These pictures are a tease for my October bead project. Since the Arkansas Ozarks are known for their beautiful fall foilage, I chose a leaf to bead for my project this month. I have auditioned my beads after making my base. This is also another sentimental journey for me. My Daddy has been gone now for 25 years, but when the leaves began turning we would get in the car and head for Hwy 7 (The Pig Trail) to see the fall foilage. He dearly loved the state of Arkansas and all it had to offer for him. His love made me love it also. In my previous post on the trip with my son's family, I tried to instill this love into another 2 generations. It is never too late to have fun with someone!!!

The base is a piece of canvas gessoed, and painted with Lumiere Metallic Gold paint. Then I cut the leaves from a fall napkin that I had been given. After decoupaging them the small ones changed color, but they are just a base for me to bead to and the beads will change their color. Looking and experimenting with different stabilizers to use, I added a quilt batt scrap to the back of the canvas. This is not recommended by me, because I have had problems of the batting coming through the bead holes. A little frustrating, but I have pressured on. The center leaf is 1/3 done, so you can see there is a LOT of work left for me to do. Alas, the October project will not be completed because I am going to Houston Quilt Show on Wednesday. My beading time was spent with doing my grandson and granddaughter's Halloween costumes. Well my priorties are straight, just my timing is off!!! My goal is to be caught up by the end of the Holidays, which means I get to do 3 by the end of the year. Will that work? It works for me - LOL

In October my son, daughter-in-law and grandson went with me on a trip the Eureka Springs. On the trip up there we stopped at The Natural Bridge, a local tourist attraction. The bridge is shown above. We had a pleasant quarter mile walk on a beautiful fall day. This is the first trip we have taken together since Will has been born, he is 4 1/2. Will was fascinated by the caves, but was very careful about bats - not that we saw any bats.
The leaves were not totally turned to their fall glory, but they were beginning to change just enough for it to be a beautiful drive up Hwy 65.

This picture is of Will and I on the trail.

Below is one of the big cats from the Turpentine Wildlife Refuge. They take in cats who have been abandoned or abused, as well as other wild animals. Some people get these animals and don't quite realize how large or "playful" they can become. The stories are really sad for some of the animals.

We went through the wildlife refuge on Sunday morning. We had time before we needed to head home to go to another zoo we heard about. This one is called the Promiseland Zoo and is located in the opposite direction as the refuge. You drive through this zoo and some of the animals will walk right up to your car. Caution is written all over the park to NOT roll your windows down more than 2 inches. That was not always the case with the brave boy and man in the car. We did not have any problems. We saw all kinds of animals. The bison and the emus were the most likely to come to your car, in fact we had to sit for awhile until a Mama Bison and her baby decided that we could proceed.

There is nothing like spending fun times with your family and this was definitely a fun trip. Will got to spend time with his MawMaw and Mommy and Daddy - off on an adventure - all on his own personal time.

A few weeks ago I did a little flea market searching and found these lovely postcards. There are a lot of floral cards, which I couldn't resist. Included in this lot are two old black and white photos. I guess I should have printed a closer picture of the postcards so you could see them better. I hope to use copies of them in future projects - I refuse to use the originals - that is why my wonderful husband Bill bought me a wonderful new printer, scanner so I can print from the originals. The oval one on the left side is an old card of a Geisha riding on a rickshaw. It is called "A Pleasant Ride" and is a copyright of an 1905 print. This one should make lovely art.
The two black and white photos are my beginning of unknown relatives like my friend Pat at www.Birdnestontheground.blogspot.com/
The boys look like brothers and one appears to be afraid of the camera or he is an extremely serious young man. The one sitting has a grin on his face. The other photo is a family - their names are on the back. Reva, Enirich and Earl Nicholson - if they belong to you, please let me know.


There was an estate that was at the flea market in North Little Rock. This is a few of the buttons and belt buckles that I came away with, aren't they nice?
Next time I will try to take better and more detailed pictures, but I wanted to share my finds with you. Flea marketing is a great way to have fun, don't you think. It is a wonderful way to relieve stress.
Today I had more fun by being with my friends - the Knot Krazy group that I have written about before. We met in Morrilton at Jim's house. He has a new sunroom/den and it has completely opened up and changed his whole house. He has moved some of his pieces around and it has lightened up the whole house. It is still a work in progress. We had show and tell from each member and went to lunch. There is a local diner called The Blue Diamond and if you want the BEST fried dill pickles in the world -that is the place to go.
Driving back to Little Rock several of us stopped at a Hobby Lobby in Conway and shopped together - another great way to have fun.

Just Wanted To Write

Just felt like writing tonight. It is a cool October night. Bill and I just got home from watching my daughter Tonya and son-in-law Jack playing a game of co-ed softball. Adults are really hiliarious when they play and are having fun. By the way their team won.
Today I began making Halloween costumes for Will and Gianni. It has been forever since I have put on a collar on a shirt. It will be along time before I do it again!!! It took 4 times to get it right and figure out what the devil I was doing wrong. Will is going to be a pirate and the shirt has a collar - not a good collar, but it is on the right way.
Tomorrow I promised my brother Eddie that I would come help him do our yearly "pear preserve" making. That means I get to peel and cut pears up all day. Eddie is 74 and travels often because he is responsible for doing all the ABA conventions every year. That means he has to travel a lot to view convention sites. But it gives him lots of miles and reward points. He was able to go to Vancouver last week and had a wonderful time. He saw some beautiful sights and went to Victoria for the gardens. That was the highlight of his trip. I get to see the world through his eyes and his pictures.
What I really want to do is begin my October Bead Project, but it is going to be put on hold to finish my Halloween costumes. This month is so full of things I am scheduled to do it is scary. And best of all - this month I get to go to Houston to the International Quilt Festival.
Well thanks for listening. Have fun - remember it is never too late!!!