February trip first days

Each winter we take a trip to visit our daughter's family in Texas.  It is a 2 day drive from our home in North Dakota.

We had a prior appointment for Feb 8th, so didn't get started until after 2 in the afternoon.  We like to take a highway that is not in interstate, you see so much more scenery and US HWY 81 is the original route from Canada to Texas from before the interstate system was put in.  Parts of it are 2 lane and a good share of it is 4 lane.

The first day we made it into Kansas before stopping for the night. The next day we got on the road early and I took the first picture of this years trip in Oklahoma. To me the color of the dirt is just weird.

Another feature of Oklahome that we enjoy traveling through are the Arbuckle mountains.

Every time I see the name on the map or a sign, it gives me a bit of a tickle.  I read a lot of westerns, and one of the brand names for coffee back in the very old days was Arbuckle.  And another interesting thing about this area is Arbuckle Mountain Fried Pies.  They are very good.


This year, the weather was really good, no fog, no rain, and the farmguy was willing to take the time to do some sight seeing. We stopped at one of the overlook pullouts and I took a few pictures, here is one.

As we got closer to our daughter's house, we have to go through Fort Worth.  The road systems truely look like piles of spaghetti

there were some very interesting striated clouds

This year we took a fun present for our grandchildren, snow. 
I put our Yeti cooler out in the garage for several days to be sure it is chilled, then on the morning of the trip, I fill it with snow. close and latch the lid and it does pretty well for the 2 days og the trip. The kids had a great time with the snow and then they kept part of it for the next day for our granddaughter's 4th birthday party.

grampa throwing snowballs 

Along with the snowball fight, we enjoyed the fire pot.

Well, this is long enough for tonight.

There is more to come, because farmguy decided we were not going to go straight back home after our visit, we are going to do more sightseeing.
So stay tuned for some more interesting pictures.

I went trippin'

Last Thursday my BFF and I went on a trip.  We drove all the way from North Dakota to the East edge of Wisconsin.
I did some tatting during the trip and was able to finish an edging that I have had in as my purse project for the past 2 years up to the last join.  I will have to get it smoothed out and steamed into place so I can do the last join correctly.  I have posted about it before, let me see if I can find it in my Picassa archive....

The thread is Krystle Dawne's Wisteria Lane in size 40.  The pattern is Mary Konior's Beauty Spot
I also tatted a bookmark for one of my grandsons who had a birthday the other day.

The thread is size 40 Lizbeth Jelly Bean (don't know the color number) The pattern is by Diana Stevens and can be found on the wayback machine at http://www.allcrafts.net/crochetsewingcrafts.htm?url=web.archive.org/web/20000824105730/http://www.domesticarts.com/patterns/snake.htm  although as usual I made a few "improvements" to the pattern. I started with the head and ended with the tail so there were no cut and ties except when I finished. Since I was feeling my way abit, I ended up with the head curved off to the side.  I tried using the double double stitch so the chains in the head would be straighter between the body and the eyes.  If I had put the correct number of stitches in the orange side, the head would have been straighter.  I am going to do this again and will correct my stitch count, but this will work very well as is for my grandson.

Now a few pictures from my trip.

 There is an awesome old style chocolate candy shop in Manitowoc Beerntsen's it is amazing the candy is so good. The picture above is from the shop into the booth area as they also serve a simple soup and sandwich lunch.  The woodwork is walnut and the booths each have mirrors with cast iron framing.

 The lunch counter side and some of the candy

The other side of the shop with more of the candy.  All the candy is hand dipped on site.  Check out the link above to see some of it.

We did see some nice fall colors.  Some of the pictures I took as we drove down the highway so the focus isn't as good as I would like.

For some reason it just seems strange to see log buildings in Wisconsin.  The above building is missing it's roof but it just seemed so lonely in the middle of the corn field.

The Silos are different from what I am used to seeing around our neck of the woods ...

... concrete tops.  generally ours have steel tops.

This past Sunday was Fatima Day and we went to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help near Green Bay. This is a very reverent place.
We were able to attend the Rosary and Holy Hour while we were there.  Afterwards I was able to take a few pictures

 A grotto of Our Lady of Fatima and the 3 children who saw her. 

 A Statue of Our Lady of Good Help.  The apparitions have been approved by the Catholic Church as authentic, and worthy of belief, but we are not required  to believe in them.

One of the outdoor Stations of the Cross.

This last picture is of a sunrise over Lake Michigan from the window of the bedroom where I stayed.  The trees and grasses that you can see is the edge of the bluff above the shore of the lake.  The bright flare above the cloud layer is a plume from something on the Michigan shore across the lake.  The sunrise the day before had been even more awesome, but I had left my camera in the car so missed that one.

The drive is about 9 hours if you don't stop for gas or to stretch your legs.

Now time for bed.

tatting from the trip and what dragon species is this?

Well, I had a lot of wonderful lazy time, sitting in the sun, and tatting.
I got some of my Christmas presents finished,  and here is a sneak peak. but a peak is all you get 'cuz some of the recipients read this blog on occasion

but, since I only took 9 wound bobbins, and not whole balls of thread, I ran out.
Oh the horror!!

so I had to go hunting for thread.  I found almost nothing, amazing but true.
I did find a few balls of  white and ecru DMC Cebelia at a Hancocks Fabric store so picked up a ball of size 30 in white.  Then stopped at a Micheal's store and found a few colors of DMC perle cotton, so picked up a ball of white and a ball of red in size 8.

and these are the result of that excursion

 

Jon's Merriment Doily  done in perle cotton

 

Anne Bruvold Minor Norwegian Dragon  threads are Manuela gold size 20 and Cebelia white size 30

The dragon taxed my tatting abilities a bit as I hadn't done all that many SSSRs, so I am not completely pleased with the tail but not bad, and I got better with the practice.  I have trouble when closing the SSSR of pulling the loop thread so tight that a space opens up between that SSSR and the one previous to it. I did figure out one trick,  when you have finished the first half of the SSSR, and lay the shuttle over your hand to pull the loop out to tat the 2nd half,  put the shuttle through the SSSR and then over your hand, that way, the shuttle thread come out on the back of your SSSR.  for me that made it easier to get the next ring snugged down very close.  I figured that out about 5 rings in, you can see the rest of the SSSRs are closer together then the ones at the beginning of the tail.
   I also decided that I wanted the wings to look a certain way, white gossamer membranes between gold "bones".  The pattern calls for split rings, well, I didn't want half and half split rings, so I needed to use a SSSR and had to stack my shuttles to tat the first half of the SSSR so I could carry the white in the core.

I am rather proud of how it turned out.  I was able to see a vision of what I wanted and was able to make it work.

now of course, he/she needs a name and a classification,  it is not a Midnight Dragon, or a Midday Dragon, or a Snow, or a Water, or a Berry or a Green Leaf.  Does anyone recognize this species? 

one name that has been proposed is Humphrey,  does this look like a Humphrey?

All suggestions will be seriously  considered. 

Good night all, happy tatting tomorrow

some pics from my trip

I had a really great time on my trip.  in fact some of it was overload.
we had a guided walking tour of downtown Charleston which was very interesting.  we happened to be the only ones in that particular group so a 2 hour tour turned into a 3 hour tour with lots of information.  here are a couple of pictures from the tour

Rainbow Row

 

good example of what is called a "single house"

They built houses only 1 room deep so the breezes could blow through better to keep the houses cooler. This house is now a business.

we also spent some time walking through the blocks long open air market they have in downtown Charleston.  I bought some sweetgrass trivets.  I love the sweetgrass baskets that many of the artisans make, but can't afford the prices.  I understand their need to price their work, but my pockets just aren't that deep.  

On Saturday I bummed a ride from Theresa to the Palmetto Tatters monthly meeting.  We had a great time on the ride, it is about 1.5 hrs between Goose Creek and the Lexington county Museum where the group meets. we had no difficulty finding things to talk about.  I have yet to meet a Tatter that isn't an instant friend. Thanks Theresa for the ride and conversation.
This is the snowflake using the Lock Chain technique that was taught at the meeting.

not the greatest example of tension but, I had a lot of fun talking and sharing.

Thanksgiving evening, we made a trip to a park on James Island to the Festival of Lights.

******my computer shut off on me last night.  I was able to grab these from my online picture album, so am going to post this much this morning while at work.  The rest of the stuff and the tatting I wanted to show, will have to wait until after work tonight.

information only, no pictures

I have been doing some tatting for Georgia Seitz ~ samples for the Emmy Liebert project.   but no pictures to show you.

just an update,  I will be leaving tomorrow for Charleston SC area.   woo hoo!!

and a really fun time will be had with the Palmetto tatters monthly meeting.  I have never been able to attend their annual seminars, but I will be able to attend this month's meeting.  They are so generous to allow me to "crash" their get-together.  My shuttles are wound and I am ready to go.

so.  All of you have fun,  I will not be back home until the end of the month. I am taking much tatting thread with me so I can work on my Christmas Tatting.    

See you in December after I get back from my trip. 

South Carolina trip plans and an amazing talent

I am making plans to go on a trip to South Carolina,  the Charleston/Summerville/Goose Creek area to be precise.
If there are any tatters in the area who might have a few free minutes sometime between the 18th and 27th of November, let me know.


the Fargo Forum newspaper had an article today above the fold on the front page about a local 10th grader who takes amazing photographs.  One of them hangs in the British Natural History Museum in London. 
he also has a blog where he posts some of this work.  Go take a look

trip days 6,7 & 8

on Tuesday, we went back to Fort Worth to see the cattle drive at the Stockyards and the Cowboy hall of fame.

it was a rainy day.  The cowboys & Girls were wearing their slickers

Here is what a look at a cattle drive with Long Horns,  if you have read any westerns or heard about Long Horn cattle, notice the length of the horns on these.

you can see in the picture above, that the streets in the stockyard area of Fort Worth are brick.

we stopped in the Visitor Center and looked map on the wall

yea, that is me, with the cowboy hat~had to get one he he

my daughter Sarah and my friend and travel companion Barb

we ate at a Riscky's BBQ,  very good food, where they had the Cowboy Commandments posted

Wednesday and Thursday we drove home.

The End

Trip Day 5 Dinosaurs and Wildlife

so, on Tuesday, we decided to make a trip to a little town about an hours drive, Glen Rose.  But first before we left town, I had to take a picture of this really cool house right in the middle of town

Yup, that is a windmill and water tower in their back yard.
There are a lot of really interesting houses in Cleburne Texas.
we made our first stop at the Dinosaur Park, where there is a walking trail with a lot of different kinds of Dinosaurs and plaques explaining about each kind.  I filled the memory card in my camera, and the replacement was back at my daughter's so I don't have pictures of all of the kinds of Dinosaurs but will post a few here.

 A water scene that includes several varieties of dinosaurs and there are also Koi fish in the water.

after were were finished with the Dinosaurs we had enough time left to go to the Fossil Rim Wildlife park.
this is safari park where you can drive around and look at the animals in a more natural setting and even get to feed them.

we were greeted by an Ostrich

 toward the end of the trip which took about 2 hours, we saw this egg along side the road.

notice the really cool twisty horns

there were a lot of different types of deer and antelope from several different continents.  










and Zebras

while we were told we could feed the animals, we were warned that we should not feed the Zebras out of our hands as they can bite.  Barb has pictures on her camera of the Zebra's that wanted to get their heads in the car to check for food, and made a mess of the windows.




the really neatest part of the trip was the Giraffes

yup, that is me feed pellets to the Giraffe,  their lips are so soft.

After I stopped feeding him/her on my side, he/she went around to the other side and both Barb and Sarah had a chance to feed him/her




it was a very good day.  God made so many wonderful animals and gave us the chance to interact with them.  What a blessing.

Come back tomorrow for the last chapter