Scrappy Quilt finished

Finally finished the "scrappy strip quilt" I have been working on this summer and fall. It seems to take longer when the weather is pleasant and the garden beckons. This quilt took one roll of strip pieces and several others from my "stash". Just love using material I have on hand.
This is the back side, I used left over strips and had to purchase additional yardage for the border. I figure the cost of material in this quilt was close to $40.00 by using left over fabric from previous projects. I didn't keep track of the time in sewing it together, quilting and hand sewing but I estimate close to 10 hours at $7.00 (minimum wage) for a total of $70.00. So the entire quilt cost me $110.00. Now remember this is a throw size quilt (58"by 68"). I took time to figure the cost of this because I was going through some old clippings our parents had and came upon an article in the 1942 paper someone placed. It was an ad "Quilt For Sale", Double wedding ring, yellow background; extra large. Price, $15.00. I think that Double wedding ring quilt was a good buy. Grandmother

It's Simple...Really!!

A snowstorm that has knocked us right out of fall into winter before even the trees were ready

PLUS

so much accumulation that I had to shovel the driveway and sidewalk not just once but twice and now it is looking like yet a third time

EQUALS

a cup of hot chocolate and a chocolate swirl brownie!!!

Mom

Everlasting Flowers

Outside it is nippy and grey and the kind of day where you just want to hunker down. I am sad to see summer go, but I do like having the change of seasons. With the approach of winter I can cross off all of the undone chores in the garden and tackle some of the projects waiting for me in the craft room.

I just made this wall hanging for a silent auction. It is from a pattern by Patch-Abilities designed by Julie Bohringer with a few changes. I liked this wall hanging so much I almost decided not to put it into the silent auction and wanted to keep it for myself. It was a deja vu moment as I flashed back to a childhood birthday party I was invited to. My mom (aka Grandmother) and I went shopping and we picked up some cute little Trolldolls for a gift. Trolldolls were all the rage then...ohhh so long ago. Anyway I liked the Trolldolls so much that I decided I wanted to keep them. Of course I was reasoning that Mom would let me keep them and then I could get something else for the party. But no! Mom didn't quite see it that way. Her sage advice to me was that I needed to make a decision. Either I kept the dolls and didn't go to the party or I wrapped up the dolls and gave them to the birthday girl. I was torn but in the end I wanted to go to the party so I gave up the dolls.

Now where was I going with this??? Oh right...the wall hanging...I ended up giving it as a silent auction item. But I can make one for myself and I will, just so I can hang it up and dream about flowers when I am up to my armpits in snow! Mom

Many colors of fall!

The greens of the trees and bushes are slowly changing to yellows, rusts, oranges, reds and brown. Fall is a colorful time of the year. This is a currant bush that has cast its green tint and changed to a reddish orange. The sun reflecting off the colorful leaves makes one stop and soak in the beauty all around. We live in an arid part of Colorado where we get very little rain or snow so the bushes and the trees we have we enjoy.
This is what they call "burning bush" around here and this year it has been a vivid pink turning to a vibrant red. What a kaleidoscope of colors this year. Grandmother

What to do with green tomatoes

Lots of green tomatoes on the vines, too many to ripen since the nights are getting colder. The recipe book came out and I leafed through the relish recipes. Found one that had all the veggies I had, only had to purchase onions and red peppers. I ground up the green tomatoes, onions, green peppers, red peppers, added a few cucumbers and cooked them up. Now we will have relish for our pot roasts, hamburgers and hot dogs. Grandmother

China Beyond the Masses

When you think of China, you think of the 1.3 billion people that live here...or at least I did before I came. I never imagined rolling hills with winding rivers and lush greenery, but that's certainly what I saw. On Friday we left Li Jiang and headed to Guiling, which is in the southwest part of China, We were in Guiling for one evening and I was glad to leave because it was overrun with tourists. We took a boat to Yangshuo, which was absolutely breathtaking. And in Yangshuo we traveled to the countryside where we were able to get away from the masses of people and the beauty was just overwhelming.



But the people were unbelievable. I'm not sure if it's being white or foreign or whatever, but the only thing they see when they see you is dollar signs. There were women carrying their children in baskets over their shoulders waiting along the roadside asking for money for pictures. And they bombard you. It's not like they ask one time. They follow you and ask you a million times for money. Others parade their water buffalo and as soon as you take a photo, they ask for money.


I did give in to this one though because of the cute little baby buffalo.



I only paid for one other photo. It was of this beautiful Chinese girl. She was selling some trinkets but she was really more interested in us than in selling her stuff. She was the only one who wasn't aggressive, so I gave her 10 yuan to take her photo.

Our guide told us that some of these people in the countryside don't even work. They just make a living off tourists. It's amazing to me. It's especially insulting since everywhere I go, the Chinese are photographing me! If I were making them pay, I would have made money to buy souvenirs! Daughter

National Day

Today is National Day, the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. The streets are deserted and Li Jiang is quiet. The few people who are out and about are watching Beijing's celebration on their cell phones. Everyone else is watching the activities from home. It doesn't really seem to be much of a celebration though. It's more like a show of power as tanks and soldiers march down the street.



Li Jiang had its celebration yesterday. Unfortunately I wasn't able to watch as much as I would have liked. I spent the morning in the bathroom getting sick from food poisoning, so I was very weak. But I had to capture some of the festivities. Most of the ceremony was in Chinese so I was at a loss there. But I'm sure much of it was propaganda touting Communism and the Chinese government. Many people in the village square were dressed in the traditional Nasi style. Musicians were playing Chinese instruments while a group of beautiful women sang.

But my favorite part was the dancing dragon!

This evening all of the townspeople came out of hibernation and were dancing in the traditional Nasi style in the village square. I joined in just for the fun of it.

Since this is the anniversary of the People's Republic, here are some of my initial thoughts. So far, I haven't seen much of the effect of Communism here in China. I have not seen one homeless person though. And even in the village we saw today, which we were told was very poor, everyone seems to have a home even if it is rustic. The people we have met seem content, so I have not seen the depressed country that is so often depicted. The most obvious effect of China's government was seen in our tour of Beijing. There was absolutely no information about Tiananmen Square. Our guide told us absolutely nothing about it and as we entered we went through some pretty intense security. Unfortunately, I don't think I can write about that experience until I am back home, because the Chinese government censors the internet...so more on that later. Overall from my perspective I don't know whether people support their government or if their voices are just hushed. Daughter