You Have seen This Before

Okay, I know you have seen "In My Garden" before, but I am excited and want to share the moment. I have long admired the Vermont Quilt show and finally entered a quilt. While I have heard that more than ever this show features quilts that have been long-arm quilted, no problem there. There is room for all. However, this show has a reputation for traditional, hand appliqued and hand quilted work and I am thrilled to be a part of that. This show is not juried. They accept the first 200 or so quilts and the judging begins. There is no monetary reward, so the satisfaction is personal. The funny thing is that I have no idea for sure if that small blue ribbon is for first place or not. There are a few other things it could be. If you know or if you find out, I would love to hear from you. Please remember, all you traditional quilters, we haven't stopped making quilts, but we have stopped showing them in numbers to match the machine made work. I want to see your work. I dare you!

Just thought I would come back and bring you up to date on my quilt. I received an email from Janet this morning including a more recent picture of my quilt. I am so excited to see that there are now two ribbons on my quilt. According to Janet the second ribbon is for best Applique. it has been a great day. If I had not entered, I would not be feeling this way. Take a chance. The worst that can happen is that people like me will get to see your art. The best could be a day like I am having. Seems like a win win to me. Thanks Janet!

Danny and softball

Whenever I hear the phrase " The Boys Of Summer" I almost always think of my youngest child, Danny. Now of course Danny is not a child any more, at least not physically. He has competed in
Special Olympics since he was eight years old. He had a best friend whose name was Bryan. I believe they would still be friends if Bryan were still here. He passed away when the boys were in their early twenties. They really loved each other. They were brothers despite having different sets of parents! I remember attending their first Special Olympics competition in Oakland California. They were in the same heat for the 50 yard dash. The gun sounded and they were off running. Danny was way out in front and we all cheering, when suddenly, Danny looked back and saw Bryan pretty far behind. He stopped and cheered his friend/brother on. They crossed the finish line together. We could all learn from those two eight year old little boys.

Danny went on for many years swimming, running, bowling, competing in gymnastics. In his mid-teens he began playing softball and over time he gradually gave up the other sports and now plays softball with a group called Sporting Chance. The six weeks of play are somewhat stressful for him as they are often rained out. He is a regular and yes sometimes annoying weather man during the short six week season. He doesn't always play as well as he used to but wouldn't miss it for the world!

Now this week was so different. I have spent some quality time with him trying to convince him that he needed to keep both hands on the bat and follow through. Finally he seemed to understand and when he got up the first time (yes!) both hands on the bat and followed through. Base hit! In one hour he had two base hits resulting in two runs, as infielder he defended second base for two outs and caught a fly ball. Did I mention that he was so excited that he caught it with his bare hand? He did have a glove but forgot to put that hand up. He was so excited, he forgot how much it hurt and walked off the field shaking that hand and began laughing and laughing. He has got a lot of mileage out of his special "Day of Summer" this week. May your own Days of Summer be as much fun with far less humidity than my own and I hope you catch the fly ball of your choice.

I have always loved the clouds in the mid-west

I am completely without anything quilty to write about today so you will have to be content with my weather report. Whenever I have traveled in the mid-west to visit family or friends I have been overwhelmed by the beauty of the cloud formations. However this week we have been treated to some very unusual cloud formations. Undulatus Asperatus. I immediately had grave reservations as I live in an area of the country where tornadoes are pretty common. However, this is not the case with these clouds. Yay. The above picture was taken in Aurora MO.

I was intrigued with this phenomenon and so went online to see what I could and found this one in Scotland. It is rare and the last sighting before this week was in the fifties.

This one was in MO. Not my picture but similar to what I saw when I started down my drive way. As I turned south to go over the highway, I saw it again. I have to say that there is something ominous about these clouds. My husband said it reminded him of a scene in an old movie "Ghost Busters." I have to agree. I hope all of you get so see this wonderful product of Mother Natures art