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Thursday, October 06, 2022

Pumpkin Harvest On A Roll!


There is a stop sign at the end of Grassy Creek Road where the road crosses Highway 16.

My side of Grassy Creek is in Virginia, but if you cross the road and head up the hill you find yourself in Grassy Creek, North Carolina.

It gets a bit confusing sometimes.

Conversations also go "Virginia Side or North Carolina Side?" Just to get our bearings.

At the junction of Grassy Creek Road and Highway 16 sits the Stateline Outpost and Grub, known by locals as just "Stateline."  or "Stateline Store."  Because in today's busy world it is important to save all extra unnecessary syllables for when they are truly needed.  

As I waited for highway traffic to clear I noticed there was a bit of parking lot Tetris being played by a couple of trucks and overloaded trailers and nowhere to pull in.

And the largest one of all was LOADED with pumpkins and dried corn stalks - Harvest is in full swing, y'all!


Early morning with the farmers - what a bounty!


I asked these guys if I could take some pictures just to show you my favorite of all seasons - Pumpkin harvest.  They were such good sports!

At this point the one pumping gas (Yes, from very OLD style pumps!) told me to look in the back of the second pickup to see the BIG ONES.


OH MY GOODNESS!


This started my day off with the biggest smile - truckloads of pumpkins and bright blue sunshiny sky.


Watching the trees turn on my 7 mile drive.

And I am smiling for another reason. In January when I got my Virginia driver's license, I also registered to vote.

Early voting has opened in my county and I found myself with a bit of extra time before Irene's Sewciologists group arrived.  It was the perfect time to take a 13 mile drive to the county courthouse, enjoy the gorgeous October weather and get that voting done.

My first time voting as an official Virginian!


If you can, vote early!

It sure takes the pressure off.


There was even enough time after getting the house ready to add to my stash of brown blocks.  I'm really liking these!

There are so many layout possibilities for log cabin blocks and I'm not sure I have set on any particular one - I need more blocks to play with.

My thought is I'd make 12 in each color family and then just play.  Isn't that the best part?


It's certainly the messiest part!


And Lola is always on top of the strips I want.  Go figure!


The last corner is approaching!

By 7:30pm I was feet up with my hand quilting.  I watched the first episode of Ken Burn's "US and the Holocaust" on PBS.

There was so much I didn't know.  So much that we weren't taught as kids.

It was not a comfortable watch - but so very important. We need to know better so we can do better.  So this never happens again in the future for anyone.

I was talking to Martha on our drive the other day how I remember learning about concentration camps in grade school and being terrified - and telling myself that "That was long long ago and won't happen again." It was only about 30 years prior.

My how perspectives change as we age.

It's nearing the end of 2022.  9/11 was 21 years go and feels like yesterday.  Which means that WWII was not all that far behind me as a child.

I'm rambling.  But I think it is important to watch.  And as I said - if we see areas where we could do better - by all means Let's Do Better!

I just got a text letting me know that the Sewciologists are going out for a morning walk, and I'll see them when they get back.  I'm so glad.

The foot is just not healing so quickly - I can get around with effort but by the end of the day it's still elevate and ice and rest.  It's going to take more time.

And so we sew!


Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Vintage string quilt found in North Carolina

The best advice for a Thursday out there!
Have a great one! (And go vote early!)


 

18 comments:

  1. Love the Fall. Took a ride through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park yesterday, But the trees in the valley are still very green. The trees along I77 had better color. As I was driving through all the green, all od sudden a large Orange patch appeared. Szaly's farm had gone from Sweet corn to Pumpkins! Beautiful site. Guess I will have to wait a couple weeks longer for leaf peeping! Also sent for my absentee ballot, mailing out on 10/12 per board of elections web-site.

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  2. The Ken Burns about the Holocaust was hard to watch and I also learned a lot from it. Umporthant information about history.

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  3. My parents were young adults near Rotterdam. The Holocaust was horrific. Watching friends ripped from their homes and not knowing if they would ever see them again. The starvation, the theft of their gardens and livestock by the Nazis and what could they do? Shooting citizens was no big deal to those "soldiers". At the risk of his wife/5 children, my grandfather harbored a Jewish family for quite some time. Nazis were at the door several times a week but the family was never discovered.

    Thank you for giving this historical program some "air time" on your blog. I would like to think every citizen would watch it but I know that is a pipe dream.

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    1. That is such a terrifying story but I know many people did this and some were made to pay for it with their and their families lives. I find it so interesting that not only the parents had to pull this off but the children living in the house also. Just a wrong glance or move by anyone and the nazis would get suspicious and tear the house apart. To get away with it for quite some time is really amazing.

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  4. Love the vintage string quilt!!

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  5. I also watched the Ken Burns program and couldn't help but compare the Jewish refugees at that time with the Ukrainian refugees now. Of all the millions that have fled Ukraine and the U.S. has only issued 177,000 visas. Made me think if history repeating itself.

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  6. Sorry your foot is still needing extra care at night. I couldn't find the Ken Burns series on my PBS channel.
    So sad what I did learn about the Holocaust. The farmers are friendly in Virginia, huh? Those big ones would make a Lot of Pie. Pumpkin is ny favorite. Happy Thursday.

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    1. Google PBS and your state--they have a streaming service with all past programs; if you missed it first time round.

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  7. Looking at the blue sky and bright orange pumpkins, wouldn't it be lovely for Ms. Bonnie Hunter to design a quilt capturing those colors.............also, wondering how Ivy is doing?

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  8. Speaking of Ken Burns. He loves Quilts. Check out his video. https://www.pbs.org/video/quilts-ken-burns-8xwl1f/

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  9. My daughter hurt ankle in a fall in August of 2021, had surgery in Dec. 2021, and is still having issues with it. Ankles are a hard thing to heal.

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  10. Speaking of Ken Burns. He loves Quilts. Check out his video. https://www.pbs.org/video/quilts-ken-burns-8xwl1f/

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  11. Ken Burns is a national treasure. He's also a quilt collector. I watch every one of his documentaries even if I think it's not on a topic I would be interested in. He never fails to engage my interest.

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  12. Did you know that Ken Burns collects old quilts? He has quite a collection from what I've heard..Another reason to I like and respect his work. ; }

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  13. Hope you foot heals soon.

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  14. Thank you for the pumpkin pictures. Made me smile, especially those really big ones in the pick up. I don't have netflix, but I'll make a note of the Ken Burns series and see if I can find it elsewhere.

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  15. It just takes longer to heal as we get older. (I'm ten years ahead of you and know from experience!)

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