Road Trip

WARNING:  LONG POST!!

We took a little road trip this week.  We started out by heading to Northwest Iowa--Fort Dodge.  We had to take an antique music library up to be worked on, we hung around all day waiting for it, but it didn't get done. (long story)  So, we headed for Des Moines for the night.  Our first stop, of course, was:

Oh, the things you do for your hubby!  But then he returned the favor as our next stop was Homemaker's Furniture where we purchased a new 8 x 11 area rug for the living room.  Both of these stores are usually on our list when we are in Des Moines.  We crashed at a motel for the night.

Thursday morning we headed west to Walnut, Iowa, billed as Iowa's Antique City.  We browsed around town checking out all of the many antique stores and one little disappointing quilt store.  If you love antiques this is a great town to visit.  We added a 5 gallon Red Wing crock to our crock collection.  As we headed east we decided to trek down to Winterset to visit John Wayne's birthplace 

 and see a couple of covered bridges.  

These are on the National Register of Historic Places.  They are most famous for being in the movie Bridges of Madison County. While we were in Winterset we stopped at the Fons and Porter Quilt Shop.  Fons and Porter have had a show on Public Television for years.  It's the first quilt show I ever watched!  I was a little disappointed in this store.  I guess I expected a huge store with tons of fabric--that's not what I found.  I did manage to purchase a few fat quarters and a pattern while I was there.  Madison County Courthouse is in the middle of the square downtown.  It is a beautiful building. (I love big old courthouses)

We hadn't eaten since breakfast so next on our agenda was a little lot of food!  We headed for Joe's Crabshack by Jordan Creek Mall in West Des Moines.

We started with this scrumptious crab dip.  YUM!

Between the two of us we had crab stuffed shrimp (my favorite), a crabcake, coconut shrimp, haddock, deep fried shrimp, fries, onion rings, rice, and broccoli.  This was all in just two dinners!

It was FANTASTIC!  I highly recommend it if you like seafood!!  We rolled out the door and back to the motel.

The next day we started out at:

The Brass Armadillo is also a frequent stop.  We found that they had done some rearranging and cleaning up since we had been there last.  It is full of antiques and some collectibles.  Check it out if you are in Des Moines!  After that we stopped at another antique shop which I can't remember the name of.  I was tired of antiques by then so I sat in the car and messed with photos on my computer!  

Finally some 

Creekside Quilting was well worth the stop!  It is full of great patterns, Moda bolts and precuts, Robert Kaufman fabrics, notions, and Baby Lock machines.  Since I didn't have unlimited spending at my disposal, I had a hard decision.  I did manage to purchase a few things.  Then we went to Ankeny to Quilter's Cupboard.  This store also had a lot of fabric to choose from.  Since there was a quilt show in town it was rather crowded, so we didn't spend much time there.  (And, no, I didn't get to go to the quilt show.)  In between quilting stores and antique stores we did a little shopping at Kohl's, Younkers, and Catos.  

We headed to Pomeroy to spend the night so I could attend two wedding showers for our nephew Kevin and his fiance Kristen.  Bud visited other relatives during the showers!

We arrived home late Saturday night and got up early this morning to head over to spend a little time with Travis, Kerry, and Chance.

He was lovin' those Cheetos!! (And see those two teeth)

It's nice to be back home to sleep in our own bed.  I have a busy day tomorrow to get ready to leave again EARLY Tuesday morning.   Thanks to all of the relatives that put up with us for a few days, and to Trilby and boys for taking care of the dogs and cattle while we were gone.

Dining Room Decorations

The only place in my house not decorated for Christmas would be the basement!  Some rooms are a little more decorated than others, especially since I've gotten rid of a few things in the past couple of years, but I haven't added too much more.  In the dining room I have a pencil tree.  This is the only tree in the house with colored lights.  Bud really likes colored lights, so I have to give him a little say now and then!

In addition to the colored lights, the tree is decorated with cinnamon ornaments and tags with Christmas sayings on them.

I have my grandma's antique Singer sewing machine in the dining room, so I put a little display on there. The tree is decorated with white lights, fabric tied around the branches, and empty spools.

I've also added a few things to the dry sink.

Our nativity set, which was made by my grandmother many years ago, is on my cedar chest in this room.

I've decorated the t my hutch, although I'm not thrilled with it.  It's something to work on for next year!

I have several antique figurines on the hutch.  I'm especially partial to this set of angels. They were a gift from me to my grandparents when I was a baby, back in the late 50's!  So, yes, they're antique!

And finally, a view looking into the foyer and family room.  I made the fabric garland with lights MANY years ago, and happened to see it as a tutorial on someone's blog just this year.  Now, why didn't I make a pattern of it all those years ago when I thought of it!?  Anyway, I leave it up through the winter to dress up the room.

I hope you've enjoyed the tour of our dining room.  I'll be back tomorrow with more.

Crab Canapes & More Christmas Decorating

We love to snack and we love seafood.  This recipe for Crabmeat Canapes is yummy and easy to make.  We quarter them and have them as an appetizer and occasionally leave them whole and eat them as a meal.

1 jar Old English Cheese spread
1/2 c. real butter softened
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 T. mayo or salad dressing
1 can crab meat flaked and drained
6 English muffins

Beat cheese and butter until smooth.  Add seasoning and mayo.  Stir in crab meat.  Split untoasted muffins in half.  Spread with mixture.  Bake at 400 for ten minutes.  Cut into quarters to serve.  Can be made ahead and frozen until needed.

These canapes will be on our table for Christmas Eve as we have soups and appetizers for our meal.  Check out And Baby Makes Five for more yummy recipes.

In our family room we have shelves on both sides of the fireplace.  This is only the second year we've had this room as it is an addition.  Anyway, I am still struggling with decorating them.  On one shelf I have my Willow Tree Angels with some greenery, lights, candles and a star.

As an elementary teacher and lover of books I have quite a few picture books.  I pull the Christmas ones out this time of year.  If you have never seen a Robert Sobuda pop-up book you've got to take a look.  His Night Before Christmas book is beautiful!  We read it carefully several times when the boys are here.

Some other things on the shelves are a set of antique choir boys:

and some antique cheese boxes filled with greenery and candy canes.

Just off of the family room is the sunroom.  This room wasn't completed last year, so this is the first year for a tree in here.  This tree has silver and gold bells and garland and candy canes with an old quilt for the skirt.

Remember you can always click on the photos to enlarge them and get a closer view.  Stay tuned tomorrow for more trees and decorations!