Preview - Free Form Lace Scarf

Well, I finished the knitting part and now just have to do the blocking.

I'm not sure what I think. We were encouraged to do a free form edge, but it looks raggedy to me.

Maybe blocking will help.

The Hearth Pad

My Wood Stove installer wants to charge me more than 350$ for a hearth pad, so I think I am going to do my own. Here is what I was thinking.

Half the price and nicer, I think since I did not price any of the pads that had decorative edgings.

Of course what I really wanted to post was pictures of my baby! This is the way I imagine her - attentive, obedient, diligent.

This is really more like the real McCoy!

Oh I think I hurt her feelings!

The face only a mother (or father) could love!

How about this face!!

Don't they both look gorgeous here!!

Welcome to Minnesota

So we get home and a day later we get this!!

It didn't seem to bother little Aimee.

Of course now all the snow is gone, but we might get some more tonight.

Last Day on the Road

Trying to find a hotel on the road can certainly be a hit or miss affair. This time we had a hit. We found an inexpensive hotel that had been recently remodeled, was clean and very pleasant. We even got to swim and use the hot tub/whirl pool. What a nice experience after a long day on the road. We even had a refrigerator and microwave!

The next day we got to see a Mary Kay pink cadillac. I don't know why, but that always gives me a good feeling! We saw lots of them in Texas back in the day, but to see one in Wisconsin was a blast from the past.

Another fun event is passing the water park in the Wisconsin Dells. I don't know why they call it the Kalahari, but they do.

It says "All Indoor" (which allows them to use it more than one day a year, but there are all these pipes out side - so I guess they have to heat them to keep the water from freezing.)

I promised Fall colors too - so here is a series of shots of some of the Wisconsin scenery.

Some areas we drove through were absolutely stunning.

We were fortunate enough to have some sun too!

Here are those rock formations.

These trees need another few weeks, before they will be colorful, I guess.

Don't forget to compare these Fall colors to the ones my husband kept pointing out in the previous blog entry! (wink!)

And then we were in Hudson and after that we had the welcome and familiar sight of Minneapolis.

Trip Home Pictures

Our drive home was lovely. We had great weather and beautiful landscapes. Unfortunately someone pointed at something when I was photographing this old interesting barn!

We drove through Lancaster county in Pennsylvania, home of the Amish.

There were lots of farms to be seen.

And occasionally there was a quick glimpse of an Amish person. I actually like this shot. It has a certain feeling to it.

Here was a young man ploughing his fields.

This was Lancaster. We were supposed to stop and walk around, but we got lost.

It was a pretty town from the car window anyway.

A barn on the way out of Pennsylvania.

And here was some special Pennsylvania Dutch candy.

How strange that it seems just like ours! This was a cool mountain!

My husband was constantly pointing out what he called Fall color. It usually looked like this.

Pretty scenery. I'm always intrigued by the textures of mountain sides.

This is more like like what I call Fall color!

Of course some Fall color is not what we most wanted to see. These oranges weren't on the trees!

See all that Fall color!?

We stopped for gas in Ohio. This house was across the street from the gas station was interesting.

Here is a closer look!

It was a very typical American town somehow.

Another barn!

That's the first half of the trip back!!

Last Part of the Delaware Visit

We spent some time dining with the relatives. Here is cousin Cathy.

We had a wonderful breakfast with cousin Cheryl and here is Don's Mom too.

Here is Don with his cousin Cheryl.

We went to see the new Michael Moore movie with Don's Mom. I thought it was excellent. I have always been fascinated by the rich colors of the Cinema there near Chalfonte.

It is huge and they have this whole Oscar motif thing going!

We did more than attend th cinema arts. We went in for fine arts too! Here is the Delaware Art museum.

Behind that upper bank of windows is the Chihuly bridge. Here is a blow up of the image above - you can see some of the glass behind the reflection of the trees.

The museum website has a better view of it and from the inside.

There is a lovely sculpture garden in front of the museum. The trees were beginning to turn, so it was a very pleasant place to stroll.

Unfortunately I did not write down the names of the pieces.

This kinetic sculpture was twisting around rapidly because we had so much wind on the day that we were there.

The museum is best known for its collection of Pre-Raphaelite work. It has quite a few Dante Gabrile Rosetti paintings including Lady Lilith below. (All images are linked from the museum's web site).

This is by Edward Burne-Jones and is called The Prioress' Tale.

This is Rosetti's Veronica Veronese. He painted it in 1872.

This is Rosetti's La Bella Mano painted in 1875 in conjunction with a sonnet.

This Edward Hopper piece (Summertime) was absolutely fascinating and I'm not sure why. I think it relates to the fact that the white-clad woman dominates this image of summertime despite her diminutive size. The gauzy quality of the skirt that allows the viewer to see her right thigh somehow resonates with the curtain nearby and suggests a summer breeze.

The museum has a large exhibit on illustrators such as Norman Rockwell and Howard Pyle. The one below is called Sylvia's Troubles. Pyle did it in 1882.

Pyle started a school for illustrators and one of his students was Ellen Bernard Thompson. She ended up marrying Howard's brother Walter and had a good career working for the Saturday Evening Post. Below is a detail of a painting she did using her sisters as models.

Here is a portrait of the artist. They have a wonderful exhibit on her.

This is one of her covers.

I'm not positive, but i believe this is also one of Ellen Pyle's pieces.

I enjoyed the contemporary exhibit the most of all. There were a couple of really great pieces. One was Swan Motel by George Segal. It is a very dark piece with a sculptural woman with a black bag slung over her shoulder. Tiny electric lights simulate the traffic and lights of the big city. This was his last piece dating from 1999 (He died in June of 2000).

Another completely fascinating piece was by Richard Cleaver and is called Queen's Closet. It is a wardrobe covered in nails and pearls. It comemorates the wives of Henry the Eighth. On the back is written: Divorced Beheaded Died Divorced Beheaded Survived.

Here is a detail.

After the museum we drove home through some pretty old and interesting neighborhoods.

A goodbye dinner was held at Harry's a favorite local place. There are all kinds of large plastic (but mostly tasteful) animal heads on the walls. We always enjoy going there.

The next day we would be up early and loading ourselves and things into the car in preparation for our trip home.