I promised you more photos from the Veteran's Day Parade. These are some really nice shots of the activities and the great ideas that went into the making of this tribute to our Veterans.

Yes, we honor ALL vets, even those from the very beginning.

Here is a pretty good indication of where Leavenworth fits into the scheme of things with regard to the military. If you cannot read the sign it says "35 Leavenworth High School students have attained the rank of General".

Here Kathy is leaving a group of soldiers after presenting another quilt.

This car, driven by my friend John Harris, honors the POWs and MIAs from Vietnam.

This is a very graphic display for the POWs and MIAs.

And in closing, the symbolic 'fly over' of jets in honor of our military.

As you can tell, this was a very impressive parade, as it always is. But more importantly, an impressive tribute to the military.

Home of the free, because of the brave.

Thank you.

VETERAN'S DAY - What a blast!






As I have said, Leavenworth has the largest Veteran's Day parade in the state, it goes on for several hours and is first class all the way. Of course, we have a huge contengency of veteran's here so it is not hard to feel good on this day.

Before I opened the store in the morning, I was looking outside at all the decorations up and down the street and feeling really good about all of it and made a decision that I wanted to make some people smile. And we did!






We gathered up some quilts and as the parade started, we watched for a veteran that struck our hearts. No rhyme or reason to the choices, just anyone who got to us. We had so much fun doing this that we ran back to the shop and grabbed more quilts to give away. Even pulled one from a window display.






I have only loaded a few of the photos here as I have not figured out how to download all of them from my new phone (hate technology). I wanted you to share the we joy we felt as we gave a tiny bit back to the people who provide our freedom.







This is a helicopter that was loaded on a flatbed and filled with Vietman Vets, I handed a flannel quilt to one of them and they were all so excited that I thought they were all going to fall out of the helicopter. They just kept saying 'thank you' and I did not seem to be able to get them to realize that it was I who was saying 'thank you'.





Here I am walking away from the car of another Vet to whom we gave a quilt.









Here Lynn is giving a quilt and receiving a hug from an active duty soldier and then if you look closely you see the huge smile on his face as he walks off clutching it to his chest.


Lynn gave this quilt to a female active duty soldier, her husband is also on active duty.


Doesn't she look happy?




We are all so busy leading our lives, we sometimes forget the joy we receive from quilting is something that should be spread around. This was a perfect example of "give and you will receive" as we all received far more joy than we gave away.



May God bless all who serve.



Jerry

Readin', Writin' , and Blessings

I just LOVE to write. Almost as much as I love to quilt. You would never know it when you look at the date of my last blog post. Good grief, where have I been?

And I dearly love to read. I am reading a darling little book right now, actually it is about the 3rd time I have read this one. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. The book is a series of letters written between a lovely British lady and other characters in the book. Guernsey is a very small island in the English Channel that was occupied by the German army for almost the duration of World War II . They were completely cut off from the outside world, no newspapers, no radio, etc.

One of the many things I dearly love about this book is the softly lilting language and thoughts. When I am reading it, I always hear the lovely voices of the British friends we got to know while in the Army. I have always felt that the British people sound so refined. Most that I know really are, however, since they are all human beings, I am certain there are some who are not, I just have never met any.

And before you ask, the answer is "no, I will not tell you how the name came about". What is a potato peel pie anyway? I know and you can find out by reading this book. Have I ever tried one? Nope, but I might just have to someday.

The book also reminds me of just how very blessed we are each day to be in the United States where we have never known the hardships of war on our soil. Sure, during the second World War there were rations of things, but no where near what happened in Europe. We have never (9/11 being the exception) had the threat of bombs dropping on our homes and schools. We have never had to evacuate our children to keep them alive.

All this reminds me that I never say "thank you" enough to our military men and women for keeping that a reality. Tomorrow is Veteran's Day and I will thank them as they pass the shop in the largest Veteran's Day in the state of Kansas. I will remember, especially, to say Thank You to the Vietnam veterans as they have never been afforded the many honors of other veterans (In my humble opinion). I will remember to say a thank you also to my husband for all the years he spent in service to our country. Maybe I will give him his own Tea with Martha and Betsy quilt.

As I read this lovely book, I also think of my darling friend, Karen Hellaby who writes great quilt books in the UK. Karen's got a great eye for design and color as well. We are planning a time when Karen will be coming to the shop, so keep looking for that.

I have just returned from Quilt Market where Karen and I had a lovely time chatting about quilts.

Maybe this time, I will continue to exercise my desire to write and keep up better with you on the blog.

Until then, please take nothing for granted, we are blessed.

Jerry