The last of August, where did the summer go?

Well its almost the end of summer, where did it go? Jessica went on her Europian discovery with People to people in July, she went to Italy, Austria, Switzerland, and France. 20 days of constant travel and sight seeing, also learning the history of many of the towns and citys she was in.

She started with People to People back in November of last year, She went to quite a few classes during the time from November to June. She passed the course in June and became a student Ambassador for the United States in June. They

Flew in to Roma on the 5th of July and spent about 6-7 days in Italy. Traveling up to the eastern part of Austria, visting citys along the way.

The spent about 7 days in Austria give or take a few days. The went to a castle, visited small towns and large citys. They went to Vienna and a salt mine on the Austria, Germany border.

She with her blond hair and blue eyes really blended right in with the people there. They spent 3 days with a host family in Switzerland. Her family was in Bern. She had alot of fun with them and they were excited to have her being she was the first kid they had hosted. They took really good care of her and she got to experence the every day life in the family there. Her Host brother took her to a birthday party that one of his friends was having when she first got there, him being 19 she got to meet kids her own age. She spent alot of time with the host family extended family also. She was the only one in her deligation that was in a city for the host family stay, she really enjoyed the whole time there.

From there they did more in Austria and Switzerland then they were off to France, the shortest time was spent in France, there departure was from Paris, so they had afew days to enjoy the sights of Paris and all the shops of course.

They spent a total of 20 days in Europe. Jessica was ready to come home and sleep in her own bed after being way that long. Im very proud of here of being able to join and go on such a wonderful trip. She got 30 credits to her high school credits form the trip.

She will beable to go again this next summer with the people to people, this time she will be able to choose where she wants to go. It was such a learning experence for her and all the young boys and girls the are excepted into the program.

She got home and days after getting home she had a week of camp to go to then she got home from that and went to her sisters house in Omaha for almost 3 weeks. Now she is back in school and winding down after a very busy full summer.

I havent been doing any sewing the last month, we have been busy trying to get the bedroom done. we have the drywall up and we are getting the mud and tape on next we are starting to see the light of day. It seems other things need our attention that pulls us way from the room.

Oh well it will get done one of these days LOL.

The other thing that happened the stopped my sewin was Taffy ate my glasses and I cant see up close to sew. I havent been able to replace them yet that is next on the adjenda.

I have also been doing the nasty job of deep cleaning the house. I really hate that, windows, curtains, and all that nasty stuff.

Our garden was a total bust! I have never seen so many grasshoppers in my life. They eat my hole garden by the end of july, not leaving nothing for me. I guess Nebraska and Kansas has had a real problem this year. Now I can understand how the settlers of old felt when the swarms of grasshoppers took all there crops. Oh well there always next year......

We have been picking the wild plums this year, they are quite good. If I had the energy Id make some wild plum jelly, thats if I had the energy! Days seem to go so fast anymore seems hard to get any thing done.

Well thats me up todate with what has been happening in the last few months....

I will post up more of the Europe pictures that Jessica took, she took like 2000 pictures so its going threw and picking some of the better ones.

Enjoy your days............

Aunt Bee's flowers

An appliqued Hybiscus for Aunt Bee, her theme is flowers. On the black background all the flowers that have been for her really stand out. She is going to have a very dynamic quilt when its all done. Im not really good I dont think at doing flowers, probably one of my hardest thing to make a pattern for. But I enjoyed the challange.

Country Cousin....

Country Cousin cat is the newest block for Cinder from quiltchat for the appy swap. She is the type of cat that loves to sit on a pillow and be very prissy.

Having lots of cats, I do have a few cats like this even one that is a boy priss that loves his sleeping spots and doesnt like to be interupted at all.

I love how cats can curl up and take cat naps sitting up like they do.

With this block done I will only have 3 more blocks to do and all my 11 blocks to the ladys will be done. Its be alot of fun. It has challanged my comfort zone in appliquing.

Victorian Shoes

This blocks is for Lorraine in Austraila that is in the appy swap, her theme is shoes. The buttons on the shoes are vintage glass buttons, thought it would add to the look of the boots.

Ive enjoyed doing this swaps, puts a challange to my appy ablitys.

Moving on to May.....

At the end of April beginning of May we bought a car, her name is Little Duck, because she is small and is the puddle jumper. she gets about 40 or better mpg. we have cut our gas bill way down, and now I dont feel so bad if we do go for a ride.

We had a little visitor it know as the humming bird moth. Very neat insects.

My iris bloomed this year, I missed having them last year for what ever reason the purple ones didnt bloom.

Also got my garden planted with corn,watermelon, canalope,tomatoes,onions, 2 kinds of squash and this year we planted potatoes, could be interesting if we get any. We also planted sugar snap peas and red leaf lettuce and strawberrys. Every thing is coming along just fine.

These last pictures are of the part we have finished in the bedroom, tis getting closer and closer now.

Well until next time.....

Whats been up with us ?

We will start back in april on things Ive missed putting up pictures for.


Jessica went to her Jr/Sr prom in april, behind her is the fruit tree in bloom.

A turkey very confused about having 70 degree weather one day and snow the next. We didnt loose our fruit this time thank goodness. And the snow left pretty fast.

Jessica finished her quilt she was making in school, I think she did a good job on it. She also made a very large pillow in the same colors and design.

We started doing some serious figuring about getting the suppies to start remodeling the bedroom, we finally have all the slat and plaster down. Its been alot of dirty work, but that part is done. We have decited to remove the old floor and put in a new hardwood floor. The old one has to much damage due to age and termites. We had thougth we were going to put down carpet but with animals its not pratical to have any carpet for them to mess up. We found a very pretty cherry wood color designed hardwood. Already pre stained and finished.

Jessica had an electronic baby she had to care for just before the end of school, had it over night and yes it cries, you have to turn a key in its back till it tells you can let go. It does work, she doesnt want to have children till shes out of school and ready for them. This is the second time she has had one of these babys home, they are loud and crabby!

Some where in all that in april we went fishing, the day was very windy with white caps on the lake and nice size waves that made the boat ride interesting at best. We found an area that wasnt as windy deeper in the flooded trees ( Harlen county dam was low no is filling up so there are lots of trees and weeds under water now)

Jessica caught 2 large cat fish and I caught 1. Hers were the largest of the day.

We have gone fishing afew times but havent really caught anything to speak of. The gas prices are killing us taking the boat out so we have found a few places to fish in ponds that we can walk into.

We have spent days it seems ordering and shopping for stuff to do the bedroom. I never thought id be so tired shopping but wow that was not fun.

At the end of april we went for a ride to Red Cloud my old home town, we had heard word that one of the streams there was stocked with trout back in march. The creek really had nothing in it and very little water by the time we got there. But we went by this old victorian farm house in the creek area, which I just fell in love with. Pictured below....

isnt it just beautiful, oh k its old and needs a painting but look at style of the house and all the ornate wood design, I bet its just beautiful inside with the wood. Its just sitting there rotting away now. Nobody is living in it and the owner live on the other side of the state, I think that is so sad.

Well on to may......

Beth's theme block Dragonflies

I finished Beths block tonight for the Appy swap. I used yoyos for the flowers covering them with a shiny silvery shimmer material , buttons for the center of the flowers. The wings of the dragons are also a shimmer material.

and the beloved Rickrack. This was sorta different to make but fun.

picture perfect

We had this picture perfect early spring day last week. So we went out to the lake, it was just so beautiful, no wind, it was in the 60s. Just right. We have been hard at it taring down a porch on the house and this was a nice brake. We are suppost to have some more days of 70s and high 60s, its going to be hard to be inside.

I havent done anything quilty for a week, I need to get back to it. I have quite a bit of applique work to do for the swaps, I just need to take a brake my eyes were starting to really bother me with all the up close hand sewing ive been doing.

Every quilt needs an outhouse....

This is the block for "T" that is one of the girls in the swap im in, her theme is photo album.
This is not an actual picture I have seen but a combo of a few pictures of my grandparents farm.
We had a Outhouse in the back side yard that would have looked out at the the south field. The windmill was in the back yard on the way out to the barn, we pumped water to a water trough for the cows in the pasture behind the house by the barn and chicken coop. and the Apple tree would have been one of many fruit trees to the north of the house.
Our outhouse was abit bigger , we had a 3 setter, up town! and at the back of the out house was the coal house. Finally we never had fence post that were the same, mostly they would be tree limbs cut to size.
I hope 'T' enjoys. it was fun to make.

My girls...

Its not everyday I can get the 3 puppys all togeather for a picture, with my younger daughters help we got it done. Arnt they just adorable!

This and that....

As you can see Taffy has grown alot, she is about the size she will be now and next she will be dumping her coat, all the baby fuzz will be gone in the next few months and she will get her adult coat. Her face is starting to get darker little by little, some darker longer fur is starting on her back, we arnt sure what her final color will be, cream or orange sable, Im thinking cream sable.
She is one of the sweetest dogs ive ever had, she loves to cuddle, and is like a teddy bear. She is also sassy when she doesnt want to be held but wont bite. She is learning all the bad habits from Foxy and Sugar fast. She doesnt like to jump up tho, quite strange she wont jump up on the couch or my lap. We just love her alot!



I've started a new sewn by hand project. I got the pattern from a CD I found on Ebay that is full of Vintage quilt patterns from the Kansas City Star and other places. There are over 600 patterns on this CD. They would put a quilt pattern for its readers each week from about 20's to the 50's. They were full size patterns to make a template from. These fans are only 6 inches so the block is a 12" block. I so love the old vintage fabric to work with and just love the patterns and colors. I've been collecting late 1800 to 1940s fabrics.


This is a pix of the snow we had when we thougth winter was over last year, April 7th we had about 3 inches of snow and it killed all the new blossoms on the fruit trees. Im crossing my finger that this doesnt happen again!

Alien bugs in Nebraska....

Say hi to Mr.H.S.Doodlebug
Hes the newest addition to Leona's collection of alien bugs. Don't worry hes harmless. Eats very little and he makes little noise.

This is the latest block done for the swap im in with the 12 ladys I chat with at quiltchat.com.
This is a doodle I used to do while bored in school. He and all his friends were all over my book covers and my friends book covers. it was fun bring this little doodle to life persay on fabric. This has been fun doing!

Opportunity knocks?

Tagged by Swooze...

Ive been Tagged by swooze when I wasnt looking lol~

Here are the 7 things about me...
1)When I was little, like 4 or 5 years old, I really didnt like to have my hair washed,My grandma would tell the story to all that would listen about me running out of the house butt naked and running down the farm road.

2)Sometimes I enjoy the company of animals more than I do other people.

3)I have found that there is something about me from when I was a teenager, people trust me, will tell me things they dont even tell their family members. Or will ask me question of what they should do. This was handed down from my grandmother to me,and I spent many years helping older people day to day. Ive always felt like the unofficial dear abby. Now my youngest daughter has it handed down to her. It can be a blessing or a curse.

4)Im truely a Virgo from the get go...I need my quiet time, my space, my order.

5) I love to cook strange foods and experimenting foods. There is not many things I wont try eating.Ive eatten Rattlesnake twice and loved it, eat most every thing from the ocean. where I draw the line is BUGS. I have gotten my daughters to eat most all foods and they will even go where I wont.

6)I love Chocolate! Dark is better than milk.
and finally #7
7) I have a large purple haired (favorite color) Troll baby sitting on my computer desk watching over me. I found her/him at a yard sale this last summer. I used to have a collection of Trolls and so did my daughters but all of them are gone now.
The Trolls was on of my favorite things when they came out in the 70s.


At this time I really dont have 7 people that I can tag but when I do I will finish the tag.

Mommy's little girl....

Taffy Tug n Pull.
Born Oct 21 2007, she is quite the little personallity. She is very smart and remembers when told something pretty much the first time of being corrected. Most times she sleeps by my head at night on the pillow. She loves all her toys even the broken and chewed up ones.
She got her long name from in the first week she was with us she grabbed Sugars tail and started pulling her but she was so small she really had to tug to move Sugar.. Pommys have such bright eyes and there is such soul behind them. They really have the heart and soul of there ansesters of long ago. The Spitz dogs and Icelandic dogs are their heritage. They still have the heavy under coat of the sled dogs and are prefectly happy to be out in the snow. Our big boy Bear Bear loves to sit out in the snow or play in the snow. One of the big things I love about the Pom is there is very little grooming with them. They groom them selves like cats keeping their faces clean and the fur is very easy to maintain. We brush the puppys to keep them knowing what a brush is so when they do throw there coats at 6 months its not hard for them to get brushed. After they get in there adult coats they just need the occational brush. They do have very strong wills, and have to be reminded all the time who is the alpha dog (us). Even the puppys have to be shown who is boss. I growl at our puppys if they get snippy and there not behaving. Poms are not for everyone for sure, but its very rewarding the love they show us being one of their pack members.
I dont feel we own our animals like you own a car or a house, but our animals are part of the family, with the dogs we are part of the pack and with the cats we are part of there pride. Even some of the dogs are part of the cats pride its funny to see the cats curl up with the dogs.
There is a harmony in our madness here. Even Falcor is considered part of this pack/pride.

quit that smoking quilt top.

Well this is what ive been keeping my fingers busy with. I started right around the mid part of November, at the same time of quiting smoking. I have sewn this totally by hand, It has been quilt the experance, ive never done so much hand sewing in my life. But its good way to keep my fingers active so I dont eat so much. I have quit smoking but the craving is still there 24/7. Its more mental need than physical need. I wish there was a magical pill or something to take me back to when I was smoking my first cig and not let me do it. I think quiting has been one of the hardest things ive had to do for my self ever. I hope everyone in quilt chat understands I really still have a hard time sitting and just chatting, I really have to keep my hands busy all the time.

Anyway I have sashing to do on 2 sides and this will be done. I havent deciteded yet if this will be the back to an other hand sewn top or if this will be the top and Ill start a new top.
All the colored fabric is real 1900's to 1930's fabric. The muslin is new. and its 100% hand sewn.
I want to enter into the fair this summer here.

I have started the next eather top or other side to this top or bottom how ever it turns out to be.
The other will have real fabric from the 1900's to 1930's also. I have also gotten patterns from that time period that were from the Kansas City Star. One of the blocks is a baby fan applique that I will be using and the other block will be 4 patches in a design called the Carrie Nation Quilt. Which I will totally hand sew also. After thats done I will decide if the two tops will go to geather as top and bottom or rather 2 tops to seperate quilts.

Puppys....and more puppys

Samantha's new puppy with Lacy above.

Puppys...Puppys and more puppys....

Sugar is looking at Taffy. The other puppy is Samantha's new puppy, she is not named, we just picked her up on 01.07.08, she is next generation sugar's sister. She is also a Pom.

Samantha will come and pick her up maybe the end of this week. SO we are trying not to get attached. Its kinda hard tho when she does the snuggle up thing when sleeping. Right now in the house you have to watch where your walking cause every where is puppy crossing.