BEATING THE HEAT IN FLORIDA?!?!?

It's been a while since I have posted because we have been traveling to visit our 2 sons who live in Kansas and Florida.  We had a great time with our son and family in Kansas.  They have 2 boys and we got to go to several baseball games as well as a swim meet.  

Now we are in Florida and will be heading back to Oregon on Monday.  We missed out on the extreme heat in Oregon while we were enjoying the heat and humidity in Florida.  Actually, the temps were higher in Oregon than here during those days.  However, Florida also has much higher humidity and lots more bugs, so it's one thing or the other.

Our son and his wife, along with Abby, 12 years old, live on 2 acres and they enjoy gardening.  My DIL works in the garden a lot while my son works as a registered nurse.  They also have 11 rabbits (they were given 2 female rabbits- or so they thought) and were surprised with 9 bunnies!

Abby is 12 and is going into 8th grade.

The rabbits are a cross between the Rex and Lion head breeds.

I polished Abby's fingernails and she polished my toe nails.

Today we went blue berry picking and will be making blue berry cobbler tomorrow.

Abby likes to sew and I, of course brought my featherweight along on the trip with fabric cut and ready to sew.  I am trying to use up fabric and looked for some patterns that are scrappy with easy blocks.  These blocks filled that requirement and measure at 18".  Abby helped me sew these together and I will be finishing it for her when I get home.

                            

Here she is working on some blocks for another project.  

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you are enjoying the summer and are able to get some quilting too!

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND REMINISCING

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted.  I have some explaining to do!  I took a trip to Florida to get together with some of my cousins, the oldest of which just turned 91.  There were 5 of us and we spent about 5 days talking and reminiscing non-stop!!

Which brings me to the first picture, which is of me and my older brother on a horse named Red at our great-uncle's farm in Minnesota circa 1950.  This picture displays something that the 5 of us cousins had in common as an important remembrance of our childhood.  I grew up in the Chicago area, but in 1950 my grandmother's brothers & sisters were just about all farming in Minnesota and we loved to go there to visit.

The first day of the cousins' visit we went to see the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse.

A couple days later we went to the Jupiter Lighthouse.

Cousins at the Jupiter lighthouse

The cousin missing in the Jupiter picture is shown with me below.  We were 2 weeks apart in age, so we were very close as children.  We are in Jupiter and that is the Atlantic Ocean behind us.

After my wonderful visit with cousins, I traveled to Pensacola to visit DS, DIL and DGD Abby.  They now have 15 chickens and Abby loves them.  It was great to have some quality time with Abby!

She will be 10 in December and is into all things girly and blingy!  She loves to polish her fingernails, so we did that one day.

We saw these ducklings on our way to the fabric store one day and had to stop to get some pictures.

A & E Fabric Store in Pensacola, Florida is wonderful!  I went there a few times - it's only about a mile from my son's home.

They have several orange trees in their yard as well as a huge grapefruit tree, so DS is picking some oranges for us to bring home.

We had our Christmas gift exchange and I gave Abby her quilt.

I visited the Pensacola Light House at the Naval Air Station with my DIL and Abby.  Oh, and BTW, I climbed to the top of all three lighthouses!

Since I came home, I have been getting ready for 3 craft shows.  After they are over, I will be getting ready for Christmas, as all of you will be doing.  Our 3rd son and his family will be coming to Oregon for Christmas - for the first time!  We are excited to show them where we live, etc.

Now I better get back to cooking for our Thanksgiving dinner.  We do have so much to be thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving to your and your families!