Honoring those who served our country

As Veterans Day came to an end my email box was full of messages stating that the Veterans Day sales were coming to an end.  It's great that there is an opportunity to save money, but the true purpose of Veterans Day is more than great sales or for some people a paid holiday.
Television has had many programs reviewing the wars we have fought over the years.  It's hard to know what our brave soldiers have been through.  Many don't talk about it.
I'm part of a military family.  My husband served in the Marines and than in the Michigan National Guard, from which he has recently retired.  During his carer he was deployed to Iraq for 18 months and had been out of state to several six month schoolings leaving me and our three children home.  Although our family didn't like when dad was away we never complained and always tried to make the best of our situations.  I can luckily say that he was not in combat.  His father was in the Army and fought in Korean War and afterwards joined the Michigan National Guard in which he retired from.
I live northern Michigan - in fact in a town that functions around the military, the Michigan National Guard Camp Grayling Training Center.  It is an active military installation currently used as a regional National Guard training center for National Guard units from Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio, was well as regular Army and Reserve units.  These facilities also include the nearby Grayling Army Airfield.
A little history about Camp Grayling - It was established in 1913 on a land grant from Grayling lumber baron Rasmus Hanson to the State of Michigan for military training.  The post encompasses some 147,000 acres in three counties - Crawford County, Kalkaska County and Otsego County.  During World War I the camp was used as a mobilization center and during World War II it was used as an infantry training center.  To date it remains an active National Guard training camp.
I guess to say that it is the biggest employer in Crawford County.

The entrance to the Camp Grayling post has a statue of a minute man

I have participated in numerous military activities over the years, but one that I'm very proud of  participating in was a fundraiser for a new Memorial Park on the Camp Grayling base.
My quilting friends and I volunteered to make two quilts as part of the Memorial Park fundraiser raffle that was held in 2012 and 2013.  The funds raised help establish and pay for the concrete forms for individual military units memorial monuments at the newly built park.  The unveiling of the park took place during the Camp Grayling Centennial Celebration in July of 2013.

The fundraiser was a success and the Memorial Park is beautiful

Here is the Camp Grayling monument.  It has black and white photos from the early
1900s of the Michigan National Guard training on horseback and in tents.

So I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our veterans for serving our country.  I am proud of all of you.

It's been a long time

I've spent the summer on outdoor activities.  Mother bear and her cubs have made regular visits to my yard, which I'm always on the lookout to see if they are around.  Other regular visitors include deer, turkeys, a fox, and the usual squirrels, chipmunks, and birds.  I enjoy the variety of birds that live/visit in our area - especially the hummingbirds.  But now the weather has changed from a quick fall season to winter.  It started snowing in my neck of the woods towards the end of October.   I'll miss some our seasonal guests, but it's time to head indoors.
As much as I'm missing the warmer weather my sewing space is welcoming me back.  It's been almost four months since I was busy working on my sewing projects and it feels great to start sewing again.
The first week of November our quilting group had our annual quilting retreat at WaWaSum.  I'm embarrassed to say I'm still working on the same quilt I was working on at the 2018 WaWaSum retreat.  Hmmmmm - but I do have to say that I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel.  I did double the amount of blocks from the original pattern.  My perfect plan is to have it finished and quilted before the end of the year.
Hopefully I'll also have time to quilt a couple other quilts that have been sitting with my UFOs.  It would be great to start the new year without anymore carryover, but unfortunately life happens and I still have some catching up to do.
So enough chatting and time for me to get sewing.