Quilt Festival - Denver

Logs and Leaves by Joyce Lyon Saia

Three quilter friends and I made the two hour drive to Denver yesterday to attend the International Quilt Festival. We spent several hours viewing the quilt display and shopping in the Merchants' Mall. We had a late lunch, stopped at a new (for us) quilt shop, then headed home. It was a wonderful day. I found a few more fabrics for the landscape quilt class I'm taking tomorrow. It should be a lot of fun . I'm hoping to come home with a nearly finished quilt top and learn some new techniques during its creation. Above and below are a few of the quilts from the display that I found especially appealing.

Spring in My Step by Ann L Petersen


Mon Grand Pere by Ruth Powers


Zack by Klonda Holt

First Hummingbird of the Season!!!

The first broad-tailed hummingbird of the season appeared this morning - I heard the high pitched whirring of its wings before I saw it. I quickly cooked up some "Hummer Juice" (1 part white sugar to 3 parts water, brought to a boil and cooled) which I keep in the refrigerator. My old hummingbird feeders are in sad condition - broken perches and very faded - but I'm using them until I can get to the store to buy two new ones. Having hummers in the area is a BIG DEAL for me because it means that summer is just around the corner.

Estes Park typically hosts two species of hummingbirds, the broad-tailed and the rufous which arrive later in the summer. Both species are loads of fun to watch. I don't have a recent photo but I'll post one as soon as I can.

The Ducks are Coming

On the first Saturday in May, Rotary Club of Estes Park holds its annual Duck Race. Over 6000 small plastic ducks will be dumped into Fall River for a three mile journey ending at the confluence of the Fall and Big Thompson Rivers in the heart of Estes Park. They are scooped out of the river at that point and the numbers on the ducks' bottoms indicate the prize winners. Each duck costs $20 and, of that amount, $19 goes to one of over 60 charities and non-profit organizations (chosen by the buyer) in the local area. The more ducks a charity sells the more money it makes. The 5% kept by the Rotary Club is used for printing, prizes, and other costs of running the race, which is in its 22nd year. My husband is the Rotarian in the family and for the past few years he's been on the Duck Committee serving in various roles including Big Duck (chair of the event.) I've helped on a much smaller scale mostly entering ticket information into a computer at Duck Central.

Race day, with its carnival-like atmosphere, is loads of fun. Click here to see a video of the 2009 Duck Race. The best part of the Duck Race is the way we all work together for the benefit of our community and it's charities. Go Ducks!

Gloomy Outside, Bright Inside

Today's weather has been gloomy, rainy and cool with low clouds hanging in the mountains but inside I've been having fun with my slide scanning project. I've made it up to 1975 and I've been looking at dozens of images of my sweet and adorable son and daughter during their young childhood years.

I've also seen images of my dear grandparents which has brought a flood of lovely memories of visits with them. They were the perfect models of what grandparents should be. I hope I'm half as good at grandparenting as they were. My grandfather, a math teacher, was interested in everything we thought, did, and said. He was a good listener and bit of a tease and was always ready for an adventure. My fondest memories of my grandmother were of her reading Hans Christian Andersen and Grimm brothers' fairy tales to us. She would always read "just one more." I cherish my copies of the books she read from and love reading them to my own grandchildren although in re-reading them as an adult, I'm horrified at how gruesome some of them are. That didn't keep me from loving them as a child ... the more macabre, the better! They didn't all live "happily ever after!"

High Peak Camp

Late this afternoon Wayne and I drove out to High Peak Camp, a few miles south of Estes Park, where he had a meeting prior to dinner with a lovely group of people. I took a book, my knitting and my camera to keep me occupied while he was in the meeting. High Peak Camp, owned by the Salvation Army, is in a beautiful location at over 9000 ft. elevation with gorgeous views in every direction. Wayne is treasurer of the local SA extension unit which is an all volunteer group that helps people in need in the Estes Valley. One of the many things they do every year is to send twenty local children to camp for a week where they always have a wonderful experience. What I like most about the local SA is that virtually 100% of the money donated to them is used for individuals and families right here in our community. I took these photos this afternoon.

Running Errands in Paradise

Having several errands to run this morning and being preoccupied with my "to do" list and getting things done, I wasn't really conscious of what a beautiful day it was until I saw this view driving into town. Wow! I had to stop and take a photo with my ever present digital camera. I know how fortunate I am to be able to live in a place with breathtaking views all around. I hope I never take it for granted and today this place is at the top of my gratitude list.

Feeling Fine Again

I'm finally fully recovered from the spider bite and resulting infection and my face is is back to normal. What an ordeal - not one I want to repeat ever again! Thank you for your get well wishes - they helped. It feels good to be back in my studio again sewing, quilting, knitting and puttering around. I'll get the Ducky Stripe quilt top finished this week-end and pass it along to another Trail Ridge Quilter to quilt.

My newest project is one that will take time and patience (lots of both.) For many years most of the photos I took were made into 35mm slides instead of prints so I have hundreds languishing in slide trays in the basement. Setting up a slide projector and screen is a hassle. I don't think our old slide projector even works anymore. I purchased an inexpensive slide/film scanner and I've started scanning, one slide at a time, and saving the images on my computer. From there I'll be able to edit them and put them onto DVDs which we can watch on the computer or television. I'm motivated to do this because we are having a family reunion next July and I want my family to be able to easily see all these old photos. Fortunately, the slides are already sorted chronologically. I've started with Christmas of 1965, the year we got a camera for Christmas and also the year we were married. Seeing these photos is like taking a lovely and nostalgic trip into the past and I frequently find myself laughing out loud seeing how we looked so many years ago. When I finish scanning mine, I'll scan all of Mom's slides (hundreds.) Hers date back to our childhood and I know my brother and sister will love seeing those.

This is a photo of my husband and me with our first child in 1968 on a California beach. That adorable baby boy is now 43!

Spider Bite!

I'm taking a wee break from posting while I heal from a spider bite I got in San Diego. The good news is that we were on the way home before it really started to blossom. I had a little itchy bump on my ear on Wednesday and by Saturday morning the entire left side of my face was painful, swollen, and beet red. I couldn't open that eye. After good medical treatment, I'm slowly looking more and more normal and feeling a little better each day. I'm not doing much except reading, knitting, and sleeping - thus, nothing interesting to post. I hope to get back to this blog in a few days.