An Afternoon Drive

It had been a while so we decided the other day we wanted to go for a drive.  I keep a list of interesting places around the state that I would some day like to visit. It's the closest thing I have to a "bucket list", I suppose.  Anyway, Brombeere said she didn't have any place in particular in mind, she just wanted to go for an afternoon drive so I picked a place and that's where we went. Actually, where I began, when picking the place, was picking one of the many "rustic roads" our state has designated.  I wanted to go to a new one, one I hadn't been to before.  And I wanted it to be along one.  To earn the designation Rustic Road, a road has to be at least two miles long, among other things.  I wanted one longer than that so I looked at the map and picked one that was long.  It just happened to also be in a state park I have had on my list for a while; two birds with one stone!

The road began at the top of the Black River State Forest and is 12 miles long.

This winter in our state there's been a lot of snow.  Unfortunately, it's usually been followed each time by warmer weather.  So we'd get a really nice, heavy snow fall.  It would stay cold for a week or so and then it would get warm, which would cause a lot of the snow to melt.

As we drove along the road you could see the effects of the heavy snow.  Not only would there be a lot, but it would also be heavier than normal, a little wetter than normal.  That makes good packing snow,  good snowman snow, good snowball snow.  But it can also be hard on trees and shrubbery.

So we saw lots of bent-over trees, lots of broken limbs.  A hard winter, some might call it.

But it was still a pretty drive.  It was an overcast day, it might have been prettier if the sun had been out, shinning bright in the winter sky.  But it was still a very pretty drive.  This forest was in what is referred to as the "driftless area", the leading edge of the ancient glacier that used to cover most of the state.  So in front of the glacier a lot of dirt got pushed around, resulting in today's hills found all over in the southwest part of the state.  It's a very pretty area.

We did find one parking area that had been plowed out, the parking area for the trailhead of a number of trails through the forest, used for hiking and cross country skiing in the winter.  So we stopped to look around.

We might have tried a picnic, there were, after all, some picnic tables, and we found a nearby water pump.

But the snow was a bit deep and the pump turned off, if not frozen.  So we decided to pass on the picnic.

Some of the small stream and ponds were frozen over.  Others were not; very picturesque.

Eventually we came to the end of the officially designated rustic road so we turned around and drove back along the road and through the forest.  It was a very nice drive, a good time together. The whole time we had only seen four or five other cars, we'd nearly had the park to ourselves.  We enjoyed the time very much.  It also left us feeling like we needed to come back when it was warmer; have that picnic, or maybe even go camping for a day or two.  Maybe even bring the bikes back and try one or two of the trails that were all covered with snow this time.  That could be a fun time.  But today, it was a good drive, that was all we were looking for.  But it was everything we were looking for.

Comfortable Accessories

The youngest of my eight children is nearing thirty year old. Years ago, when most of my children were learning to drive, we lived in a rural community.  That meant driving a lot of country roads.  Where we worked, where we shopped, where we went to church, they were all 25-30 miles away.  Even where the kids went to school was seven miles away, all mostly on country roads.  And country roads mean more deer.  Yes, we were unable to avoid deer incidents, incidents which occasionally required the services of a collision repair shop. Between that and my children learning to drive, we had our cars in the shop to repair dents and crumpled fenders on several occasions.  We always went to the same shop and always, they would give us a complimentary key ring ornament, which, of course, had the logo of their national affiliation it.  Good advertising, I guess.  Anyway, I saved them and, as one would wear out and break, I would replace it with another. However, we eventually moved into a larger town so our shopping, working, and church going didn't involve so may miles of country roads.  The  kids all got better at driving and we didn't end up at the repair shop near as often; my supply of key tags began to dwindle. But for years I had one of those tags hanging on my key ring.  Well, these many years later, what I thought was the last one finally broke,

It made me sad. I had one of these tags hanging on my key ring for so long I wasn't sure I could recognize the keys as mine without the tag.  Yet there it was, broken.

I spent a few days doing without and then decided to look in my jewelry box, where I had kept all these tags for all these years, just in case there might be one more.

Guess what I found!  Callooh! Callay! One more tag!  Yes, there was another, one more!  Of course, I put it on right away and all was right with the world again.  My pocket felt normal again.  It was a good day.

Sewing with Grandkids

Bombeere has always enjoyed sewing and most recently has had fun sewing non-clothing items, stuff like quilts, table runners, pillows, and other things that are not clothes.  When I first met her she sewed mostly clothes. In fact, I still have the first shirt she ever sewed for me. But, over the years, she has branched out into other stuff. When there's time, much of her Christmas giving consists of things she's sewn. 

In recent years, as grandkids have seen her sewing, or received things she has sewn for them as gifts, some of them have expressed an interest in learning to sew, much to the delight of their grandmother.  She has only too happy to spend time with them helping them sew something of their choice.  So she's helped one sew doll clothes.  Another time she helped one of the other girls make a toy she then gave to her brother, a "Blobby".  There have been other sewing lessons, each time she lets the student pick the project and colors.  She helps them pick the fabric for whatever project they select.  Sometimes it means a trip to the store to pick the fabric, other times the fabric comes from her own stash or their mother's stash.  In any case, it's always fun to spend the time sewing and learning.  It also provides time to talk, which in my own opinion, is one of the better benefits of the projects.

One wanted to do a small blanket.

A little later she wanted to make a matching zipper pouch.  Those both turned out well.

Another time, with one of the other kids, there was a pillow.

The pillow turned out quite well, she entered it in the county fair and got a ribbon for it.  It was fun.

The creator of the blob did a different project another time.   

This time she made a snake.  This one likes to think outside the box.  The snake was her own design.  Like the blob, she described what she wanted to her grandmother and then the two of them made it happen.  She was quite pleased with the results.

This one saw his sister having so much fun and wanted to get in on it.  He also did a pouch.

His design was a little different from his sisters' but it turned out quite well.  He has since done a number of other sewing projects with his mother.

Even a younger granddaughter wanted to get in on it.  She needed a little more help than the older girls but she was still very pleased with the blankie she made for her doll.

I was surprised that this one wanted to sew.  This kid is so active and lively, he's usually moving.  I was surprised that he wanted to do something that required sitting still long enough to put something together.  Like the others, Grandma let him pick his colors and design.  He made his choice from Grandma's stash; his basic design was Pokémon. He showed amazing concentration as he sewed the pillow top together.  It was a big enough project that it took two sessions of sewing.

But he stuck with it and ended up with a very nice pillow.  He was quite pleased with it.

Each time, the grandchild ends up with a nice something of their own choosing, something that they designed and made with their grandmothers, and some one-on-one time with their grandmothers.  I personally see a lot of value in that; both the grandchild and the grandmother enjoy it. Some happy memories.  That's worth a lot.