Journal: Another Quilt Show

 

I no sooner sent last week’s letter, in which I mentioned that the forecast for Thursday in Kearney was pouring rain, than I checked the forecast once again and discovered that the forecast had been changed to bright sunshine that entire day! 

It would not stay that way.

Tuesday morning, I sent Victoria pictures of the French sour cream doughnut and the dragon fruit she had given me the previous day, writing, “This made a yummy breakfast!  I ate half of the dragon fruit... and half of the doughnut.  The dragon fruit is a lot like kiwi.”

I looked it up to learn how to cut and eat it, and discovered that this is an Asian variety, with the white flesh inside.  The South or Central American varieties are usually pink or red inside.  This one was sweet and good, exactly the right ripeness, I think.

The man doing the explaining said not to eat the rind, but you could probably dry it and use it to make baby shoes.  Or a bookmark.  haha

It was easy to cut, and very easy to peel.  And the man said it was quite expensive.  I don’t know what they cost elsewhere, but in our town they sell for about $7 apiece.

It has been two months since my eye doctor wrote a letter for me to send to our insurance company.  I did so, along with a letter of my own, asking them to reconsider after they turned down my request for assistance with the bill for my treatment for Benign Essential Blepharospasm.

There has been no word from them, so I had to cancel my appointment with the eye doctor last Wednesday.  As expected, my eyes are getting worse again, fast. 

Insurance companies certainly don’t take it kindly if their customers take two months to respond to their notifications!

Levi, who’s 13, likes to cook.  I told him the following story:

One time when we lived in town next door to my sister’s house, I was cooking supper.  We had all the windows open.  David and Robert, my nephews, were outside working in their yard ----- and then the smoke alarms all went off, blaring loudly.

Through my window, I saw both of them turning their heads and looking toward our house.

So I poked my head out the back door and yelled, “SOUP’S ON!!!”  😄

After supper Tuesday evening, Larry heading to Genoa to work on vehicles, and I headed upstairs to continue working on Malinda’s Cross-Stitched Teddies quilt. 

Wednesday, the first thing on the agenda was to toss the 1936 Sunbonnet Sue quilt and then the Americana Eagle quilt into the dryer with Mrs. Meyer’s good-smelling dryer sheets, on steam setting, to freshen them and remove any possible (uh, probable) dust that might be on them.  While the quilts were tumbling in the dryer, I repaired Eva’s little beaded purse so I could give it to her that night after our midweek church service.  The zipper was coming loose at one end, leaving a widening hole.

Once the hole was fixed, I went into the little library next to my quilting studio and picked out a tiny board book with a story about a duckling.  It fit perfectly into the little purse.  Eva’s beaded purse would have a little surprise in it that evening!

As it turned out, I bumped into Caleb, Maria, and Eva as we headed into the church, just before the service; so Eva got to look at the ‘new’ little book during the service.

When the quilts were ‘freshened’, I put them in bags and carried them out to the Mercedes to join the other eight quilts that were already there.  It was a bright, sunny day, but that would change later that night, and rain was expected to continue through the next day.  I was glad to get all those quilts into the car before the rain started.

I finish the 120 nine-patches and managed to get one Irish Chain block done before time for church.  23 more to go!

Thursday morning found me up early, getting ready to head to Kearney to drop off quilts for the Threads Across Nebraska quilt show.  As the weathermen had promised, it was raining.  It takes a little over two hours to get to Kearney.

I left shortly after 9:00 a.m., feeling a bit damp from having to make two trips out to the Merc with my paraphernalia, the first time without an umbrella.  The umbrella I wanted was in the vehicle.  Actually, there were two umbrellas in the vehicle.  Another was in the laundry room; but my hands were full anyway; I wouldn’t’ve been able to manage an umbrella in any case.  They make drones that stay with a person or his vehicle; why can’t they make an umbrella that will do the same?!

Aaarrrggghhh, bother, I no sooner think of an excellent invention, and prepare to get myself a patent and immediately become rich, than I discover... the dumb thing has already been invented.

Solomon was right when he said, “There is nothing new under the sun!”

It was rainy, but not too bad, all the way to Kearney and home again.  The rain paused just long enough for me to get my quilts into the Expo Building.  I got there at the perfect time, because a frail elderly lady was trying to bring her quilts in, and my wagon was exactly what she needed.  (I have no idea why some of the sturdy-looking souls in that building couldn’t have offered a helping hand.)

Though there was another lull in the rain after I checked in my quilts, I did not go by Yanney Lake, because storms were approaching from the west, and they were bearing quarter- to golf-ball-sized hail, 60-70-mph winds, and torrential rains with the probability of flash flooding.  The whole area – a good deal of the state, in fact – was under a tornado watch until evening, so I thought it best to head for home.

Here’s the Platte River in the mist.

I got home shortly before 2:00 p.m., and headed upstairs to my sewing room.

The word ‘Kearney’ was taken from Fort Kearny.  The fort was named after Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny, who was of Irish ancestry.  The name was originally O’Kearny.  Established in 1848, Fort Kearny offered protection to thousands of pioneers, Pony Express riders, and prospectors traveling west on the Oregon Trail. 

There is one Kearney in Ireland, and eight Kearneys in the United States, in the following states:  Arkansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

One of my uncles went to Ireland to work on our family’s genealogy.  He learned that all the Swineys, O’Swineys, Sweeneys, Sweenys, McSwinnys, MacSweneys, O’Sweenys, and a gazillion other variations were all related.  He said one could walk into certain villages in the north of Ireland and shout, “Sweeney!” – and heads would pop out of nearly every cottage in the entire village.   

The weather system was churning like a sideways-elongated hurricane. And look at all the snow to the west! 

We’ve badly needed the rain.  It’s appreciated – so long as the hail doesn’t ruin crops still in the field.  It would have been better three or four weeks earlier, as harvest is now in full swing.  But this coming week should be dry enough for the farmers to continue harvesting.

On my way home, I stopped at the little Daniels Produce store on Daniels’ big farm and bought corn and farm eggs.  We had corn and partially-soft boiled eggs (our favorite way of eating boiled eggs) for supper, along with cottage cheese, Oui black cherry yogurt, and caramel flan.

In this little store, prices are marked, and the store is unmanned.  People pay on the honor system. 

There are a couple of big refrigerators in there, with insulated ‘shades’ that roll down and hook in the front; the fresh vegetables are in them.

There’s a set of shelves on one side that holds freshly-canned jars of salsa, beans, pickles, jellies, and all sorts of yummy things.

The Daniels’ farm is about ten miles to our southwest.  Their fruit and vegetables are always superb.  Their peaches are absolutely scrumptious.  (And the peaches box was plumb empty, waa waa waa.)

Here are the pretty eggs I got.  This little carton of six was the only one left.  Wouldn’t you like to see all the pretty chickens that laid those colorful eggs?

And the corn on the cob was every bit as good as it looks.

Shortly after 8:00 p.m., low rumbles of thunder could be heard.  Another wave of the storm was approaching from the west.

By 11:30 p.m., I had ten Irish Chain blocks done, and there were 14 to go.  After that, there are 13 Ohio Star blocks.  The blocks measure 10”, finished.

I had planned to visit Loren Friday since I was going to the Threads Across Nebraska quilt show in Kearney Saturday, but it was rainy and very windy, and I am not particularly fond of getting soaked and windblown at every pitstop.  I’ll go tomorrow, when the weather will be considerably better.  So... Friday I sewed.

I learned there were tornadoes in Nebraska Thursday, not far from where I was driving.  I thought those clouds over me were behaving strangely!

This was reported at 8:30 a.m. Friday:  NWS staff is already out surveying damage from several tornadoes that were reported Thursday afternoon and evening.  These occurred in the following areas:  NW of Bertrand, near Overton I-80 exit, ENE of Hildreth, E of Prosser, and S of Doniphan.  That tracks a few miles south of the Interstate, for a distance of about 85 miles, and occurred a few hours after I traveled I80 from Kearney to Grand Island.

Before going upstairs to my quilting studio, I paid some bills, including Loren’s bill for his monthly manicure, pedicure, and haircut:  $113 a month.  That’s about average for those services in our area, it seems.

Next, I made a new account with the mortgage company that purchased our old mortgage company.  I had not been able to do that for the last two or three weeks, as they were still in transition.  They assured all customers that no late fees would be charged this month.

That done, I backed up all the data on my computer onto two external hard drives.  While the computer worked away, I went on sewing.

That evening, Amy sent pictures of a rainbow, including one with Elsie and her kitty in the foreground.

Determined to finish the Irish Chain blocks, I kept sewing, sewing, sewing until a little after 2:00 a.m.  The 24 Irish Chain blocks are all done.  I laid a few of them out with the Cross-Stitched Teddy blocks to see how they looked. 

Late Saturday morning found me again heading toward Kearney – and again it was misting, almost raining.

I arrived at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds, where the quilt show was being held in the Expo Building, at about 2:00 p.m.  The building is huge, and they get to use the entire thing – so there’s a lot more room for quilts than there is in the Expo Building at the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island, where they share space with hundreds of vendors, and only get to use one big room in the building.  Thus, no quilts are overlapping others.

By 3:00, I had been through the entire building taking pictures of all the quilts and most of the vendors’ booths.  There was still an hour and a half before they would start doling out the quilts. 

It was only 47° outside, but it was hot in the Expo Building.  I went out to the Mercedes, changed from my soft grey suede shoes with the bow on the vamp and the warm tan knee socks to the bright fuchsia hiking shoes Larry got me a few years ago and a pair of no-show socks.

I ate some Oui vanilla yogurt, drank a Mocha Frappuccino, and, since it wasn’t raining at the moment, headed off to see Yanney Park.

Ten minutes later, I parked, stepped out of the car, put on coat and gloves, and picked up my camera.

A car full of fancily-clad people pulled up, and the driver, a man in suit and tie, asked me, “Ma’am?  Are you going to the Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff wedding?”

(Well, actually, I forgot the name he asked me.  By the way, that is a real name – an abbreviated name.  The original name is Wolfeschlegel­steinhausen­bergerdorff­welche­vor­altern­waren­gewissenhaft­schafers­wessen­schafe­waren­wohl­gepflege­und­sorgfaltigkeit­beschutzen­vor­angreifen­durch­ihr­raubgierig­feinde­welche­vor­altern­zwolfhundert­tausend­jahres­voran­die­erscheinen­von­der­erste­erdemensch­der­raumschiff­genacht­mit­tungstein­und­sieben­iridium­elektrisch­motors­gebrauch­licht­als­sein­ursprung­von­kraft­gestart­sein­lange­fahrt­hinzwischen­sternartig­raum­auf­der­suchen­nachbarschaft­der­stern­welche­gehabt­bewohnbar­planeten­kreise­drehen­sich­und­wohin­der­neue­rasse­von­verstandig­menschlichkeit­konnte­fortpflanzen­und­sich­erfreuen­an­lebenslanglich­freude­und­ruhe­mit­nicht­ein­furcht­vor­angreifen­vor­anderer­intelligent­geschopfs­von­hinzwischen­sternartig­raum. 

As Joe Biden says, “I’m not kidding!”  [Only I am telling the truth.])

Anyway, they wanted to know if I was going to the wedding.  Mind you, I had on a bright blue and teal down jacket with forest green velour yokes, a pair of black-and-white houndstooth fleece gloves – and those brilliant fuchsia walking shoes (pictured here with those tan socks).  Does that sound like wedding attire, to you?! 

Furthermore, judging by their attire, it was not a casual wedding to which they’d been invited!  As previously noted, the men were in suit and tie, and the women were in formal dresses.

I said I was not, and the man then asked me if I knew where the Yanney Pavilion was.  I didn’t know that, either, though there were several large buildings in the vicinity.  One of them was bound to be the Yanney Pavilion. 

I headed toward the tower, which was a couple of blocks away.  I met another man coming down the sidewalk, this one, too, dressed in suit and tie.

Is it now the style for men’s suits to be a couple of sizes too small (the man was young and fit, not overweight), with the britches three inches above the ankle?  He had on shiny patent-leather shoes – and white socks.  He looked like he considered himself fashionable, yes indeed he did.  Sunglasses and all, even though it was a dark, dreary afternoon.

He smiled, greeted me, and rushed on.  I figured he was probably either a-comin’ or a-goin’ from the Yanney Pavilion.  Hopefully, he knew the location of the building, and would run into the carload of people who didn’t know.  I wondered if the bride and groom were lost, too.

I proceeded on toward the tower, taking pictures as I went.  A lot of flowers were still blooming along the walks, despite the recent frosty nights.

At the tower, I discovered that the elevator is only available by prior reservation.  Or, in an emergency, I could call a number listed on the door.  Huh.  Is this an emergency, I wondered?

I started climbing the steps.  The wind promptly picked up, and then it started to rain.  I made it up to level 2 before throwing in the towel and scampering back down.  My jacket and gloves were warm, but I had nothing on my ears, and I knew I was going to get earaches if I didn’t hurry back to my car.  I couldn’t put a hat or headband on, either, ’cuz I didn’t want to ruin my cute hairdo, you know. 😏

Oh!  Comparing my pictures with online pictures, I have just discovered that I actually took a photo of the Yanney Pavilion!  The grounds immediately around it are still under construction – in fact, a landscaping company was working away that very afternoon, so that’s probably why the people didn’t think that was the right place.  And there’s no sign up yet.

I got back to the Buffalo County Fairgrounds at a quarter ’til four.  There were still 45 minutes to kill.  Siggghhhhh...  I decided to wander around the vendors’ booths again.

I go through places at a fast enough clip, I would’ve probably had time to visit the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument; but I didn’t want to risk being late.  (I have to look up the name of that place every time I write it.  We used to just call it the ‘Kearney Arch’ – but they renamed it in the hopes of drawing in more tourists.)

When I went to Kearney on Thursday, my GPS directed me to drive I80, both coming and going.  Saturday, it wanted me to take Route 30 both ways.  I ignored it and took the Interstate on the way there.  However, I took Route 30 on the way home, as it was raining fairly hard by then, and I really dislike traveling 75+ mph in the rain with trucks all around me churning up such a storm I cannot see past the windshield.

I got home a little before 7:00 p.m., having driven about 225 miles.

Last night after our evening church service, we doled out gifts:  a birthday gift to Caleb, who turned 30, of all things; and anniversary gifts to Caleb and Maria (they were married on Caleb’s birthday) – a large pork roast and a couple of big pork chops from one of Teddy’s hogs; and to Teddy and Amy, a big bag full of roasting ears and baby potatoes, both yellow and red, from Daniels Produce.

We gave back Jeremy and Lydia’s quilt, too.

This was posted by a quilting friend from Italy:  “My new quilting foot.”

Larry took the hoses off the outside spigots yesterday, as the weathermen warned that there might be a lengthy freeze during the night.  It was 38° a little after midnight.  I brought in the chrysanthemum Kurt, Victoria, and the children gave me for my birthday.  Mums are hardy, but it’s just started to bloom, and I didn’t want the pretty burgundy petals to get frostbitten.

This month, six of our children have wedding anniversaries, and a son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter have birthdays.  I ordered a few more anniversary gifts from Amazon last night, and then ordered some Christmas presents, too.

For supper tonight, we had lasagna, applesauce, and pecan pie.  The refrigerator and cupboards are looking a bit empty.  Almost time for a grocery store run!

And now it’s bedtime, but there’s still a load of clothes in the dryer and another in the washer.  I’ll stay up long enough to put away the clothes that will soon be dry, and to put the load of wet things into the dryer.  Tomorrow I will go visit Loren.

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