Good Morning San Fran

What fun to be able to hop on a plane and within a few hours land in the arms of my family! Brita, Ben, Jan, Dennis, Serra, Nathan, Aurora--makes a very special day!

Nathan, Serra (my niece) and Aurora live near Seattle and were here to visit Dennis and Jan(who shows up in comments and her blog as missesstitches) and our timing just happened to overlap, so I even got to meet precious little Aurora.

Brita and Ben live in an apartment in downtown San Francisco, actually across the street from AT&T Park, home of the Giants. When I was looking out the window I could even see a great big ship out in the bay behind the stadium. That's the little white blip on the right side of the picture!

Brita and Ben took me along to their friends' house (Steve and Kasey) for a little backyard gathering because they are soon moving away. Their place is close to the Haight Ashbury district, many wonderful old homes. Some very pretty plants in the garden--

Which reminds me, I took some pictures of my own gardens before I left yesterday--

The pink lily is just starting to bloom, at least the buds that the deer have left. The clematis is a new plant, I have tried growing them before with no luck, but I am trying a different location and so far this seems to be good.

My hostas have become the the Old Deer County Buffet!

We are always amazed when the deer walk past all the luscious green wild foliage to dine on our carefully tended garden plants! What's up with that?

Brita and I have some outings planned today to choose things for their October wedding, this is so fun! She got word yesterday that their invitations are on the way, so this is seeming a lot more real!

Lock and load

Not much news to post here for you lately, I've been occupied with sewing up a new quilt for the 2009 MN shop hop, my own design using all the fabrics from the limited edition MN group, and I'm not quite ready to share that with you yet, sorry! And this morning I am departing for a FUN trip to San Francisco to see my special peeps there--you know who you are! Can't wait! I have a book, snacks and yarn packed in my computer bag to have nearby, and a whole much-too-large suitcase ready to be whisked away to the airport. Will hopefully be able to post some pictures while I am gone, I'm pretty sure they have some internet access out there!

my ring bearer and flower girl!

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Once upon a time, in 1975, these 2 big kids were much smaller! Small enough to be a very sweet ring bearer and flower girl in our wedding. They might be all grown up now, but in my heart they are still just little twerps who marched down the aisle without any mishap--how could we be so lucky? Thank you, Trevor and Kirstin!

Road trip from afar

I'm enjoying a day at home today, nearly finished with a big quilt on the frame and then moving upstairs to work on blocks for a new pattern in the works. Meanwhile, checking Facebook for updates from Danny on the road trip that he and Bob are enjoying. They departed here last night about 6 in Dan's newly purchased pickup. There was a picture of sunset in Mankato last night, and then when I woke up this morning there was a sunrise in Rapid City! They called me during breakfast in Custer, SD, after trading off driving all night long. Heading across Wyoming with the plan to camp tonight near Jackson Hole. I'm so jealous! I love that feeling of energy and anticipation that I get when the road stretches out ahead. And I do love the mountains, but I also get a thrill out of wide open spaces, where it seems like I can see forever. So, driving across South Dakota or Nebraska has never been a hardship for me! Just a prairie girl at heart!