An American Made Weekend

 Hi everybody and Happy Labor Day! I hope you are enjoying this long weekend with family and friends and are staying dry!
First before my mind wanders off....and we all know it will. I wanted to tell you all that I have entered my shop into the Martha Stewart Made in America contest.

On September 7th (my husband's birthday maybe that will bring me luck) is the day the finalists will be announced. You can vote once each day from September 7-24th for your favorite finalist. You can read all about the rules and details here if you would like.

A couple of items I'm thinking of bringing back to my shop.

My signature item in my shop.

 So I am keeping my fingers crossed and probably my eyes as well hoping I make it as one of the finalists. I know I have about as much luck as Frosty does sitting by a campfire but dang it a gal's gotta dream!! Stop here to take a peek at my shop entry...you can even leave me a comment if you'd like. So with a new grand-baby and this contest all on the horizon I am more than on pins and needles. I just love this whole contest idea of honoring and congratulating hard working American small business owners. It really is the backbone of this great country!

For me Labor Day has always been the signal that summer has come to an end. I don't think the old rules still apply...(do they?) but even though I'm still wearing white slacks, capri's and flip flops I am mentally thinking about the fall and all the treats that go along with that word.

A photo from last year. Some of the reds look like fire they were so brilliant!

Fall festivals, comfort food, pumpkins and persimmons. So later this week I will limp down to the basement and start to look for my fall decor. Gosh doesn't the thought of autumn make you feel all warm and cozy,or is it only me? Fall at least for me brings back so many great memories of family and old friends and fattening foods of course.

 I have had five days off and sadly our plans fell apart with hurricane Issac traveling across the Midwest. I think I've shared before how we as a family always come together at Patoka Lake.

From several years ago. We decided to beach the pontoon and take a walk to look for driftwood and shells

The boys were almost too big for this poor tube.

A fun night a few years ago of games and silliness.

It wouldn't have been a total family get together anyway since my youngest son and his wife are expecting their second child any day now, and have been told not to travel very far. Excited isn't the word for it! We are knee deep in the color pink and lavender since we our expecting our first grand-daughter!! We have laughed our selves crazy because we know we have over dosed on girly girl colors, but it's been so much fun.

 So we simply stayed home and did some things we haven't had the time to do. Cleaning should have been one of them but for me it was sewing. I've had so many ideas in my head and never enough quiet time to pull them out. I have almost completed one and hope to have it finished and a pattern put together so I can add it to my shop. I will share it as soon as it is ready.

My youngest grandson has put his seal of approval on this new item. He is so funny and trust me he really does play with my new creations and tells me if it is just dumb (his words haha), and what can I do to make it better.

A fire for the castle entrance and some scary bones, bats and ghosts to make it even better,

Recently he stayed with us and I love to work while he plays.....well I should say try and work because he wants my total attention. But for me the best part is when I get to witness his ability to take "his" felt stuffed toys that I've made and use them with his other toys.....that's the blue ribbon for me!

The photo is a little blurry because I didn't want to spoil the moment of our deep conversation on the swing.

 So it's back to my work room for a while.Then after dinner maybe a ride in our 4 wheeler up to the cemetery that's behind our property, just to check on things. I love to ride around and see how things start to change. I'll take my camera of course, you just never know what you may stumble upon.

Shaker Village and Family Trees

            last fall we took a short trip down to an area just east of Harrodsburg Kentucky to a place called Shaker Village.

 Shaker Village is truly a step back in time! Once you enter the area you feel the strength of their convictions, of simplicity and peace. Oh and incredibly hard work......you see the results of that everywhere.

I must admit I knew very little about this quaint and unusual group of deeply religious people.

You may or may not know that the Shakers invented the flat broom, the clothespin, and the circular saw, among many other items. This all seems amazing to me since their leader Mother Ann Lee never learned to read or write.
Shaker men and women lived separately. Some members came to the group as married couples but once they became a Shaker they lived the rest their lives in separate quarters. Order,simplicity,hard work and celibacy were strong convictions of this group. In spite of the celibacy though there were lots of children raised in the Shaker villages. Often they were orphans brought in when no one else would take them.

 This is one of the rooms once occupied by children. It doesn't look like a lot of fun for a kid.....we didn't see any toys or dolls or any thing child like that said children once lived here.

 They may have given the children a roof over their heads and three meals a day but fun and play I guess was not a priority.

We fell in love with the furniture and the architecture of the village. I knew from my Mother's love of ladder back chairs that they were invited by the Shakers,and trust me comfort was not part of that invention. I think they designed these chairs so they could hang them on the wall in the evening and sweep the floors clean.

I loved the kitchens and all of the old utensils, the beautiful large bowls and pots. It really made you realize that putting a meal on the table was not a quick and easy process........after all they didn't invent the microwave!

We were surprised to learn that they have a hotel there on the property. We discovered this when we stopped for lunch at their restaurant. The atmosphere in the restaurant was very tranquil and relaxing so I bet a stay at the hotel would be they same. I actually saw this hotel on a list of the top favorite stays of Martha Stewart. I just hope the rooms are a tad more modern than what we saw on our tour of the village.

I have to say the food was wonderful...... they had the best ice tea I've ever had. We hope to go back down someday soon. I bet it's beautiful during the Christmas season. What a great treat that would be to go down for the weekend and shop and simply get away.

This is the staircase that leads to their guest rooms. I wondered if there was an elevator but we didn't any sign of one, but that doesn't mean there isn't one of course. But to be on the safe side I'd pack light!

 I thought this was interesting and I don't think this photo really shows you that they had separate staircases. One for men and one for women,leading them to their separate quarters. That had to add even more work to build these in each house.....I mean one staircase couldn't ensure that you lived separate from each other. It just seemed interesting to me the thought process in this I guess.

 This trip was for two reasons,one to visit the Shaker Village, and two to search my mother's family tree the LeMay side. We share a family tree with General Curtis Lemay who was very important during WWll. We spent a lot of our time there in Lancaster Ky in the library researching. This research led us to meeting a few women from D.A.R. The Daughters of the American Revolution, a group I hope to join, and a women writing a book about local war veterans. What a surprise to learn she had a story about my mother's cousin who served in WW11. It gave me some much needed information about him I never would have known.

While we were walking around the cemetery where some of my family was laid to rest, I noticed a dog sitting in front of a grave. At first I was kind of scared because I didn't know if it was a friendly dog or not. It had been raining all day and that made it hard to see and even harder to take photos.

 But after a few seconds I realized the dog wasn't moving and was part of the grave. I just couldn't bring myself to walk any closer. The sheer sadness of this dog sitting in front of this headstone waiting on his master was so emotional.....and rather spooky too I have to admit. I just felt that walking down there would be somehow disrespectful and probably upsetting.

In spite of the rain and drizzle it was a great trip. All of the barns with these painted quilt signs on them were so pretty. The stone walls and of course the black and some remaining white horse fences were everywhere in this area. I especially love these dry stacked stone fences,which are probably a couple hundred years old. These have most likely been here since the state was settled. If they could talk....oh just imagine the stories they could tell us.

There was also some interesting cows behind a few of these fences too. I walked over to this one because it didn't look real, but it was....and huge!

Each time we passed an abandoned house I wondered....could this have once been owned by someone in my family. I have been told that the house my grandmother was raised in still partially stands, but where? So still more to research. My next stop is the University of Kentucky to look at old newspapers and even older recorders.You see this search is easy and hard because my great-great grandparents were first cousins! So my search for both sides is with the same last name. Often back in those days people could not read or write so they never knew if the census taker recorded them correctly. This has made me crazy at times!
After I find all I can on this part of my tree I plan to do more on my Dads side the Jones'es and my mom's father's side the Sawyers. An interesting discovery was made before my dad died. We never knew that my mom's maiden name was not Sawyer it was in fact we believe Sawyers......or so I  have seen on old records in Kentucky. This search has led me to discover that we descend from Daniel Boone's sister, Mary Polly Boone. Still lots to confirm and discover.......but one fact has I have learned for is more and more interesting and colorful characters turn up at each point of this process.

I just wish I had paid more attention to my parents and grandparents when they tried to tell me who and where I came from. I hope to leave a better record of things for my sons and their family!

As an interesting foot note, I discovered that as of 2010, this once thriving group has dwindled down to only 3 remaining Shakers. I don't know if this number is still true today.

Space and an Evening Under the Stars

            Have you ever wondered what space smell like? No? I now that I've never thought about it to tell you the truth. But now I am intrigued. Evidently the odor or smell clings to the astronauts space suit,gloves,helmets and even their tools from when they are out working in space. NASA Astronaut Kevin Ford says it a smell he's never smelled before and will never ever forget!

Oh my.....can you just imagine what everything looks like from there, our planet I mean. No politics, no hatred, borders. Just earthlings, all appearing smaller than ants, and all working hard to survive. What an awesome thing to ever be able to experience.

I have Skyview on my IPhone I guess that's as close as I'm ever going to get. I use it often whether I'm inside or outside in the evening. I even sometimes use it at my desk at work. It's a little harder to see but it's still too much fun!I just love knowing where the planets are or where the International Space Station is.....so much....so vast...God is incredible!!!

Stop by National Geographic for the answer to what space smells like....it may surprise you.

Tonight we are planning on taking our tractor, some folding chairs and blankets and going out to the center of our property to watch the meteor shower which is suppose to be huge!

This sounds absolutely wonderful to me.....no TV, no computers, no lights on.....just sitting or laying on a blanket and waiting for what some say will be a spectacular meteor display!! I sure hope so because with grand-kids they'll be chasing firefly's in no time. So lets see I've got blankets,water bottles, bug spray, and cameras ready....lets hope it's a good show!

Vacations Never Last Long Enough

Well here I am back again with more boring vacations photos and stories. So sorry I just couldn't help myself. Honestly I think it all goes back to elementary school when we had to write each year about what you did over your summer vacation. I was always very long winded! So have a seat this could take a while.

When I was going through all the photos feverishly trying to crop myself out, I began to feel so sad. Sad because it will most likely be a whole year before we can go again on any form of vacation.

Yep I could have laid there all day.....and did on more than one occasion.

Now believe me I realize have no reason to complain because we do have a place we go to on weekends,but that in some ways has become another house to clean, repair and grocery shop for! Please don't miss understand we LOVE it there and it is very relaxing. But vacations are totally different they're all about fun and relaxing or WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO.....yep I still miss it!
It's all about seeing NEW sights,new experiences,new places!

We still are trying to master the self photo hahaha!

After we left Savannah Georgia we headed down to Cocoa Beach Fl. It wasn't our first choice but we decided to stay there because our oldest grandson was on a school trip to Orlando....at the big W.D.W. His health had been an issue lately so we wanted to be close enough that if he had any problems we could get there quick. So since we were in the area we decided to go and see him for a very short visit.They were waiting for all of the kids to arrive so we drove over and had a quick lunch with him and a few of his theater pals.

A new favorite photo of mine!

Say cheese....he is one of the kindest,smartest,and funniest kids you'll ever meet!

 But I'm getting ahead of myself. Before we arrived in Cocoa Beach we made a quick stop in St. Augustine Fl. We really want to go back there and spend more time, it is such a great city.........so much history and Pirate stuff! Yep I am a kid at heart....sadly however my knees are not.

So cool,so much history....history is one of our shared passions!

It was in St. Augustine that I decided I have had it with constant pain and am now planning on having my knee replaced. Well that's a subject for another time, oh and I will be begging all you sweet people out in blogland for lots of prayers too,because you see I am a HUGE chicken!

I promise you he was burning up in this costume. It was at least 100 degrees that day!

But in spite of these crunchy,swollen, knobby knees I walked the fort that I had wanted to see and the Pirate Museum across the street. Sadly the Pirate Museum doesn't allow any photography inside and that's a shame because it is great.  The St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum is great for kids and well big kids too. It's all hands on, and chocked full of fun learning and even more fun pirate experiences. They have the largest collection of real pirate artifacts in the world. Blackbeard, Captain Kid and many more. You can see Captain Kids real treasure chest and his read his last words. You can light a canon, touch a 450 year old pirate chest,and lift a gold bar and see real wanted posters of some of the most famous pirates.
There was one thing missing for us however.......................

We so wished we had our grand-kids with us.... lots of things they would have flipped out over....... well who knows maybe next year!
We spent lots of time on the beach, and so enjoyed the sail boats and the people we came across.

For example this man and his delightful family. We watched them walk the beach gathering seaweed one evening. Each bunch they picked up they would rinse off in the ocean water. They were fun to watch, laughing and talking....they left us wondering about them....and what exactly they would do with all that seaweed. There was an elderly Asian gentleman who arrived at the exact same time each evening to walk and he even stopped at the same spot each time to check his pulse.....I will miss him.

The largest one story building in the world. One star is 6' high.

We visited the Kennedy Space Center one day as well as the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. I highly recommend both! So many times we were in awe of the brave men and women who have gone where most all of us will NEVER go. You can experience and see so many things that I would never be able to list it all.

I bought the kids some fun stuff,and a few things for us too.

Go if you should ever have the chance!The tour is worth every penny! We walked around and drove around the nature reserve and it is something to see!!

As we walked we began to hear a gator,so we high tailed it out of there!

We met a sweet couple from Holland here on vacation and spent a few moments discussing all the places they had visited, and where they were headed after their stay in Cocoa Beach. She is also a blogger  and is expecting their first child. Madiva-Creations is her blog name and I certainly enjoyed meeting them both.

We had a wonderful time and are ready to leave again tomorrow........Vacations are good for whatever ails ya!

3D I-Max movie about living on International Space Station

We played hard,ate too much and spent too much money.We did everything we said we wouldn't do hahaha.....oh well we had a blast! The best part is we lots of memories and photos to enjoy!

Isn't this mailbox a hoot!

So Savannah & Cocoa Beach we sure hope to.............