Yes, I've been a bad, bad blogger.

Life is good, I've just been crazy busy.  I've been working, quilting, sewing, teaching sewing, gardening, working on my house, and serving on a very active PTA board for the first time in addition to my wife and mother responsibilities.  Sixth grade has been a major transition for my daughter, but she is doing really well in school and I'm so proud of her.

Photo from and great article Boston.com

The drought and weather here in Texas has been completely devastating. We've had the hottest and driest year in Texas history. Wildfires, dead and displaced cattle and livestock, withered crops, and parched soil. It's really heartbreaking and the outlook isn't good. Forecasters tell us the situation isn't going to improve anytime in the foreseeable future. I'm trying to think of something positive to end this paragraph with, but I'm completely at a loss. The impact of 2011 on our landscape, lives, and economy will be profound.

On a happier note, I finished a quilt! This is the quilt I started in my previous post. It's completely over the top and I just love it. This quilt is for my cousin's gorgeous daughter, Teagan. I wanted to make something as delightful as her smile.

I quilted it with bright colors of Perle cotton and tied it with some hot pink for a little extra hold. Everything except the binding is dots. I was surprised at how easy it was to pull a dots quilt together from my stash. I must have a serious love of polka-dots. 

Teagan evidently really likes her quilt and I hope she gets years and years of use from it.

So, if you are reading this, I'm guessing you haven't deleted me from your blog reader due to inactivity. I'm going to make an effort to post more regularly and I've got lots of fun things to post about. It's good to be back.   

Texas History Trip

Howdy! Well, I'm back from my whirlwind tour of central Texas with 40 fourth graders. I have my sewing machine back and my finger feels just about normal again. Life is good!

I have to share just a few photos from my trip since I am such a proud Texan. I know my family (who read my blog and never comment) will appreciate them.

Our first stop was the Texas State Capitol. This is view from the east side. Since everything is bigger in Texas, our state capitol is the largest in the United States. It's not the tallest, Louisiana has that honor, but it is taller than our nation's capitol.

Inside the capitol dome.

We visited the Texas State History Museum in Austin, and then headed south to San Antonio.

Out first stop in San Antonio was Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo, founded in 1720 when Texas was under Spanish rule.

I loved how the doors around the mission were numbered.

Beautiful ironwork abounded.

The doors of the church at the center of the mission and their beautiful Baroque facade.

These gorgeous hand carved wood doors were made in 1937. The church was finished in 1782. 

The inside of the Mission San José church which still holds weekly mass.

The mission grounds were being prepared for their annual gala and fundraiser (which is the reason I have no photos of the famous Rose Window). Workers were hanging these gorgeous piñatas all throughout the mission.

I could not stop photographing them.

I want one for my house!

On to the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio.  It was built for the world's fair in 1968. A glass elevator ride to the top of the 750 foot tower provides beautiful views of San Antonio.

A hamburger lunch and tour at the Texas Buckhorn Saloon & Museum.

This place is true Texas all the way.

Our obligatory photo in front of the Alamo.

When you tour the Alamo (as I'm sure is true of all historic battlegrounds), you really do feel as if you are standing on hallowed ground.

A riverboat tour and dinner on the gorgeous and historic San Antonio Riverwalk.

I'm a Coke fan, but I didn't tell them that at the Dr. Pepper Museum in Dr. Pepper's birthplace, Waco. They claim to have the largest collection of soft drink memorabilia in the world. The old fashioned soda fountain Dr. Pepper wasn't too bad I guess. 

Our last museum was the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco. It was interesting. They have a lot of guns in there. A lot of guns.

I wasn't sure how much room I would have on the bus, so I didn't take the ripple afghan. Turns out, it's become too large to be portable, especially with all the necessary yarn skeins. So, I took the hexagons and pieced them on the bus where I had a row all to myself. A few of the girls enjoyed being able to pick the next random hexagon for me to attach.

Thanks for letting me indulge in a little Texas pride, partner. Have a wonderful weekend!

The most snow in a generation!

I can't remember this much snow here. Probably because the last time north central Texas got this much snow was in 1978. (I was six.) And, it's still snowing! On the news they just called it the most snow in a generation.

We went sledding on the golf course. You can't buy a sled in our neck of the woods. Luckily, we brought these home from Colorado a few years ago.  

School was cancelled today and will likely be closed tomorrow too. We Texans aren't know for our ability to drive in snowy or icy weather; we just don't get much practice. 

This sure is fun while it lasts. It's supposed to be back in the 50's in the next few days. 

Texas Wildflowers

While running along the river the other day, I noticed how many wildflowers are in bloom. We went back this afternoon and tried to see how many different varieties we could find. There had been a recent run on local wildflower guides at the bookstore, so I'll have to order one. In the meantime, I'll leave these beauties unidentified. There were far more than what I've pictured below, but you get the idea.

Oh, and a very outgoing Scissor-tailed Flycatcher who I suspect liked having his photo taken.