Finally an update from Longaberger's Basket Bee........I returned from Longaberger's Basket Bee a little over a week ago and am finally getting a chance to get my pictures uploaded.  Earl's garden keeps "interfering" (but I know I will appreciate it this winter!)  in my life this summer.  Between the pickles, corn, tomatoes and red beets there always seems to be some to do.  Hopefully we will soon be finished with most of the canning and I can get caught up on some other things.  "Like my Cleaning"!!!  I have a Longaberger Branch Meeting tomorrow night at my home, so maybe I better think about doing some cleaning today and tomorrow!!!

July 29 through August 1, 2009 -- Basket Bee 2009

Opening ceremonies began with the ever popular "BEE Boys"!

The Bee Boys are all Longaberger employees who volunteer to be Bee Boys during our Basket Bee and they are quite the entertainment for all of us!!!

On stage and off stage -- they can be found the entire 4 days of the BEE!!!

A clip was shown of Dave Longaberger during on of the past Basket Bees.  This is always a moving moment for me because I had the opportunity to meet him personally many times in the early Longaberger years.  He has been greatly missed by all of us since his passing in March 1999.

Michael Kennedy, Longaberger chief designer and the person in charge of Collector's Club adding some entertainment to the Bee as "Elvis"!  I'm not sure what new Basket they were introducing during this segment.

The Bee Boys and the Prize Patrol Team getting ready to give away more prizes.  Unfortunately, I did not win any!!!

One of the best moments at the bee was when they introduced the new Hershey Kiss Basket.  It will be our Sweetheart Basket this year during the month of December.  More information to follow later.

I loved the new Team Spirit Baskets. Support your local, college and professional sports team with these new baskets.  You have 16 different color combinations to choose from!!

Blue and White -- Any Penn State Lions fans out there?

September Only -- the new Harvest Baskets with all the fall colors.

Christmas Holiday Baskets are always the biggest sellers!!!

New this year -- A John Deere Christmas Basket

The 2009 Christmas Snowflake Basket available September 1 through Feb. 28, 2010

Our new Holiday Helper Basket will be available later this year.

I loved this one!!!  The new Peppermint Twist basket will be the tree trimming basket available in October only.  This great basket will be available in red or green.

The Autumn Harvest Medium Market Basket

New Purses

Another one of my favorite Baskets -- the new soft rectangle Multi-Colored Basket

The new Fancy Pie basket is new to the line.  It has a twine braided around the top band of the basket to dress it up.  Hence being called the Fancy Pie Basket.  Regularly priced at $62.00 it is on sale in August for $42.00.  Let me know if you want to order one!!!

New little Multi-Colored little scoop basket.

Next time I'll have pictures of my lunch at Tami's House..................................

I know---I know--- it has been a long time since I have updated.  We have not been away all that time although we were away this weekend.  More on that at a later time. 

I really had planned to update sooner.  In fact I had my pictures downloaded, but the garden has intervened!!!  There has been pickles and corn and pickles and red beets and PICKLES!!!!!  I only do pickles every 2 or 3 years and usually we get an abundance of them.  This year has been no exception.  Three years ago I did about 70 quart and this year I will have even more.  If you haven't guessed by now -- Earl likes pickles with his meal.  I really do not eat that many because I know how much sugar is in them!  I make a 14 day sweet pickle and they are good, but they do take time to get ready to can.  The last batch comes out of the salt water and into fresh alum water today.  They will get fresh alum water poured on them for the next 3 days.  Saturday they will be put into the syrup of vinegar, sugar, celery seed and oil of cinnamon for 3 days with a little more sugar added each day and then I will can them.  Hopefully that will be the last batch for this year.  I am tired of doing pickles and Earl has decided that I soon won't be NICE when he brings them in to me.  Yes -- I can be thankful, he does pick them for me each day, but enough is enough!  The corn will soon be ready too.

Our day at the Creation Museum..........

This was the third day of our Motorcoach trip to Ohio and the Creation Museum in June 2009

We left our hotel at 8:00 a.m. on Friday morning and drove from Columbus to Cincinnati. It is about a two hour drive.  The Creation Museum is located just south of Cincinnati in Kentucky.  We arrived just as it was opening for the day.  Our first stop for the group was at the Planatarium and from there we were on our own to tour the Museum.

We were very impressed as how "biblically" based the Creation Museum is.  Very easy to understand and geared for all ages.  We saw many teenagers there who seemed to be enjoying it and taking their time to understand what was protrayed and written there.

Adam in the Garden of Eden

Many life size dinasours throughout the museum and explanations of how they did exist only a few thousand years ago instead of the billions of years ago so many want to believe.

A replica of the inside of Noah's ark.

Many descriptions of how the ark was built and what it actually looked like.

I just thought this "little" guy was rather cute!

The gardens outside the Creation Museum were beautiful.

And the petting zoo.  They are watering the camel in this picture.  If you look closely you can see our Elite Coach in the upper right corner.  This is where it parked for the day.

Flowers everywhere outside!

Looking from the gardens to he back of the Creation Museum.

We departed the Creation Museum about 4:15 p.m. and headed back to Columbus and our hotel.  We ate dinner at Golden Corral and then went to our hotel for the evening.

Tomorrow we head home with a stop a Dickenson Cattle Ranch on the way, so until next time........

Part 1

We had a group of 45 people going on our trip to Ohio and the Creation Museum in June.  The first group left Elite Coach  parking lot at 6:00 a.m. and we met the second group at     A. C. Moore parking lot at 6:30 a.m.  Our driver for this trip was Warren Laughman.

We had a safe and uneventful trip through Pennsylvania and West Virginia.  Everyone received a continental breakfast to eat as we traveled and our next stop (except for a short rest stop in PA) was at St. Clairsville, Ohio where we got lunch at Mehlman's Cafeteria.  From there we traveled about an hour to Mosser Glass Company in Cambridge, Oh for a tour of their manufacturing plant.

I really enjoy the tour they give here.  It is a small place, but they make beautiful glassware.  We are divided up into groups of 7 or 8 and given a tour on the floor where the men are working.  It is very up close and personal and the gals who gave the tour are always friendly and easy to work with when I call them to set up the tour.

It only takes about an hour for the tour and shopping in their small gift shop, but everyone seems to enjoy it there.

Our next stop was Warther Carvings.  Ernest Warther carved replica's of trains from ebony and ivory.  The detail is amazing!!!!  The business is completely family operated and his grandson gave us the tour.  When we had been there previously about 5 years ago it was Ernest's son and they guides father who had given us the tour that time.  They also make knives here because Ernest could not find a knife that suited him for carving ebony.  The knives are very good and many of us purchased one or two while we were there.

Many, many trains on display for us to see.  I can't even imagine the time and talent it took to make all these trains.  Many of them were given away to family and friends, but over the years the family as managed to find most of them and have them returned to the museum.

Ernest also handmade a replica of the mill he worked at as teenage and young man.

Many sets of pliers carved from one piece of wood.  They have one block of wood on display with over 500 pairs of pliers carved into it.

Some of our group listening to our tour guide

I thought this completely white train carved from ivory was very unique!

Mrs. Warther was busy collecting "buttons" while her husband worked on the trains.  She put those buttons into patterns and framed them.  There is a little house on the property filled with these button designs.  It is called the "Button House", of course.

The flower beds were beautiful and just beginning to coming into full bloom when we were there.

Rows and rows of flowers.

After we left Warther's we went to our hotel, Zinck's Inn to unload the Motorcoach.  Then to Der Dutchman for a delicious family style dinner.  After dinner we returned to our hotel for the night.

Next time.....Day 2......................................