Finishes!

I finished this cowl a while ago and I forgot to post it. The pattern is Chromatic Cowl by Amy Detjen I bought a kit at Knit Circus in June and made this for me. The yarn is Knit Circus Greatest of Ease in two colors - April Skies and Quoth the Raven. This was my second attempt at Brioche knitting and this time I succeeded! The photo leaves a lot to be desired!

Hugs Squared is done. This quilt is a gift but I can't say for whom. It is 72" X 84". The squares are all scraps of fabrics that I decided to clean out last summer. This is one of three flannel quilts using up most of the 'same' flannel scraps.

The back is also flannel with some leftover pieces from the front adding some interest. The batting is Dream Cotton. I pieced and quilted this with Aurifil thread. I did the machine quilting with a walking foot in double diagonal lines crossing each of the squares in an X. In the navy border, I quilted double lines parallel to the edge.

Ray's Chicago Bears socks are done and he likes them! The next pair will have the cuff a little longer but he said these are fine.

I thought I should include one more photo of our family trip to Lake Geneva. Youngest son and I both got parking tickets. The parking was all computerized and we had each paid $6. The tickets were issued exactly at the minute our meters expired. So if you go, be aware that there is no grace period - not even one minute! Oh yeah, the tickets were $20 each - no credit for the money already paid. I wasn't smiling about the ticket...

I am working on another one of the flannel scrap quilts - many of the intersections are off. For some reason, I decided to put the whole quilt together and then fix the problems. That wasn't smart! Hopefully I'll be ready to sandwich the quilt by the end of the week.

A Little of Everything

Where has the summer gone?

We had a short trip to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin with our youngest son and his family. It was a fun time enjoying the water park, going on a boat trip, riding horses, playing games, and eating.

Three quilt tops are together and I've started quilting one of them.

I was able to experience Stitches Midwest with a friend. It was a great day - meeting new people, being inspired, and finding some great yarn, patterns, and treasures.

I've done some baking for the freezer. The pear bread and muffins are a favorite as are the zucchini bread and muffins. Of course, there are always chocolate chip cookies in this house. I tried cucumber bread; a recipe very similar to zucchini bread but we really did not like it! 

 

The weather hasn't felt like August - it's been quite pleasant! Gardens are producing and "our people" are doing a great job providing us with lots of produce. It is so nice to have organic gardeners that grow much of our food. The dehydrator runs most of the time these days and I'm also doing some freezing.

I'm doing some cooking for the upcoming Teacher Luncheon. Our church provides lunch for the local teachers on their first day back. This year I am making the BBQ. It took all morning but BBQ for 70 is finished!

We have more family and friend days planned. And we have a short trip coming up next month - we'll head north to see if the leaves are beginning to turn.

I hope you get to see some of the eclipse on Monday. We'll be using a pinhole camera since we haven't been able to get any glasses.

We are keeping busy and Loving Retirement!

Devastation and Beauty

On July 21 we had heavy rains and severe flooding in our area. Last night Ray and I headed to nearby Apple River Canyon State Park. We decided it was time to see the damage since the flood waters had receded.

The road was barricaded so we parked the car and walked over the damaged bridge and found part of the road missing.

Pieces of the road and bridge were washed across the park.

Looking back at the bridge we'd walked across, you can see the approach is badly damaged.

We were visiting with a couple from a neighboring town. He builds roads and had just checked out the bridge. There is no longer anything holding up the approach. 

Notice the uprooted tree. It was washed down the river from somewhere - we did not find where it came from.

And a peek under the bridge.

As we were walking back to our car, some friends stopped to visit. While we were talking, Ray noticed a raccoon up on the bluff. Then there were 2 and then 3 - can you seen them? The third one is just coming out of the crevice to the right of the other two. In all, seven, yes seven, raccoons came out of that crevice and wandered up the wall!

We started home and had to stop to photograph the gorgeous sunset.

And I had to turn around and get one photo of the moon with the colored clouds.

It was so nice to enjoy such beauty after seeing the devastation in the park.