Lynn Carson Harris

Family Heirlooms

When I was growing up, my sisters and I stayed several weeks with my grandparents each summer. My grandmother kept this quilt spread out in the back of her station wagon where my sisters and I would all three ride on trips into town to get groceries, go to the library, or go "visiting." This quilt holds many memories in its faded fabric and melted crayon stains. My grandmother did not sew but she told me she helped cut the pieces for this quilt that her mother-in-law sewed together.

When my grandmother gave me the double wedding ring quilt, she also gave me this fan quilt that I had never seen before. I love having these old quilts and enjoy looking at all the old fabric prints.

Prewedding Fun

The wedding day started with a morning at the salon for the wedding party.

Miss P LOVED getting her hair curled and "done".

The guys had fun learning how to tie their bow ties.

The prewedding photo session included a trolley tour around town. The first stop was at the pier in Grand Haven. I couldn't help but take a few photos myself.

The wedding party even got to climb the light house. 

The bridesmaids and groomsmen were having a bit of fun too. Selfies with the bride and groom.

Photobomb by the bride.

They left on the trolley and made a few other stops before the trolley brought them to the wedding site on the beach. I know they had a fun afternoon and I'm eager to see all the professional photos!

Wedding Weekend

This weekend, my second son got married! He and his fiance held the festivities on the shore of Lake Michigan so we got to have a wonderful weekend getaway to boot..

The night before the ceremony we had a rehearsal/picnic on the beach.  It was great to spend time with the wedding party and the bride's family.

P loved playing on the beach after her rehearsal duties were finished.

 

Spring Break - Part 4 coming home

Our last stop in New Mexico was at Capulin Volcano National Monument. We arrived just as they were locking the gate for the evening so we could not drive to the top. We were, however, permitted to walk up. 

Walking the road is ONLY allowed after the gate is closed so that worked out very well. 

There were big, wide views in every direction as we circled the extinct volcano. You can see several other extinct volcanos in the same area. 

Below is a view inside the crater. 

Our last significant stop was at the Tallgrass Prairie Nationsl Preserve. P was thrilled to see Bison from the walking path. In addition to these two that were close, we saw a herd running away over a hill elsewhere on the path. 

There were several prescribed burns going on in the area and the air was filled with smoke. Still, it was a beautiful visit.

Miss P was excited to get many new stamps in her national park passport this trip. 

 

Spring Break - part 3 New Mexico

After three fun filled days with my sister, we left Carlsbad and headed to Albuquerque to see my nephew. On the way we stopped at Salinas National Monument and visited the Gran Quivira Ruins

and the Quarai Ruins.

From Albuquerque, we journeyed to Bandelier National Monument to see the ancient cliff dwellings.

There were a few caves there that you could enter to see what it was like. P enjoyed that. 

The wall shown below had many petroglyphs just above the level of the upper post holes.

Here is a carving of a parrot.

Next, we vistited the ruins of Fort Union, which had quite a spectacular location. It is way in the distance of the photo below.

Spring Break - part 2 - Carlsbad

We enjoyed getting out and seeing the sights around Carlsbad, NM. My brother-in-law took us to his secret pecos diamond hunting spot which thrilled P, our budding geologist. 

On the hottest day of our visit we toured the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The view below was from the parking lot at the caverns. 

On our last day my brother-in-law took us to more great spots with big views. The first stop was Sitting Bull Falls where miss P and her cousins played in the water.

We had our picnic lunch there.

The next stop was Dark Canyon. We were amused that my great niece read the sign as "Dark Canyon, LOOKOUT!" 

We hiked to Cottonwood Cave, a much less visited cave than the caverns. 

My brother-in-law knows all the best places to hike.

We finished the day with a sunset view from "the rim" and late night star viewing from dark canyon.  

This really was a trip of big views. 

 

Spring Break - part 1 - traveling to New Mexico

Last week was P's spring break from school. We extended break by one day so that we could drive to New Mexico and visit my sister and her family. On the way there we stopped at the southern tip of Illinois and visited Heron Pond. 

In addition to the state champion Cherrybark Oak shown below, we saw a thousand year old tupelo tree and the state champion Cypress tree. We were on our way to visit the nation's longest covered bridge but, sadly, that road was closed due to high water. 

The next day we enjoyed the wide open spaces in Oklahoma at the Washita River Battlefield. We welcomed the big, blue, clear skies.

We also visted the Abilates Flint Quarries on our way to see my niece in Canyon, Texas. There was a beautiful camping area in the park. That's B up on top of the hill checking out the view.

Miss P enjoyed looking for fossils, and cacti.

We soaked up the big views.

Keeping Focused

I can't seem to stay focused on any one particular project lately.

I've been playing with the tiny squares,

joining rosettes on the passacaglia quilt,

and prepping this red and white quilt from last year for quilting.

What have you been working on?

A Joyous Day

Sunday morning I got up and wanted a few moments of solitude before the bustle of the day started so I went out for a stroll around the barn. 

 

On the front porch I was greeted by marigold garland strands awaiting their final placement. Thanks to the many family members who pitched in to pick marigolds and string the garlands. It reminded me that this day was to be filled with loving thoughts from many friends and family.

 

I thought I was the first one up but Sophia, who was arranging all of the wedding flowers, had already been hard at work. All of the flowers for the day were cut from our fields and gardens as well as the from the home of the bride's family. 

Here are the bride and groom after the ceremony when they opened the barn for the reception.

Miss P made the cake toppers, and did a wonderful job capturing the wedding attire of the bride and groom.

Friends and family helped with the preparations by fixing the barn, folding cranes, planting and weeding marigolds and other flowers, letter pressing invitations, floral arranging, wedding music, preparing cookies and cakes for the dessert buffet, and even shooing a couple of chickens who thought the flower bedecked arch was a buffet set out just for them. 


The day was joyous and beyond anything I could have imagined. I loved seeing my son so happy and it was wonderful to spend time with family on such jubilant occasions. 

 

Barn Update

 

I am really enjoying the barn photography these days. 

 

I go out and check on the progress D and B are making every so often but I tend to look down at all of the interesting bits that that have been left behind.

 

I look down because looking up makes me nervous. D climbs around in there like a monkey. Here he was putting in the new electrical wiring. I'm afraid he'll forget he's up there and take a step backward. I know he really won't but it still makes me nervous.

 

He's done a lot of climbing to get these Christmas lights up. The floor still isn't finished but at least there's light now! I guess they can work after dark to get the flooring done. 

If we can only get rid of the mosquitoes I think we'll be ready for the wedding in September.