In transition....

We leave to go back to Florida this weekend. I have mixed emotions. We leave our little cabin by the lake, Jack's house, good friends and some wonderful summer memories. And I leave my sons and grandchildren for 7 months. My home is in Florida now and that's where all my "stuff" is and Jack's home is in Maine and that's where all his "stuff" is. It's a dilemma when you meet and marry at an older age. We wouldn't want to start from scratch again together plus we both like our "stuff". If we got a new house, it would have to be really big....and we both had downsized plus I am never cleaning a big house again!

I haven't posted for over a week but I will next week after we get back. We have spent the last couple of weeks moving out of the cabin, packing, organizing, and saying goodbye to dear family and friends.

When I get settled I will organize my Pay it forward event and do some bloghopping and say hi! I am really far behind. We look forward to seeing our Florida friends and catching up with them. So in the meantime, everybody stay well and busy and I'll see you after November 3rd!

Mosaic Monday – never enough quilts!

 

 

The temperature at the cottage was 21!!! I have been sitting here bundled up so I thought I would browse through pictures of the quilts I have made to be sure I would have enough to be warm! I will probably have to make more.

Mary is hosting Mosaic Monday again this week so head over and see what everyone else has done at Little Red House.

 

Have a great week!

Pink Saturday – Care enough to wear pink

Another Pink Saturday at Beverly’s How Sweet the Sound.
Have you seen the Elaine, the pink fire truck?  Elaine is part of the “Pink Heals” tour and has been touring the US to raise funds and awareness for Breast Cancer.
A group of Arizona firefighters are trading in their traditional red trucks to make a bolder statement. The group's leader said, "Our calling from God at the very simplest form is to protect our women. Why shouldn't we all be in pink as a group, as an army?"
Dave Graybill explained, "I'm a firefighter on vacation spreading love and hope in the form of a pink fire truck.”
Dave Graybill is driving the truck 10,000 miles and stopping in 32 cities in an effort to raise  Breast Cancer support and awareness. He is involving firefighters and police and trying to raise money for underinsured patients.
You can read more about the Pink Ribbon Tour here.

Happy Pink Saturday!

My first giveaway – pay it forward

I have won 2 Pay it forward’s. I never win anything so this is a treat! One is from Suzy at Kitchen Bouquet and the other from Maggie B at Normandy Life. I am thrilled. Now as I understand it, I have to a year to pass this along. I am not going to wait that long but I am going to wait until after I am back in Florida and can think!
I want to do more research as well so that I do this correctly. If anyone knows where the rules are written in concrete – let me know. In the meantime I will be thinking of wonderful ideas to continue this event.

Bridge of Oxford County…..

Oh, did I love Bridges of Madison County – both the book and the movie. I have probably seen the movie a dozen times and read the book 3 or 4 times.
Today we took a drive to East Fryeburg where friends had told us of Hemlock Bridge. The road to the bridge is quite adequate for the first mile and then becomes a dirt road that is really quite passable except for a few too many deep ruts which the Thunderbird doesn’t deal with very well.
I had googled Hemlock Bridge and was not really impressed with information available. However, off we went. The day was glorious and the foliage was glorious and the bridge was gorgeous. Built in 1857, Hemlock Bridge is a 109 foot Paddleford truss strengthened with laminated arches. The bridge was reinforced in 1988 and you can drive across it today.

The bridge spans channels of the Saco River and on the other side there is an area for picnics.






Just a lovely day! Next time we will take a picnic.

Mosaic Monday

Another Monday at Mary’s Little Red House. She graciously hosts this event on Mondays for those of us who like to play with pictures. Stop by and see what everyone has done this week.
This mosaic is composed of pictures from the lake.. I am fighting the end of summer. I love the colors of autumn and I don’t even mind a crisp day – the kind with the bright blue sky and the beautiful leaves. It is after all that is gone and what comes next that I need to go south.
I lived in Maine year round for more than 30 years and in New Jersey for years before that. I never minded the winters. I had the woodstove going, soup on the stove and mittens on the needles.
Then I got a taste of Florida in the winter…..
So autumn I love but summer is my favorite.


Have a wonderful week.

Blogger’s Quilt Show

Today I am entering my first on-line quilt show. What a marvelous idea. Amy at Park City Girl is hosting this event so stop by and see all the beautiful quilts.
I was a quilter for many years a while back. I saw a quilt at an antique show in the early 70’s and it was $400.00 and I said to myself that surely I could make one just like it! Well, I should have just bought that quilt!!! It would have been a lot cheaper! I loved scrap quilts and I reproduced them. My stash was out of control. Then I moved to Florida and changed the way I decorated and my quilts just didn’t look the same.
I knew Kaffe Fassett from my knitting days and when he started quilting and designing fabric, I was hooked on quilting again. His Website Glorious Color is one of my favorites.
The quilt I am featuring is a One Block Wonder from the book by Maxine Rosenthal. One fabric carefully layered 8 times is cut into octagons which are carefully sewn together and arranged to flow by colorways. I brought the flowers into the borders using Broderie Perse (French for Persian Embroidery).
Here it is on the design wall.



And back from the quilter’s. Just needs the binding.

The fabric is Lilac Lilac Rose by Philip Jacobs.

Mostly Pink Saturday

 

 

I said last week that I was running out of Pink! So I scrolled through a lot of pictures taken over the past few months and selected those that were mostly pink for a collage. There were quite a variety where I think pink predominated. Anyway it was fun. I hope you all join Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for this fun and well attended event.

 

This week I visited Rhondi at Rose Colored Glasses. She has a wonderful blog and is an amazing quilter. Stop by and see her and tell her I said hi!

Happy Pink Saturday!

Outdoor Wednesday

Please join Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday.
I finally got some foliage pictures on a back road. The roads are busy because of the Fryeburg Fair and the “leaf peepers”. This not peak foliage but it is pretty.




Today it is pouring and I can see the leaves being blown off the trees. Happy Outdoor Wednesday!

Just going to catch up a bit....

This is doctor and checkup week. Trips into Portland are taking up whole days. We head back to Florida soon and there is so much to do before we leave. The little cottage on the lake is not winterized so we keep anything that should not freeze at Jack's house. So back and forth we go.

I seem to have acquired a lot this summer. I, of course, think that all those dishes were waiting for me to buy them. The goblets were necessary as well. I can't wait to try Tablescape Thursday on a real table.

We have had some company and we took a ride to the White Mountains.

The foliage is not at peak yet but it will be soon if the rain doesn't ruin it. Usually peak and the Fryeburg fair come at the same time. We did the Fryeburg Fair and had a wonderful time but we know after the fair it is time to get serious about the packing and organizing.

There is a covered bridge that I hope to get some pictures of but we shall see. Time is running out.

And I need to get everything done because the plane leaves on November 1! Everybody, have a great week!

Mosaic Monday – Fryeburg Fair…..

 

Mosaic Monday is hosted every Monday by Mary at Little Red House. The mosaics that everyone contributes are wonderful and creative. Stop by and see them all and say hi!

The weather held and we went to the fair.

We walked and walked and I took lots of pictures.

We had our fried dough and I drooled over the sausage with peppers and onions!

Then we went into the fiber arts building which is relatively new to the fair and probably my favorite because of the color and textures. I don’t knit any more but I love the yarns and the pattern. I just loved the alpaca goats.

I will post the rest of the fair mosaics for Outdoor Wednesday. Have a great week!

Sunday at the Fair…..

In this area there are several fairs and they are all wonderful but the fair is the Fryeburg Fair held in Fryeburg, Maine just on the NH border. The fair has been held for more than 150 years. We go each year to look at the animals, the quilts and crafts and to eat the fair food which is forbidden except at the fair! There are more than 4000 animals and exhibits this year will focus on energy and alternative power.

 

A couple years ago I entered some quilts and got two ribbons – 4th place but still I was pleased. The quilt I did above did not win a ribbon but was used as a backdrop for the flower arrangements.

These pictures are last year’s just to give you a hint about what is to come…….

So stay tuned……