Happy Independence Day!

 HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

My family and I are enjoying a long 4 day weekend to celebrate Independence Day more commonly referred to as the 4th of July.  

PICTURE WALK

Today's post will be a little picture walk of our weekend thus far.

Breakfast out.

A trip to Goode's Greenhouse - hey the plants were 50% off!  Bill and Keith took time to pose for a quick photo.

Keith looks pretty happy with his choice.

Homemade ice cream!  Keith just could not wait until the 4th so we had ours on the 2nd.

Warm sheets straight from the dryer on a cool day here.  Love that smile!

Enjoying the results of our gardening this Spring and Summer!

Playing with my camera.  These two pictures are exact same bloom.  Difference between taking a regular photo and using the close up feature on the camera.

FOURTH OF JULY COOKOUT

Brother and nephew doing the cooking.

Great-niece trying to tie her shoe.

Niece and soon to be niece-in-law sharing a laugh.

Husband and son enjoying drinks waiting for food.

Great-niece stealing my SIL's chair.

Names in chalk.

My sister-in-laws enjoying the cookout.

Nephew-in-law holding his sleepy little girl.

Great-nephew showing uncertainty over our fireworks.

Brothers enjoying watching the kids.

Great-niece finally gave up and went to sleep in my arms.

Trying out the fireworks feature on my camera.  Works pretty well.

STITCHING

I even managed to add a few stitches to this little patriotic piece.  This is Land that I Love by Lizzie Kate.  I just love the new little needle minder my friend Cathi H. made.  Thanks again, Cathi!

SEWING

Next on my list is to make another one of these bags.  My friend, Launa, saw it and thought one would be perfect to put her daughter's computer in at college.  I'm going to make this in a size that will hold a laptop rather than a stitch project.

I've found a new way to make project bags that I'm going to give a try.  The zipper has a tab on each end which looks much cleaner and I get to quilt as I go which will be fun and give me some flexibility for design on the outside of the bag.  I'll let you know how it turns out.  

I also signed up for an online class through Craftsy for making 3 of the Lazy Girl Design bags.  Looking forward to making those as well.

WHAT"S NEXT

Oh, in case that is not enough.  Fireworks tonight and car show tomorrow.

Picked Up My Stitching Again!

It is a stormy and wet day here in Iowa so seems like a good time to bring you up to date on my activities of late.  

It goes without saying that I continue to pack up and work on clearing out my parents' house along with my brothers and our spouses.  I am pleased to report that this Sunday we will be holding the estate sale and whatever is left - off to donation or trash or wherever just so long as it is gone.  It will then be time to put the house I and my brothers' grew up in on the market.

I did finally manage to pick up and stitch a small project for a friend's birthday.  Unfortunately we are not getting together until July 7th so you only get to see a smidgen of what it is and will have to wait to see how I finished it as well.  It really was wonderful to put needle and thread to fabric again.  I'm in the mood to do something patriotic so am looking through my stash for a small project to stitch.  Really feeling the need for the feeling of accomplishment.

A friend asked me to teach her how to make some project bags so decided to make one to brush up on my skills.  As I'm feeling in a patriotic mood, I pulled out several fabrics I had and proceeded to make a project bag.  This one is 14x15 finished.  Notice how I took a 5" square of star fabric and appliquéd onto the striped fabric to look like a flag.  I know - I'm getting more daring these days.  The striped fabric is Stonehedge Stars & Stripes by Linda Ludovico.  The star square is Summer Festival by Color Principal.  The interior star fabric is Indigo Crossing by Polly Minick & Lauri Simpson and the back exterior fabric is MIA exclusively for JoAnn Fabrics.  I really had fun experimenting with this bag and a friend has asked me to make one for her daughter to use as a computer bag.  Can't wait!  Just so you know it only took 1 hour and 30 minutes start to finish to create this bag.  This includes cutting the fabric and ripping out the zipper when I put it in backwards - LOL!

Summer has arrived and with it the start of car nights and car shows.  Here we are posing for a family photo in front of our car at the annual Father's Day show at the local Peace Lutheran Church.  It really is a family oriented event and so enjoyable to attend.

This is my husband checking out his favorite car of the show!

This is my favorite car!  For good reason.

See the front seat - one bench seat across not bucket seats.  My husband owned a '71 Monte Carlo in a different color when we were dating and it reminds me of the days when you could actually sit next to your guy instead of on the other side of the car.  Oh, I think I wouldn't mind having one of these again.

Here are my guys sharing a laugh at the car show.  

This is a panoramic photo of car show and still could not get all the cars in it.  There were well over 200 cars.

I snapped this photo when my guys were at car night headed off to make the rounds looking at the cars.  This one just touches my heart.

In June I also did something I said "hell would freeze over" before I would do.  I attended my first professional golf event.  This was the Principal Golf Classic at The Wakonda Club here in town.

We were at hole 5 watching all the action.  Keith seems to be happy about whatever we are discussing.

This is looking at hole 17 from the tee off area.

This is Mark Calcavecchia (wearing his bacon pants for luck) who won the event.

Father's Day included our first batch of home made ice cream.  YUM!

I am adding an old photo of Bill and I on our wedding day.  We will be celebrating our 34th anniversary on Saturday.  Nice that it coincides with our twice a month date night.

Long Time In Between Life Happenings!

Since last I posted my dad passed unexpectedly on April 3, 2015.  As previously indicated, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and was undergoing treatment.  His unexpected death by a massive heart attack took some family members by surprise.  Yes, we all knew we were going to lose him at some point in 2015 due to the lung cancer but did not see the massive heart attack taking him so quickly.  I can truly say for his sake that he went as he (or really anyone) would have wanted and that was quickly and with his dignity.  We all knew what to expect over the coming months as his cancer would have progressed so it was a blessing for dad.  He and mom are now together again!

I was lucky to have grown up with such great parents who were wonderful role models for the wedding vows spoken:  "for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness, in health, to love and to cherish".  They certainly had their share of ups and downs through the years and my brother's and I watched my parents live those vows in the best ways possible.  They provided us with a loving home where we kids felt safe, secure and cherished.  Certainly rich in the way that really matters.

Here are a few of my favorite photos.

As you would expect after the loss of your second parent who still lived in the house you grew up in (since 1967), there are so many things to sort and go through.  Deciding what to keep (and who will keep it), what to donate, what to sell and what to toss.  It has been 7 weeks and this process is still ongoing but my 2 brothers and I are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  I may be optimistic but I feel we are just a couple weeks away from emptying the contents of the property except for the sell items.  Hallelujah!  

Along with the sorting has been the sharing of many memories among my brothers and our families.  The surprises we have found of things kept by my mom and dad.  For example the necklace I had worn for my senior pictures I had long ago thought was gone and wished I still had to find in my mother's dresser drawer.  As I'm really into history (especially family history), it was exciting to find in my dad's metal box on a shelf in his workshop a distant relatives high school diploma from 1847.  What a treasure to have.  

We have shared many a laugh through this process which has been wonderful.  I imagine the big emotional day will be our last walk through the house when it is sold as it closes a big chapter in all our lives.

STITCHING

Although I spent many days a week over working at my parents' house I have managed to finish up July by Prairie Schooler and have it and the 2013 Advent SAL by iStitch framed.  I am very pleased with the end results.

I was a bit late this year but finally did sign up to enter a few items in the Iowa State Fair.  They will be much smaller and fewer projects this year.  I have kind of lost my stitching mojo as my time at home has been so limited.  I am going to start a small project just so I have something to work on if only for 15 minutes.

CAR NIGHTS/SHOWS

My husband, son and I have started the summer car activities with a couple of the car nights and car shows locally.  

 Packed a picnic lunch and spread out a blanket at the car show on the 16th as it was a beautiful day.

This is at the car night at Nick's.  That is our friend and neighbor, Keegan in front of his dad's Roush mustang.  

VISIT

I did take a week long break while my friend, Allison and her mom, Lynda were here for a visit to celebrate their birthdays.  Surprisingly considering how long Allison and I have known each other it was the first time Lynda and I had met.  She was an absolute delight and the perfect addition to make the shopping duo a shopping trio.

We started our week with a cold day at an Iowa Cubs baseball game but you can see by the smiles it didn't ruin our fun.

We ended our week together in the tropical surroundings at the Botanical Center.  

I've decided this would be a perfect place to go on a cold and snowy winter day.

We also did many other things like shopping at multiple malls, a trip to Stitch n Frame (Allison left 9 pieces for framing) lunches and suppers out, cooking suppers, strolling through Historic Valley Junction (I had a necklace made while I waited at a store called Fishlips) and a trip through the Brass Armadillo Antique Mall.

It was a fabulous visit with an old friend and a new friend!

Peonies are in bloom.  Thank you Rene' for this beautiful bouquet from your garden!