Fall is naturally my favorite season. But for some one reason this year is better than some. It is turning cool slower and the early fall days are very comfortable.

It has been years since I pulled our some quilting and cross-stitching. I love cross-stitching. It is one of those old timey things that was done for utility before it it was done for a craft. Used for edging tea towels, table cloths, and pillow cases this cousin to embroidery has been around for centuries. By the time I got into it I was using it to make pictures, add to towels, or various smaller utility objects.

I joined a quilting group a few years back and did a few pieces. I was reminded of that today when I pulled out a fall sampler piece and completed it for my table top. I had forgotten some of the pieces I did until I found these old pictures. It was eight years ago when I made the matching baby quilts for my twin grandchildren. The other quilt my husband made homemade buttons to put on the quilt so it was a joint effort!

I opened up my sewing box this morning and decided it has been much too long since I did these things. Maybe it is time to do some more.

Today I needed to take my Lizzie dog in for her yearly dental work. I wandered about with no motivation to get through the business at hand. I questioned if business always needs my attention and determined that it did not.

So I went to the park, took a nice walk then headed out to visit some friends. It was a good day. We talked kids, dogs and gardening for two hours. For me wasting away two hours in leisure is a huge deal as I am working on something all the time. Once I got to the park as you can see it was easy to just let go.

This is Gold Star Park on the Coosa River. Recently the city built a walking trail through the park which is a wonderful place to walk. As I walked I was reminded that Hernando DeSoto and his group were the first Europeans to travel the Coosa Valley in 1540. Using this river as a major waterway. During the 17th Century the French believed the forks of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers as they fed into the Alabama River were the key to the country.

I stood on the riverbank imaging DeSoto and the French moving on this waterway. Somewhere in the edges of my imagination I hear “the Coosa” slapping her paddles in the water. She is the first steamboat that traveled up the river gently passing in 1845. I came back to the present, blinked, and saw fishermen sitting on the bank with poles cast. I am glad I stopped here today to enjoy the Coosa River and Gold Star Park.

Lets begin on the West Coast. I was raised in Washington so it was not a hardship to visit Mount Rainer National Park. The glaciers are beautiful and the rainforest makes for great hiking. Plan to hike the Wonderland Trail. Be amazed, refreshed and enjoy your visit. It is within striking distance of Seattle and surrounding areas if urban vacationing is your thing.

Rocky Creek

Did you know: In 1792, Captain George Vancouver of the British Navy became the first European to sail into the Puget Sound. On the horizon, he noted a large, snowy mountain, known to local Native Americans as Tahoma, Takhoma, or Tacobet. Vancouver named it for his colleague Rear Admiral Peter Rainier.

Next travel down the coast to another favorite spot, the Redwood Forest. The massive trees among the trails and roads are no doubt one of the many wonders of the world. Camping and hiking from novice to expert.And bring the little kiddies. I know my kids got to visit several times as young ones.

Did you know: Gray whales migrate just offshore along the California coastline as they from Alaska to Baja California; a 10,000-mile round trip journey. The best time to view these 45-foot marine mammals are December/January and March/April. You can watch for their spouts that are shaped like a heart.

Then move inland to the great State of Utah. While Park City and the Wasatch Range have loads to offer it is the southern part of the State that holds me captive with their parks.

The Utah Canyonlands are some of the most wondrous places I have had the occasion to see.

Northern Canyonlands: Moab will surround you with the warmth and hospitality of a small resort town at the center of some of the most stunning red rock landscapes on Earth.Great place for hiking and biking.

Southern Canyonlands: Welcome to San Juan County, Utah’s Canyon Country!
Where the true west of myth and legend is alive today. Free from the distractions of metropolitan and urban life, the relaxing lifestyle in our charming towns and villages offers the perfect vacation, residential, or business environment. Zion National Park holds the old movies set for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

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If you are not completely smitten by the Canyonlands then move south of Utah to Arizona for another wonder of the world. The Grand Canyon National Park. Oh yes, you will be impressed. I remember driving up to the Grand Canyon and wondering what the big deal was because I could not see it from the road. When we parked and walked to the rim I was over taken with the sheer majesty of it all.

Did you know: On March 31, 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the legislation creating the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
During its nine-year existence, the CCC completed numerous conservation projects in state parks, national parks, and national forests, as well as other public lands across the USA.
The program was an opportunity for poor, unemployed young men to perform critical conservation projects such as tree planting, trail construction, erosion control, forest fire fighting, state park development, and fire road construction. (By Robert Audretsch, Interpretive Ranger)

Okay if these parks are not within your range of travel then maybe further southeast would do for you. What about the Everglades National Park? It is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States. We took a air boat tour. It seemed like sometimes we were in the middle of the ocean but our guide assured us we could step out into only a few feet of water. We didn’t. Those long tailed critters with the huge jaws were swimming rather close by!

Did You Know: The Everglades is not the proverbial swamp many people consider it to be. It is technically a river, flowing southwest at the slow rate of about a quarter mile per day.

I hope you enjoyed a small taste of the National Parks of the United States. If you have the time and means to enjoy one of these parks this summer, please do.

There are some Parks I have not visited that I want to. Next time I will share with you some of those. In the mean time, enjoy our National Parks. Enjoy the summer. And if you can, take a vacation. It is the best medicine money can buy!

Note: For a complete of all the National Park in the United States go to;

www.nps.gov/

Fly me to the moon

Let me sing among those stars

Let me see what spring is like

On Jupiter and Mars

Recently I was reminded just how much I enjoy exploring space. It made me think about how I access information about space and nature. I found that I have become an app junkie. I can find just about anything I want for a small fee or for free.

I love my apps. Who doesn’t? I have a few interesting apps.  I love to visit them regularly. I am fascinated by space and nature and probably have more apps about these two subjects than I need to. Anything that is about space or our earth gets my attention.

My favorite is Star Walk. You can point your iPhone or iPad in any direction and you can see what stars, constellations and satellites you are looking at in real time. It is important to note if you want to use this one it cost $2.99 and requires 3GS/4/4^th gen IPod touch for motion tracking. But is well worth it, I find it is the prettiest way to explore the universe.

These are the apps that I enjoy that are free. Cosmic Discoveries is supported by the American Museum of Natural History. It contains about 1,000 images of space. Take a trip across our universe with stories about galaxy clusters.  Keeping me out in our universe I then go to the HubbleSite. NASA invites us to help choose the world’s most popular Hubble images by voting on the pictures. You can use the pictures as wallpaper or gather Hubble facts that you are curious about.

I love visiting Google Earth. All of us probably have visited Google Earth at one time or another. It shows you just about anywhere on the planet including your own home! Project Noah is a mobile app that helps nature lovers (like me) discover their local wildlife and assist budding scientists in research projects. But frankly, I am curious so I just want be able to ask questions about my environment. It has three areas to use in research. Spottings: Get a photograph and look for interesting facts about your site project. Location-based Field Guide: One of my favorite parts of this app is that you can look at plants or animals and look up information about them. And Field Missions allows users to contribute to ongoing research projects while enjoying exploration.

I am naturally a very curious person. I always want to know, why? When the Internet came about it was the answer to my world and any questions I have.  At any given moment I can get online and get answers for just about anything.

Who hasn’t heard that phrase, “there’s an app for that”? And there is! What are your favorite apps? I would love to hear about them.

Note: The apps that I am sharing here are primarily to be used on the iPhone or iPad. But other smart phones offer options that have comparable apps to be had.

For the historian in me I want to see The King’s Speech about King George VI of Britain and his ascension to the throne. Bringing to the throne a problem with stuttering which his speech therapist helps him overcome. All three leading actors, Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter are phenomenal actors. I am sure this is well worth seeing.

For the child in me there are two movies out this year that have caught my attention. As Captain Jack Sparrow, Johnny Depp is back in On Strangers Tide. I think it will be as good as the prior movies. All the major players are back except for Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. But really what else could you write about their characters? They married and basically lived happily ever after.

The other movie that tugs at the child within is the Harry Potter movies. I have been waiting to see how Deathly Hollows will be done in Part Two. I have read all the books and know how it ends but I just like seeing movie magic bring everyone to life. Finally when Harry, Hermione and Ron go back to Hogwart’s to find and destroy Voldemort’s final horcruxes the battle all Potter fans have been waiting for ensues.  I have watched the young actors of the Potter movies grow up over the years and I think this is a fitting end to childhood moving them all into adulthood.

Science Fiction and Action movies are another area of enjoyment. I love watching hi-tech scenes from these genres. I am more interested in the technique than I am with the story line but this year one got my attention because it covers both sci-fi and action. In Aliens & Cowboys a space ship shows up over the skies of Arizona in 1873 to take over the earth starting with the Wild West. Who better to fight this diabolical foe than Harrison Ford right? Not sure yet where Daniel Craig fits in but I am willing to see. I wondered what Ford would do after the last Indiana Jones movie. I am looking forward to this one.

More fun? I think another sci-fi and action flick with no risk of getting caught up in the story is on the menu. So I decided on Battle for Los Angeles. All I could find about it so far on www.imdb.com is “A Marine platoon faces off against an alien invasion in Los Angeles.” Oh yeah that is my kind of movie!!!

These movies will get me through the season. They all sound good to me. Entertainment is a welcomed amusing diversion to get through the cares of the day.  There are so many negative things happening in our world it will be nice to have something that will take my mind off of things so I can get another run at life.

Last week my brother sent me an email of pictures of old cars that were taken at a car show. I replied asking him if he knew that I was into old cars. He said, nope he never knew about that about me. So it got me to thinking about my other siblings and what I think I know about them….this led me off to thinking about my oldest sister, Diane.

Diane was two siblings ahead me. When I was in grade school she was in junior high. But the real jump was when she hit high school. She just looked so much like a grown up then. I didn’t know her because she was in a different place, much older than me. I never thought much about that for years because we both got busy with life getting married, having kids, working and moving about. But what was a defining point was when she retired, starting emailing me more often, I get a phone call everyone once and a while and we are Facebook buddies.  In our adjustment of getting to know each other again I have learned some remarkable things about my “big sister”.

My sister is a quilter. I think if there was a category for it I would say she is a “Master Quilter” like I am a “Master Gardener”. She should be recognized because her work is sheer art. I have had the benefit of being a recipient of her work. It is beautiful, she told me they are small pieces she just threw together but I still displayed them proudly and find that I always tell people I know about this amazing gift my sister has.

In my pondering I got curious as to where this love of crafting came from? How long has she done it? And where did she find the time raising three kids and later remarrying into a huge blended family?

So we talked and I found out she has been into sewing in one form or fashion since she was four years old. Her desire to be a quilter came early in life. She practiced on scraps to hone her skill. Then the real breakthrough came. She worked for a place, Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals. They were looking for a Christmas charity project. That was back in the day when each piece was hand sewn. She and five of her coworkers auctioned off that quilt for $300 to give to charity. That is when the quilting fever hit! I never knew this about my sister.

Runner is personalize for a family heirloom.