Good-bye 2016 Hello 2017 (Pipe Creek, TX)

I hope everyone had a nice time over the holidays.  I spent most of December being lazy and just getting use to our new home.  I managed to get a little organizing done with my stuff that I haven't pulled out for months.  During our move, I found quite a few things that I forgot that I had sitting in my storage bins.  Goodness, so many ideas, so little time!

Okay, a little catching up time....
We spent most of December near Waco, TX.  This time, we decided to visit The Magnolia Market in downtown Waco.  Both Dan and I enjoy watching the HGTV show the Fixer Upper with Chip and Joanna Gaines.  The houses they fix up are well done.  Chip makes sure the house has strong bones and good wiring.  Joanna does a wonderful job of keeping the character of the older homes while giving it a fresh modern look.

Inviting play area with swings, toys, and chairs

Have you seen the show?  We like it because there is no drama and yet it is entertaining to watch the two interact on the show.  We have lost count of how many animals Chip has adopted and how often Jo tells him no more pets!  We are amazed at their bottomless source of energy that never wears out.

Magnolia Market and Silos

Their love for each other, for their family, and for their community is so refreshing. As you can see from the photos, the Magnolia Market at the Silos is more than just a place to go shopping.  It is a gathering place for families and friends to enjoy the day and at night for concerts.

We had a choice of meals from several different food trucks along the perimeter.  The most popular food truck served only Mac and Cheese meals.  We had a vegetarian rice bowl from a different food truck.  I wanted to get one of the cupcakes from the bakery, but the line was out the door.  Of course, by the time I finished my rice bowl, I was too stuffed to eat a cupcake no matter how delicious they looked!

There is even a small garden area setup for us to walk around.  The Seed + Supply Magnolia Shop carried some cute little garden items.  It made me wish I had a garden room to decorate.

If you happen to be near Waco, stop by the Magnolia Market.  If you want a cupcake, I was told you need to get there early before the crowds show up.  Shopping inside the store wasn't too crowded.  It is not packed to the ceiling with merchandise.  It is understated and doesn't feel like another tourist trap.  Simple elegance just like Joanna Gaines.

Afterwards, we decided to walk a couple of blocks around the downtown area and came across the original Dr. Pepper factory.  We did not go through the Dr. Pepper Museum, but we did stop in for an ice cream in the cafe.

I don't know much about the building except that it was built in 1906 and this side was damaged by a category 5 tornado in 1953.  I find the building interesting especially the tower towards the back.

Before Christmas, we moved to Medina Lake near San Antonio.  Check out the two photos of Medina Lake!  The first time we visited this area, we could not see a spot of water and cattle were grazing towards the bottom of the valley.

Medina Lake New Years 2015

Today it is full due to all the rain Texas has received in the past two years.  I tried to get the exact same view using the hills in the background.  What an amazing difference!  We hope this will breath new life into the area and help bring back the little towns nearby.

Medina Lake today!

We were happy when our son Shaun joined us for the holidays.  We spent Christmas eve eating potluck with other campers at the family center and we showed him a couple of the local sights that I will post next time.  For most of the time, we just sat around enjoying the peace and quiet of the park.

I'm not sure who had a better time with the feedings - us or the deer.  We can tell who feeds the deer around their sites by all the deer hanging around.  We decided to feed them down by the lake and away from where we walk our cats.  When the deer get close to one of our cats, they start alerting with a hissing sound and stamping their hooves.  Neither the cat nor the deer back off, so we end up chasing off the deer to keep them from attacking.

The office and the local hardware store sell bags of corn so we know it is okay to feed the wildlife here.  Quite a success - the deer look very healthy!

On The Cutting Board

My shop stayed busy between November and December.  As a matter of fact, I need to get busy and refill my shop.  It is looking a little empty.  I have been working on a couple of things, but nothing close to being finished.

Recently, I had an inquiry about one of my first Happy Campers done in blue with a Welcome sign.  I told the customer that I could make another one. She sent me a photo of her retro trailer. Isn't it cute? She sounds like a very happy Happy Camper!  I plan to finish this one soon.

With the new year, I hope to get back on track and get things done!  I'm not getting any younger, you know!  😊
Happy Quilting!

Heritage Homestead (Whitney, TX)

For my birthday this year, Dan took me to Cafe Homestead located on Heritage Homestead's 510 acres  near Waco.  The cafe offers fresh organic limited menu.  My falafel pita with sweet potato fries was delicious especially the sweet potatoes.  So much flavor that I barely used my ketchup.  The best part was the quiet atmosphere.  No loud talking customers or music to talk over.  After lunch, we walked around the grounds visiting the different craft buildings.

Cafe Homestead

Heritage Homestead is a religious community living a simplistic lifestyle using basic hand tools to work and live off the land.  No machinery is used.  The farmland is plowed by horses.  Sheep are hand sheared.  Wool is hand carded.  Everything is handmade...metal work, woodwork...

Wood shop ~ love the door!

...weaving, spinning, sewing, pottery, soap, and so much more.  Oh, and the quilts!  Wow!  Such beautiful workmanship.  Two of the quilts were made by a 15 year old.  Points were right on with small even hand-stitched quilting.  I can hear my quilt hoop calling to me.  I need to blow the dust off of it and start hand quilting again.  

You can see some of their fine craft products on this link.  They even have classes for anyone interested in learning the traditional ways.  I would love to take a pottery class or a spinning class and a weaving class.  They also hold a fair twice a year to show visitors how they till the earth and make their crafts.

pottery wheel

Did I mention that they also do community barn raising?   They also save old barns by restoring them to their original beauty.  We talked to one woman about how the building we were standing in used to be in New Jersey.  Below is a restored barn appropriately called The Barn filled with all kinds of wonderful handmade items.  You can see some of their fine crafts here.   You can see little bit of the inside of the barn if you go to Gift Barn and click on more photos.  Oh, and check out the quilt hanging from the second floor.  That was just one of many handmade quilts.  

Here's a close-up of the barn doors, but it doesn't look like they open them any more.  We went through the small door to the left.

Old barn doors

I would love to have this one for a home with the water wheel.  This is the Grist Mill.  The pancake and muffin mixes were very temping to buy.

Restored old barn - Grist Mill

The other side of the grist mill

The people are not Amish or Mennonites, but they do dress simple.  Women in mid-length calf dresses/skirts.  Their hair is worn in a bun.  Men wear buttoned shirts.  No t-shirts.  I noticed that the young people look healthy and not a single one had a skin problem that I often see on most teens.  Not a single older person shuffled or labored to get across the room.  Something we see all too often when we are grocery shopping.  

pathway between buildings

I'm sure their lifestyle is a lot of hard labor, but at the same time, this lifestyle has a better quality of health than most modern lifestyles.  They do have computers as you can tell from their websites, and of course, all utilities.  They believe in strong family values, so I'm sure there is no computer games at night for kids or TV for that matter.  They also have their own school.  All the children live and learn on within the community.  It must be quite a culture shock for a child to leave home and see our busy techno, not to mention, noisy world.

On The Cutting Board
My shop is open for business and I already sold four mug rugs.  Two were the red and aqua Happy Campers, so I am already starting some more in the same popular colors.  I finished and listed the Bunnies in The Garden quilt last night.

And I finished the morning glories on the ladder. 

 I'm hoping this will be popular too because I really enjoy making this SW design.

I am finally caught up with my blog, so back to sewing!

Happy Quilting!