Fall Colors have Started!

The Color is Coming, The Color is Coming!

It's not often that we have time enough to go for a walk this time of the year.  But I did and I enjoyed it greatly. 

First I stopped by the civil war encampment going on at the bottom of our hill.  I just love the smell of a campfire.

I continued on my way to Grant's park and saw this beautiful tree.

I stopped in the park and knitted for a while and in the meantime I had the joy of seeing a train go by, bikers, walkers and canoers!  What fun. There was also a busload of screaming kid sin the park on some kind of day trip.  They were cute but they sure yell a lot!

I continued on my merry way to the Farmers Market.  The market house there had quilts on display so that was an extra plus I did not expect.

I AM IN SEARCH OF PINK LADY APPLES.  If you know where I can get one, please tell me.   They sound so yummy.  I'm planning on canning some Apple pie filling this year.  It's been fun canning.  My favorite book in that arena is "You Can Can".  Love it. 

Then back to the park to knit another couple of rows. 

What a glorious day it was!

Fall 2011 - The Final Harvest???

The cool air as arrived.  The Zinnias are still fabulous. Note to self: Plant more next year. 

Cara and I have thoroughly enjoyed the Lady Jane swing this summer and Mom has been going crazy with the leaf blower keeping the courtyards clear of debris. 

The new Cabana was a huge hit with guests and locals as it seemed everyone I talked to in town mentioned it.  "Bernadine, what took you so long?" 

Mom was here for a week and we made our first homemade spaghetti sauce using tomatoes from her garden and mine.  An assortment of herbs were added that a friend in town gave to me.  Delicious!  We also made truffles together for the first time.  Mom enjoyed that and was a huge help.  And let's not forget the batch of Strawberry Jam.  What would I do without her?  She is like my best friend!  I love you Mom! We also bought our "first" pasta from the new Pasta store downtown.  They have pasta shaped like all kinds of things.  The ribbon pasta is the prettiest.  Trying the spinach basil garlic fettuccine!

Guests will be enjoying Strawberry Pie and Brownies this weekend.

In November we go to Tampa for a vacation.  Can't wait.  Just me and Mom and my sister will come down for the weekend.  Our goal is to visit all of the Tea Rooms in Tampa.  Gotta have a dream.  I believe there are 8.  We are targeting 6 of the Tea Rooms.

I've been working on the "Master Knitters Program".  I have to do a report on blocking.  I was nervous about this because I've always avoided blocking unless it was lace.  In any case the first item went so well I started blocking all of my knitting projects that I was always too afraid to.  I guess I worried about shrinkage, damaging the fiber, colors running, etc.  All of these items look much better now.

The Teddy Bear Sunflowers were fantastic but only lasted a few weeks.  It was fun watching the Yellow Finches eating from them.

I will definitely do them again next year just for the Finches. 

God bless and have a Blessed Fall!

"Bernadine the Garden Queen"

Quilting Shop and Hop

My friend Susan and I recently took on the daunting task of the largest Quilt Shop and Hop either of us has ever been on.  Twenty-two stores took us 3 days which we combined into 2 trips as we stayed overnight once.  It was a blast and you know, it actually had it's exhausting moments.  We traveled from Galena all the way East to Arlington Heights together, stopping along the way....Gotta Have A Dream To Make A Dream Come True!

What treasures we found!  And so many quilt stores we never would have known of.  They were so excellent I am going to share the list here!  It's a three month shop and hop ending September 30, 2011.  You can still do it!

http://www.northernillinoisqiltfest.com/

We are both hoping we win a prize from one of the stores.  What a moment when we realized that IF we do win something we have to drive back to the store to pick it up.  Yikes!

No problem though.  Susan told me about a fiber store in St. Charles called "A Fine Line".  They were closed when we were in town but it sounds fascinating.  Check out http://www.afineline.org/.  Sounds like they have a very interesting Holiday program.

Pieceful Gathering Quilt Shop - Fox River Grove
Quilt in Joy, Huntley
Sewing concepts, Woodstock
Hopscotch Square, Woodstock
Material Girl Fabric Shop, Crystal Lake
Sunshine & Shadow Quilt Shoppe, McHenry
Acorn Quilts, Rockford
Lucky 2B Quilting, Rockford
It's for Quilting, Rockford
Quilter's General Store, Rockford
Quilter's Haven, Rockford
Phat Quarters, Galena
Quilter's Destination, Arlington Heights
Prairie Shop Quilts, Batavia
Sewwing Concepts, Carpentersville
Basketcases Unlimited, Clare
Judy's Quilt N Sew, Hampshire
Leaf River Quilt Company, Leaf River
Thimbles, Lockport
Prairie Stitches Quilt Shoppe, Oswego
Harvest House Quilting, Plainfield
Sew Generously, St. Charles
Sawdust & Stitches, Elkhorn, WI

Just received dresses for my granddaughters from my friend Tanya.  Want to check out more?  Google "Palmo Originals".  Great fabrics and reversible!!!!!!

 20 Months old now!  What a charmer.
Standing in front of the Zinnia Garden that is beautiful this year.

Fiber Day With Liliana

Look what we did at Fiber Day.  Poor little Liliana, my new granddaughter.  I just couldn't wait to get there and set her inside Sherryl's basket of yarns.  I'm thrilled that my grandkids will know what a spinning wheel is.  Wonder if they'll ever be interested in knitting, spinning, crocheting....

We'll see!

And I have to enter an updated pic of Cara!  She is just as sweet as pie.  They are both very calm and happy children...so far.

We recently had 15" of rain in less than 12 hours in Galena.  I've included some flood pics as well. We just had a little water in the restaurant and about 2" in the movie room.  Nothing compared to the rest of Galena.  Desoto Hotel had over 4' of water in their kitchen.

Made a lemon cake from scratch for the guests.  I think the box mixes are better than a scratch cake.  Or I'm doing something wrong. 

By the way...those online hotel finder sites - everyone that has used it to book at the Stillman inn has paid more than what we charge.  Think twice before using them. 

Mom and Me Corn Relish

I am so blessed with the time I've been able to spend with my Mom this summer.  What a pleasure she is to have around!

I always like trying new things and getting Mom involved makes it even better!  This visit we made Corn Relish.  Not only did we make it but we did a little research on what "relish" really means.  Is it a dip, a spread, a condiment?  Of course we are most familiar with hot dog relish but surely it must be more than that. The best description we found was that it is something between a sauce and syrup that adds flavor to a dish. It usually has vegetables chopped up but could include fruit as well so it's usually chunky. 

Did you know "relish" is the French word for "salsa".  This relish/salsa was an absolute perfect match with the honey-lime chicken we made together.  Oh my gosh!  Glad we made 7 pints of it! 

I think it's not fair to the publisher to just post the recipe here.  You'll have to either buy the book or call me up! There you go, a good reason to call Bernadine!  Oh, the flowers came from our gardens.  Zinnias and a Teddy Bear Sunflower.  What a summer!

That's my nephew Ben.  He was here too!  He wants to be a meteorologist.  He is great help around the inn especially serving breakfast. 

Master Knitter Wannabe

So of course now that I've heard about the Master Knitters program on my favorite podcast, Knit Misadventures, Ihave to give it a try.


My Spinning Wheel


I ordered the level one course and it showed up in the mail just three days afterwards.  I thought I'd have a month to warm up to the idea more!

So, it feels pretty intimidating but I'm gonna give it my best shot!  So, some accountability would be nice! 
 

Some inspiration

This course is offered by "The Kniters Guild Assocation" (TKGA) if you would like to reserach it for yourself.  I think this progam will help me to fine tune my knitting skills.  I've been knitting, crocheting, tatting, macrameing, rug hooking, etc. since I can remember.  I don't even remember the moment I actually learned to knit but I do enjoy it.  It wasn't fashionable to knit when I started and certainly not in my teens.  There were very few patterns or books at the time.  Most patterns were for babies.  Now, oh my goodness, the variety of books and supplies never ends and it is considered way cool if you knit. 

So, off we go.  I'll get my little notebook together and look through my stash for some yarn that qualifies for the projects and BAM!

Liliana

Ladies and Gentlemen
Drum roll please
Grandma Fabulous proudly presents - Granddaughter #2
Princess Liliana!


Born 7/14/11 - 7'14oz  20" Lots of hair!



Aint She Somethin!  As beautiful as my daughter Becca for sure! 
Becca did a great job delivering her without an epidural.  A strong and mighty and powerful woman she is.  I've never seen her look more beautiful than when she was delivering Liliana. 

Becca, you are my inspiration! I love you so much. You are going to be a fabulous Mom!

Love, Mom