Moving Dustins and Calico Ghost Town

The sunset was beautiful as ...

... Paul and I were flying to California to ...

... help Dustin & Gina pack and move back East.

While Paul and Dustin filled every crack and cranny of the U-Haul trailer ...

... Bryce and a friend, Allison had fun outside.

One last picture in the small backyard on McClemont Street.

Paul and I are driving Dustin's car back to Mississippi and decided to take the long way around. Today we stopped at an old ghost mining town near Baker, CA.

I doubt I was proper enough for riding a stage coach.

You can see the word "Calico" on top of the mountain.

I loved the old general store.

I'm so glad we have modern technology in dentistry today.

Paul enjoyed looking at the beautiful rocks in the gift shops.

Back in it's heyday, the school house also served as the church meeting house when the traveling pastor came around.

We took the walking tour of Maggie Mine.

I was impressed with the greatness of the bellows.

The Mulcahy Brothers lived here for 20 years. Did you see the quilt?

And I found this quilt in the Craft Shop covered with other things.

We really enjoyed being tourists!

Our Busy Life

Georgi is in first grade and is sharpening her reading skills. I take it from her smile that she comprehends what she is reading. She didn't know I was taking this picture.

Recent visitors in our home were our neighbors, Nathan & Amanda Cronkleton and family.

Kirby had his 9th birthday.

He did a great job serving his own cake.

The Mustard Seed Handbell Choir gave a delightful program for the MQA attendees at a recent meeting.

We are getting a new roof put on the house.

Tim demonstrates how his handy gadget bends the metal just right.

This machine cuts the metal for length, creases or folds it just right, and makes holes in it for the screws.

We are glad to have Magnum Metals close by to do the work for us.

Here the slat comes from the machine ready to be put on the roof.

We were blessed to have my cousin Kathy and Steve Rhodes stop in for a short visit.

Some people think that Kathy and I resemble each other.

Amy and Ashton

Lee Hilty with his dog Bernie. I really like Bernie's disposition.

David Jenkins is one of our landlords. He enjoys coming for pizza when he is around.

Quinten & Evie and family.

Joel & Sheila and family.

En Provence Finale

This is my version of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt "En Provence." I finished sewing all the blocks together recently at our annual Heatwole Sewing Retreat.

My sisters Emily and Polly and a friend Queena also joined in the fun of making "En Provence."

It's so neat seeing how the same pattern looks with different fabrics.

And now I'm already looking forward to next year's mystery quilt.

Some Highlights of Our Heatwole Sewing Retreat

I love being with my family.
We sure missed Sheila ...

... and our sister-in-law Cheryl joined us later for a couple days.

Mother and Polly worked with color and value on this project. For most of mothers life she has been an artist painting with oils. Polly heard her say several times that she sure was enjoying this layout of color.

Then Polly worked all day making blocks for this quilt.

Our sewing space was simply amazing. Lots of room to spread out.

Mother is telling a great granddaughter Dori the story of the time she worked in a sewing factory on a fast machine and after going home she sewed over her finger with her momma's slow sewing machine.

Here's a finish. Emily's Moo Cow.

I made this quilt for a grandson Josiah and have blocks for another grandson Bryce.

This one has a modern feel to it.

June did a lot of hand sewing on this heirloom quilt that was started years ago by her husbands relative.

Coleen's project was to put the finishing touches on her velvet pillows. Mother did the piecing years ago and Coleen did the fancy stitching and is making them into pillows.

Afton was a trouper making this from start to finish. She even wanted to quilt it but didn't have a backing.

Her momma Jolene's final creation.

Cheryl made this stunning quilt from a layer cake packet. Love it.

This quilt is for a competition coming up soon. I call it "Summer's Heat."