Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Spotlight on Brooke

Since I write the blog and, 99% of the time, operate the camera, most of our images are of John.  But my picture was in the local paper last week, along with friends from our knitting group.  We were asked to knit or crochet 12" squares in a color which represents one of the forms of cancer.  The squares then went to Decatur, Illinois where a local Relay for Life group hopes to make the world's longest knitted/crocheted ribbon to promote awareness of cancer.  The Carbon County Arts Guild lets us use a classroom in the gallery for our knitting group; look at the colorful paintings on display right now!  (I am on the very far right, with my gigantic shawl project) 

Then, I feel like I have conquered a small bit of technology.  We made two little videos describing how to address a couple of those frequently asked questions and I successfully got them on our website.  You can see them here; I know they aren't impressive but believe me, I felt pretty triumphant when they worked!  I am the demonstrator in the little videos and John is the photographer/narrator.
Bolt and Rod End  Black Plastic Sleeve  It took us all afternoon!

Have a wonderful, safe Fourth of July.  We will have a small barbecue and spend some peaceful time dog sitting.  I imagine John and Maggie the dog will wear each other out with the B A L L.

Brooke

Monday, June 21, 2010

All Flynn Quilts and Quilters are Fine

The nasty and atypical weather that hit Billings on Sunday missed our office by about 15 miles.  Kate and Kevin were also about 13 miles away and Brooke and John were in Red Lodge, in the sunshine!

As you can see, the county now needs a new multi-use center.  No one got hurt; the Metra was actually closed and the power was even temporarily turned off, for maintenance, I guess.

Video Footage from KTVQ News

Thanks for all the notes; we appreciate them and hope all quilters are safe from tornados this summer.

Brooke

Friday, June 18, 2010

Catching Up with John

John and some of his quilt friends (Sue Nickels, Hollis Chatelain, Becky Goldsmith and Ami Simms) dreamed up a raucous quilt challenge last year as a fund raiser for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.  Each artist made a little quilt which sold at International Quilt Festival in Houston.  The proceeds all went to Alzheimer's research and over $10,000 was raised, hooray!  Hollis Chatelain won the challenge and the very attractive World Champion's belt.

Well, they are at it again with new blood, calling themselves the American Quilt League.  Last year the theme was professional wrestling.  This year Baseball is the theme. The new team, the National Quilt League, consists of Caryl Bryer Fallert, Ricky Tims,  Mary Sorensen and Judy Mathieson.  The concept is the same; a good natured competition to benefit Alzheimer's research.  Some trash talking has already taken place, my goodness!

John has chosen a design; Kate drafted it for him the other day so progress is being made.  Pictures will follow.

Ami Simms' Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative also auctions little quilts donated by quilters from every walk of life.  There are some really beautiful, cute, desirable quilts on the website, take a look and bid!  John is sending 8 or 9 little quilts showcasing machine quilting.  Here is one he just finished with my favorite little quails marching along. 

It is still cold and windy here.  I know that is hard for some of you Southern folks to believe, but brrr, brrr, brrr!  Have a great weekend!

Brooke

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Bikers!

We were ready and ripe for Company this weekend.  Two of John's sisters, our niece Perrin and her girls came up for barbecue chicken and bike repair.  While John fixed the bikes, Perrin set up and synchronized our new Wii, a fair trade I would say.  We enjoyed the visit and the girls were quite accomplished bike riders out in our driveway.
http://picasaweb.google.com/flynnquilt/Biking?feat=directlink

Now I will leave to your imaginations the sight of John downhill skiing at breakneck speed on the Wii or me trying to juggle while balanced on a big circus ball.  What an invention!

Brooke

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Fishing Memories

I love to fish. I remember every fishing trip I went on as a child. I remember who took me, what kind of car they drove, what we had for lunch, what we used for bait, how many fish we caught, and what time we got home. I have vague memories of other events in my childhood but none are as vivid as my memories of fishing trips and the people who were kind enough to take me. Hoping that I will be remembered as fondly, I never pass up a chance to take a kid fishing.



When I owned a construction company, we had a company party every June to celebrate another year of survival. We had plenty of adult activities involving beer, barbecue, volleyball, horseshoes, and pool, but the highlight of the party was always the kids’ fishing contest. A friend had a pond full of three to five pound trout. We would rig up a dozen fishing poles and turn the kids loose to catch a couple of fish, with the biggest getting a trophy. I know that the kids were having a good time catching fish but had not thought of fishing as a spectator sport until I witnessed the parents become something akin to soccer moms on steroids. There was a lot of yelling, directing traffic of two or three fish on at once, and running to get the one shared net. In the end a winner was declared and the trophy awarded, and everyone came back year after year to try again.

Last fishing season my sister asked if I would like to take her granddaughters fishing in Rock Creek which runs behind our house in Red Lodge. I couldn’t wait. I got out all the poles and rewound the reels and salted the worm bed in my garden with a few boxes of extra worms. Ava and Zoe showed up with their very own poles and would not consider using mine, thank you very much. We dug the worms and that was a very big hit. I had worried a little about the girls wanting to pick up the worms but they were very excited and helpful in the digging.

Rock Creek is a very good fishery but it is a little swift and sometimes hard to fish. The poles the girls had were a little hard to cast because they were short and designed for consumer appeal rather than utility. The girls’ dad, Jason, and I were helping with the casting and doing our best to make the girls’ first fishing trip fun. But fishing was slow and after a while Ava and Zoe got distracted by baby frogs, butterflies, and wildflowers and eventually wandered off. That is how I ended up fishing next to Jason on Rock Creek, behind my house, next to a campground full of Harley riders, with the Barbie poles that have the pink light in the handle to tell you that you are ready to cast.

John