Friends

Friends. Where do you meet friends? How do you meet friends?

How did we become blessed with so many good friends? Since we do not get out to the east coast very often, we planned our route to trying to visit as many of our friends as possible. I did a mental recap on how we met most of the friends we visited on this trip. The answer? Traveling. Over 1/2 of the people we stopped and saw on this adventure were people we met while on the road. We met Mike and Liz in Alaska, Shawn and Kim in Arizona, Dan and Mary in Ontario finally Guy and Sue who we also met in Arizona. Combine that with the 4 other couples we met on the road that we hoped to see but it did not work out and it obvious we have met a lot of good people on our travels. 

What made me think of this? Well, last week I mentioned a package that was waiting for us when we returned home. This package was sent to us by another friend we met on the road. But here's the kicker.... we have yet to meet her! Nancy is a fellow traveler and blogger. We have been following each other's adventures for....I actually don't know; I will just go with years. And over those years we have become friends, I would venture to say, good friends, who have never met. We have so many life experiences in common that we could not help to be friends. She is the definition of a Cowgirl. Born and raised on a ranch with a life immersed in adventure, cattle, horses and farming. 

So, when she emailed asking for our address, saying she wanted to send us something, we were excited and intrigued. She said that it was something she had that no longer fit into her house decor and she immediately thought of us! Unfortunately, we would be leaving within a few days and would not be home to receive it. So, we gave her our neighbors address to mail it to and would have to wait until we got home to see what she had that made her think of us. 

Then it was almost the package that wasn't when it totally disappeared from her house. She realized that when she was getting rid of some antique clothing, the box was accidently taken by the person who picked up the clothing! She was able to get it back and get it shipped off to us. 

When we got home it was waiting on our counter where Neighbor Jim had put it. We were too excited to take a picture of the box, we just tore into it. Was it going to be something cool that we were going to cherish, or something cheesy that was destined for the 2nd hand store? Barb tore into the box like a Tasmanian Devil. Cardboard and packing flying everywhere. 

The first thing she pulled out was this gorgeous quilt! A quilt I had known well as she had posted in her blog while she was making it. I had posted how much I liked this quilt and low and behold, here it is!

Being a non-quilter I do not realize the work that goes into making a quilt. I know it is a labor of love and take hours and hours of work. The number of pieces and detail in this thing is incredible! Just look at this one little corner. Each of those different colors and sections had to be individually cut out and sewn together. And did you notice the stitching? Bear paws!

But wait, there is more! Digging further into the box, Barb pulls out this beautiful fox pelt! This thing is huge. Just look at the size of it compared to the quilt. Nancy has seen pictures of the inside of our house and knew that it would fit in perfectly. We have a corner by the entry dedicated to furs and trapping. It fits in perfectly! It is on the left side of the door above the coyote. 

Nancy even included a letter and story of how each of these items came about. Here is a bit of what she wrote:

Then there is the story the quilt tells......

She obviously knows us very well. All this from a woman we have not even met! We are truly blessed. 

We also celebrated Barb's birthday this week. A milestone birthday, she is officially on Medicare! Have you ever tried to buy a present for the woman who has everything? Well, it's not easy. All winter I was taking note of things she said she wanted or looked at longingly before putting it back on the store rack. Do you think I could remember a single one of them when it came time to buy her a birthday gift? Nope.

Instead, I took her to Rapid and we went shopping. She has the hardest time spending money on herself, so I drug her to her (okay my) favorite store and made her pick something out. Cabela's always has the perfect gifts, right? While she walked around the store, I went and looked at the animal display. Dreaming that I too might one day, harvest one of these beasts. When I found her again, she was looking at hiking socks. She put them back saying "I am not spending that much on socks". After some prodding, she picked out a pair and away we went to the register. 

Then we were off to her next favorite store (okay, mine again) Scheels where she picked out a new Yeti mug for herself. Do I treat my woman right or what?!?!

Next up was Sam's Club where we picked out these Cowboy Cut Ribeyes and a dessert.

For supper on her birthday we got together with Dan and Bonnie, going to Jalapeno Grill in Hot Springs. Mexican food. 😬 But, Barbie loves it so so do I.

The critters were happy to have us home too. We were greeted by turkey, deer and even a huge herd of elk!

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I know some of you might find it hard to believe, but we have not started any new projects since being home. The only work we have done is getting the house in order, installed a whole house water filtration system and spent one day out in the woods clearing brush. We have three large piles ready to burn next time we get 3" of snow or more. Barb also started a sourdough bread starter. She is on day 5, it is pretty slow going as our house rarely gets above 65 so it is definitely struggling.

Dakota and Zoey had an exhausting week reacquainting themselves with all the smells around the yard. Zoey was exhausted at the end of the day!

By the way, check out Nancy's blog for today (3/4) to see the incredible quilt she finished today!

Since everyone like teasers so much, here is another one for next week where I will reveal our summer plans. Another great North American Road trip!