Chicks" last Wednesday at the Summit Lake Winery.  It was warm enough to sit on the patio.  I am learning to use a new camera and flogged them into submitting to a picture.   I love them dearly and also the three that were in England at the time.  Great gals and friends.   

I have not blogged since the big snows in February.  I am always tired and have cabin fever towards the end of Feb and into March when it is so dark and dreary. Probably a little depressed by that time, too.   Then about the time the days get longer, my burst of energy and enthusiasm comes back.  I am truly a girl of the land.  I love the redbuds and dogwoods when they start to bloom.  This past weekend they were spectacular.   I am ready to be out in the warm and dig up the weeds and  make my world pretty again.  Just as soon as the spring rains let up some.  I have started on the strawberry patch, which is just over run with clover.  I will need to till up and replant one end of the patch because the clover is so thick.    

I have a bluebird pair which nest in  an ornamental bird house on a trellis in front of the house just feet from the front door. You can see the clematis in the far left of the picture  of the house and then the bird house in the close up.  To the left is a picture of the Daddy who sits on a trellis at the end of the house to the far left of the above picture.  He is never far from the house, so the Momma must be sitting on the eggs.   This will be the 4th year for them to fledged from this house.  It is very fun to be this close to them and observe the process.    This is enough chatting for today.   I am back in the mode to share the wonders of every day life around me again.  So my winter vacation is over and I will hopefully be writing to you all again soon.    Yes, those are rose bushes in the foreground by the trellis the bird is on and Peonies in the back ground,    We have mowed the grass three times already.  Not me -  DH :)  Till next week.   Thanks for stopping in. 

More Snow

It has been a long month.  Snowing again with 6-8 inches predicted for overnight.  Today was a nice day in the twenties.  My friend Dianna and I went out for lunch, to the Library and then to the local Quilt shop.  I am ashamed to say I have lived here 10 years and I am just getting a Library Card.  I plan to borrow more and buy way less this year.   I do LOVE, love books and reading.  I have so many things I love, quilting, knitting, cooking, gardening, and card making.   I did make a few birthday cards over the weekend.   So fun.   I also have finished these socks.  Which were to be a Christmas present.  My friend will just receive them a little late ( which they say is better than never!)  I also started back in knitting on the Central Park Hoodie, which I started a year ago and then put away.  This was a knit along with Knitting Daily.  As you can see I did not finish with the rest of the group. It is hard to see in the picture, but there is a  single cable down both shoulder edges and a double cable in the center.   I have the back completed as pictured and have cast on to start on the left side.   Perhaps by the end of the year I will have both front pieces finished.   I am not a fast knitter, and other things that I love call me away.    I did want to stop by and say happy January.  Now I am off to spend the evening knitting on the Hoodie, watch some mindless TV and stay warm and dry.  I am so thankful for central heat.  Cheers and thanks to all for comments and for stopping by.

Happy 2011

Hoping everyone had a safe happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year.  Ours was quiet.  We took down the tree, cleaned up the mess and watched a movie last night on TV.  We were in bed by 11.  We are not very exciting these days.  Our Christmas was exciting.  We left here on Christmas eve and the snow was tapered off here.f  However, the snow was just starting in Northeast missouri.  We drove into it about south of Hannibal.  Took us 4 hour to do the 2.5 hour trip.  But we made it fine with the expert driving of DH.  We did spend the afternoon with the Mother in Law.  It was a hard Christmas for her with the recent loss of her husband(DH's father).  But all of his Children and GrandChildren were in and out all weekend so she was busy and happy that we were all there.   Then on to the daughter's and grandkids.  They were happy to see us and somewhat anticipatory about Christmas.  The older kids are not as into it as the youngest.  The youngest did spend the evening watching the North Pole site for the progress of Santa across the continents.  He was most excited.   On Christmas day we were at my parents.  They are both laid up recovering from their individual surgeries but were happy to see the three kids and several grandkids that made it to the festivities.  We were safely home by 10 pm that night.  On the 26th, we had our good friends over for dinner and a visit.   So that was a full weekend.. 
        Work has been incredibly busy this month of December.   People were trying to rush in surgeries during school break and while their deductibles were met.  Long, busy, hard on the back, days.   Then next week, cases taper off significantly.   After this weekend ( of being on call,  I am at work now waiting for the next patient to come out of surgery), I hope to have my days off for myself again where I can sew, and make cards, and finish the socks I started back in October.  I had to rip one sock back down because I discovered a mistake.  So I will finish the second sock and then go back and knit the leg on the first sock.  I was doing the two at a time, toe up method.  Apparently I was too tired one day when I was knitting and managed to get about 20 rows of the first sock with a repeating mistake which is very, VERY, noticable.  So rip away I went.  It will be much nicer when fixed and I will be glad that I took it back down.  
  Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend and a wonderful start to the new year.