Back to Beta and a fabric sale

Convention theme: Beta on My Mind

I'm pretty far behind blogging about the things I've been up to. For example, I haven't reported back on my trip to Beta Convention. I really had a great time catching up with old friends, getting some "away" time, and helping others. 

Visiting state and national officers lined up for an intro

 My job at convention is to manage backstage: call groups to the back, line people up so they are ready when it's time to go on, and get people out of the way (back to their seats) when they're done.

Just a few thousand teenagers

and they love to support their clubs, even
if it means sitting on the floor

 I'm sorry that the pictures are so bad, but it's actually a good thing. These days we post all the pictures that we want, but I still hold by the adage that children don't have the mental capacity to decide for themselves what is safe. 

BHS students who were in the club I sponsored before retiring

Parents are quick to complain and sue if they think their child has been exploited. Of course, that's a parent's job, so I agree. But because there are always those who take things too far, I don't post clear pictures or names of students under the age of 18. Now that I'm retired, I don't have to be concerned so much but old habits tend to hang-on to a person.

When I returned home from convention, I got busy cleaning the studio again. I'm going through some of the fabric that I know I'll never put in a quilt and am trying to sell it online. I've joined several FB groups, some of which allow people to post ads. To find my ad, just click on this link.

Hopefully I'll sell some of this rather than give it away. I can't toss it, that's for certain. I struggle to toss out even the stuff that I know is not good because of stains, fading, damage, etc. I suppose it's time to say I might be a fabric collector!  :)

Vacation, whew!

We got back from a quick vacation to the mountains.  The only real problem was that my darling agreed to all the craziness I could dream up, and I wore myself out!

The view from the windshield 

I have a sister who lives in Knoxville, so I started by suggesting that we save money by visiting her.  Besides, we've not been able to visit in the five years that she's lived there.  Off to the Great Smoky Mtns. the moment school closed, we had lots of energy and determination.  We did use some common sense and spent a night on the road.  

first large waterfall

However, that was the last bit of common sense to be found.  Laura, my sister, suggested we get as much of the Smokies as possible in the few days we had.  We agreed.  But the Smokies kicked our flat-land tails quick.....so much so that we decided that mass was all we could handle on Sunday.  In their defense, every hill does go down, but down can hurt as much as up!  We loved the waterfalls, the beautiful, serene homesteads, the wildflowers, the pastures, the barns....all of it!  The hills, though, are tall and steep and even paving can't do much for shin splints, calves and toes--yes, toes!  It's amazing how much work the toes do! 

view from Clingman's Dome

We visited Clingman's Dome, Newfound Gap, and Cade's Cove.  They were all fabulous and describing any one of them will take a full post!

the mill at Cade's Cove

On Monday we left Knoxville for Mammoth Cave National Park with Laura leading the way.  She's wanted to visit the cave for a while and it's only three hours away, so why not do it with us?  I've recommended it a couple of times, but somehow we've not been able to get there in past trips.  The cave is beautiful, dark, and cold. Our tour guide was funny and interesting, but keeping up with him became impossible at "Fat Man's Misery" and we fell behind.  Eventually we finished the tour but it got a little dicey for a while.

We parted company with Laura at Mammoth Cave and were off to Paducah to the National Quilt Museum.  She's not into quilts, so she spent a night at the caves to do a little more spelunking the following day.  It will take a post to describe the beautiful quilts at the NQM.  

We spent an entire morning just enjoying the quilts and then a few more hours enjoying Paducah.  I was not expecting such a large city or one with such a colorful history. The downtown area is surprisingly busy with quilt and antique shops, restaurants and the river.  The new areas along the interstate are busy with hotels, shopping, restaurants and business.   Between the two are beautiful older homes well worth the extra time of driving around.  I thought of New Orleans and Savannah, but this city is more than just a reminder of other older cities.  It has it's own vibe and history and takes full advantage of both.

the hills in Kentucky

After the quilt museum and Paducah, we were finally ready to head home.  Kentucky and Tennessee are littered with barn quilts and we saw a few on the stunning drive from Paducah toward I 55 and Memphis.  It was easy to see them since we are country people at our core and could not help but to look at every farmhouse, barn and field on the drive.  Every now and then Richard would roll his window down so the smell of fresh-cut hay could replace "the stale air of two old people too long in the same vehicle." (his words, of course!)

Expect a few more vacation posts with lots of pictures.  I am sure I can find a few words to express visiting some of the highest mountains and some of the deepest caves that ordinary visitors can get to in a week's time.  

Return to GWC

On Tuesday I drove a bus of students to Southeastern University in Hammond then to Global Wildlife Center in nearby Folsom. 

The kids were tasked with learning all they could about the university, admissions, scholarships, and college life.  At GWC they were to feed the animals while learning about their habitats and needs, countries and climates, and conservation efforts. 

The photos I'm posting tonight are all from Global Wildlife. There are many more, but I've cleaned up these already.  I'll try to post some from the tour at SELU later this weekend.  Unfortunately, I can't post any of the kids here.  But I can post some on the Bunkie High Facebook page, so if you're really interested......

 

The baby animals are just so cute, of course, and they know it! They are smart little darlings, too, running around, begging for tidbits, sticking out their tongues, hopping on hind legs if they so much as think you'll tip that white cup.

The worst, though, are the cup thieves...those big, tall guys who jut their heads into the wagon, take advantage of your shock to grab the cup of feed, and lumber off, upturned cup empting into their mouths before you realize that $2 just walked off while you were unawares.  Oh, they can try your nerves!

 

And the hoards!  They come running in herds of hundreds at the slightest shake!  That white cup is one powerful little dinner bell: barely move, the rustle is a loud ring of "come and get it"!

 



Come and get it!  Supper's ready!  Yum yum, get some!  These guys understand all dinner bell calls.