Journal: Day Trips, Flood Damage, Gardening, Quilts, & Quilt Shops

I worked in the flowerbeds for a while Tuesday morning.  It was a bright, sunny 70°.  I came in the house and learned that the light snowfall we’d been hearing about for a few days, predicted for Thursday and Friday, had been escalated to a blizzard warning, and areas around these parts could get 1 to 2 feet of snow.

Great.  I remove all the insulation and ground cover (old leaves, old growth) from the flowerbeds, and now the new shoots just might meet their waterloo.  At least I only got two flowerbeds done. 

That morning, I called the owner of Calico Annie’s quilt shop in Fullerton, where water flowed through some of the streets in last month’s flooding, and learned that the stores on the main street are all fine except the feed store, which is being dried out.  She’s open for business; nothing in her store got even slightly damp.  That made me happy; I like that beautiful old building with its glossy barnwood floors and the high ceilings, with high shelves displaying all sorts of pretty things.  AND, I still have the $25 gift certificate for that store that I was awarded at the State Fair.  I told her I would come in a few days.

Larry came home at noon.  He saw that I’d been working in the flower gardens, so he fixed the wheelbarrow for me and rounded up the clippers and loppers I hadn’t been able to find.  By then I was all squeaky clean again, and had just curled my hair after washing and drying it; but he seemed to think I would happily go back outside and make good use of the things he’d set out front for me!  Nope, nope, nope.  My hips and ankles were protesting; I was going to have a hard enough time standing at the quilting machine later that day.

(But I did thank him for finding and fixing things for me.)

Then back to work he went, and off I went to Country Traditions in Fremont to buy a glide foot for my Avanté.  I find, having taken the New York Beauty quilt from the frame, that I want a bit of quilting atop the lace before I sew those pearls on.  And I need a glide foot to do it.  It won’t get caught in the lace.

Before leaving town, I filled the Jeep with gas and dropped off some things at the Goodwill.  On the way to Fremont, I saw homes with those large dumpsters in front of them, and they were full of furniture, carpet, and so forth.  Many yards were full of belongings, drying out.  They would soon have to cover or move them elsewhere, because it was going to rain.

Often people run out of time, money, patience, or all three, while letting their houses dry out, and then they Sheetrock, paint, and move back in before inner walls, ceilings, and floors are completely dry. And the mold starts to grow...

I saw numerous animals killed alongside the roads.  They’d been forced out of their usual habitat by the rising waters, and then, being panicked and unaccustomed to the roads, got hit by vehicles.

I took three quilts to Country Traditions to show the ladies who work there, since I’d gotten some of the fabric there, and they’d helped me find what I wanted.  Imagine my surprise when the lady who’d helped me find the mottled ivory fabric I used for the background of the Sunbonnet Sue quilt decided to give me a handful of ‘Country Traditions Appreciation Notes’ – each worth ten ‘class cash dollars’.  She flipped through a stack of them and doled out an even dozen.  Each will be worth $10 at their Annual Holiday Affair Christmas Party and Auction.  They will be auctioning off fabric packs, books, patterns, gift packages, and finished projects.

I guess that was worth the gas it took to get there, wasn’t it?!  That is, so long as I go to this auction party.  I’m not a real keen party animal.  🙄

I stopped at Fremont Lakes State Park to take pictures of the still-flooded lakes, and saw a beaver playing on a partially submerged picnic table.  This is what it looks like almost an entire month after the flood.  The large campground farther south and closer to the Platte River was destroyed, and the road is closed.

A friend from Arizona wrote to say that she’d found tomatoes on all ten of her Early Girl plants.

“Well.  Hmmph,” I wrote back.  “I found a couple of daffodils blooming!  And some striped squill!  And glories of the snow!  So there.  I even took pictures of them, for proof.”

I once called the squill ‘striped squid’ by accident – and Caleb heard me.  From then on, he had a penchant for rushing into the house announcing excitedly, “Mama’s lobsters are blooming!” or “Mama’s shrimp have sprouted!” or “The sea urchins have blossoms all over them!”

Disrespectful brat.  😏😂

Hester sent this a of Keira playing with their kitty, Spooky.  She’s finally figured out how to wave that long-handled cat toy around, but it gets pretty wild at times, and both baby and kitty cringe and squint, hoping not to get hit in the face with all those feathers.  But, as can be seen from the blur of the feathers, Keira goes right on waving the toy, even when her eyes are tight shut.  😆  That kitty is always very careful to never scratch the baby.

I commented on the cute little dress and tights Keira is wearing, and Hester said, “It was the dress she grabbed in her closet this morning.  I don’t know if she connects what she grabs to what I put on her, but she thinks it’s a lot of fun in her closet.”

“One of these days, she’ll figure it out,” I said.  “Remember when Victoria started picking her own clothes?  She wanted plaids and flowers together.”

“I do remember that,” answered Hester, laughing.  “You never knew what was going to happen.”

On the way home, I picked up my brother’s mail.  He and Norma were on a little vacation in the mountains.  They’d stayed at a campground in Raton, New Mexico, the previous night.

Raton is just over the state line – and over Raton Pass – from Trinidad, where Larry was born and grew up (until age 13, when they moved to Columbus).  His Grandmother and Aunt Lynn lived in Raton since the mid-1960s, and Aunt Lynn taught English and Literature at the high school.  Later, she owned a horse stables there until she passed away in 2012.

I got home, fixed supper, started a load of clothes in the washing machine, and went to try out the new glide foot.

I took one look at the foot, then at my machine, and realized, Aarrgghh, the foot doesn’t fit my machine.  I needed a conversion kit, because my machine is several years old, and these feet were made for the newer machines.  So... I ordered it from Handi Quilter.  It will be here Wednesday.  I hadn’t seen one at Country Traditions.  Not that I was specifically looking for it.  And I didn’t think to ask. 

I have now added to the value of my Avanté.  I’ve added more than I’d intended to do.  😕

I spent four hours working on the New York Beauty pillow shams, and called it a night.

Crabapple leaf

Wednesday, I awoke stiff and sore from Tuesday’s gardening.  It was chilly and windy that day, so I didn’t work outside, other than to fill the bird feeders.  The gold finches are getting brighter, and the males’ black caps are starting to show up.  Such pretty little things they are, and what a song they sing!

I watered the houseplants, washed a couple of loads of clothes, and put two loads away.

I’d just curled my hair, and I sat down at the table to read email and news while I waited... waited... waited... for the oven to heat up so I could pop in a ciabatta roll for breakfast.  I finally got up to see what was taking it so long – and discovered I’d set the timer for 350, instead of the temperature.  🙄  Three hours and fifty minutes later, the timer would’ve gone off – and the oven would’ve been none the warmer.

I worked on the New York Beauty pillow shams until time for church, and again after we got home and had a late supper.  I finished quilting the white areas, started on the cream color – and threw in the towel for the night.

Thursday afternoon, I went to Hobby Lobby to get more loose beads for the New York Beauty quilt, pre-strung beads for beaded piping, and some twine to repair Victoria’s bamboo chimes.

It snowed for a while in the morning, but it didn’t stick.  But when I was on my way back from town, I met vehicles coming from the west that were all covered with snow.  Some places in South Dakota had a couple of feet of snow, and it was still snowing.  Certain spots would get up to 30”.  In western Nebraska, they shut down I80 on account of blizzard conditions.  But around here, winter-weather warnings were exaggerated, and many were canceled.

It snowed again that evening.  Good thing I like snow, isn’t it, as much as we get here!  But... once again, it wasn’t sticking, as it was still 34°.

I no sooner got through thinking that than Teensy came in, and it was definitely sticking – at least, to him it was.  His back was all sparkly with snowflakes.  And of course he wanted up on my lap to dry and warm his snowy little paws.

“Acckk!  No!  Stay down!  You’re all wet!  Yuck!” I told him, and he, after a “Mrrrow!” that was somehow both sad and indignant at the same time, went off to his food bowl.  He eats, if anything is the slightest bit traumatic.  Next, he would go sit in the corner and clean his paws, just you wait and see.

Loren and Norma got home from their excursion safe and sound a little after six that evening, having driven almost 2,300 miles since leaving home last Friday evening.  They’d had a nice time, and the weather had been good until Wednesday night, when it snowed.  Loren had to brush about 3” of snow off the slideouts on his camper the next morning.  There was a layer of ice under the snow, but he couldn’t get it off.  The slideouts went shut and sealed all right, though. 

I finished the New York Beauty pillow shams that day, and removed them from the frame.  Then I pieced together the backing for the Stars table runner and loaded backing and batting on the frame.  I would put the top in place and quilt it the next day.

It was National Pet Day.  And our pet feline Tiger decided to catch himself his own pet – he brought in a pretty little male house finch!  Aarrgghh.  I rescued it, took it outside, and it flew away.  I always wonder if they survive, because, after all, it’s pretty sure they have bite and/or claw wounds.  Siggghhhh...

“I hate cats!” she said, scratching cuddly ol’ Tiger under the chin and listening to him purr.  🙄

Friday, a friend sent me some pictures of her gardens.  She lives some distance south of us, and her flowers have been blooming for quite a while. 

I wrote back to her, “Pretty!  What are those flowers?  Spider lilies?”

“Those are flower-type flowers,” she replied.  😅

That reminded me of the times when I was trying to figure out what kind of bird I was peering at through the binoculars, and Caleb would cry, “Look, look!!!  There’s a two-winged, beaked, chirpin’ bird!”  🤣

Headworks Park, Genoa, Nebraska

And one of my favorites of Larry’s bird IDs:  “It’s a yellow-spined wing-whacker!”

That afternoon, I went to Calico Annie's Quilt Shop in Fullerton, 31 miles to our southwest, to use the gift certificate I got at the State Fair last year.

By the time I was just a bit past Monroe, there was snow on the ground.  Thirteen miles farther, I drove by the Headworks Park west of Genoa.  When the Loup River started flooding, and those huge slabs of ice came crashing down the river, the main gate at the diversion dam where they divert the water from the Loup River to the Loup Canal broke.  That let a whole lot more water down the canal than it could handle.  Banks along the canal crumbled away, and water gushed over the levees and into fields and towns.

The banks of the canal are farther apart than they used to be, and look like cliffs, what with big chunks of the banks broken off.  There are dunes of river sand covering acre upon acre of what should be fields.  Huge trees came up by the roots.  Several roads are still closed.  The bridge is out south of Genoa.

Back in the 1930’s, there was a terrible flood on the Republican River in Nebraska.  The water was so forceful, it rolled the railroad tracks into a spiral:  Republican River Flooding

Here’s a heart-wrenching story about it:  Republican River Flood and Tornado of 1935

More pictures:  1935 Flood

At Calico Annie’s, I got a new blade for my 60mm Olfa rotary cutter.  I thought there were five in the package – but discovered when I got home that there’s only one.  Bah, humbug.  That was one pricey blade.  From now on, I’ll buy those things only on Amazon.

I also got a Gem Thirty ruler, so I can make things like this:

When I got home, I finished quilting the Stars table runner, and then did some fancy binding/flange/beadwork on it.  It’s for my sister, but I think I’ll save it for her for Christmas, rather than her birthday in a month (she’ll be 79), so I won’t have to ‘borrow it back’ from her in order to take it to the County and State Fairs.  She doesn’t mind, but ... it’s easier to just give somebody something once.  I’ll get her something else for her birthday.

She’s finally going to retire from being our school principal at the end of this school year.

Larry doesn’t much like going to County or State Fairs.  This, despite the fact that there is a lot of Big Machinery for him to look at.  And huge, fancy motorhomes and fifth-wheel campers... 

Of course, it’s all far out of our league.  Most likely if they had a selection of 1950s and 1960s John Deeres, Farmalls, or Allis Chalmers fixer-uppers, wild hosses couldn’t keep him away.

Saturday evening, I finished the Stars table runner.  It measures 17" x 49".  Along the flange are square glass beads.  The pantograph is Pink Hibiscus.  The top thread is burgundy Omni #40 by Superior, and the bobbin thread is #60 Bottom Line.  The batting is cotton.  Here’s the back: 

That done, I started making the beaded piping for the New York Beauty quilt and shams.  I need lots of beaded piping.  20 yards of it, to be precise. 

And then I discovered... I’d bought a roll of pre-strung beads that are 24... feet, not yards.  I need two more rolls of beads!

Teensy thinks this pile of binding and piping is just for him to nap in.

Kurt and Victoria’s invited us for dinner at their house yesterday after the morning service.  We had roast beef, potatoes and gravy, carrots, purple grapes...  Yummy.

Last night after church, we had a light lunch of eggs on 12-grain bread, toasted.  😋

I got another fairly large flower garden cleared out this morning.  The lilies, crocuses, tulips, and Autumn Joy sedum are coming up, and the daffodils and glories of the snow are blooming.  I hauled three big wheelbarrow loads of garden debris down to the south edge of the property.  There’s a lot of work yet to do.  And the trouble with gardening is that by the time I get to the last flower garden (why on earth did I make a dozen flower gardens?!), the one I worked on first no longer looks like I did much of anything at all!

This is why I prefer quilting:  when the quilt is done, it stays done.

Ah, well...  I just decide that I like playing outside, and then work at it with all my might and main.  😏

The grackles are delighted with the cleared flowerbeds.  They’re rustling noisily through the leaves I didn’t get all picked up, finding all sorts of bugs and seeds.  Anytime a stray grackle flies overhead, the one in the flowerbed at the moment puffs his feathers all out ’til he looks at least twice as big as he really is, and croaks and squeaks and wheezes loudly. 

Or, as Victoria used to say, laughing, “Just listen to them grack!  Grack, grack, grack!!!” 

Forever after that, I think, “Grack!” every time I hear one.  😆  Of course a grackle would ‘grack’.

This afternoon a quilting friend told about a lady who made a quilt for her new grandson with Prairie Points all around.  When he was a few months old, one of those points poked him in the eye, causing some (thankfully) temporary damage. 

Yikes.  Many – maybe all – of my babies had pretty quilts with Prairie Points around them.  I remember peeking in the nursery door one morning to see if Hannah was waking up yet.  She was 2 ½ months, and I didn’t think she was old enough to reach for things, pick them up, and play with them.

But there was that baby, holding a corner of her little quilt (that was before The Days of Mass Hysteria over Terrifying Things in Cribs), and carefully inserting her tiny baby finger into the open side of one of those Prairie Points.

I knew right then and there that we were raising a genius.  😅

Tomorrow is Baby Keira’s first birthday!  It will be just one year ago tomorrow that Andrew called to tell us they were in the hospital in Omaha, Hester had had an emergency C-section, and wasn’t doing very well.  The doctors were unsure about the baby, who only weighed 2 lbs., 8 oz.  And now she’s around 18 pounds, I think, and the brightest little thing one could ever hope for. 

Bedtime!  I’m not used to all this gardening.

,,,>^..^<,,,          Sarah Lynn           ,,,>^..^<,,,