The end of a special trip

We didn't have much free time on our trip, but tried to squeeze in moments of sightseeing whenever we could. We took a quick drive through a part of the Roosevelt National Forest. It was in the mid-60's, but there were still patches of snow.

We also stopped at Devil's Backbone on our way back to the Denver airport.

It just appeared before us on a drive looking for skating hills and was a beautiful geological sight.

We took a quick hike to take a look around.

It was a nice way to stretch a bit before sitting on a plane.

Estes Park is on my bucket list, but we knew that we didn't have enough time to visit. We thought we would just drive down the road a bit to see what we could see. Unfortunately, not very far in there was a rock slide. The road was down to one lane for both directions and there were significant delays.

So we decided it was time to head to the airport. 

As we were looking for the highway, we happened upon an antique store, so I hopped in for a quick look around. :)

And I found a few little treasures:

The moment I saw this Abraham Lincoln bank bottle, I knew that it had to go home with me (being from the Land of Lincoln :) Lucky for my mom, there were two. So she received one for her birthday. The cap has a neat Lincoln graphic on it. I'm thinking I will collect wheat pennies in it. I think the copper will look nice. I also found a sweet little heart pincushion filled with straw or sawdust with green x's along the seams. My final purchase was a pie crimper - this one is special as the handle is made of wood, but the wheel is made of bone. I will add it to my collection that you can see here.

And here you can see what I worked on during our trip.

To commemorate the winter that would never end. Our daffodils and tulips are raising their tightly closed buds, so of course they are saying that it may snow early next week.

This was a special trip for me. The future may be unknown, but I will treasure this time that I spent alone with my oldest son. When I look at my little souvenirs and this cross stitch piece, I hope that they will always trigger those special memories and the gratefulness that I feel that we were able to do this - together.

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture."

~Psalm 100:1-3

Blessings, Patti

Collection #2

Some items I collect because they are inspired by a hobby (strawberry emeries in Collection #1),

other items I have no idea why I collect.

This is one of those items ~ Antique pie crimpers

Why do they appeal to me? I enjoy baking, but don't make pies that often.

I think there is something about them that exudes a folk art quality.

I have seen pie crimpers with metal wheels, but they don't appeal to me as much. So far, I have only purchased all wood pie crimpers. My first one was purchased at a garage sale for a dollar.

Recently I found a pie crimper with a bone wheel - now that is one that I would like to purchase, but it was not in my budget that day. I will keep my eyes open for another ;)

I also have to share a recent unusual antique purchase found at a favorite shop, Winterberry in Tuscola, IL, when visiting my parents: 

What is it, you ask?

I have no idea!

But I just had to have it! It is made of antique velvet and consists of 60 individual diamonds all sewn together by hand. The velvet appears to be covering cardboard or some other type of board.

In some ways it reminds me of antique puzzle ball pincuhions.

It is fairly large, about 9 inches across.

I think about the patience that someone had to piece and sew it all together and have it all fit just so!

I did a little online research and found that it is a moravian star. I found a similar piece here at a UK museum. The UK example was smaller and is a pincushion.  

I treasure my new found piece of antique folk art and wonder about its story. On two of the sides all the brown velvet nap has worn away with just the black base fabric remaining. Was it left too long in the sun? Handled too much? Just one more story that adds to the intrigue :)

"Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.

Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
who conduct their affairs with justice."

~Psalms 112: 4 - 5

Blessings, Patti