A WONDERFUL weekend in Cape Cod

YES, I know there are a LOT of pictures in this post but we just had so much fun that I had to post a lot of pictures.  This weekend all started about a month ago when Bud told me he was attending a conference in New Orleans the weekend of Nov. 8th.  I realized that I could possibly plan something.  I went on line and found some tickets to Boston for under $200 and started thinking about a trip to see Sara, Leo and the babies.  Then I got to thinking Jessica hadn't seen Sara since the baby was born so I decided to ask Eva and Jessica to join me.  WELL, that weekend wasn't convenient for most people including most important Sara and Leo so I decided to see if the same bargain the next weekend and they did.  Then, since he wasn't going to be out of town, Bud decided he wanted to go too.  And the adventure was created out of a single momenta of checking the airfares.  I love having the flexibility to 'seize the moment' and travel.   

Doug had to work (he was invited) so he dropped Jess and the baby off at the airport VERY early on Thursday morning.

We were the celebs of the trip.  Our little one was really a hit with everyone but why not?? She is so cute.  Since it was her first flight, she also received her wings.  

We arrived late Thursday afternoon and quickly introduced our baby to Sara's babies.

They were excited to meet their cousin.

She was happy to be passed around and everyone shared her.

This little guy was happy to show us his 'silly face' right after dinner.

He even let me hold him quite early in our stay.

Gram was thrilled to have 3 of her grandchildren with her.

Friday we explored, did a little grocery shopping and went to lunch.  Once again, our little baby made ots of new friends over lunch.

That evening Lara, Erik's friend came over and she couldn't resist our little baby too.

Uncle E is great with the twins.

Gram loved her time playing on the floor.

The Mommies and cousins were very happy to spend time together.

Erik's house on the beach.  Life is good for him and Lara at the Cape.  This is a great place to spend the winter.

The twins were warming up to Uncle Bud.

Gram loved going for walks.

Uncle Bud was finally a friend.

Which one of these guys is the coolest??

We took a couple of nice walks.

Sometimes it is nice to have someone carry you and sometimes it is nice to carry someone.

We celebrated early birthdays.

We read stories

We bought matching Cape Cod sweatshirts.

Walked on the beach.

Put our toes in the Atlantic Ocean

I gave them their birthday books too.

And read this truck book over and over.

Everyone loved Lara

And Erik too of course.

Such a sweet baby.  She traveled very well.  We had a great time.
 I am very thankful for the time together.  We will see them again for Christmas so we just had to say, "see you soon" when it was time to go.
Our flights home went well but when we arrived it was snowing in Michigan.  We dropped everyone off and headed home in a typical Michigan snowstorm.  Bud was a very safe driver through several 'white outs'.  We have quite a bit of snow on the ground here so winter has arrived to N. Michigan.

Family is so special and we are blessed with the ability to travel and visit them.  I hope you enjoyed my picture view of this wonderful weekend.

Home alone

Bud left for a conference in New Orleans this past Saturday and left me 'Home Alone'.  I filled my Saturday with a little craft show shopping, making squash soup, and reading a good book in front of the fire.  Oddly enough the book I am reading is called " The Girl You Left Behind".  It is  a pretty good book and the fire was very nice.  

Sunday I spent the day in a relaxed way but I decided I needed to go out and check out the mall.  This is the first time I have walked the whole length of the mall in a long time.  I didn't have any big agenda except to pick up a couple of gifts so I just wandered in an out of a few shops juts 'sport shopping' as I used to call it.  I did manage to get some early Christmas gifts and do my errands.  It was interesting.  I did skip all the 'tween' shops that really don't interest me at all.  I realized that we don't have many clothes shops up north that really meet my needs but of course I really don't have any needs so maybe that is MY problem. Sunday evening was filled with a LONG talk with Leo (an hour and a half).  He was very talkative so I just relaxed and talked with him.  

Today I woke up to the snow falling.  It was snowy a little yesterday but it melted by noon so that wasn't too bad.  I think this snow is suppose to melt today too.  I am on my way to school in a little while.  I still volunteer on Mondays and Fridays.  It is still fun and they sure do need me with the large class sizes they have now. Molly has 27 kids in that tiny classroom.  The largest class I had was 32 and I STILL remember that difficult year.
That is my quiet weekend.  Hope you did something exciting and didn't have snow.

I am married to a 60 year old man

How did it happen???  Bud's turning 60 story is: " I have been reading the comics for many years and when reading Beetle Bailey through the years I have always related to the character Beetle Bailey but now I am more the age of General Halftrack and relate more to him."
Getting older is not something we can stop and the alternative is not so pleasant so I guess we are all heading down that road, it just seems like the speed is exceeding my limit to take it all in.  Maybe that is why people retire, so they can enjoy the scenery as those years rush by.  I will try to remember that little bit of wisdom that just came to me as I was doing this post.  I will try to spend more time enjoying the moments of each day.
Bud is trying to slow down his work load and he is spending less time at work, coming home early to do chores or just relax.  That is a good thing for him and he seems happy.  The next 20 years need to be spent in enjoying all those years of hard work.  I think we are ready for the enjoyment part and the slower pace when we are around home.

 We did celebrate his birthday several times this past week. Saturday evening we went out to dinner with some friends that have birthdays near him.  All 4 of the guys out with us have birthdays near his  ( guess one of the guys didn't make it in this picture)  It has been a fun tradition that we have celebrated over the years.

 Sunday evening was dedicated to family as we had dinner with Sonja, Sue and Walt.  Monday night we were set to go out with another friend that also turned 60 but he wasn't feeling too god so just the 2 of us went out for dinner.

Tuesday night we went to the Yacht Club for a speaker series about ice boating  This is the ice boat group.

SO, as you can see, I have NOT been cooking much this past weekend.  I think that I am cooking tonight. Eating out isn't too good for the waistline.

The birthday weekend was nice and I am very thankful for  the many years we have had together.  NOW if the Republicans just don't screw it up too much, we will try to enjoy the next year.  ( I just couldn't let this post go by without mentioning the election yesterday.)

Trick or Treat

Hey, I just needed to get with the season.  Yes, I have put out my Fall/Halloween decorations this Year.  I was a little slow but at least they were out by the first of October.  I sprinkled a few thanksgiving decorations among them so I am set until the end of November with the exception of removing the really Halloween looking decorations like this cute little plate.  

 I have quite a set of little decorative plates that have been collected over the years, one for each month and then some.  Several of the ladies in my life have similar sets.  We started collecting them before they became a 'thing' so we were 'trend setters'.

SO, what have I been doing with myself lately????  This is one of my latest projects.  I showed you the start of it a while ago and this is the finished product.  I am taking it to my quilt group today and then I am going to hang it in my dining room.  When I was at the quilt show a couple of weeks ago I noticed that some people are starting to mount their pieces on stretched canvas.  I liked the concept and am going to try it with this one.  I will paint a canvas a gray color and then put the piece on the canvas with the gray paint as the frame.  I will show it to you when it is finished.  I think that is a new a good idea for displaying quilts.  There is a lot of turquoise blue in this piece because that is our 'accent' color in our living and dining room.  I am still decorating that space even though we bought the new furniture almost a year ago.  I am not fast at decorating.

This is another piece that I am finishing.  This one is a pattern that I found on line.  I thought it looked interesting.  Of course I used my colors for this piece.  I love the way it turned out.  Right now I am working on sewing down the flowers and then I am planning to do the quilting on this myself.  My quilter has been encouraging me to try and do my own smaller pieces so I will give this one a try.  It is really quite big even though it may not look like it in the picture.  I think it is about 40"x 50" but I did one this big a couple of years ago so I am willing to give it a try.  I won't go fancy with my quilting though  I will do a lot of straight lines because this piece already has a lot going on and doesn't need any more fussing.  I am planning to stretch this over a frame too.  I will have to get Bud to make a frame for me on this one  though.  (I made the other one to fit a canvas but didn't do it for this one.)  I am planning on hanging this one over the fireplace or in our entrance.  I am really pleased at hou it turned out so far.

Bud has been busy getting everything ready for winter.  Lately he has been working on our front door.  He has decided that we need a storm door there to keep the cold out.  I am not that fond of storm doors but I understand the reason for it and know that cold air comes in around that door a lot.  When he gets the outside things done I want him to help me with a few inside projects.  First I want to change those hanging banners in our entrance way.  I plan to hang some quilts there and change them with the seasons.  I already have two ready to go and would work on more if I had a place to hang them.  I am also thinking of painting our dining room a different color and doing something to the wall that has all my family pictures on it.  Maybe I should invite Eva up when I am ready. She loves to paint and decorate.

Thaaaat's all  from up north this week.  I am off to my quilt group.

A Northern Michigan Fall Weekend

 Last weekend was a beautiful weekend in Traverse City.  The weather was perfect with the fall air and the leaves showing off.  I used this wonderful weekend to spend time with a friend and explore Leland.
Friday night I went to a great quilt show with my friend Kathy and her daughter in law.  There were over 200 quilts to look at and we had a wonderful time exploring different techniques and patterns.  Casey is thinking of taking up quilting although she has a cute little son to watch over and has just moved here from Vermont so I am sure that her time is limited for too many hobbies.  This was a good way to introduce her to the hobby though.

 Saturday I decided to drive north to the little town of Leland.  It was a spectacular drive with the sun lighting up the trees and the leaves so beautiful.  Here I am overlooking 'Fishtown'  This part is full of cute little shops and I just wandered around checking out the 'tourists'  and pretending to be one for the day.

 Fish Town has been around for a long time and is a popular place for visitors to explore.  I do it about once a year in the fall.

 The REAL reason I went to Leland was the annual Fiber Arts Show.  It is small but I like to check it out every year.  I didn't buy anything but did enjoy the artists.

This is my favorite artist. She was the 'featured artist' last year.  I sat and talked with her a little this year since she wasn't quite a busy.  I LOVE this style of Art Quilt but am totally lost as to how to make them.  The color combination and the technique fascinate me.  I really don't know how to start this kind of project.  I think I need to just explore smaller pieces.  She advised me to learn more about color and to just begin.  All the fabrics in this piece are solids not prints.  I usually use some kind of print or batik in my pieces.  I don't have a large supply of solids and am reluctant to go out and buy some as I have a LARGE stash of fabrics that I have already bought.  But, like I said, maybe small pieces would be a good start.

This is more my style lately.  I started this piece a couple of days ago.  I am planning on keeping this one for myself.  I have made a couple like this  before but have given them to someone else.  I think I will hang this one in my dining room.  

This is a quilt that I just finished.  Someone at my quilt group gave me the center part of this quilt.  It had been given to the group from a family that their mother died and it wasn't finished.  I put the borders around it and will give it as a charity quilt back to the group unless someone in MY family wants it. (Let me know if it suits you and your style) It really isn't my style of fabrics but it is nice.

While I was enjoying the out of doors Bud went for his last motorcycle ride with a friend.  The toys are being put away for another winter.

SO. the beautiful weekend was not wasted on us.  That is a good thing since it is raining this weekend and the air is a lot colder.  It is still beautiful outside my window but more of a warning that soon it will all be white.  I will enjoy this beauty and try not to think of the snow.

No excuse

A wedding took place in Texas.  Leo's family rallied and took the trip to meet Josh's new wife and celebrate the wedding.  We almost made it but Glen and Penny had some difficulty with their airport authorities and parking in Minot so they didn't make it.  We were all VERY sad as we were hoping to have a family reunion in Texas and relax together.  

 Eva, Bud and I flew down a day early and met up in Houston.  We rented a car and drove to Galveston for the night.  The Thursday night scene was pretty quiet but we managed to walk around a little and find dinner.

 Friday we met Jessica and just relaxed and had a nice day.

 The beach house was beautiful and big.  our room was in the very top.

 Josh's mom arrived in the afternoon.  Josh and Jessica decided to 'photo bomb' this picture.

 Leo had been down in Texas for a week and had a chance to get to know Garrick.  They seem to get along well.  Leo hadn't seen his grandson since he was a baby.  They had some time to catch up.

 We were right on the ocean so we had a few walks along the beach.

 Friday night was time to set up for the wedding. Garrick did a good job of helping.

 The two guys just 'chilling' waiting for the rehearsal.

 They sure look alike.

 Garrick and I had some fun together.  It was great to get to know him.

 Our room was very nice except the fold out couch wasn't very comfortable.  Eva just slept on the top.  The nice part was we had our own bathroom.

 Bert and Gloria (Josh's grandparents) Eva and Leo.  We spent a lot of the time on Saturday afternoon relaxing on the porch before the afternoon wedding.

 Leo knows Josh's family fairly well and the week before he teased Aunt Sally (on the left) how much he loved her lemon pie.  These two wonderful ladies are Bert's sisters.

 Jessica's mom put the pearls around her neck.  The pearls belonged to her grandmother.  Jessica spent a lot of time with this special grandmother so this was a touching moment.

 We cleaned up pretty well for the wedding.

 Jessica's uncle walked her down the steps.

 It was a nice ceremony with the ocean behind them.

 The veranda was a great place for taking pictures.

 Father and son.

 AND of course Aunt Sally made a wonderful lemon pie just for Leo.  I was thankful that he shared a little of it with us.

 Grandma and grandpa, Mom and Dad and the new couple.

 I thought this one was cute.

 A touching remembrance of the grandparents that had a great influence on both the bride and groom.

 I gave them a pair of pillowcases that Mom had embroidered.

 Sunday morning everyone was up early and cleaning the beach house.  We left about 11:00 and made our way back to Houston.  Leo left shortly after us and drove up to Iowa to see Uncle Eldon on his way home.

 Everyone at the wedding told us we needed to stop at this resort area on our way home and since we had lots of time we checked it out.

 It was a great place to eat with many aquariums all around the room.

Finally we decided that ice cream would be a good way to beat the heat.  The ice cream was especially delicious.

We had a wonderful time and enjoyed meeting Jessica, Garrick and all of the extended families.
I can't promise that I will be much better at posting,  It seems that I am in a lazy streak.  I have been doing a little sewing and maybe I will try to post some of those pictures.