A Day Spent With the Nebraska Heartstringers!

What a great day! Ashfall Fossil Beds was even better than the brochure, I was able to watch the man who discovered Ashfall work. Linda--I can't remember his name--what was it again? He explained what he was doing (excavating a baby rhino head) and talked about the different kinds of soil, ash, etc.


And here is what we saw--

Lots of intact fossils, whole bodies, unborn babies, even seeds still in the mouths of the adults.

We were going to eat lunch at Green Gables, but they were closed. We went to Winnetoon--it has whole buildings done as they were in the 1880's, and someone has quite the green thumb--lots of old fashioned flowers! On the way to Orchard we took the "scenic route"--I loved it--Thanks Linda!

flowers beds with a bridge

row of outhouses

"privy path"

more buildings with flowers

Seems like wherever I go I find the jail!

And then we went to Orchard and sewed. What fun!!

We had plenty of strings.....

But I think the chaos might have gotten to Jenny.....

And I'm not sure Flischa wanted to be seen with us!

So I'm glad I got a picture of all of us earlier in the day~!!

We sewed a complete set of blocks for a quilt! I forgot to get a picture of that big stack of blocks, but know there were 51, and Linda had made them a bit bigger as she has A PLAN for them!

It was a wonderful little trip, and I look forward to us doing it again. Maybe I can join their sewing group, after all, I'm not THAT far away in South Dakota!!

Can't Sleep

My life is busy but actually pretty quiet. So sewing with the Nebraska people is pretty exciting. I am SO looking forward to it! It started raining here about 9:30pm and is just now tapering off. Almost 6 hours of steady rain. But the rain makes me ache, so I'm up for some pain killer! I made salted nut roll bars to take along for while we sew. The car is packed. All I need to do is get up and get ready to go. My camera is packed and attached to my purse. Spare batteries and memory card too.

Monday Goals

Monday again, time to plan my week!

1. Tuesday I sew with the Nebraska Heartstringers!
2. Sew on my Bricks and Stepping Stones
3. Sew on my D9P blocks

I will be somewhat busy this week, I am gone all day Tuesday (BIG GRIN) and then have an appointment and I am hoping Ken will be able to visit on his days off. Starting Friday I volunteer for five days straight! After that Ken and I plan to visit Laura Beth and family. I was told Mason is crawling! Hey, he can't grow that fast without Grandma seeing him! And mom isn't willing to let us "borrow" him for a visit yet!

A Quick Note

If I'm slow to reply to anyone, it's because my internet here is somewhat "hit and miss" at the camper. I miss my super fast internet!

Sunday Stash Report

Nothing finished, no fabric BOUGHT this week, so I'm still -28 yards! But when I got back to my "summer mailbox" it was stuffed full. Hey guys, no fair, I'm sending YOU fabric! Too funny! Thank you everyone! And since I didn't BUY this fabric--heehee--it's not going on my stash report!


I received a LOT of fabric from pdudgeon--in my favorite color--green! Thank you!! There were FQ's, nickels, and noodles! They are going to be saved for a "me" project!

And from Nancy--a "Quilt in a Box" Christmas wreath kit, a handmade washcloth with a bar of delicious smelling soap (I'm hungry--I think I'd rather eat it than use it!) a picture postcard that she herself took, and a cute bag to hold it all. Nancy, you must know on my "to do" list is a shelf around the top of my sewing room to hold all my precious items like this!


There were more packages I received earlier, but I have them at home already. I am sure my Nebraska mailman is wondering "who is this woman??!!"

Motivation Friday

I didn't forget my goals for this week. I am ready to sew with the Nebraska Heartstrings ladies! My machine is ready, my sewing box is packed, and I even have a basket of strings ready.

These strings were left when I was CLEANING THE FLOOR AND MY SCRAP BUCKET! No, my floor isn't completely clean, but the basket is full and ready to go! I also cut a few more noodles and bricks--hey--can't miss a chance to add to those baskets! I volunteer over the weekend, then am off until next Friday. I can hardly wait to meet the ladies from Nebraska, see the Ashfall Fossil Beds, and lunch in a converted barn. I bought extra batteries for my camera--so I better not forget it!

We Were Hailed Out

All of you who have any knowledge of farming know those words. Yes, last night we had 70+ mph winds, hail (anything from marble side to ping pong ball size) and almost 3 inches of rain. Here are a few pictures--

these beans USED to be 18" tall, now they are sticks

A cornfield that used to be almost 6 foot tall, now it is broken off about 12" tall

Another one of our cornfields, same story

The wind blew this hay bale uphill, over the fence, across a deep ditch and into the road

Same spot, this bale was taken up the hill, across two deep ditches, the road, and into the next field!

My garden didn't fair any better, most of it is pounded into the ground. Broke a couple of windows on our house, and we need to get up on the roof and check the shingles as it looks like they might be damaged also.

my squash, pumpkins, and tomatoes

My rhubarb--it looks rather ill!

It blew so hard that the electric poles are leaning!


Lots of water over the roads, the culverts and cricks are running.

This storms came through early this morning, I was awake and watched it out the door. I took a few pictures as it got light out.


In 30 years we have not seen hail this bad. But, I will remind myself these are just THINGS, no one was hurt (that I know of) and we do carry crop insurance. But I remember all those hours we put in this spring, Ken said this was the best he's ever seen crops look, and I still feel rather ill.