As Seen In The Wild!

When the nearest town is 30 minutes away in any direction - I find ways to fit in as many side jaunts and errands as I can when life makes it necessary that I actually have to GO to town.

Being in our now 3rd year of this pandemic, and war and other global situations putting inflation on the rise, and gas prices at jaw dropping prices - I drag my feet as much as possible to NOT have to go unless I can do it all in one fell swoop.

At the same time I hear my grandmother's voice telling me about WWII when her boys were young and her husband was at sea.  How ration coupons were a way of life, and that included gas for the car, and I'm so glad that we are not at that point.

I hope I will continue to hear her voice as I go through the 3rd trimester of my life, keeping me sane - and keeping my sense of humor through it all.

And yes, this photo at the top of the page is just to pique your interest and drag you into this day - because this is where it started:

LOL!

Remember those two crowns I was at the dentist for?

This was the view beyond my window.  I'm still laughing! Not at that person, whoever they are, but knowing there are probably many times I showed my butt to the world without even knowing.  This could have been any one of us.

It sure kept the whole "room with a view!" thing interesting.

And it turns out that I didn't need two new crowns.  The dentist just cleaned up where the root canals had been worked through the old crowns and sealed them over.  No numbing needed at all.

I left there with a spring in my step (And no numb in my mouth) and turned my attention to some solo antique mall wandering and exploring of downtown West Jefferson along with hitting THREE grocery stores on my way home.

It's 1/2 hour drive from home to here.  Gas is skyrocketing.  We do ALL the things.

Window shopping!

The displays are so pretty!

I spotted this quilt right off.

It's a crazy mix of everything wonderful!

And I love the colors in this well worn folded log cabin.

Things that make you go Ahhhhhh!

Barn block, anyone?

Sometimes I take photos because I like the color combinations.  So many possibilities.

After all, this is the time of year I really start thinking about the next Quiltville Winter Mystery and what we'd like to do with it.

This beauty!

I've never seen one of these in the wild!

If you think Singer was the inventor of the sewing machine, think again - Elias Howe was the inventor of the lock stitch that made sewing machines the greatest invention of all time.

That's some fancy footwork!  

I was tickled to see this White Rotary - check out out those art deco decals!

But my best find of the day was this -

A pedestal cake plate with dome lid for Quiltville Inn.

It's high time we had something pretty, instead of resorting to turning a pot upside down over a beautiful cake to keep it covered.  

I hope the retreaters will enjoy using it for many years to come.

I never had one growing up, or even here in my own home because life just wasn't that "fancy" and the cake never lasted long enough.

I'm smiling to myself that at 60 years old I can find such joy in such a frivolous thing.  But why not?

And what were those three store visits about?

I can't find my beloved Cinnabon creamer ANYWHERE - and this bottle is down to the bottom. We tried stores over the weekend in Wytheville when we went to the movies.  I tried 3 stores in West Jefferson after the dentist.  NADA.

As to not go home empty handed after all of that running around I am trying the Starbucks Cinnamon Dulce and the Great Value Honey Cinnamon Vanilla.

I am NOT ordering creamer from Amazon.  You have to draw the line somewhere.

And I'm not into making my own yet - and yes I know that creamer is mostly sugar and vegetable oil.  I happen to like my coffee with vegetable oil.  LOL!

And so the search continues -

Fresh rhubarb crisp anyone?

It has been so long since I have had fresh rhubarb anything. 

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When I was a little girl we used to go out to the backyard and cut a big piece of rhubarb to dunk in the sugar bowl. ⁣

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I am sure we were a sticky granulated mess, but it is one of my favorite childhood memories of summer time in Minnesota.⁣

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It was tart and it was sweet and the moment I snuck a piece out of this dish I was instantly transported back to my 6 year old self.⁣

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The rhubarb crisp was so yummy and made the house smell wonderful last night.

It doesn't get much better than this!

Ingredients

·     6 cups rhubarb

·     ⅔ cup sugar

·     3 tablespoons all purpose flour

·     1 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping

·     ¾ cup rolled oats

·     ¾ cup brown sugar packed

·     6 tablespoons flour

·     ½ teaspoon cinnamon

·     6 tablespoons butter

·     ⅓ cup coconut shredded, optional

    Preheat oven to 375.

1. Wash and dice your rhubarb. (And prepare strawberries if you’d like Strawberry Rhubarb crisp)!

2.  Toss fruit with the flour, sugar, and cinnamon.

3.  Prepare the crisp topping.

4.  Sprinkle topping over fruit layer and bake for 35 minutes until golden brown.

Quiltville Quote of the Day

The longer I live, the more I learn that this is true on all levels!

I'm off to spend the day with the June Quiltvillians who arrived last night -

Hopefully I'll be able to rope a couple of gals into hiking with me and the dogs.

Have a wonderful Thursday, everyone!