Shipshewana

A couple of days ago, we took a road trip with some dear people to Shipshewana.  Upon entering Yoder's Fabric Store, my eyes were were drawn to the wonderful figures above, perched nonchalantly on top of a display of children's clothes.  Because they sell clothes, too.  Not just fabric.  Also, really cool hats.  :)

It's no wonder I love this place.

I also saw this quilt, and took a picture because I'm pretty sure my sister could make something like it with her awesome kanzashi skills.  I like it a lot.  :)

They always have cute displays, and right now we are on the lookout for anything made of felt.  I need some sweater scraps out of my room.  :)  Hence the picture of this cute little container.

Oh...  And I'm always tempted by their spools of crochet cotton in bright colors.  This picture is to my eyes what ice cream is to my taste buds.  And by that, I mean that it's exhilarating.

 This poodle is part of an adorable scarf that, for some reason, is in the hardware section of Yoder's.  I guess they like to mix things up.

Of course, it wasn't long before I was hungry, and the drawings by local children in the hall between the hardware and fabric stores reminded me of our next stop...

  Oh, yeah.  They're awesome.  Thankfully, they have more than one pretzel, contrary to what the picture would have you believe.

 Of course, we also had to look in the store that sells buttons nearby...

 And go to this place!

Lolly's is also eye candy.  That's all it is for me, since I'm not really into sewing or quilting.  Still, I love walking around and gazing at the walls and walls of fabric, like this:

 And while exploring I found this beautiful quilt.  Very Amish-looking, don't you think?  lol

 It's called "Lady Madonna" from the Abbey Road collection.  How awesome is that?

I hope you have enjoyed this very brief and rather choppy record of our most recent trip to Shipshe!  :) 

I amuse myself too much sometimes...

My friend won our last Words With Friends game by playing a word that neither of us had heard before. It's not an unusual occurrence, and I've gotten in the habit of looking up words I don't know. Spending time playing a game feels a little more justifiable to me, that way. So I searched for his.

And it turns out it's a narcotic.

The bad sportsman in me decided to harass him about it a little bit. Hours later, I remembered something else...

I'm not completely innocent, either. Bummer. :)

Butterfly exhibit

Are you wondering why there's a random bridge at the beginning of this post?  Well, let me relieve your curiosity.  It goes like this:  Once upon a time, or the other day, this bridge made me think of my Aunt Kathy, so I put it here for her to see.  The End.

 We took a day trip with some friends to see a butterfly exhibit at a public garden.  I have come to the conclusion that I like photographing flowers much more than butterflies.  They're not as skittish.  :)  And there were lots of beauties.  Like this...

And this...

I did, however, manage to get a couple butterflies.  It was so exciting!  After chasing them around for several minutes, I can sort of tell why guys like to hunt, with the adrenaline rushes and all.  Except I still don't understand the part that involves blood.   Don't worry, that's as graphic as it's gonna get.  :)  Anyway, the fact that I don't understand is okay.  Dad can hunt, and I can eat. It works.

Come to think of it, that statement might get me in a lot of trouble in the future.  To avoid confusion, I will now proceed to put limits on it:

I can eat it as long as:

1. I do not have to touch the raw meat with my bare hands in order to prepare it.
2. It is not something disgusting.  And yes, Uncle Earl, squirrel is on the list of "Disgusting Somethings."  As are quite a few other things.
3. It is fully cooked.  I don't foresee this being an issue, but I included it for clarity's sake.
4. It was not found on the side of the road.  Technically, that's not hunting, but I don't want anyone to get crazy ideas.  :)

As you may or may not have guessed by the above list, I am not an outdoorsy type.  Nor do I eat wild game very often. 

Anyway, back to the subject at hand.  Which was what, again?  Gun control?  Oh, no, it was butterflies.  Good!  Let's proceed...

Can you believe the vibrant blue color of that last picture?  It isn't even edited.  I like to try to imagine what God was thinking when He made certain things, like emeralds or oaks or ice cream (say what you want, I am convinced that nothing that delicious could come from anywhere else.) or that shade of blue on those butterfly wings.  I don't know, of course, but I think He must have been pretty happy.  That's how it makes me feel.