Its that time of year again

Yesterday was the first day of fall. A cold front came in and the night time temperatures dropped into the 40's. The house sure was cold in the morning. I heard it was going to be a really cold and wet winter here.  The husband is preparing us for it by getting our firewood stocked up. He has been working really hard lately on cutting wood and also finishing up that outdoor wood furnace project.  Hopefully this winter we will be spending the evenings infront of the tv in our t shirts. Here is the stockpile of wood he has so far.

He's been a busy beaver!

Legacy of the Quilts

A few weeks ago I drove up to visit my grandpa who is 94. He is by himself now, my grandma passed away 6 years ago. My grandpa lives in a condo they bought before she passed away. He zooms around it in his hover-round because his knees are so bad he can hardly walk anymore.  We all laugh at the things he has dinged up with that hover-round. The fridge has a dent in it, the dishwasher pushed back into the space for it, a hole in the bathroom door, the corners of the walls chipped off.  He still has his independence, hes so happy to be able to stay in his own home, and that is priceless.

While I was there my mom and I went through my Grandma's quilts, spread them out on the bed and looked at all of them. We were so amazed and in awe of them. My grandma was very crafty. She was known for making braided rugs and crocheted afghans. These quilts were a work of art! Of all the times I remember being at my grandparents house I do not remember seeing any of these quilts on the bed or displayed anywhere. I am sure they were used at some point because of how soft they are but they have been in the closet for years.  Alot of them were very old, they were the one's she worked on with her mother and some friends.  Here is a picture of my grandma's mother. She is the second from the left. Her name was Helen. In the picture she is cleaning chickens for my grandma and grandpa's wedding.

                                       
                                         Here are the quilts she made with my grandma.

This one is a masterpiece

I love the edging on this one

The poppy quilt

Can you imagine the time it took to embroider these baskets on here

This one is my grandpas favorite. The pattern is called log cabin. Look how it was put together so that it made alternate  lighter colored and darker colored stripes in in diagonally.

This one is not as old as the previous. I recognize some of the fabrics used in some of the things I remembered from my grandparents house.

Grandma won many ribbons for her crafts

   I don't know how many hours were spent working on these quilts. I do know that they were hours well spent with family talking and laughing together. What is this generation going to leave behind for the next one? It's not just the quits that we are to pass on to our loved ones but the lessons learned from spending the time to make them. What are we doing with our spare time?

Homemade applesauce

Yesterday I decided to pick through the fallen apples under one of our apple trees. I hated to see them go to waste. They weren't that bad, a bruise here and there. I peeled them, cut them up, dropped them into a pot of salted water( to keep them from turning brown), cooked them on the stovetop in just enough water to cover them, and they turned into applesauce! It was that easy! I added some sugar and cinnamon. It's way better than store bought. I guessed that batch I whipped up while the daughter was napping was probably about $12.00  worth of applesauce if you were to buy it. I was reading that it freezes well in jars. Maybe I will freeze the next batch. Having issues posting pics where i want them with this. I give up. You get the general idea. 

Blogging from my I phone

I fought it as long as I could, I didn't want to become one of "those" people. however, here I am. Not only do I have an I phone I am now blogging from it. 

It all happened at once a few months ago. My trusty regular phone with the key pad started acting goofy. The 0 button quit working which was not handy for when you need to call 1-800-pay-my-bill. So I took it in to Verizon hoping they could fix it or give me the same phone as replacement. Of course the phone totally died the minute I walked in the Verizon store! No joke! So I had no choice but to walk out of there with something new. Did they have my old phone? No they did not! I got the free upgrade, this I phone. 

Then my laptop broke, which I miss terribly. My camera program and pictures is on it. So until I can get it fixed its just me,this new phone, and its built in camera. Look out world, I am now one of "those people".