star blocks....

Here are the star blocks for Block Lotto. I was going to make more, but the FQ I had bought, had a flaw right in the middle of it. GRRRR....

It will work fine for something else, but not these.

the last few weeks.....

I won block lotto!

 I may write the name of the person who made them, on them,

 so I stuffed them back into the envelopes for now. They are the hot cross plaid blocks.

 (this block and I kept mine to mix in)

Both Jacob (owner of the zombie quilt) and Crispy were in the high school spring play, Leaving Iowa. 

It was so fun to watch, I went both nights.

Synopsis.......

The spark behind Leaving Iowa comes from being children of parents from the now dubbed "greatest generation." The story is a toast to their idealism and character and a little roast of their undying dedication to the classic family road trip. More specifically, it is the story of Don Browning, a middle-aged writer, who returns home and decides to finally take his father's ashes to his childhood home, as requested. But when Don discovers Grandma's house is now a grocery store, he begins traveling across Iowa searching for a proper resting place for his father. This father-and-son road trip shifts smoothly from the present to Don's memories of the annual, torturous vacations of his childhood. Don's existential journey leads him to reconcile his past and present at the center of the United States. His Dad wanted to go there, but the rest of the family voted no....so he never got there. Don finally gets his Dad there.

Leaving Iowa is a postcard to anyone who has ever found himself or herself driving alone on a road, revisiting fond memories of his or her youth.

Jacob was the grown-up Don.
Crispy was Grandpa and the character of Bob, the hog farmer at the center of the United States,
somewhere in Kansas. 

On the way to graduation, my Mom was saying,

"I've never been to House on the Rock."  (roadsideamerica)
She has been by it many, many times but never stopped.

She is the female version of Don's father in the play. We took many road trips and stopped at ALL the historical markers. There was something to be learned everywhere.

I told her to stop there next weekend. She will be going right by it again....
this could be her chance to finally get there
or we might have to go there someday ...just to leave some ashes.

Crispy is officially done with high school!

I went fishing, caught nothing. 

Well, wait, I did catch a tiny crappie.

But it fell off the hook before I could get it in. Haven't had time to go again.

Last night was a partial eclipse....

A friend brought over his welding masks.

We could see the moon over the sun with these.

Tried taking a picture through the mask.

 It just looks like a hot green sun.....

I did get a quilt to the quilter...I can't talk about it yet.

Super secret.

I also have 8 star blocks made for this month at (block lotto)

Just need to get their picture taken!

Maybe I should go work on that.

history, weather, birds...

We were up in Alexandria, Minnesota for a wedding last weekend. On the way home we were driving on two lane highways. Went through several towns.
We stopped in Madelia. On the building was this painting.....

Something happened here, didn't know what.....so I went over to investigate.

Who were these guys and who are they shooting at???

I knew about Jesse James and the Younger brothers, but never really paid attention to what happened after Northfield.
(Every year they celebrate and re-enact the attempted bank robbery....The defeat of Jesse James!)

Madelia also has a yearly celebration....Capturing the Younger Brothers.
So I learned some history.
I called one of my sisters. I asked her what happened to Jesse James after Northfield.
She didn't know. So I had to investigate further when I got home.
I found out the gang had split up, so Jesse James wasn't here.

We are in a wet and stormy weather pattern.....

I was out taking pictures of the storm clouds rolling in. The town siren went off while I was out there.
Crap.
I had been playing with the camera. It was set for black&white for this one.
Better go in.
I took my camera, checkbook, computer, and the latest quilt I am working on down to the basement. Tractor joe never did come down. He gave me the all clear....
"The birds are back at the feeder, it must be safe now!"
So I hauled everything back up stairs. We ended up with about an inch of rain with this storm.

The birds are back.....

I spent a huge amount of time just bird watching yesterday.
I figured out what I was going to sew, but never did get any sewing done.
Hopefully next time there will be fabric involved in the post.