quilts on the farm

We are in Wisconsin staying at the cute Rustic Barn campground.

This quilt is one of the first detailed quilts I made.

It makes the perfect bed quilt for us in the camper.

 

When I saw this white fence with a farm in the background 

I had to dig it out for some new pictures.

Quilts on a fence never get old for me.

~b

Friday Post Card

 

We were up on the viewing deck just in time to see this barge go through Lock & Dam #16 on the Mississippi River by Muscatine, Iowa.

There is about a foot of room on each side of his cargo to get through the dam.

The captain of the barge was kind enough to step out and say hello.

Nice work Scott!

~b

pickers

 Do you watch the American Pickers on the history channel?

We are camping close to their shop in Le Claire, Iowa

 so we jumped on the extremely busy I-80 to visit them.

They are across from the Mississippi River.

The telephone company that Mr. b worked for back in the late 70's

 covered this territory 

so he always had a river story when he came home from here.

One day he talked with an old gentleman in his 90's that knew Buffalo Bill.

Bill Cody was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory

~b

being amish

Today was not a good day to be Amish with temps in the high 90's.

I was pretty glad to be in our air-conditioned vehicle.

 

This old building catches lots of breezes.

 The horses didn't appreciate the weather either.

It's always fun to follow a horse and buggy down an Iowa backroad.

~b

Dyersville, Iowa

We discovered we were fairly close to Dyersville, Iowa,

home of Field of Dreams.

Just another reason we love Iowa.

  

This is the man of my dreams coming out of the corn.

 ~b

Iowa

 We are in Iowa camping...it was definitely time to bust out.

The heat has been horrible and it is in Iowa too.

But it's August and just about time to switch gears I hope.

I brought along a quilt to hand quilt this trip.

So far I'm enjoying it as I haven't hand quilted anything for years.

I'm hoping to get it finished and another one put together for this winter's trip.

~b

Friday Post Card

You can say goodbye to those expensive candy bars with this recipe.

I have posted it before but it's just that good.

 No Bake Energy Balls

1 1/2 cups old fashion oats

1/3 cup honey

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup mini M&M's (or chocolate chips)

Mix the oats, honey, peanut butter and vanilla in a bowl until evenly combined. Add in the M&M's. Roll about 1 tablespoon of the mixture into a small ball and place on parchment paper. Repeat until all of dough is used. Rolling with wet hands works well. 

We like to store ours in a freezer bag in the freezer.

These are a favorite at our house, better than a candy bar in fact.

They are easy enough for kids to make on their own and a great treat for them.

~b

summer camp

 Painting, sewing, baking, swimming, tie dye

 and the Twilight series!

This was grandma's summer camp this year.

Observation: A teenager is much more reluctant to paint 

than a six and four year old.

And our teens are very good artists on paper but are afraid of fabric.

Observation #2: I love tie dye and wish I was better at it.

We all walked around with blue fingers for a day.

Observation #3: It only takes two days to put together two rag quilts 

with three people working on them.

 Way to go girls!

~b

happy birthday Delainee

 I missed a  few days here last week as we decided at the last minute 

to drive seven hours north to celebrate with our granddaughter who turned seven.

Fourteen hours on the road...

 and so worth it!

It was a park, pizza and pool party...

with lots of giggles.

~b

Goodbye July...

...Hello August!