Saturday, October 31, 2009

Is your door bell ringing tonight?

It’s trick or treat time!  

Not many rings here at our door.  We live in the country and don’t usually have trick or treaters but the grandkids did stop by earlier in their costumes. 
Stinkin’ cute, I say! 
Quite literally as Ava was skunk.
Owen was a monkey.

Did you trick or treat when you were young?  We did up until about age 10 then we were “too old”.  What did you dress up as?  We never bought costumes.  But then when I was growing up, the costumes you could buy in the store were pretty cheezy anyway.  We always came up with our own out of things around the house.  I can remember many Halloweens being a hobo and wearing one of those really hot and stuffy rubber masks.  Once, I was a clown but only once.  Clowns kind of creep me out.  How about you?  The one I remember the most though was a “go-go dancer”.  Can you tell what era I grew up in?

We let the boys pick what they wanted to be as they were growing up and I usually made their costumes.  Son, Jon always came up with the most difficult ones.  One year he wanted to be Cousin It from the Addams Family.  Off to the fabric store we went to buy lots of fur.  I couldn’t find a picture of that costume thought, darn it.  Another year he wanted to be a can of Coca-Cola.  Now where does a kid come up with an idea like that?  It took us a little while to plan that one out. 

I dug around a bit and found some pictures of Halloween’s past.  They sure bring back memories.  Now that I have grandkids, I wish I wouldn’t have sold them on garage sales.  It would have been fun to let them play with them.

We got lots of miles out of the very first costume I ever made….a mouse suit.  It started out on our oldest when he was a year and half, then the twins, nieces and nephews and friends children.

This year Joe was a cat, Jon as the mouse and Luke as a box of crayons.

Halloween 1985 cropped

Here’s that mouse suit again, only on nephew Nathan this time.  Luke as a “Top Gun” pilot (again, can you guess the era?), Jon as the infamous can of Coca Cola (he fell down alot that year as he couldn’t see his feet and where he was walking), mouse Nathan and Joe as a ghost with extremely crooked eyes!

Halloween 1989

This year, Jon was a prisoner, Nathan in an indian suit that Luke had worn a previous year, Joe as an old farmer with one of those nasty hot masks and niece Amanda as a princess.Halloween 1993

There was usually a group of us Moms that would take the kids out, then come back to our house for a bowl of chili or some kind of “hot food” as Halloween always seemed to fall on a cold, windy night.  The Dads rarely joined us in taking the kids around town as most of them were farmers and in the field combining.  However, they always seemed to make it in time for supper.   Go figure.  Do you think they might have planed it that way?

What Halloween traditions do you have?

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Remembering…

Thinking and remembering…

Mom cropped colorHarriet Anna Gesin
October 29, 1929 – November 4, 1983

Miss you Mom!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

In a fog…

A foggy day pretty much all the way around today. 

Fog meteorogically(is that a word?) and in my head.  :{ 

The silos you see in the first picture are across the field from where we live now on the farm I grew up on.

Foggy morn 10-27-09

Foggy morn 10-27-09 (5)

 

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Playin’ Hooky

It doesn’t matter how old we get, sometimes it’s just plain fun to play hooky! 

I love riding motorcycle in autumn but we’ve have had a very wet & cool October so our fall riding has been limited.  It seems like the best days weather-wise have been during the week when we’re working. 

This past Wednesday was forecasted to be another cold, rainy day.  However, in the morning, I had to run an errand across campus and it was a beautifully warm and sunny indian summer kind of day.  The weather man sure missed this one!  

I was thinking to myself how great it would be if we could just go for a ride but knew Dan was busy with a bunch of different projects.   Not sure if it was mental telepathy or the fact that we’ve been married long enough to think alike, but lo and behold, as I came back in my office there was a message waiting for me saying  “Take the afternoon off and let’s go riding.”  Wow, twist my arm!

Now, before you think I’m somekind of slacker, I didn’t actually play hooky.  I was all legal-like and submitted my absence request for what is called a “personal day” which can be taken anytime on a moments notice.  I couldn’t  think of a better reason to take  a half of one than what was probably going to be the last warm bike ride of the season.  

We headed northwest to JoDaviess County.  The trees were at their peak.  The ride did not disappoint, the views were stunning.

You want to see pictures?  Why, of course I’ll share them with you.  I thought you’d never ask.

Oct 21 ride (11)   Oct 21 ride (4) Oct 21 ride (45) Oct 21 ride (22) Oct 21 ride (51) Oct 21 ride (23)

Friday, October 23, 2009

EMHE air date

For those of you who wanted me to let you know....

The Extreme Makeover Home Edition job we helped on back in early September will air on November 15th on ABC at 7pm CST.

To read my orginal post click here.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

My first quilt show

In all my years of sewing and a few of quilting, I have never attended a quilt show.  A friend in my small group invited us to her guild's show.  Another friend from small group and I decided to go.  I don't know exactly what I expected but not what I saw,  I thought there might be 15-20 quilts.  Boy was I wrong, there were 167 beautiful quilts on display!  The show was held just a couple of miles down the road at my old church.  This is the church I grew up in.  Dan & I were married here and the boys were raised in this church.  

The quilts were draped over the pews, hanging in the windows and laying everywhere.  We weren’t allowed to touch any, which about killed me.  I’m a very textile person.  Only the ladies with the gloves on could touch the quilts.

Oct 17 18 weekend (15)

Oct 17 18 weekend (12) 

Of course, I came away with all sorts of new ideas to add to my "to-do" list. 

Here are a few of my favorites...

I love the redwork in this Winter Wonderland quilt and how they bordered it in tans and reds instead of all red and white.  I haven’t stitched any redwork yet but want to try it out sometime.Oct 17 18 weekend (9)

Oct 17 18 weekend (8) Isn’t this mason jar one unique?

The cabin made from strips is so creative.  This is definitely going on my project  list.Oct 17 18 weekend (7)

I love the grays, browns and blacks in this.Oct 17 18 weekend (16)

There were some very complex patterns but I tend to gravitate towards simplicity, so I really appreciate quilts like this one.Oct 17 18 weekend (13)

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

So easily sidetracked...

Monday being Columbus Day was a day off of work for me. I had great plans to devote the entire day to sewing and quilting, maybe even get started on some Christmas gifts.


But first…

I think I’ll throw in a load of laundry.

Ya know, if I start everything for supper now, I won’t have to interrupt my sewing later on this afternoon. Great idea, right? in theory...
and
I have all these veggies and have wanted to try Joyce’s Virus Killing soup. If I throw that together, that could be supper for Tuesday night and maybe even Wednesday before small group because I’ll really need a quick supper that night. More wonderful insights?

Throw laundry in the dryer and another load in the washer.

Oh my, it’s 10am, I better get moving if I’m going to get any sewing accomplished today.

Phone rings. It’s for hubby. Go find him.

Cleaning up after my cooking extravaganza…I look over at the bananas darkening on the counter and think I better use them up so I start a batch of banana bread. The kitchen’s already a mess and it will only take a few more minutes to whip the bread together.

Dryer buzzes, fold laundry, put clothes away, carry the clothesbasket back to the laundry room, see the dirty rugs and decide to throw them in the wash.

Walk past the computer and hear it calling my name, check email…check Facebook…catch up on blog reading – it will only take a few minutes, right? And I won’t check it again all day, I promise!

45 minutes later…finish cleaning up the kitchen that I started to clean up over an hour ago.

Friend stops by. 1 hour later…

Time to make lunch for hubby & me.

After a nice leisurely, 10 minute lunch…

Time to clean up again.

Fold another load of laundry and add the fleece throws to washer that have been in storage for the summer. The weather has turned cold, don’t ya know.

Phone rings. 20 minutes later…

I hear a new email come in to the computer, I’ll just check it real quick-like.. Now, while I am sitting here I might as well finish the team meeting letter for our winter mission trip.

Oh, and one more load of laundry.

Hubby sticks his head in the door and asks if I’ve paid his life insurance that is due Wednesday. Not sure if he's feeling ill or what? Alas, I forgot all about it. We had been checking otu a nother policy but decidede to stay with this one. In my mind, it was still on the back burner in wait-mode. Call the company to see about paying over the phone or online so the payment isn't late. Another 20 minutes later (15 of which I’m on hold), policy paid.

And, finally to my sewing room.

Clean off the ironing board and sewing desk of “other items” that don’t pertain to sewing.

Thinking what project to start on first when I see the turtleneck that needs mending and 2 pair of pants that need to be hemmed, so of course, I do the mundane things first, then I can sew, right?

6:30pm – Hubby enters and asks when supper is. Whoops, I didn’t realize it was so late!

Complete hemming of the last pair of pants.

Finish preparing the supper I started earlier in the day.

Have a leisurely supper, all of 15 minutes worth.

Clean up the kitchen again. Run the dishwasher. Thanks goodness for a dishwasher!

Take a shower and get my comfy clothes on for the evening.

Study up on the lesson for Wednesday night’s small group.

Yawn...time for bed. Back to work tomorrow!

And this, my friends is why you haven’t seen any sewing or quilting projects posted on here lately.

There's always next weekend right?

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Jane Addams trail


Sunday afternoon we did what I get the urge to do every fall...

Gotta.find.leaves.to.crunch.

It was cold, not much wind and the sun was shining so it turned out pretty nice.

The Jane Addams bike trail isn't far from us. This trail runs from just north of Freeport to the Wisconsin state line on an old railroad bed. There was a good amount of bicycle traffic going north so we headed south on the unpaved section. The part of the trail we walked runs between farmfields and the Pecatonica River.

At the south end of the trail was an old railroad trestle that Dan has been wanting to see.

It was an easy walk, about 1-1/2 miles round trip from the parking area on level terrain so definitely not anything strenuous. If you ever get north of Freeport, go check it out.
It's a great spot to crunch leaves!

Monday, October 12, 2009

See this? It's just not right!

See this? What is wrong with this picture? Can you see the little white flecks? This is not supposed to be happening yet! Can I get a witness someone?
It's that dirty four letter "s" word -- SNOW!

At least it didn't last long and the ground is too warm for it to stick but it's still seems way too early to even have it in the air.

We've had a cooler and wetter than usual summer, just a few nice warm fall days but it sure feels like the end of November instead of early October. Most crops around the area are behind in drying and weather like the cold and damp that we've had lately is not helping.

Ahhh, but soon, very soon this will be a incredibly busy place.



Stay safe guys(and girls)! Happy harvest to ya!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

I will Rise by Chris Tomlin

This song never ceases to bring me to my knees.
Be sure to pause the music on the sidebar first.