Quilt Barn Trail

On one of our lovely peninsulas jutting out into Lake Michigan is the "Quilt Barn Trail."  There are ten quilt barns on the trail although there are many more historic barns on Old Mission peninsula.  Many volunteers came forth to help construct, paint, and install the quilt squares on the ten barns.  Each quilt design has special significance to the family and history of the farm.  A tour map is available.  Recently I came across a couple of these barns and thought you might enjoy seeing them.

The saltbox barn above is decorated with a Windmill quilt design with a cluster of cherries in the center.   The barn sits high on a windy hill and the family raises cherries.

The white barn below was built in 1870.  The quilt square is a modified Bear Paw pattern taken from a family heirloom quilt.

NATIONAL CHERRY CAPITAL !

Yes, I live in the National Cherry Capital and we get very excited about our cherries.  Thought you'd enjoy seeing the orchards in bloom this spring.  First the sweet cherries bloom followed by the tarts, or pie cherries.  They nearly always bloom around Mother's Day and an excursion through the orchards is a must.  Many of us grow up here picking cherries as a summer job or working in the canneries.  Dried cherries are a relatively new product and are wonderful to use as you would raisins or cranberries.  They are fantastic covered in chocolate!

Happy Mother's Day to All

Patchwork quilts bring back memories for many of us.  I found this partially assembled quilt top at an estate sale recently.  5~1/2" square 4-patches .... 85 of them!  They were a bit musty and I didn't want to launder them and have them ravel or shrink so I pinned them out on the clothesline on a windy afternoon.  Don't they look like prayer flags?  

Here's a photo of them placed on a bed... I know I will never put them together and I cannot bear to see anything like this lost, so I put them in my Etsy shoppe.  Someone's mother began this project and I hope a daughter finishes it.  A bit sentimental today.

Hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day complete with brunches, bouquets, dog walks and phone calls to and from loved ones.

BEES BUZZING - MUST BE HEAVEN!

Once in a rare while one finds oneself thoroughly immersed in heaven on earth.  I was driving home from an estate sale one sunny day last week and had to keep pulling off the road to take photos of "heaven."  First was the hillside within a roadside park.... yes, Michigan has beautiful roadside parks and mostly they are open now for the summer.  The daffodils here were absolutely perfect.   Such a sweet fragrance!

Next was an old house on a rural road with the yard overgrown with grape hyacinths.  The bees were sooo busy here I was careful to stay out of the way.  There were a few daffodils mixed in as well - double blooms... gorgeous. 

My GPS friend kept trying to steer me toward the main highway but I persisted and remained on the back roads.  Much more interesting and with time and space to smell the flowers.

Documentary..... NOT!!

I literally spent most of the past two months purging, sorting, selling and giving away a multitude of treasures from my stash, closets, spare room, cubbies!   The "American Pickers" should have found ME for their scavenging!   A friend suggested I should have made a documentary of the process.  It would have been too embarrassing!   Okay, no more hoarding!  Onward.....

REWORKing my thinking

Have you read the new bestseller "Rework" by Fried and Hansson?   How to simplify your life,
your business, your whatevers.  Do what works, get started, keep your lists short, focus, decide
and move forward, etc., etc.   Two bright guys have written a very useful book for business or just
plain life!  Easy, quick read.

Upside Down World

How delighted I am to have my granddaughter, Emily, living nearby.  Here she is with her doggie's dish upside down on her head.  Yes, the brown fluffy thing next to her is her dog trying to gobble his food.  Emily and her parents moved across the country during last week and are settling into their new home just a dozen miles from Nonna and Poppy.