The doorbell rang a little while ago, but I was surprised when I went to answer it.  There was what looked like a USPS truck out front that had just dropped off a package.  Isn't today Sunday?  

Turns out they were delivering my order from Amazon 

(should be Tom's birthday present.) 

And speaking of Amazon deliveries - today is Andy's birthday, and I hope that the gift I ordered from Amazon (thanks for the suggestion, Sandy!) arrived in a timely fashion.

Wonder if Pippa sang Happy Birthday to him today?

Alex is arriving around 6:00, and Tom is grilling up chicken for dinner.  We hope to hear all about Alex's past 7 weeks traveling around the country.  

He's only going to be home a few weeks, 

and his dance card is filling up rapidly.

Wednesday he's going to Fossil Creek, and then on Thursday (the day I'll get back) he's off to a friend's lake house for the weekend.  

Maybe I'll get to spend some time with him after that?

Last night I was up reading until after midnight (though didn't quite finish my book), so I was a little surprised to wake up before 6:00 

when I did finish it.

At least I've gotten a good headstart working on yesterday's quilt pix, so thought I'd post a few before today gets away from me.  I do have to make a trip to the grocery store today (I'm on Breakfast Duty with 'the girls' this coming week) and pack (after I do laundry) and Patti's coming over this afternoon.  Haven't seen her since before I left on my 3-week trip, and after she finishes up work the end of this coming week she'll immediately head off on their family vacation and won't be back for 3 weeks.  (I'm driving her - and Gary, of course - to the airport.)

Quilt Challenges are always fun; it never ceases to amaze me when I see all the creative ways in which different quilters rise to the challenge.  

Thumb Butte Quilters wanted to celebrate their 20th anniversary, 

and (as 'instructed') I certainly enjoyed their 68 versions!

Here are just a few of their 20" x 20" mini-quilts.

Now this quilter has a place to house her quilting pins!

As always, it was difficult to narrow down my vote for Viewer's Choice (even though we did get to select 3 quilts and not just 1, as is sometimes the case at shows.)  My criterion centers around the thought "if I could walk out of here with one of these under my arm to take home, which one would it be?"  That's never an easy choice...

or a quilter to pick a favorite quilt?

But this Birds of Arizona quilt was a no brainer!

Some of the blocks turned out a little washed out in my photos, 

but believe me when I say the quilt was stunning!

I had a delightful day today with Colleen and Yolanda.  We talked the whole drive up to Prescott, laughing a whole bunch over some of our stories.  Here's a shot of us after the show (unsuccessfully 'hiding' our purchases behind the sign.)

I got lots of comments on my moose tee today - 

and that was even before they saw the back, or my cute moose earrings.

The quilt show was wonderful!  This year it was held in an empty store (Old Navy?) in a large shopping center, and there were lots of spectacular quilts on display.  Even though I only took shots of the ones I liked, there are 178 photos in that folder!  It'll take me some time to resize/rotate/crop them all, so I'm not planning to post them tonight.  Truth be told most likely it won't happen until after I get back from Wanda's birthday trip.  But I promise the pix will be well worth the wait!

At least today I remembered to take a strip of my lizard fabric with me, hoping to find something that will work to piece a back.  And I did!  I also made several other purchases, though I didn't buy the mini (LIGHTWEIGHT!) Janome on sale there for only $79.  Will I be sorry?  Only time will tell!

By the time we were done at the show it was almost 2:00 and we were hungry for lunch.  Someone at the show had recommended Zeke's, which was at the end of the shopping center "but too far to walk".  So we drove over, only to find <sigh> that they closed from 2:00-3:00; the kitchen had just shut down.  Our next thought was Panera Bread - which we thought was somewhere in that shopping center - but another cruise through the lot proved that not to be the case.  To make a long story short (too late?) we finally ended up at Aubrie's.  Only took us 20 minutes looking for a place to eat... and we'd never even gotten out of the parking lot.  (If you saw it in a movie you wouldn't believe it - but we sure got a laugh out of it.)  Lunch was yummy; I had French onion soup, a salad - and a chocolate waterfall cake, layered around fresh strawberries, for dessert.

On our way home we stopped at a quilt store in Prescott Valley (WHY? because a panel I'd seen in a quilt in one of the vendors' booths was sold out, but available at their store), and I ended up also buying some companion fabric, and a spectacular pattern of a Mimbres-style hummingbird.

Now if I could just find time to sew....

Came home to an e-mail from Steve Cohen, who I'd spoken to about Dad's sunken gravestone.  Except that it wasn't the Steve Cohen I'd spoken to.  Something else to try to deal with when I get back from my next trip.

I have a little time before I have to get ready to leave for the quilt show in Prescott, so what better time to start posting pix from the Texas portion of my recent trip?

These sheep were always hanging out nearby, 

enjoying (like me!) all the Texas wildflowers!

And this was the patio outside 'my' bedroom, 

complete with dalmation standing guard!

I didn't see any (other) chickens around....

but there were wild turkeys most days!

I was sad to miss the shot when a couple of Toms were wandering through these bushes that line the driveway.  The hummers and butterflies also loved them and were constant visitors; notice the two yellow ones on the purple salvia?

And speaking of hanging/walking around.... here's that stick.

I don't remember what was planted in this pot, just that it was making a welcome comeback (after Marilyn was afraid it had died.)

   

This was the only armadillo I spotted while I was there (although there are rumored to be plenty more wandering around.)

Of course I took lots of walks with Frannie and Marilyn.  Here's the view leaving their yard; that cattle guard  (very effectively!) keeps Frannie in.

The first thing Frannie did most days was to pick up one of her prized possessions that she keeps "stored" by the road.  At least this toy doesn't squeal.... any more!

Her stinky piece of wild pigskin doesn't appeal to me...

but as Dad used to say, "That's what makes horse races!"

I snapped pix of the wildflowers constantly on our walks - 

they were everywhere (along with that spotted dog!)

Even Frannie stopped to smell the flowers!

One reason they call it Hill Country.

Here's the real reason they call it Hill Country... and yes, as a matter of fact we did make that climb daily (some days more than once!)  

Nobody home in this (pre-owned?) hummer nest.

Nobody evident here, either.

Frannie down by the creek -

and back at home, taking a rest.  WE hiked a few miles on our walks...
she, of course, ran many more!

I certainly ate well while I was there, though we never did bake any cookies.  And FYI this spatula lies... I have bitten into a peanut butter cookie by mistake (it looked way too much like an oatmeal cookie!)

That's it for now - time to get showered and dressed and ready for the quilt show, where (no doubt) I will take lots of pix to share.  (Even though I haven't yet posted the ones from last weekend's show in Texas.)