If you remember my posts on Sept. 15, 16, & 17, our Possum Town Quilters had the challenge of making blocks with only black and white and one other color. Each block had to have some sort of building and a tree. Today some of us got together to put the quilt together. We still need to add the side borders; but I just couldn't wait to share this quilt with you.

We had a reception for Craig and Ang here at the house last Sunday.

Around 100 guests came and went. The children really enjoyed my baskets of books on the stair steps.

Earlier in the week we worked up apples at Joel & Sheila's place.

Joel occupied part of the table with his work.

Paul really enjoys this little fellow.

Where are all these ladies going?

To the "Taste of Home" Cooking Show. Rosetta drops a registration into the bucket.

We sat beside this cute baby and her mother, Vylene. I think she would have drank that whole peach smoothie from Kudoz if her mama would have let her.

We learned a few new tricks about food; the most amazing to me was that you can rub a banana on a mosquito bite to take away the itch. And another; place some banana skin on a wart and tape down with surgical tape to get ride of the wart. I can just imagine the banana skin getting rotten and smelling bad after a day or so. Maybe it's keeping air from the wart and suffocating it, that gets rid of it.

On the way home we stopped at Sonic for some treats.

This mural made up of tiles would make a neat wall quilt depicting San Francisco.

There were lots of places to eat at the Fisherman's Wharf. Most of them served seafood which just wasn't tantalizing at all when the whole place smelled of dead fish.

My sister PollythePatchworker would have enjoyed eating crabs or crab cakes here.

I was looking forward to seeing and taking pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge. When we arrived there, it was very foggy.

So I had to settle for a picture of the brochure that we picked up.

We were going northbound, so we saved a few dollars here.

This harbor stunk like dead fish.

The Fisherman's Wharf

Alcatraz

This man was getting ready to go down under the pier to fix or work on the posts.

Putting the "fish bowl" on his head.

I think I'd get claustrophobia with that thing on my head. Dustin thought he'd like to have a turn.

"Hey, we met these guys on the pier and talked to them for a while. They were great," says Dustin.

Now, back to Los Angeles, CA where we got our first glimpse of the Pacific.

We enjoyed walking through the streets with lots of signs beckoning to us tourists.

We had lunch out on the Pacific at Pismo Beach.

We stopped quite often to hop out and take pictures of the beautiful Pacific Ocean.

Driving north on California's Highways 1 and 101 we saw lots of farms with fruits and vegetables. Most of it was irrigated.

In San Francisco I enjoyed looking at the buildings. This church has some great designs & ideas for quilts.

Paul & I flew to Chicago

for the wedding of Corina & TJ. Corina has been a "mom" to the girls in Romania in the "HOPE" Program.

Waiting for the wedding to begin.

Visiting after the wedding

The reception began around 4:00 and was still going on 4 hours later.

We got to visit with long time friend Ella from Romania who is now married and living in the states.

Corina's Mom was so glad to visit with us even though Ella had to translate for us.

Guests at table 17.

I had a wonderful 55th birthday. It started out with the extensive tour of Hoover Dam and ended with our feet in the Pacific Ocean. After leaving the dam we traveled on Route 66 again.

This is the Shoe Tree just east of Amboy, CA. Someone planted a shoe and this tree grew up.

Dustin writes:

The town of Amboy was started because of a mine located close by. Route 66 comes right through town.  There is also a volcano creater on the other side of town. Roy's was a booming hamburger joint in the 60's that had an airstrip that ends right at the store.  Some rich bloke from the coast bought the restraunt and is try'n to get it going again. They're looking for employees if any one is interested. The dude that worked there said they are open 3 days a week. The other people there were a bunch of Harley drivers. They brought their cooler and were really making themselves at home. One dude took the flag out of the store to take pictures with it. Then he put it back, smiling the whole time. A radio was playing over in the corner.  True Americans to the heart. They ride loud bikes and have horns on there helmets, and are friendy and happy to chat. Anyway, back to Roys. The dude that worked there said they are trying to get the runway paved and get someone to work there full time.

Amy & Dustin sign the guest book at Roy's.

We passed the crater west of Amboy and saw lots of lava for miles.

At the ghost town of Ludlow we stopped at the Coffee Shop.

Amy bought me an ice cream sundae for my birthday.

Driving on through California we made it to the Pacific Ocean by sunset.

It was indeed a great 55th birthday.

Ok, Polly. I made the village with the yellow lights. Our winners are:

1st place -- Pink Pagoda #28 by Brenda

2nd place -- Yellow Village #1 by Yours Truely

3rd place -- Red-Orange Japanese houses #9 by Sharon.

Viewer's Choice -- Pink Pagoda #28 by Brenda

Congratulations to all!!!

I'm anxious now to see the quilt all put together.

Here are some more of our challenge blocks. And yes, we could only use black and white fabric along with the splash of color that we drew. These ladies are so creative and it was interesting to see what they came up with.