Fiber Art

Festival season as begun. Salomon Farm’s Fiber Art Festival kicked off my festival season.

I was convinced that I would see some beautiful, intricately designed, and original quilts at the fiber arts festival. I love handmade quilts. I have received several as gifts over the years and I treasure them – true art made by the hands of sweet ladies.

This is a quilt given to me as a graduation gift by my cousin Jim’s mother in law. It is my favorite, I keep in my guest bedroom so my guests can enjoy it. It is warm and pretty.

This quilt was made by my childhood pastor’s wife, Sister Della. I have had it since I was a kid and it lives on my sofa today – it is great for naps.

I remember being a little girl and our family’s seamstress, Mrs. Stacy, was a quilter. Mommy and I would go to see Mrs. Stacy at her home to drop off a pattern or something to be worked on regularly. Occasionally we would find the living room of Mrs. Stacy’s single-wide trailer filled with ladies and fabric. A quilting form was suspended from the ceiling and encircled by six or eight white-haired ladies with tall hair and long dresses chatting as they worked away on a new quilt. This memory made me even more excited about the fiber art festival.

Turns out, there are no quilts or quilting at the Salomon Farm Fiber Arts Festival. What do I know? Not a lot about fiber art, apparently.

I did find spinning wheels, yarn, silk worms, alpacas, sheep, and dulcimers. Not a bad replacements for quilts. Here are some snaps of Saturday’s festival. Enjoy!

 

Five Girls, an Aging Rock Star, and One Minivan

What do you get when you mix five thirty- and forty-something ladies; an aging, past-his-prime-rock star; and a minivan? I am not sure either, but it was loud and fun.

I was scheduled to fly to Tennessee to reunite with the Cosmic Sisters, but, much to my dismay, being a grown-up and conflicting schedules got in the way. What could possibly come close to the glory and fabulousness that is the Cosmic Sisters? Well, an aging, past-his-prime-rock star, of course. In the best of all worlds I would have chosen Mick Jagger, Nick Lowe, or Bruce Springsteen, but Huey Lewis and The News would have to do.

In my day job I teach at a college. I use pop culture references to break up topics and to pause for breaks. One of my slides has a picture of Huey Lewis & The News because one of their songs relates to the topic in my class. A year and a half ago I used this slide and 3/4 of the class did not know the band or the song. Gasp! It still shocks me that humans were born after 1980. I just assume everyone is my age. That made me feel old.

Friday night found five ladies in the midst of an ’80s legend Huey Lewis and The News at FW’s Foellinger Theatre. The weather was outstanding – perfect for an outdoor event. Huey is looking mighty good for 62 and he sounds like he is still 25. Interestingly, Huey and his band have been playing exactly as long as I have been alive. Somehow that also makes me feel old. The girls and I happily sang along to The Power of Love, I Want a New Drug, Heart and Soul, and Workin’ for a Livin’. As a bonus he threw in an a capella version of Sixty Minute Man, which drew some classic snark from the ladies in my row. Imagine your worst.

Huey is a musician’s musician. He loves the horns and was careful to step into the darkness of the stage when the lead guitar or the saxophone took their turn soloing. Very respectful. He had two poorly dressed backup dancers, which were a bit gratuitous, but they sounded good. There was no light show, no spectacle, no costume changes, and no props. It was two hours of well-done music and memories. Yes, it is cheesy, but classic. It was fun. Everyone knew the words and sang along. Seriously, everyone, including the lady who had to be in her 60s who ran to the stage and giggled like a school girl when Huey shook her hand.

The power of Huey is a curious thing.

Spring Dog Walks in Pictures

Cartoon clouds in that big Midwestern sky.

My walk leader enjoying a tip-toe through the field. Without The Queen I would not spend nearly enough time outside and would miss out on all this pretty!

Sometimes the prettiest things grow wild!

And some pretty things move very very slowly.

A Walk by the St. Joseph River

On a slow Saturday afternoon The Queen and I decided to enjoy the great spring weather with a drive. The Queen loves to ride, so we hopped in the Volvo, rolled down the windows, and cruised to Grabill to visit the Grabill Country Store.

En route home I stopped at the Riverside Gardens park on Schwartz Road, just off of Route 1, for an impromptu dog walk. Riverside Gardens has both paved and dirt paths, gazebos, and a walkway under the bridge crossing the St. Joseph to access the wide sidewalk trail back to Grabill. The stop was a good one. Pretty and enjoyable. If you have some time and daylight to burn Riverside is a great place to do it.