Baby Moo Cows!!!

The best part about the neighbor next door having cows is BABY MOO COWS!!!

 They chase each other around... (you can just barely see the back end of the brown baby behind the tree leaves)

 Until Momma there puts a stop to that. The little girl on the left was just shy of a month old when I took these and the little guy was just a few days old.

 This Momma with the horns is expecting later this summer. So far 2 babies born, 2 more to go!

 I just love watching them!

 But, I thought with the sun starting to set and the way the light hit the tree in the pasture, this should have been an awesome picture. Boy, was I right!

This has been the highlight of coming and going as I quilt. Now these cows belong to my neighbor from the house I grew up in. The long arm machine is at my Mom & Dad's house this is one of the interesting parts of growing up in the country. There were no cows here when I lived at home. Bud decided to start raising them a few years ago and it still cracks me up. Who-da-thunk-it?

Aren't they adorable?!

My Beauties!

These flowers have since bloomed and now look a bit worse for wear, but I wish they were still around.

They're a type of tulip that looks more like peonies... I fell in love with them and planted the bulbs last fall.

I was a bit worried the weird weather we had was going to harm them, but all it did was confuse them a bit. There's two different colors, one was supposed to bloom early spring and the other late spring... They both bloomed at the same time because we were going through periods of 80* weather here one day and freezing temperatures a day or two later.

They're in the same flower bed as my stargazer lilies and I just checked on those, I think they're going to be great this year, and maybe even a bit early... Some of them are already over two feet tall! Crazy!

I'm hoping to get the vegetable gardens in this weekend, that is if I can tame the parsley that took over the one garden it seems! Wish me luck!

5, 4, 3, 6, 2, 1 (Market Recap)

So why all these numbers for a Market Recap? And why in that order?

Because in 5 days, this girl

was on 4 planes

stayed in 3 hotel rooms

set foot in 6 states

on my 2 feet

which resulted in 1 tired girl!

And downloading the pictures from my camera, I'm even more ashamed than I thought I should have been. I swear I only took about 6 pictures total during my trip, but can think of all the pictures I should have taken. The worst part is I had the camera with me the WHOLE TIME!!! I have no excuses besides the awe of Market (yeah, that sounds good, right?!)

 So, this was the main entry to the lobby...

 Just beyond that was the escalators. You couldn't get into the show until 9:30 on the dot and then it was a mad dash to get up into the show.

 This was day two, on day one I didn't have my camera out for this experience and I was afraid to pull it out, get pushed or trip, get run over by the stampede of quilters and have a bad Market, so I opted to wait until day two.

This is a view from the 5th row of booths towards the back of the convention. Just a little big, don't ya think?! Well, unfortunately that's it. I wish I had more to show, but like I said. I saw and met soooo many amazing people, the camera wasn't even on my mind half the time.

So, what'd you think?!

Back from Market...

I'm home, and I think I'm in one piece...

We traveled and walked and walked and walked - I think I walked more over the weekend than I have in the last month! But it was sooooo worth it!

Sad to say I didn't take many pictures while I was gone. I guess since I hadn't been at a Market in a while I was so taken back by the sights I neglected my camera, I do have some pictures however and I will post them later.

And sorry for not posting sooner. It's so hard to get back in the swing of things:
- work is busier than when I left (I was only gone 2 days, but it feels like I have a month's worth of work waiting for me!)
- I had to grocery shop by myself last night (Ben and I usually go together or he does it, I think it's been years since I did it myself!)
- my poor feet and hips and shins need some rest - my shin splints today are killing me!
-and I started reading the Hunger Games books the night we left... I finished the second one last night and think I should have the last one done some time this weekend. Hence why I didn't blog last night like I planned... (really they are THAT GOOD, no joke, I highly recommend them!)

So all that aside my brain is still sorting out all of the things we saw and admired and I'm trying to get back into quilting mode. I'll probably be long arm quilting a bunch this weekend so hopefully I'll have plenty of goodies to show you!

I'll be back to post the pictures I did get at Market very soon!

When in Rome...

Or Kansas City...

BBQ is a must, so we tried Gates & Sons that was highly recommended. It was good and waaaaayyyyy too much food!

Show starts tomorrow, no sneak peeks yet, not even for me :(

But I can't wait til tomorrow!!!

We've arrived!!!

Kansas City, get ready for Spring Market! Lots of quilters are coming along too!

We pulled in the parking garage of our hotel to see a car with a license plate that said MAKAQLT, hehehe.

We're going to go explore and get some lunch. Show starts tomorrow, be back with more later!

Packing my bags!

Tonight I will be packing my bags, after doing some last minute laundry and getting ready to head off to SPRING MARKET!!!!!

I'm soooo totally excited (can you tell?) This is Ben's first time going to Market of any kind, my second time only!

I went to Spring Market a few years ago in Pittsburgh tagging along with my Mom. It was right when I started toying with the idea of starting Ruby Blue, but wasn't quite sure exactly was I was getting into. I had an idea, but going to Market puts it all into perspective.

I thought I would walk in,
see what everyone else was doing,
and then turn and run the other way as fast as possible...

But I was wrong, I loved it and couldn't wait to go home and get the business up and running. Everyday after walking the show floor I'd go back to the hotel room and draw up new designs.

Now I get to go back with both my Husband and my Mom, to Kansas City where I'm hoping to have some life changing BBQ and get to put names and faces with all of the other quilters I've met through this blog, the Moda Bake Shop or wherever.

That and I get to see all the newest, latest and greatest of everything. Quilts. Notions. Gadgets. AND FABRIC!!! I love fabric - Ben even yelled at me last week to stop petting my one quilt I just finished (anyone else mindlessly find themselves petting the quilts? or is it just me?)

So, currently the plan is to do what laundry is at home, figure out what to pack and get it all ready because as soon as I get home from work tomorrow I'm basically changing my clothes, grabbing my bags and out the door. I'm going to do a couple little posts if I can while I'm gone, but next week I'll be back with all sorts of updates and pictures I'm sure - which reminds me I should charge my camera once I get home too. I'd hate to get there with a dead battery!

Spring Market, here I come!

Goodbye old friend!

We had some good days and some bad ones too, but i will miss you, kinda. (Sorry but you've already been replaced - no hard feelings!)