The Photo Tour of Newton, Kansas with my Awesome Family

Since moving to Newton, my mom and I have been delighted with how quaint and well-preserved downtown Newton is.  It's wonderful to walk Main Street and peer into the shops housed in these turn of the century buildings.  Imagine our delight when we found that my cousin, Lori, and her husband, Eric, were equally intrigued.  When they came to visit from Texas over the Thanksgiving holiday, we put a photo tour of downtown Newton at the top of the agenda.  It follows below, starting with an introduction to my dear cousin, Lori.

First stop, the train depot.  My grandfather remembers being shipped out from this depot during World War II.  Amtrack still uses the building today.

(Train depot, Newton, KS)

(My grandparents, ages 88 and 87)

Notice the fine detailing on this Railroad Building and Loan building featured below.  It was not only important to put up a good building, but also to make it pretty.  In my opinion, we could use a little of this on our modern buildings today.  Obviously, it is no longer used for Railroad Building and Loan.  Instead, it is home to a  variety of offices, including the Chamber of Commerce.

(the side of the Railroad Building and Loan building)

Along the way, our photographer told us to "Go to that that corner and loiter".  So this is our rendition of loitering.  Mostly, we were laughing.

(Michelle, Suzanne--my mom--Lori)

This bay window is another example of the pretty architecture to be found along Main Street.

You can see the window on the building in the background of the picture below.  We were lucky, because since it was Sunday and the shops were closed, we pretty much had the street to ourselves.  We took advantage of the table and chairs left outside by the restaurant.  Oh and by the way, I am smiling at the cameraman, but I realize it looks more like I'm having a seizure.



What would a photo tour be without a picture of the local quilt shop, Charlotte's Sew Natural?  The photographer got a bit arty with this shot.

The next two photographs are pictures of the First Methodist Church, also located on Main Street.  Once again, the architecture is a work of art.

This Baptist Church below can be found just a block off Main Street.

There are a lot of quaint towns in Kansas, but I've never seen one so well-preserved (although I don't pretend to have done a thorough search on the subject).  In our wanderings we did find an explanation that contributes to the fact that these wonderful, old buildings still exist.  In 1880, there was a terrible fire in downtown Newton, and many of the buildings on Main Street were burned to the ground.  After that, the city passed an ordinance requiring all buildings on Main Street between Second Street and Seventh to be made of stone or brick.  I have no doubt that has contributed to the longevity of these buildings.

Our photographer has a sense of humor.  Do we really look like we're up to no good?

So let me introduce our photographer, my sensationally fun cousin-in-law, Eric:

From the Desert to the Prairie

A move is in the works in the Desert Quilter household.  In eight weeks, we'll be leaving Nevada for Kansas.  (Hopefully, the moving gods will smile on us and we can get everything done!)  Actually, it's a return to Kansas.  We've lived there before.  At this point in our lives, my mom and I feel it necessary to return to where we have family.  My grandparents are happy to be returning home.

We originally moved to Nevada to escape our allergies.  As you can see the landscape is quite barren compared to most places.  In regard to allergies, the move was a mixed a success.  With the dry climate there is almost no mold here.  That was wonderful!  But all those weeds you see still produce pollen and over time I've become allergic to it, along with the trees planted around houses for shade.  The experts said that moving wouldn't solve the allergy problem, but for several years, I was in pure heaven.  That said, I've reached the place where allergy shots are again in my future, so the original reason for the move to Nevada is moot.

I know many of you are looking at the sparse desert landscape and are finding it rather ugly.  I did too at first.  However, the colors of the desert are subtle and it takes time to see their beauty.  It doesn't hurt that the surrounding mountains change colors with the sunlight and are decorated with snow in winter.

So the clean out has already begun.  Guess what I found?  Eight, yep I count eight, books on quilting, sewing, crocheting, and knitting that will not be making the trip to Kansas with us.  They're all nice books.  Some we bought hoping to learn new techniques--but found ourselves sticking to our old familiar techniques instead--and others we've enjoyed and are ready to pass along.  What that means to all of you is eight days of book giveaways!

Each day for the next eight days starting tomorrow, I'll be featuring one of the books I'm giving away.  All you have to do to win is comment.  It's that simple.

On Wednesday, September 8th, I will announce the winners.  Please be sure to provide your email address so that I can get your contact information should you be one of the winners.  Good luck everyone!  And please wish us luck too.