Snow - and it keeps coming . . .

This is what we woke to this morning . . .

The electricity was on and off all night and the snow is supposed to keep falling all day. The leaves are still on the trees and most of them are still green so I guess we will not enjoy any beautiful fall colors here this year. Also, the flowers are covered with the snow - maybe you can see a bright pink one peaking out from under the snow cover in the hanging basket to the right. And - it was 80 degrees just last week. It is a "hunker down" day with warm bread and warm soup. . . and lots of sewing.

Ah - the fun of living in the northern Rockies - but for those of you to the east - it is coming your way.

Busy days

"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings." -- Eric Hoffer

Family . . . . Walker came for a "by himself" visit on Wednesday morning for a couple hours. Here are a couple pics of him. He is so cute and so peaceful. He eats. He burps. He sleeps. He smiles. He jabbers. He is 4 months old and he is the sweetest thing. We thought he might be going to be blond and blue eyed like his Dad was, but his eyes are the prettiest tweed color - more like his Mom's. Sometimes they are green and sometimes gray. And always there are specks of blue and gold in them. He is going to have light brown hair I think - not as dark as Weston's.

And his big brother, Weston, was here all day yesterday. It was rainy and snowy so we didn't get to go outside much and we had to put up a tent here in the house for "somethin' to do". He is coming back this afternoon after his school and will stay over night. I will get some new pics of him then to add later.

Fiber . . . . Quilting? Well - I am getting one finally finished. It is a good thing my few, well chosen, customers are understanding. I will get it off the table this morning and then get the binding on so I can sew on it as I watch the last episode tonight on PBS on The National Parks. I have enjoyed the series so much - learned a lot about our parks and made an even stronger commitment to visit more of them. I am so impressed with the dedication from those individuals who gave their lives and great sums of money that we could have these places set aside. Growing up in Montana, we think we have the corner on the market with Glacier and parts of Yellowstone in our state. Heck, we really think all of Yellowstone is in Montana, but I know most of it is in Wyoming.

Fun . . . .Motorhome news? We are waiting for a couple things that had to be ordered to arrive and be installed at the dealer in the Spokane area and then we will make arrangements to go back to get it. Everyone is asking, "where are you going first with it?" Hmmmm - we are thinking of just getting used to driving it around large parking lots in the early morning hours before traffic hits - and then maybe an overnight at our local KOA - three miles away. Or, I told Bob, we could just park it out in the north field for an overnight. LOL. The anticipation is so much fun!

Cooler weather coming . . .

It feels like fall is officially heading this way. Our summer was unusually cool through July and then we had a marvelous August and September, but it feels like fall is heading this way quickly - wind and cooler temps.

I went to a "Breakfast Club" at one of our local quilt shops on Saturday and really enjoyed it. I love the classroom - it is the second story of an old barn, but is all redone and is so bright and quilter friendly. You go in the morning and they serve breakfast, demo the project (all strip friendly) and you can either use the strips prepared to align with the sample or go shopping for your own. I went shopping for my own. And then you get to sew as long as you want. I made these placemats - well I finished them here at home last night and have to quilt them after I get done with some customer quilts. Yes, I am doing a few customer quilts again and enjoying it. I am even surprised at that.

I also wanted to share these pics of my "new to me" dishes. Mom had this set for 12 and she wanted me to have them. I have tons of dishes - everyday dishes and 2 sets of good dishes. So, these stayed boxed until last week when I decided I needed to look at them and either pass them on or use them. I think I will pass on some of my other dishes - I really like these. They look like quilting.

We haven't set a definite date yet to head back toward Spokane to pick up our motorhome. It won't be this week for sure. Bob will be working at the business for Stan on Thursday and Friday while he is at meetings for an architecture conference here and I will be enjoying being "Granny Nanny" with Weston while Rainy and Walker are heading out of state for a wedding. It will be a fun couple days.

Getting Excited . . .

Being as this blog is about me and my "third act" - that is the time between 60 and 90 - then I have to share a couple photos about our new purchase. We are so excited! And, I will keep a journal of our travels here as well as quilting and family stuff.

The first one is of the outside. It is a 2005 Monaco Cayman - guess you can read that part from the picture - you can click to enlarge the pics. We were going to purchase a gas, but found this diesel and we are very excited - about the coach and the price. The second picture is of the inside. We had looked at so many and had quite a list of "wants" - like separate room for the toilet - shower without tub - chairs rather than dinette booth - medium to dark wood - some wood on the floors - neutral carpeting - one couch and one easy chair rather than two couches and driver and passenger chairs that turn around. This one met those requirements for me and it met Bob's requirements on price and engine.

We will pick it up next week - or the first part of the following week. We had offered to help our son with his business the end of next week and with Weston as Rainy is going to be out of town with Walker for a wedding she is in for a few days. So, it may be the first part of the following week. We are pretty excited.

And, now to start the decorating ideas. Of course, I will need to design and make a new quilt for the bed - and a wall hanging - and some nice place mats - and - more ideas here than time for sure. It is funny how we can get so excited about figuring out how to live in 300 square feet. . . it must be age regression.

Home again . . .

We got home today from our time in Spokane and Seattle. I enjoyed my day at the Innovations Quilt Show and learned a lot of new things from Helen B. in the IQ class there. We also had lots of good times with friends and looked at a bunch of motorhomes.

Finally on our way home yesterday morning - right outside of Spokane, we spotted one we thought would "fit the bill" and it did. It will be detailed and gone over with a fine tooth comb and we will go back to pick it up next week. We are pretty excited.

So - now it is back to reality here. More on all of that later.

Movin' On . . .

We are in Spokane tonight - staying at our favorite hotel. We had the greatest visit with "John and Carol" from BC and it was so much fun to sit outside on the patio, drink a good bee, and just enjoy. They were here for a holiday, didn't know them before, but it was sure nice. We decided that as we continue our "retirement" journey we will keep a journal of the wonderful people we meet along the trail.

Tomorrow we are heading to look at a couple motorhomes - not holding our breath that either is "the one". We will then head on to Seattle in the afternoon and stay there until Saturday. I am going to Innovations to take in a couple classes from Helen B on the latest and greatest of the IQ. I am also anxious to visit with Megan about some new things for my A1.

We are also going up north of Seattle for a friend's "housewarming" on Camino Island (wherever that is) and then to visit with another couple who we love and enjoy.

You know - this time away is fun stuff.

That time of year . . .

Well - it is getting into my very favorite time of year. And here is a quote to get me started with the wonderful time of year.

"Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor... Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting." ~ Mother Theresa

I am doing some work on a beautiful quilt. It is the first quilt made by an elderly quilt maker before she passed away. She had all of the "finishing" items in place - the backing fabric, the binding fabric and a package of batting. Her son asked me to finish it for their enjoyment and in honor of their mom. It is fun to work on.

Also - I made a handy gadget. I have been using a quilting apron and loving it. I then came across this favorite old shirt - it is soft heavy homespun type fabric that I loved. It actually got too big for me. So, I cut off the sleeves and hemmed the armholes by just turning the raw edge back on the seam area. I used the sleeves to make additional new lower pockets, squared up the bottom and can hang it on the doorknob as I come and go out of my studio for the day or the work session. It is perfect and I wear it over the apron sometimes and without sometimes if my quilting session is going to be a short one. And - my old favorite shirt is with me again.

We have been hunting and hunting for the "right" motorhome. It has become an obsession. We thought we found it in Billings on Friday, but wanted a different engine. Then we saw almost the very same one in the Denver area with the engine we wanted. We were ready to head out today when it hit us - we have too much to do here. We are going to Spokane and on to Seattle next week to stay with friends and go to Innovations for a couple days so we would not have taken it anyway. We will wait and if they are both sold so be it - we will find what we want when the time is right. It is feeling much less stressed around here.