I'm Not High Stepping Yet

In case you wondered where I've been lately ..... I had knee surgery and today is the first day I could make it to the computer. I won't say sitting on a "real" chair is exactly fun right now, but at least I'm somewhat upright, for the moment. So just wanted to say "HI" and let you know that I actually took some photos in New Jersey that I want to share with you, but right now I don't think my brain can figure out how to hook everything up to the computer and download the photos. So I guess that will have to be a post for another time. Mary Jane

On The Road Again....

I thought since we just returned last week from our 2,500 mile round trip to Wisconsin I might not want to get into another moving vehicle again for a very long time!!! But tomorrow it's back on the road again...this time to New Jersey which is only a 4 or 5 hour trip, so it will be a piece of cake. Of course, I haven't completely unpacked the GIANT van from the last trip so now I have to unpack it so that I can repack it! Is there any logic to this? When I bought this van I never knew what a great storage space it would make when I wasn't traveling. So now there are bolts of fabric, some boxes and other assorted things in there that need to come out to make way for the new. And boy, do I have some wonderful new goodies that I found at Quilt Market. And just so you can be prepared - I finally purchased a digital camera. Of course, it is still in the box but I'm hoping to take some pictures of the quilt show in New Jersey for you. Now if you've read my blog in the past, you'll know that I am camera challenged.....so wish me luck. It used to be a joke at my house when my daughters were little that the only pictures we had were when my parents came to visit or the ones taken at school. Photography is definitely not my award winning talent. (I think my talent might be chocolate eating)So keep a look out....maybe I'll surprise you soon. Mary Jane

Hurray for Vacations!

My husband and I just returned last night from our trip to Wisconsin. And we had a wonderful trip. Who would have thought that driving 2500+ miles with gas over $4.00 a gallon could have added up to such a great time. In case you don't know - my mother was born in a small town in Wisconsin. We took a family vacation there every summer to visit my grandparents and tons of assorted aunts, uncles and cousins when I was growing up. We lived in Los Angeles and we would drive to Wisconsin - in the days before all of the huge interstate highways. We would take 3 LONG days to get there and then 3 LONG days to get home, but the 10 days we were there was heaven to the "city" cousin. There were cows to be milked, eggs to be collected, and my grandfather even let me feed the baby lambs from a bottle! So when it came time to go home, my parents had one unhappy daughter. I had a little red plaid corduroy jacket that I referred to as my "barn jacket" and I wouldn't let my mother wash it because I liked the barn smell. I still have that little barn jacket - it's been around for about 55 years...and even though the barn smell has disappeared, it sure can bring back fond memories when I look at it.

So I met up with lots and lots of my cousins, their children and grandchildren and we all converged on a campground. There was plenty of Norwegian laughter (and for them plenty of beer too)! We even went to the Norwegian parade...when I get my film developed I'll show you some of the floats bearing the Vikings and the Daughters of Norway. I think this might have been one of the best vacations of my entire life. And my husband was made to feel so welcome....it shows what big hearts these Norwegians have to welcome a Boston raised boy into their midst, just as they did the little girl from Los Angeles all those years before.

Another high point of the trip was taking a ride out to my grandparents farm. They moved off the farm in 1952 or so, but we stopped and the current owners gave us a tour of the house. Now talk about old memories coming pouring back. I could recount where the old outhouse was, the hand pump for water outside, etc. I think I remembered more than most of my older cousins because those things were probably every day things to them, but to someone from Los Angeles they were just wonderful big adventures. Of course, my mother thought I was nuts because she was so happy to get off the farm and to a city.

So now, it's time to get back to quilting. I am leaving in a few days for the State Guild of New Jersey quilt show and I have to start cutting fabric and organizing. Plus I have about 20 boxes of fabrics, patterns, notions, etc. that arrived while I was gone. So guess I'll have to get busy opening them up and checking out the fun things inside. Hope you are enjoying whatever it is you are doing and I'll talk with you soon. Mary Jane