Zoom, zoom, zoom. Summer is gone.

What? It's mid-September? We have been busy, busy:

Trip to the Knoxville Quilt Show- Wonderful husband went with me and never complained the entire two days. Of course, we stopped at Frost Knife in Chattanooga both directions, to and from. Big purchases: cone of Aurifil thread, fabric, a new specialty ruler. It's probably a good thing I do not have room for a long arm machine, or I might have come home with one.



Trip to Denver



Mount Evans - highest highway in the US. The road narrows, and there are no guardrails on the one and a half lane hairpin turns up high, lest you get too confident in your driving. It is literally a breathtaking drive.  What kills me is that while I could barely breathe, bicyclists make the trip that took us several hours up in our car.



We took the cog rail up to the top of Pike's Peak. So much fun!  The incline is 25% in several stretches. We saw mountain goats scampering across the mountain, and Allen spied a marmot up top.





And yes, we went to a half dozen quilt shops. Plus we visited with my dear in-laws, Joan and  Frank. Since our July visit, they have moved to an assisted living home, and Joan has been recovering from surgery at a life care center. We love them so, and hope that they are soon settled in their new home.

Fun with the family



Georgia just is growing so quickly! Today, she had her first peas at Grandma's house. We are going to have a sleepover on Wednesday night. Shannon is going to the Creative Connection in St. Paul, so we are helping out Nathan one night. Shannon's new magazine Stitch Craft Create is about to go to the printer (and I have a quilt featured -- a simple Christmas quilt using Anna Griffin  Christmas fabric).

Back to school



Yup, a cow. School has been stressful with lots of changes and too much to possibly fit into a day. I have a student teacher this year, and then yearbook is still my responsibility, not to mention the Continuous Improvement Plan. However, Butterbean, the dairy cow, came to visit, and it was a welcome fun reprieve from the daily schedule.



Foundation fix - That is a hole. A very, very deep hole. We had our foundation repaired, at long last. Here in Southeast Huntsville, many homes have foundation issues due the ground we sit on. Our house sits on a rather steep hill, and the footings under the center of the house and the ones at the northeast corner of the house had begun to fail. The deepest hole to reach bedrock on that corner was thirty feet deep. We signed the contract for the work back in the snow storm, but we were #32 on their backlog. They did the work over seven days in the hottest week of the summer, blistering 1o0 degree heat with high humidity. But it is finished, and the bill matched the bid. On to the next project.

Lots of sewing and quilting projects...



I did this little project today. I wanted to try doing a selvage project like I have seen others on the Internet do... so I made a new cover for an old sewing machine stool that I use like a little table in my sewing room. I bought a new foam pad, and Allen bought a new electric staple gun. My "free" project with scraps is complete. It looks even better with a baby.





I have actually accomplished quite a bit of sewing (Red Cross quilt, quilt for Shannon's magazine, Civil War blocks, Morris Tapestry quilt, Bama quilt), but I will post more about the quilting another day. This little project was started on our Denver trip. I cut the wool felt leaves with my Sizzix Big Shot, and I appliqued them and then added embroidered details. Then I added a patchwork border. I like the bright fall colors.



Ozzie, of course, continues to keep us laughing. He had a good vacation at the hotel, uh, the kennel, while we were gone in July. He's pretty happy that it is now football season so that he has Saturday company. He enjoyed a nap with Georgia this afternoon.

I  have a couple of weeks until fall break, and aside from the break from school, we are really looking forward to going to see Bridger and Tap and their mom and dad!  Sorry Oz, you are not invited.