Fall colors!!!

The fall colors here in the Minnesota River Valley are just awesome this year!! I do not remember the colors being quite so vivid last year. Someone said it was because rain and wind blew them from the trees too soon but not this year. Once again I bring you scenes from Henderson, MN. This post is mainly pictures. Enjoy!!


Looking to the east and out to that beautiful ridge of trees.

And to the west where the red leaves just "pop" against the trees that are still loaded with green leaves.

Look how the trees have changed since I first began taking photos in our backyard. This is what I see from my kitchen window!

A favorite spot - this road takes us down the hill and into Henderson. I love this picture.

I walked down the hill to take close-ups of the foliage along the road.

I couldn't get enough of it. The colors are absolutely gorgeous.

Another view of the same area but each photo shows something different.

I think this one is worthy of being enlarged and framed.

Back up the hill and one last look down into the valley. The colors in all these pictures seemed to be more vivid after the rain. I am glad that I took these photos as today the wind is swirling leaves and soon the lovely colors will be on the ground for leaf-raking and fire-burning. I love fall!! Hope you enjoyed all these fall colors.

I posted this leaf before but I have to post it once again because I think it is so pretty. It is inspiring me to make a quilt based on this little leaf. Hmmmm......do I have time for another project...........only time will tell!

Hope you are having a lovely fall day (or spring) wherever you are!

Sandi

Blog Pick of the Week and a Kreative Blog award!

And my "pick of the week" is.......Sue's blog at Featherstone Quiltworks. Sue and I actually know each other personally! We met a few years ago when Sue and friend Betty came to the quilt shows held in the Scott County Libraries. Sue is a long-arm machine quilter and also takes great photographs! I am inspired by the amount of quilting that she gets done. She is doing Judy L's blocks at Patchwork Times and I plan to do them, too. I have the fabric picked out, I just need to start cutting fabrics and sewing!! So take a peek at her blog - click here and you'll be there!

When I decided to do a "blog pick of the week", the idea came to me when I checked out the blog of Jacquelyn at The Noble Wife after she posted a comment on my blog. It was only natural that she would be the first "blog pick" since her blog inspired the idea. This past Monday, I received an e-mail from her that she had been nominated for a Kreativ Blogger Award and she had to name five blogs that she wished to nominate. She chose me as one of them. So, I have been thinking the past couple of days - who would I nominate and here are my choices............

Joanna at MrMonkeySuit
Nannette at FredasHive
Scott at BlueNickleStudios
Teresa at DiddleDaddleDesigns
Sue at FeatherstoneQuiltworks

It was not an easy thing to pick five blogs because I have many favorites and keep an updated list on my blog and then I get lost in "Blogland" frequently going from blog to blog and find even more blogs that I like! These five blogs, though, were some of the first that I began to regularly visit and also exchange e-mails with each one and now call them "blogging friends". They all offer something different and yet the basic thing in all of them is the ability to express our creative energies and share what we do with others. And so, the "Kreativ Blogger" torch has been passed (it occurred to me to wonder just where the Kreativ Blogger Award originated - anyone know?).

Now to a couple of photos that I could have shared in the last couple of days and the cogs in my brain slipped and I forgot. :-) I mentioned that on Monday I met Jo and her sister who will be transporting quilts to Iowa. Here they are with the back of their car filled with quilts. I had more quilts than they had room to get in their car so I think I will be sending some of them UPS.

Yesterday, as I left to go to "Tuesday Crazies" I snapped this photo of Henderson's City Hall but I was more interested in the big tree than City Hall. There was a light rain falling and it still looks beautiful!

On my way home from "Tuesday Crazies", I passed by St. Patrick's Church (not far from New Prague, MN). This is the church of my friend, Adella, and I took the picture because it's a pretty country church and because the ladies of the church made more quilts for Iowa! Adella brought them along to "Tuesday Crazies" so now I have about a dozen more quilts to get to Iowa! They'll all get there but they just aren't going to make it by the October 18th hand-out date so they'll have to be given out as Christmas presents instead. :-)

I was only a few miles from Henderson and home when I passed Fahey Sales and they were preparing for a farm auction. I noticed the tractors as I passed by on my way to "Crazies". As I passed by on my way home, I smiled and thought of my dad. And then I thought, "my dad would not pass by those tractors without stopping to take a look" and so I turned around and came back to have a look. He would have really enjoyed walking through this line-up of tractors and farm equipment!

It had rained all day but just as I got to Henderson the sun began to shine and I took Kaiser and my camera out for a walk right after I got home. I have the best photos of fall colors and will post them tomorrow. I wish there was a way to turn them into a line of fabric, they are that pretty!!

This lone leaf was laying along the edge of the street and it was so beautiful I had to take a shot of it. I don't know why the colors are so pretty this year but the valley is beautiful! In addition to fall color shots, I'm also going to post about this afternoon's adventure at Wit's End Antiques. So, you'll have some "eye candy" from nature and a peek into things from the past, too. Time to close for tonight. Goodnight and sleep tight!

The winner of the Little Blue Basket is..........

As you know, today I was off to "Tuesday Crazies" for lunch and stitching. It was at Carol's house and she had an especially good day as it was her birthday. You can tell by the smile on her face. There was fabric involved in almost all of her gifts so who wouldn't smile. :-)

We had a great afternoon together as we always do. This was the last time we will meet until next April. We are all scattered a bit far apart and after some harrowing trips in snow and ice last winter, we have decided to forego winter travel. Instead we each drew a name and will send a surprise to that person at Christmas time. And then when we meet up again in the spring, we should all have lots of show and tell!

When I packed up my stitching stuff to take to Carol's, I tucked in a Halloween bag that was filled with the names of all of you that commented on my "100th Blog Post". I needed an "independent third party" to do the drawing. Since Laurie wasn't doing any stitching, she said she would be that person. Her hand is in the bag............the anticipation builds.................. and the winner is...................Mary Grace!

You can find her at HookedOnNeedles. I sent her an e-mail to let her know that she is the WINNER and hope that she will be surprised and pleased to know that she has won!

Internet Connection Blues.........and a puzzle connection......

Yesterday afternoon, I met Jo and her sister to hand over quilts and other items that will go off to Iowa flood victims (the final photos of our efforts will be posted in the next few days). I came home to make some calls and to check my e-mail. Did the e-mail thing first and then in the middle of answering an e-mail, I realize that nothing is happening - it won't send, won't save, nothing. I reached for the phone - no dial tone. Clicked on the TV and nothing but fuzzy buzzing. Grrrr! I knew this would be a long break as all three of our services are provided by Mediacom and when they all go at once, it takes several hours to "come back". It feels like the electricity has gone off and I need to go get a candle to provide some light but when the communication link is broken, there is no quick-fix or substitute. Well, there is, sort of, as I could have started writing letters because that's what I used to do before I discovered the computer. Sometimes I think perhaps we are a little too dependent on the computer and yet I would not change this. I love that the Internet takes me to places that I cannot visit, to friends that I will never be able to meet (although you never know about that one), that I can read about things that make me wiser (not smarter, per se, just wiser) and see new quilts or artwork, photographs, etc. that inspire me. The Internet is a great place! If not for the Internet, I would not have "connected" with several of the quilters that shared quilts and other items to donate to Iowa flood victims and so many others whose "company" I have enjoyed since I started blogging.

Not all aspects of the Internet are great but as with everything, it is what you make it. I didn't like it when I checked the news on-line early yesterday morning and saw that first the international markets were sliding down and then later the US markets followed. I read some e-mails and got some good news - more on that in a minute - and then went off to have breakfast. As I drank my coffee, I picked up our church bulletin and began working the "word search" puzzle. There's one in every issue and each has a theme and the words connect to it. The theme was "the Prodigal Son". I began searching............the first word to find was "country"......there it was and I thought to myself "our country is in a lot of trouble". The second word was "compassion".............look for the double s's.........ah, there it is and I thought "we are all going to have to have a lot of compassion for our friends and neighbors here and all over the world". The third word was "celebrate"...........for some reason, I just couldn't find it.............up, down and checking all the c's I went.............down, up and checking all the c's again............then back through the letters again and there it was ....."celebrate" and I thought that as hard as times are, or may become, we all still have much to celebrate. Sometimes it's just hard to find what needs celebrating because the house payment is due but no job makes it impossible to pay, or a family member is sick and in pain so it is hard to find joy. I think that most of us have more than we can use of a whole lot of stuff in even two lifetimes. If money is tight, maybe we just don't need more stuff. The real stuff of life is family, it's friends, it's watching a little child smile when they see a new kitten and the same if someone is in a nursing home - it's an elderly patient who melts at the sight of a puppy that a visitor has brought in for the day. We are all more blessed than we realize and so we have much to celebrate. I'm no motivational speaker nor am I a psychologist (I can barely spell it) but take just a minute and think about what you could celebrate, a positive spin about something in these days of negative news. And when you know what you could celebrate, then let others know because if something brings joy to you and you share it, then it spreads and brings joy to others!

I have a little something to celebrate and it happened yesterday morning, just after I read the bad news about the financial market. Here's the good news that I received that made me want to jump for joy! I got an e-mail from Nihal in Turkey that I had won one of two gifts that she had offered in celebration of her one year blogging anniversary. The book is called "Turkish Delights" and I am thrilled. I've already mentioned that this is our 40th anniversary coming up in November and that I'll be sharing memories of our anniversary trip to Turkey, etc. but I also made a small quilt a few years ago that I will be sharing and the name of that little quilt is "Turkish Delight"! I am excited just thinking about all that I have to share and celebrate. Life is good. We just have to remind ourselves sometimes that it truly is good. We live in a great country, and enjoy freedoms many others do not have, and so there is much to celebrate!

No photos to post, just thoughts today! Have a good one!
Blessings to all of you!
Sandi

***Winner of the little gift basket in celebration of my 100th post will be announced late this afternoon. I am headed out to join my "Tuesday Crazies" friends for lunch and some stitching and will have one of them draw the winner. I'll share it as soon as I get home. And let's hope there is no loss of Internet service!

Decorating for Halloween.......and other stuff, too......

It's Sunday afternoon and I am anxiously awaiting the rain that is coming. Last night we got a little shower about midnight and the sound of the rain on the roof was lovely. Julie Andrews sang of "raindrops on roses" as some of her favorite things but I like my raindrops on the roof. There is something so soothing about a steady rain (not the near tornado/hurricane stuff - been through that) and knowing that the earth will get a drink and the grass will be greener and the crops will do better. Julie also likes "whiskers on kittens" and when I pulled out the Halloween decorations a bit ago, there was a black fur cat that I made years ago and he has whiskers made of nylon thread. I have great memories of Halloween as a kid and then with my kids. My daughter says she cannot hear the song "My Favorite Things" without thinking of me singing it when she was a child. I made a big deal of holidays and we decorated the whole house. It's not quite the same when your kids are grown and gone but this year we are in a new house and I am hoping lots of neighborhood kids will come to my door and enjoy the decorations I set out on my porch and in the entry and up the steps. I can't show photos yet because I'm not done decorating. You see, I'm taking a break. :-) I decorate a little, check my blog, read a few favorite blogs, etc. etc.
That leads me to the following............One of the most enjoyable aspects of this blogging journey that I have begun is the people I have "met" since I began blogging last May. In my previous entry that celebrates my 100th post I wrote this in response to all of you who have commented on my blog.... "People touch our lives in the simplest of ways sometimes and I have been touched by the comments that you have all shared with me." Today as I began reading blogs and posting comments myself, I thought about how if I hadn't read one person's blog, I would not have found another, and so on and so on. And I would have missed so much if I had not crossed paths with so many of you wonderful bloggers. I am not a shy person as most of my close friends know. If I want to get to know someone, I start talking right away. Perhaps, the same works here in blogland. Comments are like talking. If you don't speak up, well, you won't get a response. (That said, I am still working my way through responding to the over-100 comments on my fall giveaway post and am up to about 80 now. )
The first blog that I ever read is one from a gentleman who is certainly not afraid to "speak up" - Mark Lipinski at Quilter's Home magazine. I began following his blog and joined his Yahoo group last fall right about this time. I soon "met" Donna Jo and we exchanged e-mails and then met in person. You're going to hear more about her when I post the tutorial for the "Pickled Pink Pincushion" on October 17. There's a reason why I'll be posting it that day but you will have to check back then to find out what it is!! Here's a peek at the finished product............just a little pickle to bring some luck (you know, like the German tradition of a pickle in the Christmas tree for good luck) or a smile to your face.

So, back to "people touching our lives".................If I hadn't found Mark's blog and group, I would not have met Donna Jo and I also would not have "met" Nanette of FredasHive as she also was reading Mark's blog. We connected almost immediately, talked on the phone, enjoy each other's blogs, and e-mail frequently. She is, in fact, my "Blog pick of the week".

At about the same time that I started reading Mark's blog, I found Natalie at CinderberryStitches. I love her blog and all the wonderful embroidery projects. I love handstitching and from her blog, I found many others that were equally enjoyable. One of them was Belladia and her posts are often just inspiring words that can make my day. So on an earlier "break" from my decorating, I stopped in to Bella dia and caught up on her posts. One was about "The Martha Blog" and if you want a chance to have your blog reviewed by Martha Stewart go to her blog and make a comment - which I promptly did! :-) One of the requirements is to post a link back to her blog, so if you want to learn more, just click on Martha. There was a time in my life when I "took" the name Martha. Some of you know that I worked as a living history interpreter at Murphy's Landing in Shakopee, MN now known as TheLanding. I took the name of Martha because that was the name of my paternal great grandmother. I never knew her but had learned more about her shortly before my grandmother passed away. Martha, her mother had been a dressmaker, so it was only appropriate that I take the name of Martha when working at the site. Somehow, Sandi just didn't seem right for a woman of the late 1800's who was a dressmaker and homemaker.

And that brings me to my last blog link for this afternoon. One of the blogs I check on aregular basis is HenandChicks the blog of Heidi Kaisand. I like it because she shares stories of her life and kids and family in Iowa and since that is my home state, her blog makes me feel like I have taken a visit home. She's hosting a retreat in November (go to her blog to find out more) that I had hoped to go to but it's not going to work because of a conflict with my husband's business travels. His travels though, have taken us many places and it was a blog listed among Heidi's favorites that led me to NihalsCrossroads in Turkey. I have enjoyed reading her blog and sharing memories of a trip that my husband and I took to Turkey to celebrate our 30th Anniversary in 1998. She is enjoying reading them and is looking forward to hearing more of our adventures. Before I crossed paths with Nihal, I had already given a hint in my GratitudeandGiving post that I would be sharing more about "a marker coming up in my life - our 40th Wedding anniversary and the many things for which I am thankful, grateful". Crossing paths with Nihal will make it even more enjoyable as she is there, in Turkey, and will read and enjoy what I write. I hope you do, too.

I make this apology or excuse, now though............. for the life of me, I am not able to post a short post! I have so much to tell and things to share that I just can't type a few lines and be done. I've had such a good time during my life and continue to enjoy each day that I just want to share that. Remember that you can always skim my writings and go straight to the pictures or the giveaways but if you really want to get to know me or learn something fun, you'll want to stay tuned to my blog.

Well, there's Halloween decorating to finish so this goblin is off to pull out more treasures that bring back memories of so many fun Halloween times!!
Sandi

Ta Da!!! It's my 100th Post!!!

Wow, blogging has been so much fun and as the saying goes "time passes fast when you're having fun", well it certainly has passed fast since I first started blogging at the end of May. I hadn't paid any attention to the number of posts until one day I noticed that I had made 78 posts. I began to think then of what I would do to celebrate. And here it is.....................



I love fabric, vintage trims, old quilts, doilies, all that stuff. Some of the things I have are family items but I have oodles of trims, rick rack and such that my dad, mother and brother bought at auctions and flea markets for me. I think of them when ever I dig into that old suitcase that holds my treasures. So, here is my little gift that one of you will receive from the mailman if you just leave a comment on this post. If you don't mind, tell me who taught you to sew or share a memory of someone special. People touch our lives in the simplest of ways sometimes and I have been touched by the comments that you have all shared with me. Love to go back and read them as they make me smile and a few have brought a tear to my eye but I enjoy each one.

I found the little basket at my favorite treasure shop - Dollar Tree! :-) I removed the embroidery design from the front of it and stitched these gingham buttons on it and added the bow of rick rack made of lengths of 100% cotton baby rick-rack (all vintage). Then inside the basket I placed a baker's dozen of a variety of trim packs, from bias tape to seam binding, and rick rack to piping. All of the packages are pre-1959 (no zip code on the packages is a good clue although not foolproof) and some have never been opened. If you double click on the photo below, you can see a close-up of what will be in the basket. Oh, and the doily is just a prop so it won't be in the basket although some other little treasure might line the bottom of the basket. I do love surprises!!

So, start commenting now and tell your friends about this little giveaway that comes with a BIG THANK YOU for visiting my blog!! I'll take comments til midnight Monday, Oct. 6th and will announce the winner on Tuesday morning. Good Luck!!

Have a good weekend! I need to get a little of that cleaning and laundry business done again. Notice how it never goes away!! :-)

Sandi

Gratitude and Giving, Part I

Evening all...............There's going to be more than one post to this topic. In fact, there may be several gratitude posts over the next week, month, etc. There's a marker coming up in my life - our 40th Wedding anniversary. There are so many things for which I am thankful, grateful. Markers make us think so I have been particularly reflective this past couple of years. Two years ago, the marker in life was my 40th High School Class Reunion. Yep, you figured it out. I was a child bride, just 19. Today while I was grocery shopping in Mankato, I made an observation. The city is home to Minnesota State University (or Mankato State as it was once known) and I realized that either college students are looking an awfully lot younger or I am just getting older. Hmmm.........could be a little of both. :-) Anyway, this post is about gratitude and here's my first bit of what I am grateful for........... When I checked out at the grocery store (Cub Foods, of course), I spotted a cashier that I knew was friendly and courteous. Her name is Molly and I am sure she's probably a young college student. Anybody who says the younger generation has no manners, well, they need to meet Molly. Molly has manners. Somewhere her momma should be proud, and dad, too. I am grateful that Molly was so courteous because it made me smile.

Molly wasn't the only courteous person I met today. I got the opportunity to meet a gentleman who kindly put some air in the tires of my car. This is the second time since June that my car's "danger tone" went off and I got a message telling me "Low tire pressure". I don't like gizmo's but I think I really like this feature. The gentleman who helped me was actually putting air in the tires of his truck and I kindly asked if he would help me check the air in my tires and thankfully he said yes. Do you realize, folks, how few gas stations offer any actual service these days? Not many and for me, a woman who is technically challenged, this is not a good thing. The gentleman quickly discovered that the back tire only had 29 lbs of pressure so he filled it with air and I knew I would be able to get to Mankato for repairs. I thanked him and he was on his way and I was on mine, but not before I wrote down the website that was written in black and white across the side of his truck. You are in for some really beautiful photography. Check it out here. I am grateful that Jon Smithers was putting air in the tires of his truck so that he could help me and I could see his photography. It made me smile.

When I got to Mankato, I smiled again because the guys at Tires Plus took my car right in and checked out all the tires. They couldn't find any leaks but thought perhaps the fairly cold temps this morning could have caused the problem. Interestingly, years ago, I had this issue on our old Blazer - a perpetual slow leak on a tire that always showed up in cold weather. Ah, but I have a gizmo now that will let me know when I have low tire pressure. My day is saved and so was my pocketbook as there was no charge because they could find no problem. Oh, yeah, I smiled.

My last note on gratitude comes with this photo. Since I discovered blogging last spring, I have had more fun, "met" more nice people, learned more about how to do computer technical stuff than I ever thought possible and finally found the way to express and share the talents and gifts with which I have been blessed. So, a few weeks ago when Melissa at OneCraftyMumma announced she was going to do a "Gratitude Swap", I signed up. The charge to each participant was to make a small card holder and also send along a little gift to your swap partner. I am sure I got the best swap partner because pictured below is what Teresa of DiddleDaddleDesigns sent to me. When I opened her package and saw this little quilt, I was just deeeeelighted!!! This frame had another piece of handwork in it but I removed it and can you believe it, it's like her piece was meant to be in that frame!!




Also in the package was the card holder and some lovely cards that she made, plus the little fabric postcard that says "bloom" and cookies. I love cookies and these are especially good. The whole package really made me smile. It arrived the day of our "Rock Party" so I hung it near the food so everyone could see it. Give Thanks. So simple and yet so profound. I am thankful for shelter, food, family, friends, and so much more. And, of course, because I am a quilter I am thankful for fabric. And that's where Part II of Gratitude and Giving will begin. That will probably come on Sunday, though, because tomorrow I'll be making my 100th post and I have a special little giveaway to offer. I'll be posting it right around noon (CST) and you'll have til midnight (CST) Monday, Oct. 6th to sign up. It's lights out for tonight.
Sandi


P.S. Her are the items that I sent to Teresa. She said she liked red and fall colors so I found a fabric that I thought might be just the thing and a few items to go with it. There's candy in the heart tin and a pack of Fall "Mat papers" in the box. This was my first "scrapbooking" related swap and I did okay but I have a lot of room for improvement. :-)