Granny's Great Escape: LEAVING ARIZONA

My last week in Sun City was very busy.

I spent a day with Sharon, gathering family information for the reunion book – also a lot of time

With Kit at the Ancestry website. Kit also gave me an old version of family tree maker to

Gather the information in a semblance of order. So far I’ve posted nearly 100 individuals, and I’m not nearly done – and this is a very narrow family line I’m following. I think it will be a work in progress for years to come as photos and stories are added. My nieces, Michelle and Christine enjoyed looking at all the old family photos.

I had been wanting to go to a huge fabric warehouse since I was here two years ago. In the end, I went with nieces and Kit. The first thing I spotted was some variegated brown velvet which would be perfect for the Victorian crazy quilt I’ll be starting next Year, along with some crocheted snippets to add as trim. The excitement was building! Then Kit came up behind me and said – there’s a box of leather over there and off I went. The second piece of leather I touched was an entire hide of just the right weight for part of Brooke’s costume – so, instead of buying stuff for my crazy quilt, I bought the hide. I don’t know if I mentioned it before - I’m making Brooke and her horse “Xena, Warrior Princess” costumes this fall. The hide will take care of a lot of it.

Speaking of fabric – remember the southwestern fabric I went ga-ga over? I posted a photo of it earlier – well, I found some at another shop – when I brought it home, Kit decided she wanted it as the centerpiece of one side of her quilt. I’ll use it in a quilt I’ll make someday for myself, too. And, I have extra in case I think of something else.

We ladies attended an art show at one of the local recreation centers. This was fascinating. It looked like a small shopping mall, except all the “Stores” were actually art and craft facilities – There was art, stained glass, jewelry, crocheting, quilting, lapidary, ceramics, silver working – you name it!

While we were walking around the art show – one particular water color caught my attention - It reminded me so much of a photo I took in Glacier Park last summer – as it happened, the artist was at the show and I got a chance to ask him about the subject of his painting – it was the Swan River – which is in the Flathead area of Montana – not far from Glacier Park – it was the color of the water that stood out – must have been some glacial melt.

Michelle and I spent Saturday at the Chocolate festival in Glendale. It was a very interesting afternoon. It’s unbelievable what people have thought to chocolate coat!