Hey, Hit the Highway!

Every April, quilters of Nebraska herald the coming of Spring by loading coolers with ice teas, sodas, juices, sandwiches, and other nibbly bits into our vehicles and heading out to see just how many quilt shops we can visit in a ten day period.

Mischief and mayhem reign as we covertly slip items into one another's shopping baskets, encourage our friends to built their fabric stash beyond several life expectancies, and add new favorite shops to our list. Welcome to the 11th Annual Nebraska Shop-Hop.

My darling mother and I have made this a mother-daughter tradition. We usually only travel on weekends and this year, one weekend was plenty of fun. I usually do the driving and she's my navigator. Um, yes, there are still places in Nebraska in which your onboard nav system will simply say, "Abandon hope, all ye who dare to enter here." This year, we reversed rolls. I did not get as many photos as I would have liked because a certain wee seventy year old was on my case to get back in the car! "Time's awastin', ya know!"

Our first day, a Saturday, we explored the Southeast corner of Nebraska. We visited two shops in Omaha, one in Plattsmouth, two in Auburn, and one in Falls City, the hometown of Larry the Cable Guy.

Here are some shots of the amazingly well stocked "Heavenly Treasures" of Falls City. The nice lady who owns this shop could not stand the idea of this vintage church being torn down so she rescued it and no doubt hides her stash from her husband here.

More to come!

The Darvocet & Green Jello Diet

The view from a hospital bed is, to my mind, one of the strangest. It consists, mostly, of faces, both concerned and discerning, and of pseudo-cheery decor which doesn't quite hide the machines and instruments which hiss, whirrrrr, bleep, and tell all of your secrets.

It was from this bed I rediscovered two things, the first being that I'm really still no bigger than I was in high school. For some reason, I go around thinking of myself as taller and having a more commanding presence. There is nothing like a pre-surgical hospital gurney to knock you down to the very essence of who and what you are and how fragile and fleeting an earthly life really is. I felt positively tiny lying there, IV ready, and blankets from the warming oven pilled high to stop the shivering. Second, some people are family because we are born to them and they to us, and some are our family because we adopt one another along the way. I have always known that I am tremendously blessed in my family and circle of friends.

If you were to ask me how I am today, I would have to quote a well known financial speaker and adviser and say, "Better than I deserve!"

Yes, everything went even better than expected, in spite of a few unexpected complications, and I am mending. Ready to get back on the bicycle trails, ready to try out that new, lighter crossbow, and ready to adopt some more friends. I hope you will add to your circle this year.

Blessings to all of you. I'll be back really soon.

Ten Things You Might Already Know About Me

My first name comes from a doll in a Beatrix Potter story, "The Tale of Two Bad Mice."

I began ballet lessons as an adult. I had foot surgery and needed to strengthen my foot and keep it flexible. It kept the rest of me strong and flexible too. I was the only one in class with discernable breasts and hips. The others all lived on bullion and hot tea. How sad!

I am an avid herb gardener. I'm good with fruit trees too. For some reason, vegetables scare me a little. I'm growing them anyway.

My first job, with a paycheck, was School Crossing Guard. It paid a dollar a day. Doing this job, on the windswept prairie, was pure misery in the winter. I never complained or quit. I bought savings bonds with my money and vowed never to allow myself to be that cold again.

I have always gotten along well with my parents, even as a teenager.

I learned American Sign Language as a child. I wouldn't say I'm all that fluent at this point because I have no one with whom I can converse. The little town I grew up in was very near a state school for the deaf and when I was very young, several of the school's students lived in that town. We played together in the summer. I, and other "hearing" children who attended the public school, drove our teachers crazy by signing to one another during class and study halls. They couldn't really punish us for talking, so they would move us so that we were no longer facing one another. All this came to a halt when Mrs Grell, our sixth grade teacher, moved to town. She was a hearing person raised by deaf parents. She not only understood our signing, she read lips too. Ouch!

When I write in my journal, I start in the back and end in the front. I have no idea why. Moleskine Cahier Notebooks are my favorite. When I was in elementary school, I stitched my own journals from scrap paper.

I work in the "carriage trade".

I learned to knit and hand sew before the age of three. I won't say I was immediately good at either of them.

I look like my paternal grandmother when she was younger.

The Cheerful Cherub

By Rebecca McCann

"Had I But One Penny in the World, Thou Shouldst Have It for Gingerbread." --Wm. Shakespeare

I don't like crunchy cookies. I like them soft.

These gingersnaps are a family favorite but they don't snap so maybe we should call them Ginger Squishes or something along that line.

The secret is the cane sugar and the margarine. The one and only time I will use margarine is when I am making these cookies. If you substitute butter, they will be harder cookies. I recommend Parkay Margarine. If you use another brand, make sure you are not using one which consists largely of water or you will have a mess on your hands. Likewise, if you buy a "brown" sugar instead of true cane sugar, you will not get the best results. Many cheap brands of brown sugar are simply beet sugar with molasses. The taste is very bland in comparison. True cane sugar is tastier and safer for those of us on a gluten-free diet.

SOFT GINGERSNAPS 375F cookie sheets 12-15min. approx 3 dozen

1 cup light or dark cane sugar (C&H Brown Sugar)

3/4 cup Parkay margarine

1 egg

1/4 cup Brer Rabbit Gold Label Molasses

2 1/2 cups flour ( for GF cookies use 2 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill

Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour sifted with 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground clove

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

some white sugar in a bowl, custard cup, or shallow mug

Cream the cane sugar and the margarine together.

Add the egg and mix well.

Add the molasses and mix well.

Stir the dry ingredients (except for the white sugar) together in a separate bowl and then mix into the wet ingredients a little at a time.

Chill the dough for at least one hour.

Roll into balls, roll the balls in white sugar, and bake for 12-15 minutes at 375 degrees F.

You can really impress your guests by serving these, hot out of the oven, with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.

"Youth is a circumstance you can't do anything about. The trick is to grow up without getting old." --Frank Lloyd Wright

Every morning I'm greeted by angels. They perch quietly atop my armoire. One for each woman in my immediate family. March and December for my amazing grandmothers. January for a sister who left us six months before I was born. And, October, times two, for my mother and me.

The knowledge, the love, and the wisdom of my female relatives is such a rich heritage. A gift I continue to open and explore. The gentle humor, homespun wisdom, and unmatched energy of my maternal grandma. The grace, talent, and deep intelligence of my paternal grandmother. And the unconditional love and tireless one-woman cheering squad also known as Mom.

I am humbled to be a part of this group. I hope that, like them, I can truly make a difference to those who surround me. Yes. It's my birthday.

Twining Woodbine

Saturday was the annual Applefest in Woodbine, Iowa, my father's hometown.

Over the years more and more members of my family have descended on this tiny, rural town, located on the Lincoln Highway, for this celebration. We troll the fleamarkets and craft shows and have lunch at one of the local churches.

There are vintage car and motorcycle shows, quilt exhibits, and more.

The day wouldn't be complete without a visit with our favorite beekeepers.

Much apple peeling and honey tasting to come!