We’ve been so busy lately and it’s been hard to fit in some stitching but I’ve managed! I’ve been stitching orders and stitching things to sell and once in a blue moon I stumble across a pattern I just have to stitch for myself!
When we were at the quilting/needlework store in Amana we found this cute cross stitch/beadwork kit. Two of us purchased the kit and are going to make Christmas ornaments to commemorate our camping trip. I haven’t done beadwork in a long time and it’s been fun to do a little bit of it again. I’m looking forward to finishing mine and seeing how Susie finishes hers. I’m sure they will look totally different from each other and yet both will be beautiful!
You can’t really see how the beads sparkle but they do. And they’ll really sparkle on the Christmas tree! It’s fun to have someone else stitching too as I don’t have anybody local who stitches and I’ve always thought it would be fun to stitch with friends!
All set up for the weekend. It doesn’t always work out but these campsites were perfect so that we could set up all four campers with our doors facing each other. We had this whole area just to ourselves!
A few years ago we started camping with a group of friends over the Labor Day weekend. There are four couples in this group and we take turns picking out a campground. This year was our year to choose so we chose the Amana area. The other three couples live in the Clear Lake area and we live in southeast part of the state. Some years we have to travel a bit more, other years a campground that is more centrally located is chosen. This year was a lot closer for us but the others wanted to explore this area so it worked out great.
We all headed to the Amana Campground on Friday and set up camp, had some supper and sat around the campfire. Then on Saturday we headed to Mt. Pleasant to the Old Threshers Reunion. This is an annual event that takes place every year in Mt. Pleasant after the State Fair is over. Many people in our state will camp at the State Fair for two weeks then pull their camper straight to the Old Threshers. I have lived here my whole life and never visited so I was looking forward to this too.
It was wonderful to see all the old steam engines, tractors, vehicles, different motors, etc. and the best part was seeing all of the young people taking part. This is such a big part of our history and it would be so sad if people didn’t keep up the tradition of holding this reunion for all to see. There were so many young people joining right in with the old learning how to run all of these things and doing all the work involved. I would love to go back again and spend more time here taking it all in.
Remember the old Burma Shave signs?
On Sunday we toured Main Amana. We walked through the shops and took it all in. The Amanas are a group of German villages established long ago. They lived in communal houses and each member of the village was assigned a job. One person may be a cook, another a farmer, a gardener and so on. They all worked together to keep the community going. Many of the old original buildings are still standing and being used as restaurants, shops and as houses. The General Store and the quilting shop were favorites among the women and the men simply tolerated the day! The restaurants are fun to eat at as they serve traditional German food family style but unfortunately Sundays are busy and we couldn’t get in without a reservation. So we checked out the Meat Shop, purchased some Amana meat and headed back to the campground with some yummy things to try. We went for a walk around the campground in the afternoon and checked out the dog show. There was an AKC Dog Obedience show going on all weekend and according to the lady when we registered, there were 3,000 dogs in the campground. It was fun to see all the different dogs and watch a small portion of one of the shows. It reminded me of the horse shows when I was young only with dogs!
We played some cards and lots and lots of bags at the campground. Spent each night sitting around the fire talking and enjoying each others company. Kelsey made us sugar cone s’more one night. Yum!
The weather was perfect, overcast and cool when we were at the Old Threshers and warm and sunny on Sunday. The evenings cooled down and the fire felt so good. It was another fun Labor Day weekend spent with good friends!
It’s a cold, rainy day here today, but no complaints. I love these kind of fall days. They just seem so cozy and homey to me. Although I do realize the fact I get to stay home and I don’t have to be out in it does make a difference. Although even when I was working full time, I still enjoyed these days. And I do have to go out and chore but it’s always good to get out of the house and get some fresh air and visit the chickens! Joe on the other hand is out in this weather willingly today. He took the day off to go pheasant hunting. He left the house at 5:00 this morning and we have no idea when he’ll be home. In the 30 years we’ve been married I don’t know that he’s ever gone pheasant hunting. I’m really hoping he gets at least one bird. I have never fixed pheasant but I remember Mom putting them in the crockpot and I remember I liked it. Plus, he has strict orders to bring me the tail feathers of any bird they get. I have wanted pheasant feathers for years to decorate with!
Pheasants always remind me of Thanksgivings as a child. We would always have Thanksgiving at my Uncle Jerry and Aunt Konnie’s farm. We are a small family so it was Grandma Ward, Uncle Jerry and Aunt Konnie (my dad’s twin sister), my cousins Terri Jo and Todd, Dad and Mom and me and my sister. Aunt Konnie was the best cook. Everything was homemade and just plain, simple, old fashioned cooking. Grandma always brought the homemade rolls and pickles. And the turkey was always a wild one Uncle Jerry had harvested. Then after we ate, the men would go pheasant hunting while the women would make a Christmas craft of some type. I can remember Christmas tree pins made from cinnamon sticks and fabric, or angles made from pasta. One year we made yo yo’s and turned them into Christmas trees on sweatshirts. Everything was homemade and simple. And so much fun. Then the men would come back and we would watch them dress the pheasants and we would go home with a meal for later. Such good memories of Thanksgiving as a child.
So back to today, Joe went to bed early last night and I stayed up and stitched. Then I was up early and started back up and finished this beautiful sampler. It was a fairly quick stitch and it turned out so beautiful. The designer is Falling Star Primitives. I had stitched a lot of her designs in the past and then she stopped designing for a few years. I was so excited to see she had started offering patterns again and this is the first one I stitched. I love her designs and I’m sure I’ll be stitching a lot more of her stuff. I was thinking I would dig around in my stash and see if I can find a frame and keep this one for myself but I’ve had someone ask about buying it so it will probably be shipped off to another home. And that’s fine too. I really, really don’t need to keep another stitched anything. And I can always stitch another one if I feel I just have to have it!
I’m mixing up my holidays! I got these all sewed up and stained last night. Now today at some point they will get stuffed and closed up and will be ready to find new homes. The Christmas ones will hopefully find new homes. I’m thinking I will keep the two Halloween ones for myself. I just have to do that once in awhile and these two are calling out to me!
Even when I’m feeling “under the weather” like I have been the last week or so, I can usually still stitch and it’s a good thing. I had orders for 16 pillows after posting my last grouping. That’s a good thing of course! But 16 pillows – that’s a lot to get done. I’m getting there though – only 2 1/2 half to go! Lots of pumpkins and witches. It’s getting to be that time of the year!
This is what you do when you take a break for a week. Last week when I was being a bum I binge watched Downton Abbey (I know – I’m way behind everyone else in my TV shows!) and I stitched. I stitched a lot! While it was hot and humid outside I worked on Halloween and fall things! I finally got them all died and filled and stitched into pillows. I love how Miss Grimhild fits inside this gourd – it’s like they were made for each other!
I love our small town parade. So much patriotism, lots of kids, old cars, horses and fun! See the green and gray building in the background? This old car belongs to an old schoolmate of mine and his passenger is an old friend who worked with my mom at the bank. Her husband was my government and econ teacher in high school. My dad had his barbershop in the right half of that building for years. And there was a laundromat on the left side. Once in awhile my sister and I got to go over to the laundromat and visit August and get a bottle of pop! Now I get my taxes done there and I get my hair cut in the back. At one time the upstairs of this building was a hospital – that was long before I was born!
Wow – we had a busy last few days! We sold shave ice on the 3rd and the 4th, the weather was unbearably hot and humid (which is good for selling shave ice but hard on these old bodies!), our freezer decided to misbehave during this time so we dealt with that, the 4th of July parade, getting the camper ready for camping on the 5th, the freezer apparently had some stale water in a drippan underneath that provided us with one horrible horrible smell that had to be taken care of, finally made it to the campground, had beautiful camping weather, managed to get in lots of stitching and relaxing, babysitting Bayah at the campground Friday night, a wedding reception in Bettendorf on Saturday night for my cousin, home with the camper yesterday, over to Dad and Mom’s last night to retrieve all our meat to put back in the freezer that is now up and running again. We had lots of fun but today I’m thankful to get back to normal!
Drew got to watch the parade with two of his buddies he hadn’t seen school let out in the spring!
Braxton won the greased pig contest in his age group – he was so proud!
All set up and ready for relaxing!
There’s nothing better than breakfast prepared by the hubby over an open fire!
Drew put a few miles on his scooter over the weekend!
Little Miss Bayah spent the evening with us while Daddy, Mommy and big brother went bowling to celebrate a birthday. Drew was thrilled to get to spend some time with her!
Since it was just Joe, Drew and I camping this weekend we had a lot of free time – I chose to stitch – of course!
Since we celebrated Father’s Day last weekend with the whole family we didn’t really have any plans for this weekend. The one thing we did know was we were staying inside as much as possible – the forecast was calling for very hot and humid days and boy was it right. You would break a sweat just by standing outside in the shade! We’re supposed to get one more day of it today before it finally breaks. So we stayed inside as much as possible and did very little. We went out for supper with Dad and Mom Saturday night which was an adventure. We ended up eating at a restaurant called Four Corners that Mom had read about in the Our Iowa magazine and it was delicious! It was out in the middle of nowhere, about an hour from home with cornfields all around. The parking lot was full and there was a wait but it was so worth it. The best buffet we’ve had in a long, long time! Dad and Mom enjoy finding new restaurants in out of the way places and we hadnn’t done this with them in a long time. When we got home we sat outside at their house and Drew caught fireflies. Once the sun set the heat broke and it was a beautiful evening.
Beautiful picture my cousin Todd drew. It depicts the train depot in Richland, Iowa from days gone by. Todd is a history buff and a very talented artist. Richland is the town where his mom and my dad were born and raised.
On Sunday we went with Dad and Mom to visit my Uncle Jerry and Aunt Konnie. It was Uncle Jerry’s birthday so Mom took brownies to celebrate. My cousin Todd was home so we had a nice small family get together. They have a beautiful farm with the most breathtaking views. They live outside a little town called Rubio but now have a Richland address since there’s no longer a Post Office in Rubio. There’s nothing left in Rubio besides a small refurbished train depot which is now a community center and a handful of houses. I think Jerry and Konnie’s farm is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been (Not that I’ve traveled or spent much time out of Iowa!) We had a nice visit with them and then we drove into Richland. Dad wanted to check on the acreage he and Konnie have together. It was originally their home place with their house and their grandpa’s house but there’s no houses left – it’s just a corn field. We drove past the Friends Church where Dad and Mom got married and their old high school which is no longer used. We meandered into the cemetary and drove around there. And Dad took us on down the road past the cemetary that led to two very very old cemetaries that I never knew where there. When we got back to Sigourney we drove through another cemetary. One I hadn’t been to since grade school when we would walk there and see all the old gravestones for fifth grade history class. A friend of my mom’s had passed away about a year ago and Mom wanted to show me the gravesite. I didn’t realize this cemetary was still being used. It’s a small cemetary with lots of very old stones. Drew wanted to get out and explore so we decided we would run to town one day when it wasn’t so hot and walk around and look at all the old old stones together. It’s a very peaceful and pretty place and I look foward to exploring it one of these days!
I would love to have this view out my front window! It’s beautiful in all seasons!
I’m going to try this again. I’m not sure why I stopped posting. It just happened. I stopped posting and I stopped reading all of my favorite blogs. I just stopped. I’ve been slowly following my favorite blogs again and I’m going to try this again. So here goes!
Such a pretty little thing!
The last couple of months of 2017 were very eventful. Our beautiful baby granddaughter whose due date was December 6th was born November 10th – on my mom’s birthday! Her mama’s health was not going well due to preeclampsia and the doctor decided to bring baby Bayah Lynn into the world early. Thankfully after a two week stay in the hospital Bayah and mommy came home and are healthy and doing great. Bayah weighed 4 lbs. 3 oz. when she was born and she’s now over 6 lbs. She’s the prettiest little thing and is just perfect. And big brother Braxton is so in love with his baby sister. We are truly blessed. Braxton celebrated his 4th birthday at the hospital in the waiting room and he thought that was so much fun. He said it was the best birthday ever! Just goes to show kids don’t need big parties. He was just happy to have all his family, a cake and presents to open!
Then December came along. We lost my father-in-law the week before Christmas. He was 93 and doing great and then he came down with pneumonia and before we knew it he was gone. It happened so quickly and yet most of December was spent with my husband making the three hour drive to his hometown not knowing if his dad was going to make it or not. He would drive nights and spend nights there and drive back and forth. It was so hard to lose Albert but everyone was thankful he didn’t suffer and he was ready.
Sweet baby Babah – so little!
And then the flu hit. Poor Drew got sick at Grandpa’s visitation. Thankfully my dad and mom were there and were able to take Drew home with them. He missed Grandpa’s funeral but he just couldn’t have been there. Then I got sick, and Joe got sick, and Eric got sick, and Aaron got. Braxton was sick and Jeremy too. We postponed Christmas from Christmas Day to New Year’s Eve Day. Then my dad and mom got sick. Mom ended up sick on New Year’s Eve Day and couldn’t celebrate with us but thankfully we had FaceTime and she was able to still be part of the fun.
Then the following week my sister got sick, her daughter Diamond got sick, my Abby got sick. Whew – it pretty much hit all of us except for baby Bayah. Thank goodness. Andrew and I went to Abby’s house on the coldest day of the winter so far, it was -17 out that morning, to watch the kiddos when she was sick. Iowa was the coldest area in the country that day and we broke a 100 year record with the cold. Normally I wouldn’t have stepped a foot out of the house that day but when your baby needs help and you can provide it – off you go no matter what! I hated Abby being sick but it was fun to watch Uncle Drew and Braxton have fun and get to cuddle and love on Bayah all day!
Uncle Eric and baby Bayah
We are now all on the mend and ready to take on the new year! We’ve had bitterly cold weather and beautiful snow and a heat wave of 38 degrees today! My poor chickens are so glad to be out and about in the yard today. No eggs of course but that’s to be expected. Drew has been going stir crazy stuck in the house and then no recess at school due to the cold. Yesterday they had recess and he was actually tired and ready for bed last night! I’ve started a few projects around here and have plans to get a lot more done. I’ve been stitching and selling my cupboard tucks which has been so much fun. Joe went hunting over the weekend and had a great time. His nephew Mike came down and hunted and spent the night Friday night. That was a lot of fun. They hunted with our son-in-law Jeremy, Jeremy’s dad and Jeremy’s brother-in-law. Joe and Mike didn’t get deer but they had fun. That’s the main reason for hunting I think. To get out and spend the day walking the timbers and being together. A deer is great and I appreciate the meat too but I’m glad the guys get to do this together every year.
Drew reading to big brother Aaron
Then last night after work Joe went over to Dad and Mom’s and hunted. Still no deer but Mom fixed chili for supper and Drew and I went over for that. After supper we played games with Drew and dad gave me a box of goodies. He’s been doing this lately. Giving me things now and then that he knows I will treasure and love. Earlier he sent me home with his first toolbox. No tools of course – he still needs those and I sure don’t – but I love this tool box. It’s the one I remember him using when I was growing up. It’s beat up and rusty and chippy and perfect. I love it! I’m not sure what I’m going to do with my box of treasures yet. A few things I’ll display, the rest I’ll store away. And hopefully I’ll be able to keep Drew out of it as he loves to sort through boxes of anything!
I’m mixing up my holidays! I got these all sewed up and stained last night. Now today at some point they will get stuffed and closed up and will be ready to find new homes. The Christmas ones will hopefully find new homes. I’m thinking I will keep the two Halloween ones for myself. I just have to do that once in awhile and these two are calling out to me!
Beautiful picture my cousin Todd drew. It depicts the train depot in Richland, Iowa from days gone by. Todd is a history buff and a very talented artist. Richland is the town where his mom and my dad were born and raised.
Drew found the kittens of course!
