July!

Happy July, and Happy Canada Day to those to our north. 

Sunday was a very cloudy and overcast day. My sister, niece and BIL came out with their dog Gracie for the afternoon. Gracie got me soaked... she was fetching the ball from in the lake and kept coming by me and Terri (my sister) to shake. She might have been egged on to do that! Silly girl. 

This is the Mama duck and 5 ducklings that like to come visit. She comes up on the lawn with her babies each morning.

Gracie loved the boat ride. She kept going from person to person but did like the seat next to me.

Then was over by her Mom and Emily, then her Dad Bob. My niece Sally got some attention as well. Aidan was driving the boat and did a great job docking.

I did a kayak ride Sunday night and this is the camp we stay at. 

On my paddle, a shot of the mountain with the tower at the top. We will see if I climb it this year or not. I have been getting my steps in while up here. I think the campus tour at Dartmouth got me set yesterday. Today we visit UVM up in Burlington.

Aidan wanted his senior photo's with a nice background. This is a little wood of birch trees near us, that I think would make a great background. We did get his formal photo's done for the yearbook, but we will do our own for his ones to hand out to family.

I have been adding grey surrounds to the granny squares and have about 3 left to do before they all are complete. It will be time to think about putting them together.

After the Dartmouth tour yesterday (Aidan loved the feel of the campus), we went up to King Arthur Flour. We got there after the cafe was closed, but got to look around the shop. We picked up a couple of scone mix boxes. Everyone is sleeping in this morning, except Dad and I. I'm enjoying the overcast morning on the porch, as the light rain has stopped for the moment. The pitter patter of rain on the metal roof is very soothing. 

Slow Sunday in Vermont

 I am enjoying a cloudy comfortable day in Vermont. A few crochet stitches have been added to the granny squares while watching the F1 race this morning. I'll switch to some hand work on either the hand applique string of beads or some hand piecing of the flowering snowball or shoo fly blocks later today. Maybe I'll do both!

Friday, my nephew came out with Kayaks and my sister come out in the afternoon. It was quite windy, so we just chatted outside for a while then got a maple creemee across the lake. Saturday, I slept in until almost 10AM with the rain pattering on the new roof that does not leak! That has been a 2 year battle to get it fixed from the shoddy job the first guy did.  My brother and SIL came out to play games in the afternoon, and I left them to it and headed to Morrisville to see my friend Kelly at the Lacing up for Cancer event. I stayed a couple of hours catching up, then headed home and made dinner (Keto chicken, roasted potato and peas). I had a nice walk last evening after dinner and snapped some flower photos to share. 

Today will be some kayaking I think around the lake. The wind has calmed down a bit so it should be easier to paddle. My sister will be back out for a visit with my niece up from Boston. 

Linking up with Kathy and the slow Sunday Stitchers.

Races at Thunder Road in Barre, Vermont

 The photo's loaded last to first... and I'm too lazy to swap them around! Last night was CCV (Community College of Vermont) night and since I have a sister who works at CCV, we got free tickets! 

This was a photo of the view from the cement stands we were sitting in for the night. The track is a 1/4 mile oval with quite the steep curves at the ends. There were crashes, saw the governor (Phil Scott has been a race driver his whole life, first as a lawyer, then senator, then governor car #14) spin out in the heats so he started last in both races. It was a double header night! He moved up to the midfield in the first race but got put into a wall in the second race. 

The sunset was glorious with the mountains and clouds. It was in the 60's - so jeans and a t-shirt with a sweatshirt on towards the end. 

This was his spin out in the heat. 

We cheered on my parents neighbor in another race series last night. He won the first race and came in second by a few feet in the second race. It was great racing at Thunder Road last night.

I was impressed. We ate there - for $20.50 - we got 2 hot dogs, home made fries and a kids meal of 2 tenders, fries and an apple juice (Aidan was feeling kiddy). Not bad! Aidan got a creemee later (soft serve ice cream).

Back to camp a bit before midnight and Grammy was waiting up for us. I woke up to a beautiful 53 degrees on the porch around 8:30 AM. It was 51 when we got home. It has warmed up to 60 degrees and I think I'll go make some crepes for breakfast. My sister Terri is coming out sometime today. Her son Charlie is also coming at some point and delivereing 2 kayaks for us to use.  It will be a great day for either chili or tacos. We will see which parent I make happy. Mom likes Taco's and Dad likes chili. 

More travel photo's

Monday we were in Mansfield and visited the Ohio State Reformatory. This is where they filmed the Shawshank Redemption. It was quite the place and we did the behind the bars tour. The history was quite interesting in that it opened back in the 1870, before it was really finished and the prisoners (1st time criminals for boys 17 and over) actually worked to finish it and it was a self sufficient place with everyone working and learning a trade and getting educated. They got their high school diplomas and could take college courses. Later in the 1920's they opened it up to other prisoners, and it went downhill from there. It closed Dec 31, 1990 as it was unlivable. I declined to do the bell tower with the extra steps, and meandered to the museum of the movie. They actually have filmed parts of 4 movies there over the years.

It was hot, and only the museum area was in the AC. We headed to a local restaurant for lunch at the Reindeer Cafe. It was yummy. From there we drove a few hours up to Niagra falls and got there a bit after 7PM. Finding parking was fun but we got tickets to the Maid of the Mist and took our 20 minute boat ride to the falls. It was amazing the wind force, water and the view. We got soaked... I think my sneakers have finally dried out! Good think I brought an extra pair.
 

The after photo - Aidan loved it.

The before photo.

We travelled another hour or so that night and stopped in Rochester, NY for the night.

Our next stop was in Syracuse for the Erie Canal Museum. It was pretty neat and the kids learned a bit about the process and what is around Syracuse. They did not know about the salt influence there. The guy at the desk was great and chatted with us for a bit selling his city. Aidan wore his Tampa Lightning hat, and of course he said, you can wear that hat in here! They have their minor league team in town. I'll post some photos I took inside in another post, great quilting designs!

From there Aidan drove us to Vermont through the Adirondak mountains and the curvy, windy roads into Vermont and to Graniteville to my parents house.

Emily loves the soft grass and no fire ants in sight! Our grass in Florida is pokey, so they enjoy it up here. Shortly after we arrived, my sister Joanne and my brother and SIL Mike and Kathy showed up. One dropped off tickets for Thunder Road on Thursday and the other dropped off some stadium seats for that night. My sister Terri and her hubby Bob and Charlie (my nephew) are going with us and Joanne will be there. Free tickets as it is sponsored by her work that night. Thanks Jo!

The next day, I helped the parents get packed and loaded up and moved out to camp. 

After a late lunch (we picked up KofC), the kids unloaded both cars in the heat and humidity and promptly relaxed on the porch. Aidan reclaimed the couch last night and ended up sleeping out there overnight! It was 62 degrees when I got up this morning.

We did a boat ride after Aidan finished mowing the lawn out here. Dad wanted me to drive. I did not crash the boat and the docking was fairly good!

I'd better get dressed as we need to grab a few things in town and then I can maybe get a little hand stitching in by the lake later this afternoon, before we head into the races tonight.

Travel

We started our yearly treck up to Vermont from Florida on Thursday. It was a drive day and we were in the car all day driving up to Nashville, TN. We stopped at the TN visitor center which was on an island and had the most beautiful view.

We did a college visit, and then headed to The Hermatige - Andrew Jacksons house and did the house tour. It was hot out... and yes, I normally live inside the AC in our hot state. It was beautiful and these pretty quilts were in a shelf in one of the cabins. 

Emily had a headache (she does not drink enough liquids, this happens a lot) so stayed in the room that night after we hit Hattie B's for some Hot Chicken. Aidan and I walked over to the replica of the Parthenon they have and a beautiful park. It was well after 8, but the sun was going down and it was so nice seeing so many people out and about enjoying the park area. It was so quiet, hard to believe it was in the middle of the city.

We headed out on Saturday morning and drove up to Kentucky and The Mammoth Caves for our tour. We did the difficult one - since I wanted to see stalagmites and stalactites. It was 700 stars... teeny tiny in small spaces underground. The lighting was off so Aidan looks very bright! This was down in the caves.

We then went to Abraham Lincons birthplace. We did get our National Parks Passport stamped at the caves and here.

The spring near the tomb. The tomb held a replica of the log cabin house. The kids were crazy and RAN up those stairs! I did go up them....lets just say, I know I have thighs!

We then were headed to Ohio and stopped in Lexington Kentucky at UK for the Arboretum for a little leg stretch. Beautiful gardens.

This was the monument to a plane crash where all but 1 perished in 2006. Each bird was in memorial of a person on the flight and the family member added what they wished to each.

We stopped in Cincinnatti at Skyline Chili, and got a 5 way. It is a local thing, and their dad grew up with this. This is not what I would call chili, as it has a greek twist. It was different! We continued onto Dayton for the night. Got in about 10:30 PM to the hotel after a long day.

We did the Air Force Museum with 4 hangers full of planes and things to look at and do. Aidan could have spent a week there, but he did good and after 5-6 hours was good to go. This was a free one, as it is run by the military. I got to walk through a few Presidential planes, various cargo ones and played some friend or foe games with Emily. Then we tried shooting down targets. She was better than me! Aidan was on his own until lunch and then we stayed together. He wanted to do the simulator ride where you spin 360 degrees. We declined to go with him. He loved it and was not sick...... not my kid, obviously!

From there we headed to see the Wright Brothers bicycle shop and museum - another stamp in the book for us. This was the mural outside that I though was really neat. 

We then drove to Mansfield Ohio and had an evening in the hotel (kinda did the 15 dollar upgrade for a 2 bed suite area which was nice and big. Everyone got a bed and lots of space. It was a decompress night and morning. 

A couple more days of travel before we land in Vermont. 

 

Prepping for travel

I prepped a bunch more of the flowering snowball and the shoo fly blocks for hand stitching while travelling. The pattern calls for 13 of one and 12 of the other. I have 12 of one and 11 of the other. It should be plenty to keep me busy while away.

I also weaved in the tails for the 13 dark blue granny square blocks. I'll start adding some grey surrounds tonight during the hockey game. I have the Brimfield EPP project packed and ready to go as well. 

Right now Greg and I are at home without a vehicle. Emily took one to school for a summer marching band practice for a couple of hours. They perform at a Villages parade on the 4th of July. Emily won't be here for that, but I think she misses her buddies. Aidan took my car (she coordinated with him, since she did not want to drive my car!) and headed to his guitar lesson. He should be back in time for the hockey game tonight. 

Time to put dinner away (Chicken Tikka Masala over basmati rice) and get out the custard for the ice cream and get that working in the cold mixer. 

Happy Fathers Day

 A special Happy Fathers Day to my Dad. A man who back in the 1960's and 70's got up in the middle of the night for diaper changes and feedings to me and my siblings. Mom was a stay and home Mom. Great memories of Saturday rides to the dump, and stops at the little store (both at home and at camp) for penny Swedish fish for me while he chatted with the owners. Lots of games of Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders, then Racco and Sorry as we got older and lots of card games. This was last summer at Bingo at the lake. 

We are heading over shortly to see my FIL Tom in Rehab and will bring him his favorite Moca shake from Arbys. 

Today is my parents 62nd Anniversary and it is also my cousin Ben's 34th birthday! We like to pile on everything on one date it appears!

For my slow stitching Sunday - I started a new project this week and it is hand piecing a flowering snowball block and a shoo fly block. I stitched the shoo fly block last night. I have another 5 flowering snowball blocks cut out and 5 of the shoo fly I think. I'll have to run some more fabrics through the Accuquilt so I have plenty to take with me on my trip to Vermont. We will be gone for about a month, with a week of travel to get up there exploring things along the way. Greg is home on animal duty and getting his Dad settled into Assisted Living. I was originally going to do various blues from my stash, but some purple and greens jumped into the pile so I guess it will be a multi colored one!

The back with little stitches.

The pattern is Happy Village off the Accuquilt site. This was the inspiration quilt I saw that told me I 'have to make this now'!. I know you all understand!

Linking up with Kathy and the other Slow Sunday Stitchers.

Saturday

Instead of finishing something, I decided to start a new project! I'm using the Accuquilt dies I have and a pattern from them, called Happy Village. It uses this below flowering snowball block and the shoo fly block. That one can be made with my 8 inch cube - shape 1&3. I need to prep some more of them to take with me. These finish at 12 inches. 

The 2 orange string of beads blocks were completed this week. I have prepped the last 2 blocks with their aqua/teal peels to take with me. That will give me 16 of these blocks for a 48x48 set. I'll decide later if I add a peel border of some type around it. 

 

Linking up with the RSC. I hope to do a little orange sewing later.

I got up early, and headed to horses with Emily today. She rode yesterday, but the girls asked if they could ride again today. Seems the new horse tried to jump over the poles with Kyra and then went into a Canter she was not expecting. She stayed on the horse, but riding today was a good confidence builder. Emily won't be riding for about a month now, as we start our rambling drive to Vermont late next week. We will do a college visit on Friday, then wander up leisurely to Vermont. Vanderbilt is in Tennessee, so it will be a new route for us to travel. We have tickets to 3 things already and will hit quite a few things along the way. Mammoth Caves and the Prison where they filmed The Shawshank Redemption movies are booked. The Hermitage is also booked just outside of Nashville. We will also got to the Air Force museum (Aidan) in Dayton, OH and then mozy through the town where their grandparents raised their Dad in Ohio. I think we are also visiting where Abraham Lincoln was born as well as Niagra Falls and the Erie Canals museum. We will see what else they find to visit. I know we have college visits to Dartmouth and University of Vermont while we are up that way. Aidan mentioned a couple places to visit on the way home as well, but I can't remember what they are. The kids just find and plan out the route and I pay! I'm off work for about a month while we travel and enjoy time in Vermont with my family. Greg stays home and takes care of the animals and will be busy moving his Dad into Assisted Living and getting him settled.

I've been watching the peaceful protests for No Kinds day here in the USA - against the current president and his policies and executive orders. If I was not tapped to go with Emily, I would have attended our local one here. It is great to see so many peacefully protesting and exercising their constitutional rights. 

25 hours without internet

 We also live in a dead area for our cell phones..... we tend to use the in house wifi for our phones.

Everyone is alive.... although someone didn't make a peach cobbler as he was unable to google recipes. I did point him toward the bookcase of cookbooks. He did find one for a cobbler ... and said 'Did you know you have a Chinese cookbook? Yup, I do!. Does Emily know? Not sure'. He took it to her, since that is her wheelhouse for making things.

We had no phone (through the wifi for the land line one) and no tv as we do streaming. I occasionally had one bar on my cell phone.  It was probably a good thing we could not watch the hockey game Monday night.... as we are both rooting for the Oilers and they lost big time to the Florida Panthers (we are lightning fans!). 

I work from home, and log in through my work's VPN. No internet means not able to work. Arrrgghh. 

I did drop a load off to Goodwill and got it out of my house around noon yesterday. I might have finished my audiobook and needed to get to an area I could download the next one .... hehehe. I also did a check on our outage. Yup, was still out with expected 6:30PM resolved time. It came back a little earlier - with no notification from them. Greg just happened to check and it reset and came back around 4:40PM. We lost it around 3:30 PM the previous day. So much for signing up for a text notification of it coming up. 

I really did not get much done as I had no motivation. I did give the dog a good walk before it got hot (before 8AM) and chatted with a couple of neighbors. One also worked from home but had Verizon cell service. We have TMobile. The other has a different provider than Centurylink for internet so she was fine. They are putting in fiber across the road so I'm sure they cut a line somewhere. 

I did mark stitching lines on the back of one of the shoo fly blocks and one of the flowering snowball blocks. I started on the flowering snowball.

And got these 3 parts together. I need another one like this and then the two lighter parts with a yellow square in the middle.

I also got the two orange sting of beads blocks done for the month. I got the darker orange one with green peels done yesterday.

Back to work today. Greg took the kids to the bank to get their own checking accounts and a card attached to it. We will still be paying this, but it will establish their credit ratings and we can separate out their use of the 'card' they each have in their name for paying for gas and things while they are out and about. Greg had it lumped in with his and was questioning things and I had to explain which kid was where for each of the dates listed. He was questioning Jacksonville Food Trucks. I explained, the end of April was Skills USA for Aidan and they did not cover food, we did. They covered the hotel and getting them up there and back. We pay for gas and food for them. Some extras we discuss and pay, some things they pay out of their monies. Like Aidan and books he bought while at Skills USA. They are pretty responsible with their money. 

Aidan is off for his Senior formal photo for the yearbook. They have men in tuxes and ladies in a black v shape by their neck. Very different from what mine were, but $25 and done. We will do outside ones ourselves for him at his request.

I'd better finish this now as it is the end of lunchtime and time to get back to work.