Day 8 Northbrook, IL to Cuyahoga Falls, OH

We stopped here for a visit with Kathy's parents. The terrain is not as flat, although there are still vast amounts of corn. Everywhere. Corn. Who knew? We've seen corn fields across multiple states now.  Miles and miles of it. It is being harvested as we pass through. Even though I realize how many people there are in the world, it's still hard to fathom that much corn actually being used. Corn starch, corn syrup, feed, corn meal, corn as corn (what a concept!). It's mind boggling.

The last two stops have been visits with family, but today we will be heading to an adventure other than the road trip itself. We are seeing some fall color, still mostly gold with a bit of red, but we are about a week late for the Big Fall Show. It's all good!  The weather has been In the high 60s/low 70s, but that will change today. Time to bundle up a bit!

A couple of color shots

The place where we had breakfast (Georgey V's) had an art display  from one of the local schools (can't remember if it was high school or junior high). I was intrigued by the masks, but all their art is great. So glad to see this being encouraged!

And again we're off! Tune in tomorrow to find out where it is that we had to bundle up.

 Thanks for stopping by!

Day 7 - Still in Santa Fe, NM

Fun day! It's nice to have a day off from driving. I walked all over the place today! Another GORGEOUS day here!

If in Santa Fe, one must go here:

So I did (senior discount - yes!!!). I got sad, though, after watching the movie about her. She wanted to paint abstracts, but was criticized for it, so she started painting real things - even though it wasn't her passion. It made me sad to look at the pears knowing that she didn't love painting them.

I managed to immerse myself in art today, though - it was wonderful!!!! All kinds of art! What a nice way treat for a day!

Guess what else I stumbled upon?

Woo Hoo! More "Route 66" credits!

At the end of the day I even managed to get in a little quality time with my sewing machine. Pretty good day, huh?

And .... the pottery won! I was too weak to resist. Welcome to my home, lovelies!!!

Tomorrow it's farewell to New Mexico and off to the next stop! Where will it be???? Tune in tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by!

Shooting Blanks

I've been doing the hand stitching on small-works blanks today. It's incredibly satisfying! I feel like I'm accomplishing something while sitting on my duff listening to audio books. Of course I AM accomplishing something, because the handwork must get done and I don't always feel like doing it. I also did some sketching of ideas coming into my head as I stitch. Learning to sketch at age 60 is going to be a challenge but I have accepted that there are no mistakes; just learning.

It's very exciting to be retiring in a few days. So many new worlds are opening up to me! I'll be sketching, doing journal quilts, doing a whole series of small works, making a series of jackets, and the thing I'm looking most forward to - working on whatever quilt strikes my fancy on any given day! I'm excited that I'll be able to head downstairs to the studio, open the cabinet doors and see what strikes my fancy that day.

I bought Lyric Kinard's book "Art + Quilt" when I was at the World Quilt Show in West Palm Beach a couple of weeks ago. I've read the book and am so very thankful for Chapter One! The timing is perfect and the words really sank in: I'm not suppose to be perfect - I'm just starting!! Thank you, Lyric!!!! I highly recommend the book for anyone wanting to stretch a bit. No affiliation - just an appreciative reader.