This morning I got to celebrate with grandangels Sarah and Cooper.  We had breakfast at the school and the kids got their FEET CHARMS - one foot for every 2 miles that they had run on the school track Thursday mornings before school.  It was pretty exciting!

I got inspired to do some running myself - so the last picture is of my new running shoes before I went on my mile run this afternoon!  It felt great!  AND….only one neighbor laughed at me.  LOL

Here we are on our way to a Grandma’s Day out for Shirley Anne’s birthday with cousins Leanna (12) and Sarah (9)…..the littlest one is Shirley Anne (4) and I am the grown up!  :) 

Shirley Anne's Birthday Grandma's Day Out

They are the Christian Cross, The Friendship Block and the Peony Block.  I LOVE THE MIDDLE BLOCK SO MUCH THAT I AM GOING TO MAKE AN ENTIRE QUILT WITH IT.  As a matter of fact I am going to make my 12th block be a repeat of this one - that is how much I LOVE IT!

One more block and these pieces are ready to be put together.  I am trying REALLY HARD to restrain myself so that I don’t put it together before our final class.  I am getting a REPUTATION for being an overachiever…..and I don’t want to reinforce that idea…….so I am repeating my self-imposed mantra……I WILL NOT FINISH THIS QUILT AHEAD OF TIME…..I WILL NOT FINISH THIS QUILT AHEAD OF TIME  (I will let you know if this works!)  LOL 

I can hardly believe it but it snowed today in Virginia….and this California transplant was sure excited.  I woke everyone up to see the snow.  The grandangels, Cooper and Sarah, were thrilled (they did the SNOW DANCE last night in hopes that it would bring on the snow….TOO FUNNY!!)

There is something special about the emergence of two -or three seasons - summer flowers, fall leaves and scarecrows - with snow falling on them!!!! Don’t you think that is fan-tabulous!!????

Even though the snow didn’t last long, it sure was exciting……here are some of the pictures that I took - barefoot and with wet hair fresh out of the shower….LOL  :)  Did I mention that SNOW is on my list of FAVORITE THINGS?

Here they are doing some pre-run warm ups.  Cooper is in the red hat and Sarah is wearing a white hat.

Oh, they were SO PROUD of those medals!  Here they are after the race - and Cooper is using his free drink to cool off with!

Today their dad ran the McDonald’s Half Marathon in Richmond, VA.  Here he is with his fan club!

We ate off pewter plates and drank out of tin cups - and amazingly Marla and I got to sit right in front of the fireplace - oh, talk about a fantastic setting - can you smell the wood burning and see all of the pumpkin decorations  inside that log cabin tavern!

Then we took a tour and did we ever learn a lot about colonial life in the 1700’s.    Notice that their playing cards had no numbers on them - evidently the British taxed the colonists if they used numbers…..go figure!  When the early travelers came for an overnight stay, they paid for a space for their body and that was not necessarily in a bed….they slept on the floor.  There was ONE BED in the women’s parlor and five women slept on it sideways.  The rest of the women slept on the floor.  

Women slept in a chemise and in the morning they LEFT IT ON and slipped on a skirt and vest on top.  They also WORE THEIR POCKETS like an apron under their skirts if they were married and on top of their skirts if they were single and available. 

Fans were very important.  Girls learned in school how to use their fans to say yes or no……AND unmarried women could not speak to a cute guy if they saw one - they had to signal their interest by the wave of their fan - and then the gentleman had to go get permission from the flirting girl’s guardian to speak to her.  They sure did have to go to a lot of trouble to get together in those days!

Seeing the antiques throughout the house was amazing - and the table that folded into a bench was quite rare!   One of the grandfather clocks from Scotland was still running!!!!!  Upstairs we even learned a square dance that the early visitors to the tavern amused themselves with.  That upstairs room was JUST LIKE MY GRANDMOTHER’S UPSTAIRS ROOM IN HER OLD FARM HOUSE.  It was quite an experience!  The one bedroom upstairs was for the occasionally wealthy person who came to spend the night at Michie’s Tavern.  Even the wealthy used the OUTHOUSE.  What an adventure!

Another INTERESTING thing that I learned was that tea was PRESSED INTO BRICKS and grated when one wanted to make a pot of tea.  So at the BOSTON TEA PARTY these bricks were tossed into the sea!  I always thought that they tossed in burlap bags full of loose tea!

The clothier shop had authentic colonial clothing for sale and the gift shop was festive with all of the preparations for Christmas everywhere.  This tour just made my heart sing with joy. 

It was a PERFECT day - we learned a lot, ate great food, and the cool autumn temperature couldn’t have been better!

Here are a few pictures from today.

P. Buckley Moss depicts a lot of family scnenes, skaters, winter scenes and geese - with long necks - and she never shows the feet of the geese because theologically the webbed feet of geese was once thought to represent sin.  Her people also have long necks and are charmingly loving and more often than not, reflective of the Amish way of life.  Also the roofs on her houses often blend into the sky in her paintings to represent the freedom of the soul - likewise there are no doors on her houses - they are open - like ones soul.  WOW - what symbolism.

This was my first time to visit the Moss Museum (and it won’t be my last!)  I planned to GIVE my “self”  a MOSS PRINT for my birthday - I wanted one with quilts and cats in it….and boy was that ever difficult to choose.  Here are some of my favorites!

I finally chose STAR CITY QUILTS - the one with two women quilting a star quilt  - children and cats are nearby - and there are baskets everywhere (I DEARLY LOVE BASKETS) - one of my grandangels is called SARAH BEAR and my daughter, Christi, loves monkeys  - so, as you can see, this STAR CITY QUILT represents ME!    LOVE IT!

The autumn landscape on our day trip was fantastic.  There were lots of OOOHS and AAAHS today both inside the museum and outside as well.  I hope you enjoyed my pictures from today……I do NOT HAVE A CLUE why my pictures have been REARRANGED FOR ME - but I think you can tell which pictures were taken inside the museum and which were takein outside…LOL.      ENJOY!

I am NOT SURE, but I think I might have FOUND the POWHATAN VILLAGE - anyway I found this cute school and just HAPPENED TO HAVE MY CAMERA and I love taking pictures when I am lost!

HISTORIC POWHATAN

THE CLOTHES CLOSET

I had read about the CLOTHES CLOSET when I googled USED CLOTHING (I am on a quest for men’s 100% cotton shirts to make a quilt with)….. I just couldn’t BELIEVE THAT I HAD ACCIDENTALLY FOUND IT!

POWHATAN HIGH SCHOOL

Apparently I had found the SIGN but not the CLOTHES  CLOSET - and I said, “SELF, it would be SILLY to get your GPS out to find the CLOTHES CLOSET when the sign is right in front of your eyes…..”

So, I turned around and went back to the first building - and then I saw the sign….THE CLOTHES CLOSET was down the hill on the SIDE of the school!  YEAH!  I DID IT!

CLOTHES CLOSET - FOUND

I was so excited!  When I went in I saw a sign that said fill a bag…..and so I gave them $3.00 and they gave me a grocery bag to fill.  OH MY was that fun and you would never guess what I got into that bag!

SO…I will tell you…..incredibly I got 20   - yes 20 shirts rolled up in there - and two pieces of fabric - and a little glass vase (so I can make a felted pin cushion flower like Catherine’s ) and a BOOK.

NOW IS THAT A THRIFT STORE BONANZA OR WHAT.

I just love getting lost…….and just for the record, while I was lost I just happened to run into TWO antique shops and one DOLLAR GENERAL!   AND then…….I got out my GPS and went home…..a very happy person indeed!  :)  THE CLOTHES CLOSET IS NOW ON MY LIST OF FAVORITE THINGS!

In case you wonder why some of my pictures are a bit strange and ill staged - it is because everyone seemed to be a bit “modest” about holding up their work and they had their masterpieces up and back down before my camera could register!   I NAMED THIS THE TWIRLING SHOW AND TELL BEHAVIOR.  :):)   And……I loved the way Catherine HID behind her work - but you can still see that smile in her eyes PEEPING OUT FROM BEHIND HER CREATIONS!  I did get faster at taking those pictures with practice!

I liked all of the quilts today - especially Jane’s DISAPPEARING NINE-PATCH and Linda’s QUILT OF VALOR.  There were several cute baby quilts donated this month too.  I really liked this month’s STRIP OF THE MONTH CHALLENGE TOO!

I WAS QUITE IMPRESSED WITH THE QUILTED POSTCARDS TOO.  Maybe I should retire so I could have more time to do COOL STUFF!!!!

Merci taught us how to make felted pin cushions and I think she inspired many of us to try it!  I know I am inspired!  As can see by the excitement on the faces in the pictures, several lucky ladies  won pin cushions…..THANK YOU MERCI.

I had a great time and there were some SERIOUSLY FANTASTIC YUMMIES!  And we ended by viewing the DVD of the retreat….oh my, Sara and Steve have done some fantastic editing work - REALLY WONDERFUL.

Enjoy the pictures….and click on them to see the full view!