Mountain Coaster

Saturday’s excitement was the new mountain coaster in Estes Park.  

So much fun.  

Each cart had a hand break 

so you could control your speed (if you wanted . . .)

I bet this place is packed during the summer

but on a cold rain-threatening day,

we were almost the only ones there. 

It was too chilly for a second run, but next time . . . 

Antiquing

We’re in Colorado, visiting the oldest grandchild and the lucky parents. 

We arrived in pouring rain, 

LAX at 0-dark-30

but the predicted tornadoes failed to materialize. (hooray!!)

Today we hit several antique stores,

including a favorite in the now booming, and very windy, town of Berthod. 

Rachel’s been playing with ChatAI (or whatever it’s called). The prompts for these were “axolotl steampunk” ⬆️

“knitted octopus knitting”

”quilting octopus”

“quilting octopus quilting”. So fun!

Pool-A-Potamus

This year’s Guild Challenge was pretty open-ended. Analogous colors, black background, other colors ok in smaller amounts, and some size restrictions. That’s it. 

I wanted to make something fun, so a bit of Tula Pink’s True Colors* (the big hippos) … her rainbow hexies (the ‘water’) …

paired with TartanKiwi’s foundation paper pieced hippo pattern (including making one in reverse which took me forever a bit to figure out) …

and finally - released just as I finished the main section - Tula’s brand new Everglow collection with hippos and giraffes. I love them. 

The backing? Tula, of course!

Fussy-cut eyes and lashes

Just a pod of colorful hippos enjoying a spa day, steam rising from the water, while their giraffe attendants wait to escort them out to their fresh water friends. Hey, it could happen. 

The whole thing makes me laugh. I doubt it will win any prizes, but hubby and I love it and that’s all that really matters. 

* All the fabric, except the Everglow side panels, came from my stash, so this project helps my goal of using up the Tula I own … so I can buy more …

Laboring

Yet more child labor laws broken.  

The teenager will be appalled. 😂😂

But Jac’s happy,

the trash can is clean(ish)

and we got to hang out together in the warm(ish) sun. Winning all around!

Tales of Wales

One of the most annoying things about working on hubby’s family history - and the thing I’ve spent the most time on so far - is the brick wall that is his Welsh line. 

There are literally hundreds of Mary Jane Joneses (or slight variations there of) born near Cardiff in 1860. And it doesn’t help that every document I’ve found, including the various censuses - the best way of figuring out who’s who from 160+ years ago - lists a different approximate date of birth for her. I’ve found several MJ’s that might be a match, but if I can’t find her parents (or siblings or cousins or anybody!) I’m stuck with no way to verify which Mary Jane is my Mary Jane. 

So imagine my excitement when I tracked down a 1935 funeral notice for Mary Jane’s husband and listed among the mourners are two “step-brothers.” I know HE didn’t have step-siblings, sooooo maybe I’ve found a link to HER family?? Finally?

George and the Cleves

That’s a no. Turns out the Cleves family were brewers in Cardiff and 15-year-old George was sent to live with them, to learn the trade (guessing here, based on the census…), in 1871, EVEN THOUGH his mama had him listed as still living at home in England on her 1871 census form. So he wound up on two different census forms, in two different countries. 

England Census for Keziah and William

I’d spotted a “George Purnell” living near the Cleves in the 1881 census but the entry was so weird (a 24-year-old has a 20-year-old granddaughter and 17-year-old grandson??) that I figured it was an error and disregarded it. Turns out it’s Charles and Susan Cleves’ grandkids living in the same house as their “nephew*” George. 

Wales Census for  Charles Cleves Sr.

And since I had George on each ‘correct’ census, I didn’t follow up on this outlier - and probably wouldn’t have known this was “my” George if I had. But once the pieces came together, finding those names in George’s obit lead to a cool story - so much more than you’d expect to get from a few century old pieces of paper. I really love that part of the search. Now, if I could just find a link to Miz Jones …

* Pretty sure the Cleves aren’t blood relatives since I haven’t found any other Cleves in my search, but they were obviously an important part of George’s life. 

Life Skills

Me: hey Jac, want to have some fun and wash down the driveway? 

Leia: you know child labor is illegal, right??

Smart aleck teenager. 😂

Washing the newspapers

Those chalk drawings aren’t going to remove themselves. 

I also taught Jac how to make rooster tails with the hose. 

She had to use both thumbs, since hers are so tiny, but she got it!

Gotta keep imparting those important life skills. 

Phase 1 - ✔️

The rapidly approaching deadline for submissions got me motivated to work on my hippos again. 

Borders are on and it’s pinned and ready to quilt … tomorrow? Sometime soon. 

Couldn’t resist adding bits from Tula Pink’s new Everglow collection. The whole thing is so silly but it makes me happy - and hubby likes it too. Bonus!

Chalk Fest

First driveway chalk fest of the year! Spring is really here, at last. 

I had to practically chase these two out of the house - 

“It’s too cold” … “it’s too bright”… -

but once they were out they loved it. 

So pleasant to sit in the sun and watch them play and draw together. 

Jac worked on making flowers, 

clouds - rain, snow and hail -

and snow people,

while Donovan went with his strengths -

Spiderman, Hulk

and (part of) his name. I think he ran out of chalk and interest about the same time. 😂

Portrait with Jackie (my best side).

Cookies

Donovan: how many cookies can I have?

Me: 2! 

His dad: 1.

Me, holding out bag of cookies: are you going to pick a big one?

Donovan: no, I’m going to take a small one because then daddy will let me have another one and I’ll pick the biggest one then!

He’s such a smart cookie! 😂😂 

Hippo Love

I asked these two for help getting a pic of my partial finished hippos.

Sometimes magic happens when you least expect it. Look at their expressions! I hope they stay this close as they grow up.  

Jac was talking about her school BFF’s, so I asked if Donovan was her BFF too. “Grandma, he’s my cousin. That’s always better.”