A View of the AQS Quilt Expo

Wow, what a busy two weeks we've had. The AQS Quilt Expo in Des Moines was beautiful. Can you imagine being surrounded by 900 quilts and 300 vendor booths? It was almost quilter overload.

I thought you would enjoy seeing a photo of the exhibit hall floor -- well, this is part of it anyway. The Iowa Events Center has a row of windows that overlook the exhibit hall floor and give a spectacular view of the show. Just look at that riot of color that explodes right before your eyes from this viewpoint.

I had a fun surprise at the show. My friend, Euphie Bielejeski, and her husband Gary, stopped by the show to say hello. They had been visiting friends in Centerville and saw an article in the Sunday Des Moines Register that had my name in it. So they decided they would stop by on their way home to see if I was there. Indeed I was. I didn't recognize her until she spoke. What a nice surprise. We have kept in touch at Christmastime, but hadn't seen each other for about 25 years.

After the show, we visited our families in eastern Iowa. My sister, Karen Franzen, just retired and we had a surprise retirement dinner for her and Dellwyn, who retired this year too. And would you believe that no one spilled the beans so they were definitely surprised. Then we spent a day with Wayne's Mom and sister Kathi. We went to the apple orchard and had lunch together on Monday. Tuesday we finally got to sleep in and then visited Connie and John Bohling. John and Wayne were in school together - wow, they've known each other for a LONG time.

And, then it was back to work on Thursday and Friday. On Tuesday of this week, they finally signed the sales agreement to sell the Executive Inn to Space Coast Hospitality. The closing should be this next week and then they can begin the renovations on the hotel. The City is already getting bids for the demolition for the remodeling of the convention center. We just might have some renovated facilities in time for the 2009 quilt show - let's keep our fingers crossed.

All for now....

Bonnie B

Levee behind Executive Inn

April 17 - At sunset we drove down by the river and this photo shows how far the river has dropped - compare it to the photo I took on Tuesday.

Levee Behind the Executive Inn

April 15 -- taxes are done and sent off today.

Here is another photos of the earthen levee behind the Executive Inn, showing how the water levels of the Ohio River are dropping.

We begin judging the quilts on Saturday, in preparation for the AQS Quilt Show next week. It's going to be a realllllllyyyy gooooood show.

See y'all here in Paducah.

Levee Behind the Executive Inn

This is the view behind the Executive Inn. You can see that the water would have to raise several feet to create any havoc here. We've had calls in the office that the Executive Inn is flooded - NOT TRUE. There has been no water around the Executive Inn.

The city has not had to install the flood gates in the flood wall that surrounds Paducah to protect it from the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers.