Saturday, July 30, 2011

A July Saturday in Paducah

This day started out like any Saturday... have some breakfast and head to Farmer's Market to get some fresh veggies. We hadn't driven out of Reidland yet when we came upon a Mama wild turkey taking her young one for a walk... across the busy highway. We stopped and let them cross. And, where was my camera when I needed it!

Then it was off to Farmer's Market to get some sweet corn and tomatoes. Stopped by the National Quilt Museum (which is right across the street from the market) to pick up the silver necklace that I saw in their newsletter. It is a heart that says Quilts inside the heart - one is now in my jewelry box. And I also picked up some of the museum's collection of dogwood fabric made by Moda. They told me that the supply is getting limited, so if you want some, contact the museum. They had 5" squares, jelly rolls, layer cakes (10" squares - that's what I bought), and some fat quarters and other cuts.

After a bacon and tomato sandwich for lunch - yum - it started to rain. I love to sit on our back porch when it rains. This photo shows how hard it rained.

Our backyard has lots of bushes blooming now. Here is how the pink crepe myrtle looks in the rain. We also have a dark rose colored crepe myrtle, and the Rose of Sharon buses are blooming too - they are a purple-ish pink.

My next bit of entertainment on the porch was watching the hummingbirds. We haven't had but about 4 hummingbirds up to now... but they were fighting in masses over the feeders today. Here are two of them going beak-to-beak over this feeder.

And now, I'm going to go Zentangle. If you don't know what that is, stay tuned. I'm heading to a seminar for teacher certification in Zentangle this fall. I see lots of applications for it in designing quilting patterns.

Have a great weekend!
Bonnie B

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Miss You Maxine

Last week we attended the funeral of Wayne's Mother, Maxine Furnas Browning Martin in Muscatine, Iowa. She would have been 90 in December. While we already miss her, she passed away in her home, did not have any disabling diseases, and was mentally sharp. She passed away as she was getting dressed on the morning of Sunday, July 10. If we have to go, that would be my choice too.

Maxine leaves behind her husband, Buster Martin, one son - Wayne Browning, and her daughter - Kathi Beverlin, two granddaughters - Cherdyl and Chrystal, and one great-granddaughter, Jamie. She was preceded in death by her first husband, Carl Browning, and son James Browning.

She loved flowers and we often sent her bouquets of live flowers to enjoy. Maxine was well-known for making some of the best cinnamon rolls and pies around. There were always fresh cinnamon rolls waiting when we visited her. Usually our fall visits included a visit to our favorite orchard near Morning Sun, IA, to buy bushels of apples. She believed that an apple, or two, did keep the doctor away. Her apple dumplings were yummy!

My favorite memory of Maxine is the time she and I spent together making candy for the holidays. We would each buy 10 pounds of sugar and we made candy until the sugar was all gone. We made several kinds of fudge - the old-fashioned cooked cocoa kind, white chocolate fudge will lots of nuts in it, and peanut butter fudge. Of course there were several flavors of divinity - her two syrup recipe is still the best one, peanut brittle, date rolls, and whatever new kind we wanted to try. Our family and friends enjoyed lots of holiday candy from our weekend of candy making.

Peace!

Friday, July 1, 2011

Love Red, White and Blue

It is hard to believe that it is the 4th of July weekend already... and time for me to share some of my red, white and blue quilts!
Lady Liberty, Bonnie K. Browning

American Eagle, redwork by Bonnie K. Browning

Collection of Bonnie K. Browning

Quilt by Milford Valley Quilters,
Collection of Bonnie K. Browning

Collection of Bonnie K. Browning

Quilt by Florence, Alabama Quilters
Collection of Bonnie K. Browning

Collection of Bonnie K. Browning

Salute to Uncle Sam, Bonnie K. Browning
May you all have a fun, safe 4th of July holiday!