Simply Norma

Minnesota sunrise ~ while driving my husband to work …

It always awes me.

Woodbury, MN Sunrise

Barn Quilt, Minnesota

As I was reading the Sunday paper awhile ago, I saw an article about a barn quilt trail. Hmmm …. I said to myself.  What is a barn quilt trail?

As I continued reading the article I learned that it’s like a “tour” of barn quilt, and I was inspired to head on out to see it.  Turning to my husband  I said: “Let’s go for a drive today.” Poor thing.  He didn’t know what he agreed to ~ at least not initially.

My expectation of what a barn quilt trail was is quite different from what it actually is.  First, not all of the barn quilts are on barns.  Actually, none of the ones I saw were on barns.  Second, although I expected to see real fabric hanging from a “barn” (why would I think that?), the quilts are mainly painted on the side of buildings.

Off we went to the Chisago, Minnesota area.

Below are some of the ones I took pictures of ~

See the first one in the top right corner?

Barn Quilt, Minnesota

Barn Quilt, Minnesota

The colors are so vibrant on this one, eh?

Barn Quilt, Minnesota

Some of the barn quilts were smaller than I expected.

Barn Quilt, Minnesota

This next one seems kind’ve bland to me ~

Barn Quilt, Minnesota

I really like the pattern on this one. I wonder what the story behind it is …

Barn Quilt, Minnesota

This next barn quilt pattern reminds me of many I see on “regular” quilts.  This one was located at the Chisago Lakes Area Library.

Barn Quilt, Minnesota

Do you like this blue and yellow pattern?

Barn Quilt, Minnesota

The simple pattern and vibrant colors on this barn quilt make it stand out against the beige building.

Barn Quilt, Minnesota

The one below is one of my absolute favorites.

Barn Quilt, Minnesota

It was a pretty unique way to spend part of an afternoon.

Afton State Park, Minnesota

Sabbath – a day of rest and gladness.

As the end of summer nears, the air has gotten crisp with deep blue skies overhead.  A walk today at Afton State Park is the perfect way to enjoy one of Minnesota’s “top ten days.”   The label is given to days that are almost perfect.

The sound of small waves crashing onto the small beach is quite refreshing to the mind ~ a stark comparison to the “noise” in the world that leaves one with a feeling of unrest.

Afton State Park, Minnesota

It’s good to hear the laughter of people on their boats in the water.

Afton State Park, Minnesota

People walking dogs, animated talks among friends as they stroll down the trail, a couple looking out at the water and enjoying a gentle breeze ~

Quite a respite on the Sabbath.

Who could argue that God “got it right” when he said “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work.  But the Sabbath day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.  In it you shall do no work … ”

This year we’ve had a bumper crop of acorns in Minnesota.

The last year I remember so many acorns falling was when my mother and aunts were visiting about 5 years ago.  We’d sit on the porch and it felt like it was raining acorns.

Minnesota Acorns

The walk to the mailbox down the long driveway is rather crunchy now.  I’ve spent many hours sweeping up these acorns and one thing I can tell you ~ in bulk, acorns are quite heavy!

Minnesota Acorns

At first, I thought that perhaps we were the only ones in the neighborhood having the oak babies falling but then I saw a news feature and it’s happening across Minnesota.

According to the article, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says this is quite normal. It’s called masting and means that oak trees are having a bumper crop this year.  One thought is that oak trees drop a bumper crop every now and again so that the squirrels (and any other critters who eat acorns) will not be able to eat them all so that baby oak trees can grow.

Perhaps this is God’s way of making sure trees continue to grow in spite of all the trees that are cut down.

About 3 years ago, I had quite a few saplings growing and had them all removed.  We already have so many trees that we didn’t more.

Are there other areas that are having bumper acorn crops this year?

A month or so ago, my son was on the back porch looking through binoculars to see what he could see on our acre of land.

Unbeknown to me, a raccoon had set up house in a hole of a large tree.

Well, raccoons aren’t normally friendly creatures (or so I’ve heard).  They also scavenge trash cans and find bird feeders that they can rummage through.  Fortunately for us, our trash cans are inside the garage and the bird feeders are quite high ~ even our most ambitious squirrel has not been able to get to our bird feeders.

Every day we watched the racoon as he would scamper down and head to a watering hole on the other side of our back fence.  He was quite consistent in his actions.

One day, we noticed that the racoon was not making as much movement as before. It seemed to have settled into the tree hole.  Hmmm … I told my son that I thought this was a female racoon and so I named it Germaine.

Raccoon in Tree

Germaine eventually came down to go back to the watering hole in the back.  A couple of times it lumbered towards our house and I yelled “Germaine ~ you can’t come this way” and she immediately scampered back to the tree.  Of course, I don’t know how often she tried but the two times I saw her she appeared scared enough to return to her place.

One afternoon, my son said “Mom, you have to see this.”

Germaine had had 3 babies.

As the babies grew, we watched as they tried to scamper down the tree only to be pulled back into the hole by mama Germaine.  She was quite adamant that these babies were not yet ready to head down the tree.  They were persistent but she overcame their persistence.

A couple weeks went by and there were no raccoon sightings.  Every morning, afternoon and evening we searched for the little raccoon family but they were not to be found.

A few weeks later, my son (who seems to be looking for wildlife all the time) called out again: Mom!

I hurried over and walking along the edge of our property was Germain with, not three, but five baby raccoons behind her.  She lumbered along and passed the tree that she at one time had made her home ~ onward to the back of our property.

Since then, we haven’t seen her although there have been sightings on some of our neighbors properties.

Raccoon in Tree

This was the first time we had raccoons on our property.  People I spoke with told me it was probably a female who would give birth then move on.  They were right.

Like A Charm Bear Mountain Baby Quilt

I was looking for a quick and easy pattern so I could make a baby quilt for my niece who is expecting her first child the end of July.  So, I headed over to Craftsy.com and looked to see what kits they might have and found one called Like A Charm Bear Mountain Expand-A-Quilt Kit.

The quilt is made up of 5″ squares and then pieced together which means it was not very difficult and could be put together quickly since the material arrives in the correct size.

I mainly stitched in the ditch and decided to “tie” the quilt together but instead of the usual tying method which uses knitting thread, I used a stitch on my Janome sewing machine that made two hearts and sewed those randomly throughout the quilt.

Like A Charm Bear Mountain Baby Quilt

With this baby quilt I also decided to use flame retardant batting called Quilters Dream Angel that I purchased through Fabric.com.

Like A Charm Bear Mountain Baby Quilt

I really liked the ease of making this quilt and plan on making another baby quilt for a another niece who is having a baby in November.

Like A Charm Bear Mountain Baby Quilt

I’m on the hunt for a different pattern.  This next baby is a girl.

Japan Temple

In March 2000, friends were kind enough to take a trip with us to Japan.

This memory recently crossed my mind so I went back and looked at some of the pictures I had taken.

Hiroshima, 2000

Japan – Bicycles

Japan Grave Sites

I believe one of the reasons I am attracted to Asian art is the simplicity.  Clean lines ~ nothing overly bold.  The Japanese gardens I have been to create such a peace in my heart. It’s as if distractions float away.

Japan – Garden, circa 2000

And the same can be true of the architecture of their temples and prayer houses.

Japan – Temple or Prayer House

Japan – Temples or Prayer Houses

And now, the rest of the story (didn’t think I’d leave you hanging, did you?)

Yoko and I became pen pals. I introduced her to a friend of mine (also Japanese but born in Hawaii) and they got married and had a son who next year will graduate as a doctor.

It’s been many years since we traveled together to Japan and we are separated now by a couple of states, but our friendship remains.

Funny how people can come together from different parts of the world and have such an influence in your life.

Barbara’s Quilt

Currently my mother-in-law is in a nursing home.

When we’ve gone to visit her, she has a handmade quilt on her twin bed.  It’s simple but effective in keeping her warm.  However the thing I noticed first is that it has very bland colors.  To have to look at bland day in and day out ~ well, what’s a quilter to do?

So I decided to make her a bright cheery quilt.

One of the fabrics for this quilt was purchased in a small store that we happened to enter into while we were traveling.  I don’t remember the store just the “event” of walking in, seeing the fabric and thinking “This is beautiful.  I must have some of this fabric.”

In my mind I decided that this was going to be a scrappy quilt with fabric that I already owned.  That worked for the top but the back of the quilt was a different story.  I didn’t have enough matching scrappy material to make it work.

Now, I know what you’re thinking.  A scrappy quilt doesn’t need to match but in my structured head, I needed the backing to match part of the front so I did have to purchase the backing fabric.

Barbara’s Quilt

With this particular quilt I decided to send it “out” for quilting.  This saddened me because the previous quilts I have made I have not had to send out.  But at the time I still had my small Brother sewing machine and it was so difficult to get the material through the harp of the machine to sew it.  And I did want it to be special.

So ~ no blood on this quilt.  Haha  Seriously, on some of the other quilts I’ve made it was tough getting it through the machine since I pinned it and sometimes I poked myself quite hard with those pins.

Here’s the quilt in full (minus the backing which, of all things, I forgot to take a picture of):

Barbara’s Quilt

The large turquoise colored fabric is what I had purchased while traveling.

Not too bad, eh?

Since my sister-in-law was visiting us, I sent the quilt with her to deliver to my mother-in-law since she lives in another state.

Her response when she opened it:  Such bright colors!

I had done my job well.