Quote of the Day

I decided that I would share with you  a quote that I find inspirational each time I post on my blog . So here is the quote of the day, July 7, 2011.
"For every minute you are angry you lose 60 seconds of happiness"
     Ralph Waldo Emerson

I thought I would share something that makes me happy every time I look at it: this daylily is named 'Strawberry Candy'

Vacation

I just got back from a  vacation in Estes Park, Colorado for a week with my husband and grown children with spouses. We all had a great time and enjoyed each others company all week. We had rented a house so were glad to have a full kitchen, dishwasher and washer and dryer in the house. The view from the second story deck was fabulous. It overlooked the Big Thompson River. To wake up each morning looking down (and hearing) the river through pine trees was unbelievable.

We drove on Trail Ridge Road. It is the highest paved road in the U.S. The views are breathtaking.. Here are some photos of our trip.
Above is the first sight we saw close to the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. It is a herd of elk. The elk come down from the high country
in the Fall  and spend the winter in Estes Park. Due to the late and heavy snow this year, this heard had not moved to the high country as yet. If you look closely you can see one or two baby elk that still have their spots.
This is the view as you start driving up Trail Ridge Road. At the top is the Alpine Visitor Center with an altitude of 12,000 feet ( I think).


This is the view on the way up from the entrance to the park.The ribbon you see is the road going up the mountain.


The mountains had lots of snow this year. The last storm was the end of May. While Trail Ridge Road usually opens on Memorial Day,it did not open this year until the middle of June. Here is part of a snow drift that was plowed to make access for the road. The people in front give a perspective as to how deep the snow was this year.  There still is a lot of snow to melt and the rivers are already full and moving fast.

This is the view as we rounded one of the curves on the road.

Close to the top of the mountain is the tundra.  This shows the thickness of the tundra which took hundreds is not thousands of years to form. The bottom picture is one of the types of wild flowers on the tundra. There is a path to walk up the mountain and look at the views and the wild flowers. Needless to say it is forbidden to walk on the tundra.

This is one of the views on the way down. Now you know where 'Purple mountains majesty' comes from in" America the Beautiful".







This is one of the mountain meadows. If you looked closely you can see a herd of elk. In all the years I have gone to Estes Park, I have never seen a heard of elk in the mountains.

Here is the view on the way down from the Alpine Center at the top of Trail Ridge Road. Breathtaking.




Here are some of the Lodge-pole Pines that the settlers used to make their homes. These pines grow tall and very straight, hence the reason they were used for walls of houses.

On the Move

   My husband's 101 year old Grandfather passed away last week, so we are on the move. The funeral was in Great Bend, Kansas where we were greeted by 104 degree temps and 50 mile an hour winds. That is a typical summer day in Great Bend.  From there we headed out for our vacation, so no posts for a while.
  Happy Summer

More Spring Flowers

Above is one of my last iris. I especially like the ruffles and the colors.  Above and on the right is a bud  the climbing rose Dawn. Due to the deer eating it these past years is has taken a while to get it to grow enough to cover one side of our arbor in the back. It now covers one side while the rose on the left covers the other.

The next few photos are of my rose on our trellis that  is over the gate that goes into our back yard. I am not sure of the name of this rose but it could be William Baffin??

 Here is a view of our pond. All the arching leaves in front are daylilies which will bloom in June. To the left are some of my Siberian Iris. The part of the pond that is behind the daylilies is covered with water lily pads and flowers.

 Above is my last peony of the year.

On the left is a close up of some of my Ostrich ferns that are planted by our back fence. This one escaped to the other side of the fence. I like how the sun is hitting the fern.

This is some more of my Ostrich ferns that escaped under the fence.

I like the color combination of the purple smoke bush and the yellow yarrow. The yarrow color is brighter than what the photo shows.

This is some of my hardy geraniums that are on the side of my front sidewalk. There are some on the other side of the walk. These used to be called sanguinum, but the name has changed. If I cut them off after blooming they will bloom again.

May Block of the Month

 This is the finished May Block of the Month from Sue Spargo. Two of the new stitches we learned were woven wheel roses or spider web roses and the drizzle stitch.  The spider web roses were added onto the light blue circles. I then added bullion stitches around the edges of the circles. I think they make the circles look like flowers. Around the center velvet are drizzle stitches in lime green Valdani thread. These were very fun to make, are three dimensional, and they make a very fun accent that is unique. Around  the leaves on the top is the Palestrina stitch. It consists of tiny knots and makes a nice outline stitch. I added per Sue's suggestion, two rows of wrapped back stitch on the orange flower. To make the wrapped back stitch just make the back stitch as usual and then wrap these stitches with thread that either matchs or contrasts the back stitch thread.  The small dots were punched out with a Fiskers 1/4" hole punch. I think they add a lot to the block. The stem is a ribbon. Bullion stitches with Silken Pearl 'Green Leaves' from The Thread Gatherer were made around the aqua flower center.

Still Here

I haven't posted for a few days as I have been getting together an idea for my husband's cousin's baby quilt. I WENT TO THE QUILT STORE. Since my foot surgery on March 30th, I have not been able to go to the quilt store. It was too much walking. Now I have recovered enough to go and it was fun. I got the idea for the baby quilt in American Patchwork and Quilting magazine. You put yoyos of different sizes all over the quilt. Some can be alone while others may be stacked on top of each other. I will put a ruffle around the quilt since it will be a girl (their third) and put it together envelope style. I needed something to work on in the car on the way to Colorado for vacation and this will be perfect for working on it in the car. Since I am still not up to full speed, I doubt I will be able to drive much or not at all.  We will do it in two days, much easier. I used my Fiesta wear plates for the 4 different size circles( about 1",2",3" and 4"). I think I will quilt it first (thanks for the idea Linda) and then appliuqe the yoyos onto the top. The fabric is a really cute line with lots of matching colors and designs to choose from. I will post a photo of the fabric soon.

Memorial Day

May we all remember why we celebrate Memorial Day. Thank you to all  members of the military past and present that have served our country and kept us safe. May God keep you safe while you are far from your families. Iowa has the largest number of National Guard soldiers in a combat zone since WW  two.