Santa Fe Trail

Have you ever driven the Santa Fe Trail?  Here is some info about this trail used by many a pioneer and us modern day folks today.

The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico.^[1][2][3][4] Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, the trail served as a vital commercial highway until 1880, when the railroad arrived in Santa Fe. Santa Fe was near the end of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, which carried trade from Mexico City. 

The route skirted the northern edge and crossed the north-western corner of Comancheria, the territory of the Comanche. Realizing the value, they demanded compensation for granting passage to the trail. American traders envisioned them as another market. Comanche raiding farther south in Mexico isolated New Mexico, making it more dependent on the American trade. They raided to gain a steady supply of horses to sell. By the 1840s, trail traffic through the Arkansas Valley was so numerous that bison herds were cut off from important seasonal grazing land. This habitat disruption, on top of overhunting, contributed to the collapse of the species. Comanche power declined in the region when they lost their most important game.^[5]

The American army used the trail route in 1846 to invade New Mexico during the Mexican–American War.^[6]

After the U.S. acquisition of the Southwest that ended the war, the trail was integral to the U.S. opening the region to economic development and settlement. It played a vital role in the westward expansion of the US into these new lands. The road route is commemorated today by the National Park Service as the Santa Fe National Historic Trail. A highway route that roughly follows the trail's path, through the entire length of Kansas, the southeast corner of Colorado and northern New Mexico, has been designated as the Santa Fe Trail National Scenic Byway.

Melva Loves Scraps blog is hosting a quilt along featuring stories from pioneer women along the route.  This QAL began April 1, but there is time to catch up--much like I did--  

 

There We Were!

 Yes, there we were--in all our glory! It was all smiles from the minute you opened the door to walk in to the warmth that filled the room!  Yes, we were there!  Friends who hadn't seen each other for over a year and half!  Like so many in this world, we had been isolating--now, we are back as a group--friends forever!  It was time to play catch up--how do you do that when there is so much to learn from each other since the last time we gathered? 

So much laughter, many opinions to hand out, advice to be given, happy notes of family events and special occasions--yes, there we were!  And it was just like we hadn't been apart those 18 months!

We shared a delicious lunch to celebrate Cinco de Mayo!  There was a spread of fajita beef and chicken with all the trimmings; seven layer dip and queso with chips, magical no calorie 'fluff' for dessert--which I need the recipe for!  I took my Mexican salad with chicken--here is a basic recipe.  Wish I'd taken a photo--it was really pretty before it became mixed up with dressing.

I used this dressing--was afraid it would be too 'soapy' tasting, but was quite nice.  I  topped the salad with crushed corn chips and queso fresco cheese--we had leftovers for our dinner--yay!

It was a delicious lunch!  The conversation and company were the BEST!

I filled my fiber bag (my Florida friend made for me) with projects to be stitched--thinking my hands would keep busy while my mouth and ears were occupied--but, alas.................

the only thing I got stitched was this very small top!

oh well, all is right with the world when you are with good friends

who care and love you for who you are!

Happy Day!!

Its' always a happy day when you update with your monthly block

sew alongs!

This April's block for Hands All Around:  Alcott-- I should be thinking of 

joiner blocks when I have time

Another row completed for the charity quilt from

Fat Quarter Shop--Serendipity QAL

Another block in Pat Sloan's "Home" quilt along.

I'm working in red, white and blue--she has several quilt alongs--I don't know how she keeps up with each month!

This spring time quilt is definitely needed in my stash!

And now that I'm caught up--I'm behind again!

Happy Sewing to you!

 

Mistake or Design Element?

Do you declare that mistake you made is really a design 

Element?  No!! Never!  Of course, it was not a mistake but

A liberty taken in the pattern!  

I’ve been working on this pattern for two months now—

I stopped adding beads ( cause I was running out of beads)

Isn’t that another design element?  

The pattern has these lovely X’s—and the way the pattern reads—calling a “mistake” a design element is often in 

My vocabulary!

Knit on!  Mistake or design element?  It’s my work of art!!

 

Spin, Spun, Span

It was time to pull out the spinning wheel and get to work.

This is just one hank of my carded brown cotton that has aged well!

I grew brown cotton for years; harvested the bolls, hand ginned the seeds,

and since I'm lazy--I sent the bags off to be carded and placed into these hanks.

Mostly, purists of brown cotton will hand card their cotton into 

punis--rolags.

If you want to see a wonderful exhibit of Acadian textiles.

It just takes some patience and a few hours of treadling to produce a bobbin

filled with this rich lovely fiber!

Three bobbins full = time to ply!

I love spinning my home grown brown cotton!

 

Loss

 Recently, we lost a friend through a tragic accident.  He was mid age but still in the prime of his life.  Why? Everyone was asking.  The grief and sorrow weigh down our souls--we think of him with every note of music played or every thought of how could this be; every photo we see.  There have been memorials for him and another one to be held end of the month.  I know it's a time to rejoice and celebrate his life but I can't help wondering--did I tell him how much I appreciated him when he was walking near me?  Did I say--"hello, how are you today?" enough.  Notice his presence in our small world--can we never say enough about close friends and family to remind them that each day they are a miracle to us!  

Now, we are all wanting to remember his life--but, that is not enough--he won't know how much we loved him or cared for him or his music--his smile was breath-taking and his statue was awe inspiring--he has left this worldly body.  We can't tell him how we felt about him!  oh, we'll hug each other tight and say--"oh, remember when this happen, or that day he played that song"--we'll smile and say, "we'll miss him"

I should have told him more often what he meant to me.......................................

I should have hugged him tighter when we met...................................

I should have declared he was my friend every single day........................................

I should have remembered that earthly life is fleeting and to seize each precious moment.  

Why Pink???

I just reached into my yarn stash and pulled out pink yarn--thinking--what??

I have no idea!  I'm not a PINK person!  Knit I did in the pink yarn I had in

my stash--then, of course, what happens when I run out of those pink yarns

on hand?  I looked for some white yarn--oh, I could dye it PINK!

Well,  I found a white yarn--all I had on hand was red food coloring--so in the

pot it went and this is the pink yarn I have now--oh, okay it will work--after all

I'm just knitting the pattern to be knitting.  This shawl will go to a Pink person

indeed.  The pattern is weekly knit along from Knitlet.  it's mindless knitting

for me unlike the more tedious Japanese knit alongs I have on my list.

I'll get around to those one of these days.

My next problem--what to do when I run out of that pink dyed yarn--

I'll need to do some fast thinking when I reach into my stash bin.