The Grand Teton...Jackson Hole in September.

We stayed at my brother-in-laws place outside Jackson, Wyoming last week.  This was the view from his back porch, at the base of the Tetons, one of the most beautiful mountain ranges and National Parks in the U.S.  The Grand Teton is the second tallest mountain in Wyoming.

The Grand Teton in the center of the photo.  The clouds finally cleared and it came into view across the golf course.

Here was the same view just a few minutes before.

Here it comes.

And there it goes.  All in ten minutes time.  

And then snow on the roof outside our bedroom window the next morning.

Beautiful place...unpredictable weather.   If you don't like the weather...wait ten minutes and it will change. 

Chicken or the Egg?

Which came first?  In my case, it was the chicken.

I was at IFA yesterday looking for seeds and they had cages of chicks for sale.  I spent a bit of time looking at them.  I really don't want to keep chickens but I do love those fresh eggs.

That led me to these....

gifts from my friend Parker and his backyard coop.  He gave them to me a while back and I couldn't bear to eat them.  I ate some of the brown ones but I just couldn't bring myself to crack open those beautiful shells.  You can do so many things with them.  I love them in my French egg basket.  

But they are past eating (long past) and I've had a few projects in mind for them for a while now and I'm off to get started.  

Count Your Blessings.

Our daughter is living in Jerusalem this University semester.  Her University classes are in Middle Eastern Studies and the Bible; history and doctrine.  I have always been proud of her.  She is a wonderful person and a great daughter.  I wanted to share a paragraph from her blog.
"I joined Jaquel and her group in going to Ein Karem to volunteer at St.Vincent's. Miriam, a girl in our ward, is volunteering for six months at this Catholic mission. From what I gathered, this place is for severely handicapped children and it's run by nuns. In essence, they are extremely understaffed and the children do not get the amount of attention and physical care they need. This was probably the coolest thing I have done since I got here, because for the first time here, I felt like I was doing something for someone besides myself. I was put in charge of Abdullah, a six or seven year old blind boy.

Sophia, the volunteer supervisor, said that she was told he is also deaf but that she thinks he responds to sound but hasn't had the time to really sit down and see if he is. Compared to all the kids there, he had fewer physical disabilities, but he would have muscle spasms that looked really painful. I just sat with him in the grass and massaged him and rubbed his arms, which made him smile a lot. The volunteers kept saying how great it was that each child there had someone to hold them or be with them. Sitting in the grass, holding Abdullah I felt the Spirit so strongly. How did I get so lucky to have a healthy mind and body, parents who love me, and medical care that I need? The world really isn't fair. Here is this sweet little boy, who can't even have someone sit with him for half an hour and stroke his hair when he is in pain. It really was heart-wrenching. But sitting there with Abdullah, watching him smile just because he felt his arm being stroked and his hands getting a massage, felt like in this little corner of the world, I was making a difference. It hit me that the world needs The Savior, and I am so glad to know that we have Him, and that Christ has atoned for all of our pains."

Thank you Rachel, for reminding me to count my blessings every day and to do my best to be a blessing to those around me.

A Busy Day

Cleaned the house from top to bottom; 4 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms, 2 family rooms, living room, dining room, and kitchen.  Mopped all floors.  I can't remember when the house was this clean all at once.

Cleaned out the refrigerator and side by side freezer in the basement.

Washed the car.

Shopped for groceries and new linens.

Washed 6 loads of laundry.

Made 2 pot roasts in the pressure cooker for the freezer.

Made one batch of soup for the freezer with extra beef leftover from the package purchased for the stuffed bell peppers.  Used lots of fresh garden vegetables and fresh herbs.

Made stuffed Peppers for dinner.  Put 4 away in the freezer for a busy day dinner.

Made 4 batches of homemade ice cream....peach and salted caramel.  Yummmm.

Made huckleberry honey Greek style yogurt.

Washed lots and lots of dishes.

Washed all pumpkins and squashes to get them ready to display.

Off to put my feet up.

I'm back from QuiltFest 2012

I have been away teaching at Quilt Fest.  It was a fun week but soooo busy.  So busy that I didn't even get photos of my class.  I had 24 students and 3 wonderful helpers from my Quilt Group (a big thank you ladies).  One of my students, Denise of PiecedBrain Blog did post a photo of the class and one of my rugs.  I'm thought you might want to check out her blog as well.  She has made some really fun quilts and took a lot of classes at Quilt Fest.

One of the highlights was the quilt show; particularly the trunk show by Jodi Warner.  Jodi has been designing patterns and making original quilts for years.  I loved her "Through Mac Gregor's Garden" quilt.  The detail is amazing.  Just look at the three-dimensional aspects.  Isn't the rabbit clothing beautiful?  And the quilting stitches are tiny, even, and plentiful.  This is not a large quilt but just a "smallish" wall hanging.

Stop by for more amazing photos from Quilt Fest 2012.

The Old Iron Lady

22 years ago Rochelle called.  She had been asked to "round up" some friends who sewed alot to test a new iron.  We had to agree to use the iron everyday for 6 weeks and after to go to a focus group and critique the iron and say what we liked and didn't like about it.  Would I do it?

I will, I said.  "But I won't buy it!  I don't need an iron".  Surely this was just a sales gimick.  "I WILL NOT BE PRESSURED INTO BUYING THE IRON", I said.

Two days later... How had I functioned before she came into my life?
Six weeks later..."I NEED IT.  I MUST HAVE IT.  PLEASE CAN I BUY IT?????
PLEASE... PLEASE....PLEASE.   DON'T TAKE HER AWAY FROM ME, I'M BEGGING YOU".

That was we all said.  One woman absolutely refused to give hers back until they threatened to send out the police.  We were forced to return the prototypes to the store.  It seemed they were really NOT FOR SALE....REALLY. 
Two months later, the store called.  They would be producing the irons and if we wanted the prototypes they would sell them to us.  (The one woman had called every day for six weeks to beg and I guess she wore them down).  EACH AND EVERY TESTER bought her iron before the store changed their minds.

The iron was made by Passap for quite a while and then they sold out to another company and then it was eventually discontinued.  Several of the woman said their irons stopped steaming after many years and they let them go, but my Passap just labored on.  My drapery installer once forgot his commercial steamer to steam my new drapes and I offered him Passap.  He tried to buy her from me.....twice!!!!

Passap got "sick" last year.  She sputtered and spit and refused to steam.  Then one day she up and recuperated all on her own. 

Until last week.  I thought she was a "gonner".  There was no remission this time. After a quick checkup I diagnosed her problem.  She had a blockage; right below her reservoir.  I guess that happens as we age.   I felt a glimmer of hope.  B. and I did a little surgery.  We carefully opened her up and probed and stuck her.  Nothing.  I mentioned that if we only had an air compressor we could clean her out.  And B. said,  "I have a bike pump!"
It worked.  We put her back together and she is good as new.  And that's something for such an old workhorse.

It's not everyday you get to save a life.

Couldn't Have Said It Better!

I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.
I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.
I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.
I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed some one's garden.
I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.
I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived"
                                                                  ~Marjorie Pay Hinckley

I borrowed this quote by Marjorie Pay Hinckley from my friend Kerin's blog (and Marjorie Pay Hinckley, of course).  I have never heard this one before.  Don't you just love this?  Those are words to live by.

And 
bBy the way...you should jump on over and visit Kerin's Blog.  It's great!