I’m not a fan of mice. At least those not of the Mickey Mouse kind.  I’ve had my run-ins with mice through the years.   When I was a young girl, my family was seated in our living room watching television,  when out of the corner of my eye I saw movement across the floor. It was a little mouse scurrying to wherever it was going. I screamed and that’s when my brother, Andy,  jumped into action. He ran and stepped right on that mouse’s tail and held it there.  We all sat in surprise as we looked at first my brother and then the mouse whose tail was caught under his shoe.  My mother ran and got a box to put the mouse in and it was scooped up and put outside.   We all had a good laugh about it and it’s been tucked in my memories ever since.

When we moved to our old house forty years ago we were plagued with mice for a time because the house had sat empty for several months and the mice decided to take over.  I had had enough when one day I opened a kitchen drawer and out popped a mouse, just as scared as I was.  We set traps and caught mice and  finally were rid of them. At least we didn’t see any more for a long time.

Several years ago some piles of rocks were removed from behind a business across the road from us.  After that, I began to see rats in our yard. In fact, the first I noticed them, I stepped on one in a flower bed.   Then I started to see rats everywhere in our yard. We believe the rats had had their homes in the rock pile and by removing it, the rats were looking for a new home. I was so scared the rats would get in the house.  I found dead rats in our dogs’ pen that they had killed. Our neighbor said he was seeing rats too. So we all put out lots of rat poison. I had to put it in boxes with holes so my dogs would not get into it. Little by little we noticed the rat population was dwindling.    After a while we saw no more rats and I breathed a sigh of relief.

In the Autumn, when the weather starts to get cool, the mice come in seeking warm places to make a home. We haven’t had a mouse problem for years, but this year I began to notice mice tracks in my shop. I would put out poison and the mice were eating it, I could tell, but still I was seeing mice tracks everywhere. When I sat at my sewing machine and saw mouse tracks on it, I knew the poison was not doing the trick so David bought some mouse traps and set them in my shop and in the house and the first day we caught four.  The next day we caught one and we have caught no more since so I am hoping our mouse problem is solved. (We have since caught nine since this post and not done yet, I’m afraid.) No, I am not a fan of mice.  Cute as they can be.   Ever see a baby mouse?  They are so cute.  But I don’t want them in my house.

This past weekend our granddaughter was in her last musical at her school as she is a senior. They performed The Music Man and it was great.

She played Ethel Toffelmeir  and we were so proud of her.  She was in the scene where the ladies sang Pick a Little, Talk a Little and she danced during the song Shipoopie.   When the townspeople sang the Wells Fargo Wagon is A-comin’, in came a wagon pulled by a real horse and the crowd went wild.   Since the Music Man has been my very favorite musical ever since I saw it with my mother, with Robert Preston as the music man and Shirley Jones as Miriam the librarian, I so enjoyed it.  I have memorized all the songs and could have sung right along with them.

Here she is with her “baby” brother who is taller than she.

I am so blessed to have these two as grandchildren.

Remember the pumpkin quilt I was making?  I had it all cut out.  Well, it turned into an apple quilt.

I have had this fabric for a very long time.

I always thought I would make an apple quilt with it one day and the day finally came.

I searched out all my red fabric and some green fabric.

Using this pattern I made apples instead of pumpkins.  I also used the pumpkin pattern from Lori Holts Farmgirl patterns.

Soon I was piecing each block together feverishly.

Block after block went together.

I couldn’t stop.  I was on a mission.

And I finished the top.  I love, love, love it.

I had to pose it in various poses.  Such a wonderful Autumn quilt.

I don’t usually piece a complete quilt top in a matter of days, but this one went together very quickly.   Now I have to quilt it.   Then, maybe, I will get back to my pumpkin quilt.

But at the moment I am hand quilting this quilt and loving every minute I am working on it.   This particular quilt has been on my to do list for years.  I am finally getting it done.  I have a Christmas quilt I want to do after this one.  So many quilts. So little time. I quilt into the wee hours of the mornings most often. The best time for me to quilt because I have no distractions then.

Last night our daughter called and said we have new granddogs. Her golden retriever, Lily, had her second litter of puppies.  Our daughter said this will be her last.  She lost five of them, but five survived so we are going to have to go visit them soon.  They are going to sell them and probably already have them sold.  They have the most beautiful golden retrievers.  Three and they all are house dogs. They are not allowed upstairs and I didn’t know it and one time when I was there, I threw their ball up the stairs and they just sat there looking, but didn’t even try to go up the steps.   Good dogs.

The leaves have finally changed and Fall is in the air most definitely.

A busy season lies ahead.  Veteran’s Day program at our grandsons’ school this week.  Two Christmas programs coming up and in between it all I must get all this quilting and sock knitting done.

Despite all the tragedies we are seeing around the world, God is still in control.  Evil will not win.  Love will triumph.   Remember there is hope and peace with Jesus.  My prayers and sincere sympathy to those whose lives were taken this week.   May God be with them.  Pray for peace and love to abound. Bye.

I love the month of October. After March, April and May, it’s my favorite month.  It usually starts getting cooler although we have had unseasonable temperatures for the last several days.  Today it was in the sixties and I was loving it.  I feel so much more energetic in cooler weather.  The leaves on the trees are slow to change this year, but that’s okay.  The longer the season lasts, the better.

It’s been a busy month.  Aren’t they all?    I was telling a younger friend with young children not to expect to take time off when her children were grown because then the grandchildren come and there are things you want to do with them.  We had fun at King’s Island with one set of grandchildren a  couple of weeks ago and last week we spent time with the other set at Grandparents’ Days at their school.  Our older grandchildren go to a wonderful Christian school where their mother also teaches.  The school ranks #1 in college prep schools in Central Indiana and 98% of their graduates go on to college. Pretty impressive, I’d say.  Our granddaughter will be graduating next Spring.  I believe she and our grandsons have had an A-plus education.

So Grandparents’ Day begins with a sign in and then like a bunch of ants at a picnic, the grandparents swarm the tables with the coffee and donuts on them.  They serve very good coffee and donuts.

Then they have chapel and our grandchildren join us.  The first day our sixth grader was with us.

Let me just say that a few months ago, he was a short, little boy and now he’s taller than me(which isn’t hard as I am 5’1″) but almost as tall as his grandfather too.  His voice is changing and he looks like a teen-ager all of a sudden.   Waaaaaaa!  I told him it was just a short time ago I was babysitting him and he would sit on the piano bench and we would play the piano, neither one of us knowing how to play.  He was a baby then. Such a short time ago.  Such a nice grandson.

He plays football.

Sings in the middle school choir.  See, he is about a head taller than all the others.

His class is learning the entire book of James in the Bible and they got up and recited some of it.   He looks like he is really concentrating here.

This is his good friend who we adopted for the day as his grandparents couldn’t make it.  A really nice boy.

We took him out to eat and told him he could order anything he wanted and his eyes lit up.  Then back to school and we drove home to take care of the animals and then drove back up to Indianapolis to spend the night in order to go to the second Grandparents’ Day.

With these two.

Our tenth grader and

our senior.  She painted this mural and she is in the musical in a few weeks. Another trip to make.

Once again the grandparents crowded the coffee table and donut table and then we sat down for chapel. Our granddaughter is part of the praise team. She said she was nervous about singing in front of us, but she seemed very composed and professional.

It so nice to see our grandchildren growing up to be the kind of people they are.  So kind. So talented. So grounded.

This young man has my heart.  He can make me laugh so easily, many times when we should not be laughing!   See that lady in black?  She is from Scotland and her granddaughter is a good friend of our granddaughter.

We took them both out to Five Guys, a hamburger joint and they got to order what they wanted and then back to school where our granddaughter had an interview for a scholarship.  I hope she gets it.

It was a fun two days.

Driving home we drove through downtown Indianapolis. When I was young, I really thought this was the BIG city.  Our senior class made a trip there and it was so much fun.  Now I just can’t wait to get out of it.  Too much traffic for me.

This is our state capitol.

The top of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ monument smack dab in the center of the city.  I wish I had gotten a picture of the whole thing. I have walked up to the top of this monument several times through the years.

Tall buildings. It’s not New York, but it’s big enough for me. This country girl likes dirt roads and trees and no traffic.

A very busy downtown.  People out eating at restaurants, walking their dogs, skate boarding.   Fun to drive through. Wouldn’t want to live there.

The sky was so blue and it really was a pleasant day.

On the way home we stopped at a quilt shop called The Back Door where I had a gift certificate to use. I was looking for background fabric for the pumpkin quilt I am making.   Of course, I found more than I was looking for.

I just like this fabric and know I will use it in something so I bought a yard.

It’s hard to tell from this picture, but this fabric looks grey, but has a tinge of green in it. I like the little swirls all through it which remind me of pumpkin vines.  I cut out most of the background pieces for the quilt today.  Hope I have enough of it.

But what really caught my eye and made me swoon was this fabric.  I almost didn’t get it as I really don’t need anymore fabric, but this is the most beautiful fabric I have ever seen in my life.  A masterpiece on fabric.  A Monet.   I just could not leave the store without it.

Just so incredibly beautiful. I bought three yards and wish I had bought five!   I don’t have a clue what I will make with this, but it has to be an especially wonderful quilt.  I just love it.  Did I say I liked this fabric?   I love it so much I made it my header for this blog.

There are a few other things going on in my world, but that will wait for another day.  Bye.

I love driving to Cincinnati.  Especially when we take the river road along the Ohio River.  We did that over a week ago, but because of things happening in the world, I didn’t feel like writing about it.     We took off on a Saturday and headed down the road.

Following the river most of the way. There is something about a river that makes me feel wanderlust.  I think of all those who have traveled this river throughout the years or lived by this river, building little towns and living their lives as the river swept by.   There is so much history along this river. David and I have driven most of it and several times, at that.   It never fails to lift my spirits.

The sky was so blue that day and the river so calm, but this river has flooded many times through the centuries, flooding those little towns and creating havoc to their citizens.  Still, people continue to settle along it, camp beside it and watch as it lazily flows along.  It’s mesmerizing.

We passed through one little town where I saw some ladies decorating the city park.  And along the road hung on electric poles were these………

Scarecrows. I don’t know if they were having a contest, but there were several of these all along the roadway.  Made me want to go home and make my own scarecrow.

I think it might have had something to do with breast cancer awareness because of this sign I saw.

We spent the night in Cincinnati and went to supper with our older son and his girlfriend.  We went to The Outback to eat and they had the slowest service.  We finally got our names on a list and waited and waited. They didn’t look all that busy. Then three more people came in the door and the waitress started to sit them immediately and David spoke up and asked why they were being seated. The waitress mumbled something about the waitress wasn’t ready for our table. Humbug!  Our son said, “Let’s go,” and we went across the street to a restaurant called Mimi’s Café and were seated immediately and I had the best liver and onions I have ever eaten. So, good things happen to those who wait!    It was a pleasant evening, but we were going to King’s Island the next day so we headed to our motel for the night.

The next morning we met up with our daughter and her family.

The boys were excited because we were going to King’s Island.

Now King’s Island is for the person who likes to ride scary rides. I am not that person. The last two times I was talked into riding certain rides, I cried.  So I knew no one would be talking me into riding any roller coasters or rides that went up high that day.  I loved watching my family ride the rides.  I rode a couple, but I really enjoy people watching and just being with family.   It was such a fun day.  We went to the arcade and there is where I had the most fun playing Ski-ball. I could play that all day.  I helped our son win a card he had been trying to win for some time.  You see, our son goes to King’s Island almost every single day whether it’s before work or after work, just to ride maybe one ride. He’s a big kid at heart.  He plays those arcade games and saves the points. He has enough to get a computer now.   He could have probably bought one a whole lot cheaper, but he loves playing those games.  I do too. It must be in the blood.  David and I, when we were dating, use to love playing the arcade games at the fair.  Tossing rings to win cheap dishes.   I once spent fifty dollars playing ski-ball at King’s Island to win a set of juice glasses!  They were the cheapest glasses I have ever had and they all got broken very quickly.   Needless to say, we don’t go to King’s Island all that often.  Can’t afford their dishes!

It was a fun day and I am sure I got my 10,000 and more steps in as my feet were hurting so badly by the time we got to the car.  We drove home at dusk as the sky was showing off  it’s beautiful colors.

Where we live there are tall trees so I cannot see the sunset like this at night. It was so beautiful.   Then I saw it.

A UFO.  Or at least it looked like one to me. And then I saw this.

Remember in the first Ghost Busters where that dog chased that little guy from his apartment and down the street?  This made me think of that dog.

It was good to get home and back in our own bed.

The past couple of weeks I have been working on quilts.

I pinned this quilt ready for quilting. I can’t decide if I want to machine quilt it or quilt it by hand.  It’s got hundreds of safety pins in it and my fingers can attest to it.  I am quilting one by hand right now that I want to get done.  Can’t show it as it is for someone special.

Not sure what this pattern is called. I pieced it years ago. I am going through all my unfinished quilts and trying to get them done.

And yet, I keep buying fabric to make more.

I bought this fat quarter assemble to make a pumpkin quilt.

I pre-wash all my fabric and here I hung these on a little line I have strung across my shop porch. I love hanging things out on a line.  Didn’t take them long to dry.  I will show you some of the blocks I have made soon.   I was working on my pumpkin quilt today.

This glorious fabric will be the backing.   I had to order five yards of it just because I loved it so much.  I will use this in several things, I am sure.

This fabric I bought on Haight Ashbury in San Francisco years ago when we visited our son who was stationed in California with the Air Force learning to speak Russian to be a Russian linguist.  That was many years ago.  I don’t know why the fabric looks stained in this picture because it isn’t.  There was a wonderful quilt shop there with some very exotic fabrics.

This yellow fabric was bought for me by my son and his ex-wife when they visited England years ago. They asked me what I wanted them to bring me back from England and I said, “Fabric.”  I have used this in several quilts.

We got this postcard in the mail a few weeks ago telling us about Grandparents’ Day at our grandchildren’s school.  I was looking at it and saw someone familiar on it.

David and me and two of our grandkids!.  I must say it was kind of disconcerting to see our faces on there.  I always wondered through the years how they picked the pictures for these things.   We are visiting their school this week.  They  treat us grandparents great.  I am really looking forward to it.

Here’s to river rides, fun times with family and quilting. Bye.