Gasoline

When we left Eureka on Sept. 26 gasoline was $4.79/gal. When we got to Minnesota it was $3.39. Every day it was a treat to see gas go down, down, down. As we left for the airport we sat it at $2.71/gal. Can't wait to see what it is in Eureka today.

Could there be an election coming up?????

End of the Visit

Sorry, no pictures today. I'll post those after I get home. Today is our last morning in Minnesota. The kids and grandbabies are out doing their regular Sat. morning job. They'll be back in about an hour and we'll load up the car, stop by a friends' and then to the airport. I've packed, washed our sheets (try to be a good guest!), made sure our breakfast dishes are in the dishwasher. Bill is doing last minute puttering.
While we've been here I've had a chance to hug and kiss on the grandbabies, sew with Beka, gone shopping (yesterday we went to Abdullah's Candy factory to get "imperfect" candies. They make giant peanut butter cups (the size of muffins!) and got some for my CA Son-in-law---ok, Mr. Scottie Dog and my Minn. son-in-law too! We got a 1 lbs. box of assorted imperfects too. We shared that last night and will leave the rest here. Beka and I got a chance to visit "Before You Quilt" her local Savage Quilt Shop. They had moved a few doors down into a larger space. They are now about the same size as Scottie Dog Quilt Shop and have about 1/2 the fabric we have. Nice ladies, nice samples. We'll go again next time I'm in town.
I've also had some time babysitting, doing a craft project with Jakob, reading to him, laughing and taking walks to the mailbox. Jakob has more energy than most 2 1/2 year old boys. If I lay down on the couch he loves to jump on me and say, "BIG hug" and squeeze me really tight. Then he yells, "little hug" and barely a squeeze. Then, "BIG hug" and so on. He knows all his letters. Right smart boy--must take after Grandpa. Mercedes, on the other hand is mostly always smiling, laughing. She loves it when I sing. She was barely crawling when we got here and now she wants to walk! On Thursday she was crawling on the ground and suddenly let out a scream! I went to her and she had a tiny red dot on her lower lip and had a dead wasp in her fist. I guess she'd picked it up and tried to eat it. Beka took her to the doctor as her lip began to swell. Looked like a collagen job gone bad...only bottom lip. They dosed her with Benedryl, she didn't have any other reaction but Beka got an Eppi kit anyway.
Grandpa's legacy from this trip is pretty substantial. A new bathroom, painted and done. New lighting system in the basement, a new hallway with doors & lighting installed and in the laundry room shelves and a hanging rod for hangers!
So in a little bit we'll be flying back to Eureka. It will take nearly 12 hours with a long layover in Chicago. Grandma always cries when it is time to go. But hoping we'll be back soon.
Pictures to follow!

Pears

Pears....ripe Bartlett Pears....sweet, juicy, drippy down your chin....nearly perfect fruit. OK...I shamelessly stole this picture from Ami Sims' blog (http://amisimms.wordpress.com/). She rambles on about bean soup, pears and Rome when she was a child.
What I want to say about pears is that a few weeks ago, Laura Meglemre brought in a couple of bags of pears from her backyard garden....uummmm good! They were a bit beat-up, but so perfectly ripe. Great. I think Liz made some pear sauce, like apple sauce.
The day before yesterday Beka and I took the kids to Target. SUPER Target. In Eureka we just have Target, Little Target, I guess. Super Target, for those who don't know, has a full grocery store attached. A great Deli and a bakery which gives all good little children (or at least that's what Beka told Jakob!) a cookie. He didn't even share his warm peanut butter cookie with grandma! Target had Pears.....beautiful Bartlett Pears. We got a bunch of them. I ate one for lunch yesterday and one for breakfast today. I think they need to be a bit bunged up to really be fabulous. The aroma, ah the aroma. Sniff deeply of the perfume, it's part of the experience. Someone talked about making a pear tart or a pear pie. I think pears are perfect just as they are.....kind of like YOU.

Check Out Our New Website!

For the past several months our daughters, Liz and Beka have been working behind the scenes on our new Scottie Dog Quilts website. Our old site was outdated and difficult for us to add to. We had had such great plans for it.....well, after many, many hours of blood, sweat and tears it is now up and running. You can view it at: www.scottiedogquilts.com It will continue to grow as more things are added to it. I can't wait until all our classes have color pictures to go with them...be patient, that is only around the corner.
You'll be able to read my blog from there too. We've already had some very positive comments about it....some of my employees even found things on the website they didn't know we had in the store! Soon your family and friends can even buy you Scottie Dog Quilts Gift Certificates on-line too! So be sure to tell them when they ask what you might like for Christmas or your Birthday!!

Little House on the Prairie: The Musical!

A couple of months ago I got a phone call from Jason, my son-in-law. He wanted to know if by chance Bill and I would want to go see a play with them when we were here in Minn. Beka's birthday wasn't until November, but the play was happening earlier and he wanted to surprise her. He thought it odd that anyone might want to go--but Beka was a fan of the books. Guess where she got that???? Her mom is a HUGE fan of Laura Ingals Wilder!!!!!
Last night was Beka's early Birthday night. A friend came to babysit and off we went to Red Lobster. Beka didn't know where we were going....until in the middle of dinner. I'm not sure any of us were prepared for what lay ahead. We had a wonderful dinner at Red Lobster.....Those who live in Eureka can understand the excitement of eating at the big chain restaurants....McDonalds, Marie Callendars & Applebees is all we have at home. Beka was excited to learn we were going to Little House on the Prairie at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis as she hadn't heard about it yet. Oh, and one more thing.....guess who starred as Ma? Melissa Gilbert....Laura of the TV series fame! Here's Beka and Jason with their tickets...are they a lovely couple! I think so.
Jason had been trying to get the tickets for 2 months. At first he only had 4 separate tickets. This show has been sold out since it began in July through Oct. 11 the last day. Calling nearly every day he was finally able to get two sets of two tickets. The sets were simple but amazing and the musical told the story according to the books beginning with Little House on the Prairie through These Happy Golden Years. The music was lively and the songs snappy. The character of Nellie was perfect but more lovable that the one on TV. There were quilts---I noticed those of course! The Guthrie Theatre is a fantastic place--two main theatres and one small stage so actually there were three productions going on all at once. There were some children at our performance....including two 7-9 year old girls wearing their prairie costumes complete with sunbonnets. Melissa Gilbert did herself proud. While I know she is not known for her singing ability she was able to make a great showing for the group songs and held her own for her solo about Laura, her wild child. What a great time we had! I certainly hope that other theatre groups put the production on....I loved it and it's great entertainment for the whole family even if you never heard of Laura Ingals Wilder.

A New Bathroom

As you know, Mr. Scottie Dog has been building me a beautiful new bathroom in Eureka. The 13" tiles are slowly making their way up the walls of the new showers (one large room with two showering "stations," one for me and one for him). But now that we are in Minnesota visiting Beka, Jason and the grandbabies he is busy building a new bathroom in their basement. First came the demo work (as in demolition). Beka and Jason helped cut the rug and pull up the rug and padding and scrape off the adhesive. Then the ceiling came down, the sheetrock off one wall and more. Lots of dirt, dust, trash and man/woman power. Here's a picture of me holding Sadie as Jakob hands the broom to Mr. Scottie Dog aka, Gandpa. This was yesterday. Today where I am standing is a bathtub/shower unit and the walls are going up. Bill's been busy with the plumbing and electrical and waiting for the inspector.
Jakob and I made brownies today. He loves to crack the eggs. Oh, and lick the spoon. He's great at that!