Winnie the Pooh quote WINNER!

THANKS SO MUCH for helping me choose the "short" Pooh saying for my next chartpak. From the first day of voting, one quote took the lead and beat the others by a Pooh Corner landslide. Here's your selection:

Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.

Sigh. I know...I love this quote, too!

Today I'll be busy graphing this winning quote as a companion to the Pooh quip I've already done (above). I already finished stitching the "100 years" quote. You can see my stitching notes and color selections in pic.We will include both designs in an upcoming chartpak.

But be patient...these little Pooh gems won't be landing in your local needlework shops until January 2017. Between now and then, expect a few last minute Christmas goodies and a very special "Benefit Boxer", whose proceeds will go to a favorite charity. Just right for the spirit of giving at the holiday season, we think.

On another subject...

It's been a spectacular October in Kansas! We've been having lots of adventures in the great outdoors, but recently took a trip BELOW ground on our bikes. We rode our bikes through an underground salt mine in nearby Hutchinson (also called Strataca). Won't bore you with all the details, but it was definitely more of an adventure than I had anticipated. I'm smiling in photo below because we had just finished!

We had been on the official Salt Mine tour before. You ride a nice little train over paved surfaces (like area above) and it's fascinating. Did I mention it's 600 feet below ground? It's comfortably cool, dry and well lit. So that was what I expected when we signed up for the Tour de Salt. 

What we got on the Tour de Salt was a guided ride through a part of the mine the public DOESN'T see. We rode through the sections mined in the 1950s. It was dark (only lit by bike headlights), bumpy, and a tad claustrophobic. It's like riding through a giant grid with room size pillars of salt holding up the ceiling. We had a guide bike in front, and another guide in back, with 6 wobbly riders in between. 

Occasionally we would run into piles of loose salt - which looked like sand - and would grind to a sudden stop. I have a highly developed "fear of falling" so I would shoot my legs down to catch myself, then remember the rider behind me and try to keep going. Check out the abandoned rail tracks in picture above. Very few rails remain in already mined areas - the miners pick up the rails and lay them (recycling!) in the current area.

Now I feel like I've truly experienced the old saying...."back to the salt mines".

Have a great week - thanks again for your help on my dilemma at Pooh Corner!