We are in Virginia!

We have been in sunshine most of today- some clouds but no rain! I loved going through West Virginia on what seemed like back roads. West of Clarksburg, WV, we met and passed many, many trucks carrying fresh water.  Wondering where they were going, I asked when we stopped for gas. It is all for the fracking that is going on all over the state of West Virginia! I'm really glad that no community needed that much fresh water.  As for all of the fracking... I'll leave that topic alone for now.

We pretty much traveled Highway 50 across West Virginia, the small tip of Maryland, one of the tips of West Virginia, and into Virginia. The GPS and Internet said about 4 hours; it took over 5 but it was a nice day!

We were in the mountains and the trees. We both love driving/riding through a canopy of trees. . .

especially when there is sunlight at the other end!

We enjoyed lunch at Flying W Farms near Burlington, WV. It's a restaurant and meat market and oh, so good! We overate yesterday so we were a little smarter today. We both had the small steak salad (natural Angus beef) and I couldn't finish all of mine! We bypassed the homemade pies which looked wonderful.

After reaching Virginia, our first stop was in Winchester at the Patsy Cline Historic Home. Ray is a huge Patsy Cline fan. Here are a few pictures:

We were done with the tour when we found out we could take photos inside (recent rule change!) so I took a couple. Patsy designed her clothes and her mom made them. She didn't wear dresses; with measurements of 36-25-38, it was a better fit to have a skirt and a top.

The house was originally a log cabin. Part of the logs are exposed behind glass near the inside of the front door.

We traveled another 20 minutes to Strasburg, our current rental. This time we have a 3 story townhouse which is plenty of space for us. We'll be here for a few days and then head on to meet our oldest and his family. We're not sure what we'll do each day that we are here - plans will depend a little on the weather. It was 93 degrees today with a lower humidity - still hot.

If we do anything super exciting, I'll let you know...

Travel Day

Thankfully, it hasn't rained much today! It's been a travel day and we are now in Parkersburg, West Virginia. It's very warm here but dry. We agree that moving in for the night is better in heat than driving rain.

We spent most of the day in traffic and saw LOTS of law enforcement. Ohio must have had all of their State Troopers working today- we might have seen every one of them! 

We had dinner in Grove Port, Ohio at the Family Affair. 

We had exited the highway on the south side of Columbus, Ohio, looking for a place and Ray spotted this one in a strip mall. 

The menu had my mouth watering; I felt like I was back in the south with the menu choices. My meal was fried perch with breaded okra and baked beans made with sorghum.

Ray had catfish bites, coleslaw, and the baked beans.

Of course we both had the delicious, warm cornbread.

Neither of us could finish our meal - but we TRIED and we both overate. This was a neat little place with great service and delicious southern comfort food.

Tonight we are just being lazy. It's still too warm to take a walk - maybe later. Tomorrow we will travel on.

A Finish and A Start

We've had a wild week. Wednesday night we had storms - 6 1/2" of rain, 2 tornado sirens, and 10 hours without power. There was a lot of cleanup going on in the area so we were very surprised when the guys showed up Thursday afternoon to install the gutters on our garage. Our garage is finished! 

Today is Day 1 - the start of our trip to Virginia to meet our oldest and his family.  The sun was shining in our eyes right before we left. 

We got an early start but the weather deteriorated; we finally made it to Indianapolis through some heavy traffic and very heavy downpours with wind. We never saw the Welcome to Indiana sign - the rain was too heavy! The rain did let up a bit as we were finding our rental. We sat for a few minutes in the car and as soon as the it let up slightly more, we headed for the door which was a long way from where we parked - more in a minute. Well as soon as we were out of the car, we knew we were in trouble. I was standing in 5" of water and the downpour immediately intensified! We moved as fast as we could although we were already drenched!

We finally made our way inside and found our condo - then we both stripped down and put our clothes in the dryer. After a few minutes they felt so good. Then we threw our raincoats into the dryer - yes we were wearing raincoats and still got thoroughly drenched. Even Ray's wallet and money were soaked! Some of it is drying out here. The camera came in later.

We are at an airbnb rental in Indianapolis. This minor league stadium was converted to condos in 2013 and it just sounded like fun to stay here. 
  
Located within the original confines of historic Bush Stadium, Stadium Lofts truly are a one-of-a-kind living opportunity. By saving the original structure of the stadium, Core has managed to find a new life for this Indianapolis landmark.

We had to park in the visitor lot and walk to the entry of the stadium - close to a a city block. Now that we have a key fob, we are able to use other doors and gates.

After about an hour and a half, the rain let up so we decided to bring in what luggage we needed and we were lucky to find a shortcut to the car but the deep water still needed to be crossed. We were able to look around and take a few photos before the rain began again. 

The ballfield is still here. 

Some of the stadium seats near the workout rooms.

On the first floor, looking up above a workout room, you can see the understructure from long ago.

We love how they labeled each condo.

There is also an outside fireplace with lots of seating, a grill area, a frisbee golf course, and a sand volleyball court. This would be a great place to live or to visit when it's not raining! Our condo is small but sufficient. Sadly we are looking out on the parking lot rather than the ballfield. It has still been a fun experience.

We are spending the evening online, reading, and knitting. Although we are very close to lots of things going on downtown, it is still stormy.

Tomorrow we will head to West Virginia. I really hope we see the rain end...

A fun day and a little sewing!

We had the honor of watching our 10-year-old grandson play his guitar and sing for the Pink Tour Benefit today. He is a fantastic guitarist and the place he recently bought a guitar asked him to be a part of the benefit. We are so proud that he was willing to perform. It was a fun day!

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I finally did a little sewing! I made a knitting project bag. I used a free pattern from AllPeopleQuilt.com and the bag is about 13" by 18". I bought the fabric at Missouri Star last month. I did a little quilting on the outside of the bag - I just HAD too!

The inside has pockets. The color of the inside is lime green.

The long handle slips through the short handle. I've heard these bags called a few different names so I'm really not sure what is correct.

I like this - I wasn't sure if I would since it doesn't securely close but I think it will be great.

Too busy?!

I've been so busy that I'm not getting any quilting time!

We will be meeting our oldest son and his family soon for a week-long vacation together. I'm in the mist of planning some crafts/activities. I have a number of ideas so I'm trying things and gathering supplies. The last time we were together, these five grandchildren greeted me with "Did you bring crafts?". The oldest, a granddaughter, and I have been hatching ideas. She requested a Treasure Hunt and I think I have a great one planned. 

Ray and I celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary on June 13. Where does the time go?! We're hoping to celebrate many more.

A friend and I took a knitting class from Susan B Anderson in Madison, Wisconsin. It was called Smooth Operator Socks and we learned how to do a really neat heel. 

The yarn I used is Circus Stripes from Knit Circus. They sponsored Susan's workshop. In addition to the heel, it was nice to learn how to make the socks match.

Our garage is done except for the gutters. We finally have electricity. Ray spent some time today waxing one of the cars inside - he loved it!

Garage Update

Garage Update:

It's almost done! The work on this door will be finished this week. Then we'll just need electricity - we are already on the electrician's list.

The process has been interesting with a few hidden blessings. We ordered a 7' tall door with windows. Another customer ordered this 8' tall door and then changed his mind. We were offered the door in place of ours. Who needs windows? That extra foot is great for opening the hatch backs on our vehicles!

Somehow we didn't order the side door and the windows??! The lumber yard must know us well - everything is perfect. We didn't know we wanted windows that opened with screens! They are great. 

The roll up door in the back was supposed to be 5' wide. Our neighbor thought we might be sorry we didn't order a 6' door but it was already ordered. Another fluke blessing, somehow we received a 6' door!

You can see the sidewalk along the side of the garage in the above photo. I love it! And that little bit of walkway in the back is for the garbage cans.

Ray has been busy organizing and moving into his storage/shop area. We are getting rid of a number of things. He is moving from an 8' by 10' shed into a 9' by 24' area. It is getting full?! I guess it must be like a sewing studio!

Baby Quilt Done!

It's been crazy busy around here but I did manage to get this baby quilt done. I bought the fabric when we were at Missouri Star in May.

• The parents decided not to find out the sex of this child who is due in late summer. The front of the quilt is all flannel except the inner narrow red border and the binding which are cotton. The back is Minkee and the batting is Dream Cotton.

I quilted this with a walking foot. The center has diagonal lines following the diagonals on the front of the quilt. The outer border has lines parallel to the edges of the quilt. Oops - looks like a shadow of my hand at the bottom of the photo.

The red parts of this 47" square quilt are really orange-red.

I hope the new parents like it as much as I do.