Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Still on the Road!

But hope to be home by Sunday! It has been busy these last 2 weeks...what a surprise eh? Goodness, it has been a busy 2 1/2 months. Who knew vacationing could be so tiring?
We spent a week in Saskatchewan with our daughter and son in law and the grandkids. Spoiled them a bit...well more than a bit, but it was fun!
Grand-daughter S. and I did a little sewing for great grand-daughter M.
We made a cloth book from a printed panel. Normally that would be a pretty easy project, however we worked on a 37 year old Omega basic sewing machine. I had to go out and buy scissors. I had my new fancy ripper, no straight pins but I did have a small pkg. of safety pins in my toiletries bag. It was a "make do" kind of project. I did take a picture of S. at the machine, but can you believe I forgot to take a pic of the finished project.

I visited three of the local quilt shops in Regina, and had picked up the prettiest piece of colourful sketched bird fabric. I really had no project in mind for it, and at 15.00 a yard I only purchased a half yd. It hardly seems fair that they have three quilt shops in the immediate city and we have none! If you get to Regina, be sure to check them out; Cindy-Rella's, Astrin's Attic, and Peachtree.
Later that day, my daughter called from work and said, " Mom, can you make me a microwave rice bag for my aching body from that pretty bird fabric?" She manages a fitness centre, and right now is training for a gruelling " Tough Mudder " competition, charity event. If you google "tough mudder" you will get an idea of why she has sore aching muscles after training. The rice bag I made is sort of "U" shaped and goes behind the neck, down the shoulder blades, and over the shoulders in the front. It is channel quilted and each channel filled with rice and then closed up. Pop it in the microwave to heat it up and enjoy! Just the thing for "tough mudders" AND quilters with aching neck and shoulders. It was a pattern from an on-line tutorial. This is the second one I have made, both of them were gifts, but I intend to make myself one soon!
Again though, I forgot to take photos.
We bought S. a little used car for getting to school and for back and forth to work. She was thrilled!

Grandson K. has his own car, but what you do for one...so we decided to start an RSP for him of the equivalent value. He too was thrilled and has since started a payroll deduction plan to contribute to his savings! You are never to young to start saving for retirement!

We had a busy week and I left the picture taking till the last night and had little or no cooperation from my subjects...sigh

Pa and Madison were really the ones who cooperated!

Can you believe the amount of snow they still have! Very unusual for the prairies, and it was snowing again the day we left!
After tearful good byes we headed south of the border to North Dakota, across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan and up to Sault Ste Marie Ontario.
To ease my breaking heart at having to say goodbye to the grandkids Mr. O took me to a quilt shop in Minot, North Dakota . I chose a shop from my trust Quilter's Travel Companion, and when we found it out in the countryside in a private home, I thought it might not be too extensive and said I would probably just be a few minutes...HA!
One hour and more than a few dollars later, I returned back to the car and a waiting Mr.O. He had been able to hook up to someone's wifi service and had kept himself occupied, and so had I.

Some of my haul.

In Sault Ste Marie, it was a very busy 5 and a half days. So good to see my sister and brother again, as well as cousins, and my aunt and uncle. We moved my brother from his old nursing home residence to a brand new facility. There were a few, well actually a few dozen kinks to iron out, but I think everybody was happy with the results when we waved goodbye yesterday afternoon. It is always so sad to say goodbye leave and him there, but it is good to know he is safe and well cared for.

I am writing this as we are driving down the hi way, and will post as we get some service. Hope to have some fun news for my next post.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Big Sky Country, a little more S. Dakota and a lot more Pearl Louise

Our plan was to head towards Sidney, Montana first thing this morning, but we both decided that there were a few things we wanted to see before leaving the area. Custer State Park was at the top of the list, we started with a drive up Iron Mt.

It is famous for its scenic, one-lane tunnels aligned to frame the faces on Mount Rushmore, its "pigtail bridges", and its sections of divided highway but with single (and narrow) lanes on each roadway.

After Iron Mt. we continued on the Wildlife Loop. We saw a good sampling of the area wildlife...

Buffalo(s)

...why is it that there is no "s" when pluralizing buffalo, moose, deer or elk?.... but there is with dogs, cats, birds and pigs....the English language is a very,very curious thing indeed.

Pronghorn...many, many of them!

Wild turkeys.

White tail Deer

BigHorn Sheep
We also saw several prairie dogs and mule deer (no pictures)
The most entertaining though were the local Burros.

Talk about friendly!
We drove a long way to see the Needles, only to find the road closed. You would think the Parks Rangers would have a sign at the entrance, so a person doesn't drive 30 or more miles out of their way for nothing!

Oh well, the wildlife made it worth the trip!
After a quick stop in Sturgis for souvenirs for a few family members, we were on our way to Montana.

They don't call it Big Sky Country for nothing! Very pretty drive.

No quilt shops today, but I'm still reeling over yesterdays, so a few more pics from Pearl Louise and Quilter's Village

One of my favourite displays.

There was so much more, but you get the idea.
There were 12 shops participating in the two week Shop Hop. At each stop you got a free pattern for one block. If you gathered them all, this is the pattern you end up with...designed by none other than Miss Pearl Louise....

I obviously did not get all 12 blocks, but I did get the centre block with the bicycle and one of the star blocks in the upper left. SCORE!

Of course , you know I had to take a pee(k) and get a shot of the restroom!

What did I buy?
I bought this book...

And this book....

This pattern...

A dozen flour sack tea towels and embroidery patterns for them. A charm pack of one of Pearls collections, and a couple fat quarters.
Now that is what I would call "power shopping".
Back in the Homeland tomorrow, and time with family!