Lunch with the Country Mouse!

That's right! I had lunch with Beth the Country Mouse and she brought along her good friend, Melanie. Beth grew up a "Country Mouse" and is now a "City Mouse" and so is Melanie. :-) They came out from the "Cities" (that's what Minnesotans call the Minneapolis/St. Paul area which is also called "The Twin Cities") to visit me. We met at "Hogwild Eatery" for lunch. I was headed out right on time and was so very excited to meet these gals, and, then, halfway down the hill I remembered ..... "oh, no! I forgot to brush my teeth!" What was I thinking? Obviously, I wasn't thinking so I turned around and back to the house............And when I met them, I confessed why I was a few minutes late. We all laughed and I would show you pictures of our delicious food but we were too busy eating and chatting. Plus we had someplace where we were headed..........................here.....................


to the Sibley County Historical Society. Arlene Busse, SCHS member met us there to give us a private tour. That's Arlene on the left.......then Beth........then Melanie. There was so much to see that Beth's camera was taking photos of all sorts of things! Beth takes the best photos and then she crops them and they look so cool!! She'll be posting about today's adventure on her blog soon.

In the meantime, I took a couple photos............

I love this beautiful black dress. You should see the detailed work on it and then the tiny, tiny waist!! It's the oldest dress in the collection (c. 1850) and is a wedding dress. There are several lovely clothing examples in the museum.

There are also lots of quilts and many examples of beautiful laces and needlework items. If you want to see photos I took during a visit last summer, go here you can take a peek. One of my favorites is this wool tulip quilt. It is lovely!

We spent a good hour with Arlene as she shared stories about the house and different items in each room. Then it was time for a "cookie" break. Yep, those cookies I baked last night were for the Country Mouse. It all came about because ....................I discovered Beths' blog when I was looking for the blog for the city of Henderson. Her blog popped up because she had done a video about Henderson. So, I added her blog to my favorites and linked to the video. I popped in often because she goes to such neat places and those photographs she takes are amazing. Then she added a radio program to her blog!! One day she mentioned that chocolate chip cookies were her favorite. So I e-mailed her that I make great Chocolate chip cookies..............and well, the rest is history as they say. I promised her cookies and there they are.......I put the cookies in this basket. Based on the design of the basket, one might think lemons would be better in the basket which made me think of a slightly different version of an old saying............. "When life gives you lemons, ....... make chocolate chip cookies!" That's what I have always done and it works for me!! :-) So, we sat down at the dining room table and Beth got out her recording set-up and ......... she interviewed me about my projects, volunteer stuff and my blog! I was worried I would be nervous but she is an excellent interviewer and I can hardly wait to hear the program. I'll let you know as soon as it's posted (or visit CountryMouseBlog). I shared some of my quilts and miniature scenes, and such and we had a fine time chatting. And too soon, it was time for them to go. I got one more picture because they seemed to really enjoy the afternoon and if smiles are any proof...................

then this picture says it all. Smiles all around and a basket of cookies, too!

After the Ms. Mouses left, I grabbed my camera and went out to my "quilt-line" to take a couple of photos. One was of that baby quilt I've mentioned. Then I brought it in and folded it up just right and tied it with a pretty ribbon and I didn't even need gift wrap!

The gift is for our new pastor's first child. She had a little boy and tomorrow after church there will be a baby shower for her and her little one. I will post the winners of my Blog Anniversary prizes as soon as I get home from church which should be about noon (CST). See you then!

Sandi