Visit to the Reagan Presidential Library

We ventured out to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Saturday with DD for Father's Day. Got there just after they opened - a good thing, since the parking lot filled up quickly and when we left, there were cars parked all along the drive for almost a mile!

Very impressed with the grounds and the Library..we got to go thru Air Force One and  the helicopter that Reagan used...the exhibits were very interesting. I even went riding with Ron:

What I didn't expect to see were QUILTS!! They had a baseball exhibit that featured a number of quilts along with bats, gloves, baseball cards, peanut roaster carts, uniforms, models of the old baseball stadiums, pinball games, pictures and even the traveling trunk that Babe Ruth used!..the curator said it was only 1/3 of the collection (Wow!) My apologies for the dimly lit pictures...they have a no-flash rule at the Library, the quilts were behind glass..and there is only so much you can do with editing..

This last one did not have a card explaining who the maker was:

The Baseball exhibit will be at the Library til September 4.

The 1100 Year Old Tree

On our adventures yesterday, we found this 1100 year old oak tree...imagine what this tree has lived thru..it was around when the Magna Carta was signed!

The grounds are a popular wedding venue..we even saw a Bride walking down the dirt path towards this spot...

View from behind the oak tree:

The rest of the grounds are pretty interesting..its an old resort with ancient buildings...and this pond in one of the center park areas featuring a wee castle at the base of the tree..over time, the tree has cracked the castle so its ruins...

View from the other side of the pond on the stone bridge:

A light house on the far end of the pond:

And a waterfall on the other side of the stone bridge

Easter 2014

After a delicious Easter dinner of roast lamb, we had a yummy pineapple upside down cake:
I made the Easter table runner many years ago and put it out every year.

And we took a wee drive into the hills. Car was getting a bit hot so we turned around after a few miles but I managed to get a shot of these sunflowers..might put them into a quilt someday.

Spring!

We took a little jaunt up into Apple Country this afternoon. The apple trees are blooming! In all the years we have lived here, we have never gone up to Apple Country in the spring...we have gone several times in the fall, to pick apples and raspberries.

The air was very hazy and there was a lot of glare, so I was lucky this picture turned out - I could not see it on the phone and just had to hope it was ok! No idea why it was so hazy though.

It was peaceful up there without the crowds!

Rainy Saturday...

So Cal is getting some much needed water...and I did some more sewing!

Made this reversible toy for DGD...almost thought it was going to be a WOMBAT (Waste of Material, Batting And Time)...but DH says its cute and I guess it works well enough..

One side is a caterpillar (made with some scraps of the leftover lime green fleece!)

Turn it inside out and voila...a butterfly...with sparkly wings  - I put gold netting over the fleece..which made the wings much stiffer than I expected..but they do have some shine to them. Thinner fleece for the wings would also have helped..but I only had medium weight fleece in a big enough piece to make the wings.

Also sewed up this panel I got from the donations table at Retreat..its a growth chart...I backed it with the leftover lime green fleece from the Christmas Tree Skirt...and used the cardboard tube of a dry cleaning pants hanger for hanging - didn't want it to be wood or metal....

AZ Retreat Part 5

Not all of the stuff at Retreat is quilting...

My cool New Balance shoes...unfortunately, they are not the most comfortable shoes..but they sure are bright!

I was not the only one with colorful shoes - another gal also has the same shoes and then there are these bright Danskos:

A couple of the ladies made selvedge vests...I really like how they turned out!