the fun continues

Our plan was to ask at the shop where was a good place to eat,  Lori the owner, who is one of the most gracious people I have ever met invited us to eat what she was serving the guild.  She had plenty.  It was a delicious chicken salad croissant, fruit and chips.  One of the local gals sits down with us and proceeds to tell us what it going on in Faulkton and to be sure to see the Pickler Mansion and the grain elevator.  There is a Victorian mansion on the prairie of South Dakota.  I had been there before but learned more from this tour guide than I had before or maybe repetition helps things stick in my head.    To be a Victorian Mansion it has to have a library,  a tower, stained glass windows and two staircases.  It was home to South Dakotas first congressman and Susan B. Anthony stayed there.
We spent the entire day in Faulkton!! a town of 700 some people.  An artist is painting their grain elevator, this side (east) was done, he was working on cowboy hats on the the north and in the 2 weeks since I was there he has painted the west side click on Faulkton above and see.
We visited a couple more shops then went back to the quilt shop for a cup of good coffee and more girl talk before heading our separate directions.  Cherished time with good friends.  --Ann--

Fun Day

The days at son's house were relaxing, I read and knit and stitched then I needed a day with the girls. I met some quilt friends at the Quilter's Corner quilt shop in Faulkton which is about halfway between where they live at Pierre and where I was.  It happened to be the day the Aberdeen guild planned a road trip tomorrows story. While we were browsing around the store Lori the owner points out a collection of fabric by a gal with a South Dakota connection, Pierre to be precise because my 3 friends were from Pierre.  Then she tells us her name and our eyes pop and our jaws drop.  Missie Carpenter was in our little group of quilters from 15-20 years ago.  Then she moved away and moved again and so did I and we lost track of her.  So we bought more fabric.  --Ann-

A Little Trip

We have made a couple little trips to visit son who has a dog better the dog hair stay at his house than mine. Its almost a 4 hour trip so lots of knitting in the car, and a good start on socks for Christmas. We drove past a few fields of sunflowers in full bloom but someone didn't want to stop for selfies with the sunflowers.  Those are wild sunflowers from the file.  We drove into Mobridge one day and stopped at the new outdoor found materials sculpture.  A cowboy riding a walleye called Walleye Up.  When the dams were built on the Missouri River in the 1950's and 60's the old town was flooded and a new town was built where the bridge crosses the Missouri River the words were combined into Mobridge. Their claim to fame is ranching, rodeos and walleye fishing. It could be a statement about taming the west and the river, tourism might be equal or larger than the beef industry now.  Its art and it makes me think and look  --Ann--

summer sweetness

 An hours worth of work and now to add more sweetness and make freezer jam.  --Ann--

Boxed In

 I spent an afternoon arranging and rearranging these triangles and my thinking outside the box look was just a mess.  I think the meandering lines would have worked if I had stuck with just 2 or 3 colors or values.  Maybe I will try that again sometime and exercise a little restraint in choosing fabrics.  If the baby had a name that started with S the second arrangement might have worked but none of the babies coming this fall have last names that start with S.  So put the triangles together like tumbling blocks.   I still have some rearranging to do.  --Ann--

parting shots of the Alps

 This clock was in Bern, Switzerland, at noon or maybe it was 1:00 the crowd gathered and the little figures moved.

 Our tour guide doing her imitation of the queen and having her morning cigarette and coffee on the balcony.
She was a terrific tour director because she made the rules clear the first night.  Anyone late to get on the bus needed to bring chocolates  and she knew where the good chocolates could be purchased.  Sadly we only had chocolates a couple times but that was good because then we were on time for all our stops. She also said no talking of American politics, what a vacation!!!!

 The water in these lakes all the lakes we saw were clear and blue from the minerals in the water and that water is what came out of the faucets.

 Innsbruck, Austria    dirEctly above the E is the Olympic ski jump it looks like the head of a cobra

 More clock figures that move these are in Munich and are life size and shortly after I dropped my camera

 glaciers

 A view from the Eagles Nest Germany

 Now its time to get back to real life and learn how to use my new camera. ---Ann--

a little shopping

 Wherever I go I'm always on the look out for fabric and yarn shops.  This one had both!  Fortunately I took a picture of their poster so I could show it to someone and they could direct me to the shop.  They had Bernina sewing machines in Switzerland and well they should since they are made in Switzerland.  They also had yarn in the same shop and yarn doesn't weigh a lot it can also be put in a zipper bag and sat on to squish all the air out so it doesn't take up much space in the suitcase.

Purchase from this store and another  and some double point needles too.

 Our tour guide pointed out a store that was handmade items.  It turned out to be a shop that sold fabric and made traditional Bavarian costumes to get all decked out like the von Trapp Family Singers.  Beautiful fabrics and workmanship, but I didn't order a custom fit Dirndl.

And a window display showing how they made chocolates.