I've been away

Wow!  Does time ever fly by!  Tim and I took a 10 day vacation to the beautiful hill country of Texas.  We stayed in a lovely house on a golf course (no, we don't play golf).  And did I mention that we took my bff and her hubby with us?  Yes, Leslie and I bid on the use of this house at a Little Lighthouse Fundrasier last April.  The Little Lighthouse is a school here in Tulsa for children with disabilities.  It's operated through donations and support of the community.  It's a wonderful, wonderful school and many children have made amazing progress there.  So....anyway a generous man owns this house in Kerville, TX and donates the use of it to several worthy causes.  We bid on it and we won!  So that's how we ended up in Kerville, TX.

Our husbands really needed a vacation so we didn't really plan any activities that were set in stone.  We ate a lot...we watched the World Series (Yeahhhhh Cardinals!!!!  I'm a Missouri gal, by birth!)...Leslie and I stitched...the guys played a bit of pool...we got pulled over twice for speeding (umm...I'm not saying who was driving, but no tickets were issued)....and in general we had a great time.  Oh I forgot!!! Leslie and I visited at least 6 quilt shops.  We had to ban our husbands from going in them after a while because they caused too much of a commotion.  When we went outside to check on them we discovered that they were sitting in front of the door demanding beer or a dollar from anyone who tried to enter.  Don't know if we're welcome back there.  haha

Here we are on a walk along the Guadelupe River in Kerville.

Always the rebel...the sign says "Keep off Dam".  Guess where he is.

This is also on the Guadelupe when we took the scenic drive into the hills.

This is at the James Avery Craftsman "compound" in Kerville where Tim bought me something shiny for my birthday.

Did I mention that I had my birthday while we were gone?  Leslie baked me this lovely angel food cake.  Yum.

On our scenic drive we had to stop at this little hole in the wall place.  Not only did they have the "Best Dang Jerky in Texas", they also had one of the best barbeque brisket sandwiches I've ever had....

...and since Tim is the slowest eater in Texas (or anywhere else) he got to finish his sandwich with a Peacock.  Weird place.

Here we are working on our applique projects.

This is the entry way to the house that we stayed in.

Bff's in Texas

This is in Fredricksburg.  There were more pies than quilts.  The guys were touring the WWII museum.  We tried to get some German food in Fredricksburg, but all the restaurants shut down.  We think there was a city water problem...but more than likely it was just the Marler luck.  It just happens that way.

This was a great quilt shop in Bandera, TX (not so great picture).  We left the guys without a car to fend for themselves that day.  They managed to walk over to the country club for lunch.

Here are a couple of things I've mangaged to finish lately.  I'm working on the border of my applique quilt now but still have the last block to make. 

This is the 23rd of 24.  Almost there!

This table runner idea came from Nancy Halverson's new book.  I made it to fit a table that's been in our family since 1990.  Calista has it in her new house.  Is that a little giraffe standing beside her?

Close up of the quilting.  I appliqued  and quilted it at the same time.

No early November post would be complete without pictures of my favorite "Halloweeners". 
This is Timothy the famous Jedi.

 Ninja Gabe

And there's that giraffe again.


Now on to the rest of the holidays.  Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before I know it.  Time to get busy!