Happy Wednesday to you~I had planned to finish the last bit of our trip today but yesterday depleted all my energy, so I didn't get the photos to blogger.  Monday night, we had six of our granddaughters here for dinner and a sleepover.  When we have a summer sleepover, we usually have at least nine kiddos; this time we broke it into the girls group and the two boys.  I always plan to have the grands over several times, but with vacations etc. it never seems to happen.  This time the girls were so excited to be by themselves without the boys; don't get me wrong, they love the boys, but you know it is easier to do girlie things without boys around.  Girlie things were what the evening was about.  After dinner, Papa took them outside for a bit and did bubbles with them and let me tell you that six girls can scream and laugh like it is a large group.  One of the memories I have of my mom is letting me try on her wedding dress when I was little-I always loved doing it.  I decided that they would not only try on my mom's wedding dress, a very simple satin dress that is now so faded with age-it has to be at least 80 years old; I also pulled out my wedding dress that has been carefully packed away for 35 years.  It was such fun and I did take photos for their moms.  Our oldest granddaughter fit into my dress-granted it was very long but it was fun to see.  I know that this will make for a wonderful memory.  After this, we painted toenails and then watched t.v.  The girls wanted to watch t.v. in the guest room but decided to read instead. What is a slumber party without constant talking and giggling.  I think they all fell asleep by 10:15; of course this was probably really late for some of them-especially the two 3 yrs olds.  We also had one that is five and a six year old, seven year old and eight year old.  They were up bright and early yesterday morning so got to watch a show in the guest room while Nana got her coffee. Tomorrow night, we have the two boys and it will be so easy with them-ages 12 and 10.  The only thing I have planned is taking them out to dinner; I'm sure they will bring a guy movie for hubby-probably Star Wars or such.
After the girls left yesterday, hubby and I went on a 13 mile bike ride.  Having been gone has really slowed me down, even though we walked constantly and did the stairs on the ship the entire time; I know I just need to get out daily and ride at least 8 miles. This morning Kam and I will be riding-probably 11 miles.  Hubby and I have some friends coming over for lunch; it will be fun to catch up.  We were supposed to go on a 30 mile bike ride tomorrow but our friends cancelled and I can tell you I'm glad-I'm just not in shape to go that far yet. 
I hope your week has been good so far! 
Blessings on your day.
Noreen & Hunter

Ketchikan Part 1

Good Morning to you~As you are reading this, I am cooking breakfast for six granddaughters who spent the night with us; they begin school next week so this sleepover is the last sleepover for awhile.  I will be posting photos of our fun time later this week.
I am splitting up the photos of Ketchikan in two days-just too many for one post. Ketchikan was our favorite Alaskan town; it is charming and has so much character. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

One area to stroll on is Creek Street; there are so many Salmon running the Creek-simply amazing. I never realized just what the Salmon have to go through to get upstream. In fact, many of the houses along the creek have big fishing nets by there back door; I'm thinking a fresh Salmon dinner, though we've been told if the Salmon are spawning, it doesn't taste as good. This was also the town where one shop was giving out samples of smoked Salmon Chum, which is what mushers feed their dogs. No thank you.

 

 

One of the places we had to visit was the Totem Pole Historical Museum. It was well worth the price of admission just to see original Totem Poles and the history of the different groups that made them. We learned the significance of the figures on the poles as well.

 

 

Our best friends and traveling partners, Jim and Barbara.

 

 

It is hard to believe we've only been home a week, but it has been filled to the brim with locating and getting bids from contractors on the damage to our home from the hail. I'm continuing to work on the border for the quilt and hope to have it ready to pin by the end of this week.
I hope you have a splendid Tuesday, filled with smiles.
Noreen & Hunter

Juneau

 

Good Morning to you! I hope you had a great weekend; we did. Our oldest daughter's family acquired two Seadoos or WaveRunners and took hubby and I out on Saturday, late afternoon. It has been approximately 18 years since we had one and I can honestly say that I am much more cautious now. I did enjoy the family time and seeing the grands loving every minute of their time with their dad and Papa, out on the water. Yesterday was a little more relaxed; we did have a family lunch over at our daughter's house and have some great time sharing visions for the future. Now onto more of the sights in Alaska. Juneau is the capital and has a lot more people; it definitely felt bigger than our two other ports. Everywhere you look, there are seaplanes also known as floatplanes, landing or taking off.

 

 

 

We had been told that we should take a ride on the Mt. Roberts Tram; we did and found there to be excellent views but also nasty biting flies. The tram was actually quite steep coming back down-almost like being on a roller coaster.

 

 

 

Hubby had a friend who said we had to go into Red Dog Saloon-it has been there forever and has quite the atmosphere. We had appetizers for lunch and it was fine but so very crowded.

 

 

 

I'm sure that if we had tourguides, we would have seen a lot more of the town. We actually did go into a local library, so that we could have free wifi; not sure why I haven't done this before but in the future, I will make sure I know where the libraries are. This was also our shortest stop in a port and didn't allow us a huge amount of time to wander around. Tomorrow, I will share our favorite port on this trip.
Have a peace filled day!
Noreen & Hunter

Judith Miller Book Review

I have read many of Judith Miller books as well as many books on Amish Life; I was surprised at the twist in this story. Set in the late 1880's, the story is of a family who belong to a group of separatists called Amanians. Often mistaken for Amish, Amanians have similar ideologies and beliefs; living in communal villages, keeping separate and believed in being self-sustaining. The story begins in Kansas City where the Rhoder family lives a very affluent but humble life. Jancey Rhoder, the daughter of a well known business man, has a comfortable life-volunteering at the local orphanage but her mother and father choose to move back to a simpler lifestyle in the Amana village that they were married in and started their family. Jancey doesn't know whether she should remain in Kansas City and continue teaching in the orphanage or move with her parents in order to care for her ailing mother. It doesn't help that a suitor of Jancey's is pressuring her to remain; are his reason purely selfish or do they have a future? Jancey chooses to stay with her parents and wonders if she will find happiness in this new life. Time proves that a simpler life can be better and a certain friend in the community makes that choice easier. There are twists and turns to this story that make it intriguing. I found many similarities between the Amish and these colonists. Judith has done another great job keeping us spellbound until the end. I look forward to reading the next book in the series. Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing, provided this book to me for my honest review; I did not receive any compensation.

Alaskan Quilts

Hope you are all having a great Saturday morning! Some of you have asked about the quilts we saw and the quilts I brought home to make. I thought I'd dedicate this post to the quilts we saw. This is the quilt kit that I came home with. Whenever we travel, I try to come home with some new quilt fabric, pattern or kit to make in order to commemorate our trip. This will be a throw for the evenings, snuggled in front of the fire and t.v.

 

So I have a confession to make-although I've taken an Applique class at the Road To California quilt show, I have not found it as easy as I would have liked. Therefore, applique intimidates me no end-it is as simple as that. I even joined a mini-group back in Ca. made up of experienced applique quilters, hoping they would teach me but they didn't. Over the years, no matter how many friends would encourage me, I stayed away from applique. I've wanted to conquer it, but just felt I would start and never finish. So when I saw a sample of this technique, I decided to give it a try. I don't like being intimidated by anything or anyone and I'm hoping once I tackle this next project I'll be shaking my head over how easy it is.

 

The next one I was drawn to but since I only wanted to get one, I choose a pattern I knew I could handle with ease(watch, it will be a tough one 8-)   Love this pattern though.

 

Hubby took this, he was impressed with the quilting. You know you've been married a long time when a hubby looks at quilts and can discuss the techniques.

 

A traditional Alaskan quilt pattern.

 

 

Hubby really loved this one!

 

 

Now that I'm done with the baby quilt, I am working on finishing a quilt I started last fall. I have also sent my silver thimble, with the hole in it, back to the company that made it for repairs. That says I've quilted a lot in the last ten years-to get a hole in a handmade silver thimble means I've clocked a lot of hours hand stitching. By the time it gets back, I'm hoping I'll be ready to start hand quilting my current quilt. Since football season has started, I think I'll be sewing a lot. Of course, add in doll clothes I hope to make for Christmas. Then I'll begin either the wall hanging or the Alaskan quilt. So many quilts; guess I might have to scale back on some other activities to get them done. Just don't know what I can scale back on though; maybe when the weather changes, I'll have less time for biking and more for sewing. Of course don't forget to add in a trip to Ca. to watch America's Cup sailing race in a few weeks.
With all that said, I am heading up to the sewing room to finish the border on my current quilt. Hunter will either be on his bed but more than likely, beneath my sewing table next to my feet.
 I hope you have a wonderful day filled with activities that bring you joy!
Hugs, Noreen & Hunter