Whew!

It has been a really long time (according to blogging time) since I last posted.

I didn't realize how long it had been.

Hm. Not sure where to start.

In a nutshell: got ready for camp, went to camp, recovered from camp.

Windows upgrade.

That pretty much sums up why I haven't blogged in a while.

Before camp:

We did a little shooting around on the farm.

Dwayne set up a can and told the boys to see who could hit it first.

Connor smoked Nolan.

It was quite funny.

Shooting some cat tails.

Finally got a picture of this cat.

It's one of the zillion barn cats down on the farm (the other end from where we live).

I'm not a fan of cats but this one has cool markings.

It pretty much sums up how a cat is.

One minute he's your friend, and the next he's your enemy.

Connor showed me this clod of dirt he picked up.

Doesn't it look like a small island?

Some beautiful morning mammatus clouds.

One of Connor's many creations.

He also made a fleet of small ships.

Although he begged me to take pictures of all the ships, there's too many to put in a post.

Camp:

So this year was Nolan's sixth and final year as a camper.

It was Connor's fourth year and final year as a junior camper.

This was also my fourth year helping in the kitchen.

It's my job to tend to the needs of the campers with special diets.

My initial list was 15 this year!

We've never had so many.

I knew I needed help so I recruited a young lady that used to go to church with us.

We divided the list to those who brought meals and

those who needed advice on what to eat/not eat.

And we volunteered for snack drops

which meant we got to use a golf cart!

Connor at the rifle range.

This was Dwayne's third year helping.

He does dishes and cleans latrines.

As you can see he has a lot of fun even though it's a lot of work.

Camp was an awesome time as usual.

Nolan participated in the skits this year and loved it.

We told Nolan that all of us were going to camp next year.

This year he was to be on the look out for how he could serve next year.

He's decided to be a CIT (counselor in training).

We explained that it was going to be hard work.

He said that's what he wants to do.

In the Meantime

We found this guy (or gal) in our house this week.

We caught it and was curious to see if it would sing while spending the night inside.

It escaped sometime during the night.

It never sang.

And yes, we did find it the next morning and let it outside.

We're enjoying our duck eggs.

This was Connor's first request, giant chocolate chip cookies.

It takes one egg and a yolk to make these, which is something

the powdered egg replacer cannot duplicate.

They're so big only three will fit on a cookie sheet at a time.

 _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _

I may have mentioned before going to Tennessee that

my sewing machine also decided to take a vacation.

I was really bummed until I remembered it was still under the extended warranty.

So my top priority after we got back was to pack it up and send it off for repairs.

They have it and are working on it.

I'm hoping to have it back sometime next week.

So in the meantime I have been cutting lots of fabric.

While we were gone I went to a couple of fabric shops.

And lo and behold one of them was having a half-off sale!

Be still my quilting heart.

I of course had to take advantage of that!

I bought some Christmas fabrics that I hope to make a tree skirt with.

When I pull some fabrics from my stash to add to them, I'll take pictures of those too.

The fabric I ordered for Connor's quilt arrived before we left.

I loved the chickens, they're perfect for my chicken loving boy.

And the rich blue matches well with the chickens.

The blue is the sashing that goes around all the boy & dog blocks.

For an example of the blocks see Nolan's quilt.

The chickens are going to be the outside border.

It's all ready for the sewing machine.

I can't wait to complete this quilt top!

While I was searching for all my sewing machine parts

I found two more bags of jeans that were stashed away.

Since Connor's quilt pieces are boxed and waiting for sewing, I'm back to cutting jeans.

Mini Vacation

A short getaway with a long post.

We knew that taking a long weekend would be the only way we'd get to Tennessee this year.

It was the first time we'd ever made the trip without seeing relatives.

We left Thursday afternoon and were back by Sunday evening.

We spent our time with great friends having a great time.

It was quick yet fun and relaxing.

Per our tradition, we camped our first night out.

I managed to forget to take a picture when there was daylight.

Imagine a tree line and a pond immediately behind the tent.

Frogs serenaded us all night long.

This campsite was on the small side.

The only place our tent would fit was on the parking gravel.

It made it difficult to drive the stakes in!

All week the forecast showed hot and humid with a good chance of storms.

It was a little warm at first but then the temps started to drop as the evening wore on.

The storms stayed away and the stars came out.

It turned into a beautiful evening.

Perfect for sleeping.

I've always had glow sticks for the boys to have as night lights.

Even though they spun them around for a while, they told me they were getting too old for them.

So I guess when my current stash of sticks are gone we'll say good-bye to that tradition.

It got cool enough to use a sleeping bag for a cover...

even if it's wrong side up.

The next morning we packed it all up and headed

down the road before our tent neighbors even moved.

The boys did an awesome job helping tear down the tent and packing up the gear.

Honestly, we didn't put them in the van like this.

Can't go to Tennessee without a stop at Clinch Mountain!

Dwayne's been going to Tennessee his whole life.

I've been going for 24 years and have stopped here almost every trip.

I don't think we'll ever get tired of seeing this little island.

It's nice having older kids who can take your picture.

A handsome bunch.

This is the road that leads to the road that our friends live on.

Very narrow.

This little road is called Great View Way.

The road has a good name.

The picture is a little white washed and doesn't do the view justice.

Trust me, it's gorgeous.

We finally arrived and it wasn't long before we were greeted by a beautiful rainbow.

There was a great rainbow last time we were there too.

Our friends tell us they happen often over the mountains.

This is the view from the inside of the house.

Another beautiful view.

We did go to a couple of places while we were there.

Our friends took us to Carver's Orchard.

There was a market and a candy shop.

Mmmm chocolate!

And of course Connor found this big rooster.

The brown areas on the left are where the mountain burned not too long ago.

Dan said the mountain glowed at night.

The fish pond with a realistic floating gator!

I think the boys helped Dan feed the fish every day we were there.

This is where we spent most of our time.

Just sitting and visiting.

Staring at mountains.

Eating food.

Talking.

Laughing.

Dwayne said he was taking an "us-ie" as opposed to a selfie.

He's much better at it than I am.

My awesome family put up with my quilting addiction by

allowing me to visit not one but two nearby quilt shops.

I was happier than a duck in a puddle on a rainy day!

Yet another spectacular view.

God has a never ending supply of those!

Our time there was entirely too short and it was time to go.

I'll be honest and say I'm not a fan of good-byes. I'll cry every time.

So that wasn't helping me at all.

I've learned on this mourning journey that sometimes the sad moments come out of nowhere.

They arrive when you least expect it and sometimes for no reason.

When I woke up, I knew it was one of those days.

I honestly wasn't mentally ready for the trip home.

I was having such a good time I wasn't thinking about it.

So it kind of blind sided me (which drives me nuts).

I knew travelling would tug at my emotions because of my dad, so I should have expected it.

After all, driving across this country is what he did for a living.

I did OK with the drive down.

Going back home was a different story.

I think I cried off and on most of the trip home.

You see, my dad always called me whenever he drove I-26, I-40, and I-81 in east Tennessee.

He knew we had family down there.

He would tell me when he was near the exits for Erwin.

Then we'd talk about the mountains and the towns he was passing.

I knew where they were, it's like a second home for us down there.

So that made it harder to leave.

I think this was going down the north side of Clinch Mountain on the way home.

The clouds had settled in the valleys in some places.

Nolan wanted some front seat time.

Which meant I had back seat window time with my camera.

Signs that we were almost home.

Wind farms.

Bean fields.

Tasseling corn.
We were back home again in Indiana.

~~~~~~~

Special thanks to our awesome hosts, Dan and Cheryl.

We love you guys.