This time next week I will know what I have won in Houston! I have been busy wrapping up loose ends and making arrangements. Trying to figure out what to wear and getting things ready.

Since my friend Rose, who usually travels with me to Houston was unable to go this year, I offered the extra bed to Gloria, the GLO in Gloderworks the company responsible for my wonderful website. She accepted and I am looking forward to getting to know her better. I admire Gloria‘s quilting work as well, and she is also a winner this year, in addition to being an author and computer guru.

I have permission from Quilts, Inc and SAQA to show the two pieces that have been kept under wraps so far and they can be seem in the “Upcoming Events” section of the website. “Prairie Fire” the winner in “World of Beauty” and “December Dawn” in “Seasonal Palette”.  They did ask that I announce that there is a catalog available for “Seasonal Palette”.

I keep forgetting – I meant to post this sooner. After the KVQG meeting last month, Denise S., The Curious Kansas Quilter followed me home to photograph my studio for an upcoming guild program on studio spaces. If you follow the link you can  see some of the pictures that she took.

Sunday afternoon I drove down to Bella Vista, AR to do a program for the Calico Cutups Quilt Guild on Monday. Everything went very well and I enjoyed seeing that beautiful area again and meeting some great new friends! Monday was a loooong day, as I hit the road right after the meeting and didn’t get home til  8:15 – about 4 hours driving time with only one short break for gas, food, etc. Tues was spent getting everything sorted out from the trip and getting the Silent Auction piece sent off to Houston.  Good to be home!!

Here is the finished Silent Auction Donation quilt for Quilt Festival in Houston. I am pretty happy with the way it came out and I hope it makes them lots of money!

Prairie Fire Mini 15w X 17h” Machine pieced, machine quilted.

Now that that is done, I need to go prepare for my trip to Bella Vista, Arkansas tomorrow where I will do the guild program on Monday.  Looks like great weather to travel!

Finally, the last of the Maine Botanical Garden photos, these having to do with rocks that have been carved,

There were three of these huge boulders set in a circular orientation with minimal carving to make them look like whales, each with a blow hole that went off intermittently.

In one of the woodland settings we came upon this tub carved from a large granite boulder, the outside left rough and natural but the inside smooth as glass with intricate organic leafy shapes around the top.

The surface made a lovely reflecting pool.

Scattered throughout the garden were many small sculptures. I was drawn to this raven for it’s simplicity.

This eagle reminded me of a Kansas Jayhawk.

Here at home, we thought we had gotten the waterfall fixed, but discovered a low spot the next morning after loosing a lot of water overnight. It was an easy fix and the water level is staying up, so now I get to finish my rock work there.

In the meantime I have been continuing the garden renovations. Yesterday morning I dug up a clump of Red Hot Pokers, divided it into a dozen or so new plants and got them planted, then did the same with a clump of ” Prairie Blue Eyes” daylilies. As I dig out the gardens we are mulching and installing the black plastic edging strips around the beds. I hope this will help with keeping things contained for the future.

Last night we got another half inch of rain and it is nice and cool this morning, so I need to get outside and carry on.

I AM doing some quilting as well. Last week I got started with the quilting on the Kansas scene, but it’s slow going as I am usually done in by lunch time from the gardening chores!

I have lots of rocks to work with here in Kansas so I am always looking for ideas. Maine has lots of rocks too but they are sure bigger than ours!

This rock wall appears to have been built around a huge rock.

Here is an interesting path that must have involved some shaping of the stones. Just look at the luxurious plantings!

There were two walking mazes. The other one was a spiral that was meant to be walked barefoot. The outer edge had large pebbles embedded and they gradually got smaller as you got to the center.

This waterfall is huge! There are 4 tiers and it appears that some of the rock was naturally there and some was artistically placed to look as though it may have always been there.

The uppermost part consists of an enormous rock that was hollowed out to be a basin at the top.

I suggested to my husband that he might do that for our waterfall as it looks watertight,  because here at home we have our own waterfall problems! He was not receptive!  Just minutes before we had to leave for the airport we discovered that we had a leak. We did a temporary fix with a black plastic leaf bag and it worked great. After we got back home we tore it apart and laid in some new rubber liner. The can of foam that we had for sealing in the rocks didn’t last long so we were at a standstill until we could get some more. Then the rain came so now we have to wait for things to completely dry before we can proceed with the foam and the rocks to finish the job.

We got 3.5 ” of rain last night and almost an inch the day before!!  It appears that most of it has soaked in so this should help a lot! The well that we use for filling the watergarden/fish pond had gone dry so we have had to use city water and treat it for chlorine, what a pain!

As amazing as the plants and flowers were, the art scattered through out the garden were equally wonderful.

As you enter, these life sized animals greet you; there was a pair of wolves and a pair of deer made of rebar and smaller rods. So very realistic!

This over-sized chair made from driftwood looks almost like the skeleton of something that once lived! It was in the children’s garden and I’ll bet it offers an amazing photo-op.

This wonderful pair of wire birds stood out against the huge blooms.

On the wooded trail this glass orb literally glowed against the dark foliage. It is made from what looked like small pieces of broken glass, maybe windshield glass I think.

This life sized Heron near the waterfall seems poised to nab the real frog that cooperated in my photography composition.

These were only a few of the many artworks to be seen in the gardens. If I lived there I’d be a member for sure, and visit often.

Here on the home-front we are getting RAIN!!!  Yesterday morning I continued my garden renovations and dug out 125 (yes, I counted) Surprise Lily bulbs from just one bed. Now there’s a plant that likes Kansas but even it is not blooming well this year.

One of the things we did in Maine was to visit the Botanical Gardens. 248 acres of beauty that opened to the public in 2007. Only 5 years ago!!!

While I thoroughly enjoyed it, I couldn’t help feeling guilty at subjecting my own plants to the inhospitable conditions in Kansas where they languish or die. Seeing how they look when they are happy, makes me rethink my gardening here.

I have this variety of Hosta; it has about 6 puny brown edged leaves but at least it is still alive. Most of my Hostas died this summer. And I do water but apparently not enough.

Likewise the Japanese Painted Fern, the only fern I have been able to grow here. Mine do NOT look like this!

Remember how excited I was when I discovered the Hot Papaya Coneflowers a couple of years ago? Since then, I’ve killed three. Here’s how they should look, I feel like a monster.

These are so lush they can’t stand up! In the background the Russian Sage is only a little bigger than mine, so that is a keeper for here. The day was in the low 70′s’ overcast and foggy. There is more moisture in the air than we’ve had in Kansas all summer probably. No wonder the plants are happy!

The Rose Hips look like tomatoes!

Since coming home, the weather has cooled somewhat and I have been spending 2-3 hours a morning digging up the gardens because frankly there is not much out there to be disturbed right now. With the tops died back it’s not easy to see where things are, so I have unearthed clumps of daylily roots that I’ve separated and replanted as well as lots of Surprise Lilies that didn’t bloom this year and spring bulbs that needed to be thinned. I’m pulling out some plants that don’t work and when I shop the fall sales I will be looking for things that have proven they can deal with Kansas.

In the springtime when the rain is adequate and everything is thriving it is easy to get tricked into adding more “stuff”. Then along comes July and August to flip the switch, turn off the water, add the heat and remind you that you live in Kansas. I’m going to really try to stop trying to grow things just because I like them. Even native wild-growing trees are dying this year.

With Kansas so hot and dry this year it was wonderful to take a quick get-away to the lake cottage in Maine owned by our daughter’s husbands family. It was SO cool and quiet there. A blessed relief from the summer we were experiencing at home! There is more moisture in the air here than we have had all summer at home!

The first morning there this was our view from the edge of the foggy lake – what a way to enjoy the morning coffee. No sounds except an occasional Loon call.

Later in the morning the fog lifted and we went to Pemaquid Point to see the lighthouse. So picturesque! Sitting on the rocks amid the swirling seagulls I snapped this view of the crashing waves. Doesn’t it look just like a painting? I’m sure this trip will give me ideas for new work.

My lens jammed when I tried to zoom in on the rocks and then the camera would do NOTHING! No seagull pictures, no lighthouse pictures, no response from the camera to any commands. Luckily when we got back and plugged it into the charger everything cleared up and worked fine for the rest of the trip, so I will share more photos later.

Last week was a very busy blur!

On Monday I drove into MO for a lecture and workshop with the Lee’s Summit Quilter’s Guild. What a fun group of ladies! That always takes at least three days, getting ready, going and then putting everything away afterwards.

There was also an Art Guild meeting and a theater date to go to. We saw “Every Little Crook and Nanny” which was really good with a twist at the end that no one saw coming.

One day it rained most of the day which was wonderfully welcome and perked up the gardens immensely. I spent an hour or so pulling weeds the next morning as conditions were perfect. The temperatures even became more bearable with highs only in the 90′s but now they are back up into the hundreds again.  I have been reading a book about making gardens that are easier to take care of.  I hope I get some good advice!

I have been busy between other things working on the Bignonia and it is all quilted. Yesterday I cut and sewed the binding so perhaps today I will get that finished.  I forgot to get a photo of the finished top before starting the quilting so have nothing to show you yet, but it looks good!!

These Mountain Goats were on a faraway distant slope. Very difficult to see with the naked eye and hard to focus on so I just pointed where I thought they were and hoped for the best. It was hard to tell what was goats and what was rocks or patches of snow. Cropping the photo brought them in closer, but it is a bit fuzzy.

Same with these Mountain Sheep! Now we can see the curly horns.

These goats were at a different location, GoatLick, where the goats come to lick the rocks, I suppose for the minerals they contain. Here we were able to get much closer, but it was a steep and slippery trail to get there! This rock face is nearly vertical and they navigate it with ease. Amazing!

This Crow? Raven? came right up to the car looking for a handout I guess.

We saw this Loon family in a roadside pond, quite unconcerned at our presence.

The handsome Daddy Loon stayed between us and his family and treated us to several choruses of his loony laughter. Or maybe he was saying “Don’t come any closer”.

Mama Loon meandered nearby with her babies alternately swimming and riding on her back.