Contrary to rumor, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth

Wow, I can't believe that the last time I posted was in April.  A lot has happened in the meantime, including my parents having some serious health issues that had me making an unexpected trip to Tucson (in the sizzling heat of July!) at one point.  Things have settled down pretty much but my dad has decided that he no longer wishes to spend much time with my mom (that's a story for another day) so he's up here frequently for three week stretches at a time.  He stays with my sister or goes to visit his brother up in Ft. Collins and it's usually me who has to drive him back and forth as his hearing and eyesight are rather bad.  I love my dad but this really was putting a crimp in my weekends (my only free time to really work on my projects or on the house) so we are currently working out the logistics to make things go a little smoother while he's up here.  And that's how things are at the moment in my life.

On the fun side of things, Eric and I had a great time visiting Lincoln, Nebraska when we went in May for our niece's wedding.  We stayed at Atwood House, a lovely B&B that is very romantic and was the ideal place to celebrate our anniversary which was also that weekend.  Naturally, I had to sqeeze in a visit to a local quilt shop and hunted up the Quilted Kitty.  Good thing I had some extra room in the suitcase to pack all the goodies that I found there!  We also paid a visit to the International Quilt Study Center & Museum on the University of Nebraska campus and Eric surprised me by how much he enjoyed the exhibits that they had there.  The wedding itself was beautiful and all in all, it was a terrific weekend. 

In early August, my friend and I did the local shop hop, visiting the six participating shops that were spread around the metro area.  We had a lot of fun and I managed to spend, spend, spend.  Later that month we went to the quilt show in Loveland where the entries for the Hoffman challenge were on display.  So many gorgeous things to look at and it's amazing how many different designs that people can come up with using the same fabric.  I always find the show to be very inspirational.  Then in September, my most favorite event of all took place:  Quilt-A-Fair.  Booth after booth of fabrics, patterns and notions from shops all around the state and others all under one roof.  My pocketbook will never be the same!

Finally, October rolled around and I was more than ready to pack in the yard for another year but so far it has been hanging on because it has remained unseasonably warm.  Here is a picture that I took today of my geraniums still blooming away.  Last year at this time they had already been buried under snow.

Well, uncooperative weather or not, it's time to get back in my sewing room and create!