Mini Vacation Part 2

Saturday of our mini vacation we took a trip to Asheville,

North Carolina to an arcade and games place.

We enjoyed miniature golf, batting cages, go carts, air hockey, and more.

It was a blast and the weather was beautiful!

Connor had the biggest grin!

We spent a lot of time playing air hockey.

It's a family favorite.

(Also spent a lot of time chasing the puck across the room.)

:)

Mini Vacation Part 1

We took a mini vacation over the boys' fall break.

Four and a half days not in the flat lands of Indiana.

Four and a half days in the beautiful mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina.

While it was a mini vacation we managed to cram in a lot of stuff.

We figured that Dwayne drove 1500 miles!

We stayed with dear friends and long lost family.

(OK, they weren't lost, but it had been a while since we saw them.)

We were able to see more relatives this trip than we have in the last several trips.

It was good to get to catch up with family.

So without further ado, let's start the picture overload.

We spent Thursday night just outside of Cincinnati.

They reported areas of patchy fog.

This is what the I-275 bridge over the Ohio River looked like.

It was a little eerie not being able to see the river.

Once we crossed and rose above the river valley it cleared up.

The same bridge on the way home.

Once we're off the interstates we take 25 E through Kentucky.

It takes you through a peculiar town called Pineville.

It has a flood wall with gates around it that just fascinates us.

We also like the fact that there's a Little Caesar's on one end of town too.

Another favorite of 25 E is the tunnel.

It's one of two tunnels in the country that crosses a state line.

Going south, we went from Kentucky to Tennessee via the tunnel.

We got through to the other side and Nolan, who was sleeping,

asked to be woken up so he wouldn't miss the tunnel.

Sorry son, next time let us know before the tunnel.

Silly kid.

I have no idea what river this is.

It's on 25 E somewhere between the tunnel and Clinch Mountain.

A little fun in the van.

It's such an exciting drive...

Lookout! Mom with a camera.

:)

Smile!

Is this a selfie gone wrong or a self photo bomb?

Can't hide from mom's camera!

Our traditional stop at Clinch Mountain.

We love stopping here.

We've seen everything from lizards and chickens to a prison work crew here.

Over the years this memorial has evolved.

It now has stepping stones through the flowers.

Our guess is so that the flowers don't get trampled when people leave memorials.

Since there was a path to walk on, I decided to read the dog tags.

We tried taking pictures with the great view in the background but the sun wasn't cooperating.

Still pretty with a sparking blue sky.

On our way to Erwin, the mountain range shows up.

This is probably one of my favorite scenes on the way.

The other one is rather difficult to get a picture of due to trees.

You drive along side this range and then up into it.

Erwin is nestled in these mountains and you drive down into town.

It's the coolest view to look down and see the town as you descend one of the mountains.

Quilt Quack 5

Tank is quite a handsome duck.
He's a little on the large side too.

We've been getting about 3 - 4 duck eggs a day for about a month now.
And we're pretty sure it's the older hens that are laying.
Eventually the younger ones will start.
Then we'll have so many eggs we won't know what to do.
It's a good problem to have.

____________________________________________________________________

Good news, my wrist is not broken.
I'm so thankful it's just sprained and bruised.
I don't even have to wear a brace unless it's needed.
It's still tender when I do certain activities but should get better with time.
So I'm back to quilting.
I'm starting slow and easing back into it.
OK that was the doctor's orders... I am trying to pace myself and not overdo it.
But the quilts are calling...

I haven't showed this in a while.
It's currently 17 1/2" x 19".
It's a slow process and I don't work on it all that often.
However I did make some progress during my recovery.
I'm almost finished with this section.
Then I will decide if it's done or keep going until it's double in size which was the original goal.
It's supposed to be a table runner.
I do like the way it's turned out so far.
While I enjoy working on it, the slow pace leads to boredom.
That's part of the reason I don't work on it all the time.
But, I'm excited to get this much done and maybe that will be the boost I need to finish it.

My latest purchase for my quilting adventures.

I've been watching tutorials and doing lessons like crazy.

My drafting mind thinks one way and the quilting world thinks another.

Somehow I have to get the two to meld.

I'm starting to get the hang of the program.

This quilt was made by my great grandmother.

The pink in the original quilt is much lighter than this.

I used a darker color so it would show up better on the blog.

I have parts of it sketched in a graph notebook.

I kept putting off laying this out on graph paper.

I knew it would take a while to calculate and draw it by hand.

It was much easier to use this software to lay it out. :)

I can now print a pattern.

It will even calculate how much fabric I need. Way to cool!

This is a table runner I sketched in my notebook.
I also designed a throw sized quilt similar to this but it has yet to make it in the computer.

I'm having fun playing and learning.
I'm a little overwhelmed at all the possibilities.

My first attempt at an Indian Runner.
How fun would it be to have a quilt full of these guys!

23

Sunday we celebrated our 23rd anniversary.

We had angel food cake and chocolate cupcakes.

We had blizzards and Taco bell too.

And to round out the day went to a chili cook off.

Our traditional anniversary picture.

I'm getting shorter every year.

It won't be long before I'm the shortest one in the family.

haha

Sometimes the outtakes are funny.

Guess who knew I was messing with the camera...

Still Here

It's been a while since I posted.

I had a planned outpatient surgery two weeks ago that went well.

I have been in recovery mode and resting ever since.

My rest mainly consisted of reading, Netflix, and hand-quilting on the couch.

I was doing great and my energy had returned.

I felt so good I decided to go to Bible study.

I found myself in an accident on the way and never made it to the study.

I'm so thankful to be able to walk away from the accident.

Even though the air bag hurt something fierce, I'm very

grateful it stopped me from slamming into anything else.

I'm battered and bruised but nothing that won't heal in time.

My wrist is either badly sprained or fractured.

We'll find out later this week.

So I kind of started over with recovery.

Only this time no quilting.

:(

It's only temporary.