Six Years of Blogging!!

Last night I was trying to fall asleep and, oh, so many thoughts were rumbling through my head. And one of them was the thought that I needed to make sure to post today about my dad and when I started blogging. I can hardly believe that it has been six years since I started this blog! If you go here...... My*FirstBlogPost! ..... you will find this photo of my dad, Melvin and my thoughts on my first day of blogging. Following my dad's passing, I needed to find purpose. I had seen other blogs and wished I could do one, too. My son, Devlin, encouraged me that it wasn't that difficult and gave me the help I needed and he was right....it wasn't that difficult! I took the "blogging leap" on Memorial Day in 2008. And here it is, just a few days after Memorial Day, 2014. The time flies so fast!

My dad, Melvin Linn, (2007) covered with the hand-stitched quilt 

that we named "The Puzzle Quilt" because 

we couldn't figure out how it was assembled. 

The "Puzzle quilt" is a favorite one that my dad bought at an auction in Dayton, Iowa. One of these days, I will share a tutorial on the quilt. My dad enjoyed going to auctions and garage sales to buy quilts, fabrics, and "pretties" for my mom, me, and my sister, Judy. And he'd buy car parts and tools for my brother, Doug, and for himself, too. And, of course, he bought treasures for the grandkids! He just loved seeing others smile. And I loved seeing my dad smile when he'd make others smile! He would have enjoyed this quilting blogging journey that I've been on. He would likely have read it as thoroughly as he did the daily newspaper. I still miss my dad. Always will. He was a really nice fella! My son, Devlin, wrote a lovely tribute to my dad and some of you may have read it, but if not, please go here and read his words about my dad, his grandpa. We were all lucky to have such a great dad, grandpa and great-grandpa!!
During this past year, my mother's health has declined. There have been lots of trips home to Iowa. I had some health challenges, too. I did a lot of volunteering at my church, at the library. I needed to share my talents. Life just plain got busy. Sometimes, I didn't have time to blog but other times, I just didn't feel like blogging, too tired and my thoughts just couldn't come together very well. But my "blogging energy" has returned and I see more regular blog posts in my future. Just want to say thank you to everyone who has stopped by to read my blog these past years. Thanks for your kind comments ....... in six years of comments, I can only think of a couple of negative ones that I received. Thanks for checking in to see if I was posting, and if I went without posting for several days, many of you sent me messages of care and concern. I am greatly appreciative of every reader and every comment. Very, very appreciative!!!  Some of you may remember that I used to do a lot of giveaways and that, too, sort of "fell by the wayside". I'm thinking that maybe there will be a giveaway on my blog very soon....just might happen around the 4th of July. Stay tuned. Have an awesome Monday!
Sandi