Weekend

 PH and I just returned from a four day weekend in Stratford on Avon in Ontario, Canada.  We love this trip and have gone several times.  Stratford devotes itself to the theater and May through October professional talent shines on the stages.  We see three plays, this time the excellent musical Guys and Dolls, Shakespeare's The Tempest and one we came away with mixed feelings called Saturday, Sunday, Monday. In that one the acting was excellent, but it was sold as a comedy but it surely wasn't.  That was the only negative we could give it, though. 

When we go we revisit our favorite shops and restaurants and also find something new to add to the list. The list is getting long.  The city knows how to treat their guests.   

For four days we ran away from what we are enduring here in the US and it was wonderful. We almost felt like the world was normal for a bit.  

The weather has been October perfect.  You just couldn't write up an order for October perfect weather any better than what we are having now. 

When we told our kids we were coming home via a night in Port Huron our daughter told us about this place.  We were going to be there right about evening time and would have not eaten since breakfast so we thought we could add a new adventure.

The place is very small, I think maybe ten tables on the main floor and on Sunday night the upstairs is given over to trivia night so we couldn't go up there (but we could hear the questions and between us and a couple of texts to the kids we answered them all.) 

The decor is completely dark, eerie, Edgar Allen Poe raven-ish. Most definitely eye candy and sensory overload.  We are So glad we made the stop here and added a new something to our list. 

This is the most quaint and fun thing I've ever heard of.  Those books?  Please, they say, settle down with your coffee and take one off the shelf to enjoy.  But you can't buy it or take it with you or trade one of your own.  Read it while you are there, put a bookmark in and put it back on the shelf till you come back again.  How fun is that??

I'm not sewing much, I'm working on quilting Adelaide's quilt and that needs priority.  But I am also purging closets and corners and in the mood to get rid of things.

I've shown this bolt before (if it's on a roll is it a bolt??)  It's horse blanket fabric and when I bought it at an antique shop years ago, it was such a nice plaid I couldn't leave it behind.  I didn't pay much.  This roll is very heavy and so is the fabric and it ravels at the cut ends.  But I got some black two inch cotton twill tape for the cut ends and made a table covering for us, for our son and his family and two big cuts for our daughter that we taped together with carpet tape and is now a rug in her house.

  

And still there is more.

I asked the kids if there is anything more they want from it and twice they said no.  So. I was willing to donate it.  I asked one more time, "going, going, gone....does anyone want anything from this?"

DIL said she did, but didn't have the time or expertise.  Twelve placemats, a Christmas tree skirt and two pillows for the front porch.  I am happy to do that for her and use even more of this up.  Maybe I can get it to the point it can be more easily stored. 

Before we left I cut the placemats, the twill came in the mail and I got some of them ready to sew. Yes, I chose black.  It blends in with the fabric and red or green would stand out too much.  The Christmas tree skirt is that folded piece laying on top of the roll.  

Now we are home and refreshed I can get these finished.  The pillows will wait till I have more time.  It won't be porch time in Michigan for months. 

Update

 I know you are all waiting with bated breath on an update on my tea bag strings! You are probably losing sleep thinking about it.  I've saved every string since January first in anticipation of knitting something from them ala Jo and her scarves.  

I won't get a scarf, I will get probably a bookmark! But as of now, this morning, there are 10 grams.  Sometimes I make loose tea, sometimes I use bags that don't have strings, most times there are strings so I can't do the math and think of how many I'll have. Jo measures by weight. Smart.

Yes, yes, I know there are some tiny staples in there affecting the weight by minute degrees but when I connect them into a ball I'll deal with the staples.  

Now that we're coming into the home stretch with these I will re-read Jo's post on how she does this. Knit with sewing needles?  If only I knew how to crochet.

Books

Truly, there isn't.  I can't remember not reading.  I do remember going to the library as a child but remember even more when I bought my first book to own.  Over the many years of my life I've bought, shelved, saved, donated, gifted and read thousands of books.  One of my life regrets is not keeping a reading journal or at least a list.

We have a finite amount of money in our lives and I believe we choose how to spend our money.  Some will go to the beauty parlor every few weeks and have their hair colored.  Some don't.  I've let nature take its course on that one but I DO buy books.  

At Christmas when all the wrappings are bagged up I have in my hand a stack of gift cards for bookstores.  I can and do shop whenever I want all year.  I love it immensely.  Do I NEED more books?  Well.  Silly question. I never go anywhere, never leave the house without a book no matter where I'm going. Ever. 

It is a lot of fun to go to used book sales occasionally because there is always a treasure or forgotten early book by an author I like.  Recently I met a bloggerland friend who, it turns out, lives within an hour of me.  It was fun to finally set a date and meet up.  Where did we go?  A used book sale. Not a quilt store. She is a voracious reader, too, so a used book sale was a natural.    It's nice to do something like that, pass along something you've read that really was memorable to a new friend.  Learn about someone's technique for buying at a used sale and we differed greatly but that meant I was shown things I might not have picked up and vice versa. 

Saturday I went to yet another used book sale with three other friends who also are voracious readers. Two of them find books like I do, favorite authors, favorite genres, so there was a lot of "did you read this?"  This sale was held by a man who gives definition to book buying. Can you imagine lifting these boxes of books?  

This time, since I've done some heavy buying of books lately, I hovered in the children's picture book section looking for some things appropriate for the activity I'm going to do at the museum with preschoolers.  

So, now the question is how to spend my time - since I've spent my money! Do I quilt or read? Like money, there is a finite amount of time left in my hour glass.

 

Here She Comes!

Here she comes!

Friday was Homecoming for Lowell and our daughter was asked by the students to be the Grand Marshal in the parade!

That truck is quite big and she isn't.  She said it wasn't easy getting herself into the back end of this thing.
 

PH and I were across the street from each other so we both got good photos

She deserved this.  Every single student in the school district has been through the museum and been the beneficiaries of her programs, most especially the third graders who come for two full days.

She works very hard to put Lowell's history up front and present in town and it shows in the respect she has in town. 

Meet Us

 

Here is our group.  Four of them are relatively new, so we are now back to our capacity of eight.  The newbies are all great additions and we meshed perfectly. 

Here we are, along with what we were working on this weekend, in alphabetical order: 

Barb

Barb took a shibori class awhile ago and was using the fabrics she made from that class to do something different and it worked.  She takes risks, tries new things and so her style is not something you can pinpoint but it's always interesting and she is always learning.

Colette.  This is her second retreat with us. And we love her!

She spent the first day making these blocks and the second day trying to make them work in placement.  Finally, she did, after sleeping on it and much input from across the room as we all weighed in.  

Me.  You should have seen the pics I didn't choose!

True to my custom, I bring one project with me that needs quilting.  My spot in the corner by the window is perfect lighting for hand quilting. 

Ginger.  This is Ginger's second retreat with us and it's like she's always been there. 

Ginger spent the weekend thinking of Halloween and her grand kids.  She was making these two trick or treat bags from an 82 page pattern.  That's not a typo.  Can you imagine?  And much of it was wrong.

She ended up winging it and the bags are adorable.

She also made this Halloween quilt for her house for when the grands visit.

Jane.  This was Jane's first retreat with us, and again, you would think she was always with us.

She was working on this project for the weekend and in person the colors are really perfect together.

Lisa.  We love Lisa.  She is the baby of the group.  She retired from her corporate job but flunked retirement and is now a master gardener and horticulture teacher.  I love that she refers to us as "you ladies." 

Lisa was trying to learn how to machine quilt on a new to her machine.  She wasn't happy.

She also made this stacked stones wall hanging.  

Pia.  Pia and Jane are friends and new to the group but not new to the Inn. Their group was age and illnessing out so they asked to join us.  Thank goodness!  What fun they are.

Pia's colors are black/white/purple. I love this piece.

But she was also given a pile of these half finished squares and she wanted to honor the gift so put this together the first day.  Let me tell you, the thing is enormous.  Not quite sure how heavy it will be once it's layered and quilted! 

Sally.  Last but not least.  

Sally is meticulous.  If it isn't absolutely perfect it just won't fly. This is one of the Christmas/winter quilts she made.

Remember, I've showed Sally's work before.  She works in teeny, itsy bitsy tiny. I think she could piece a whole quilt from a fat quarter.  Her work is absolutely perfect.  That's why this block gave her some fits.  She had the paper pieced parts but no finished pattern directions and she hates paper piecing. 

In the end, it worked.  

And in the end, so did we.  

Retreat Part 1

This is our retreat house.  It's a gorgeous place that spoils us for anything or anywhere else. The two story is the original farmhouse and the wing is a new addition of four bedrooms. We each have our own bedroom and bath. And we wouldn't have it any other way anymore.  
 

This is the work shed.  I'm standing on the porch of the house so it's not a major journey.  We love it because it's self-contained and no one has to clean up for any other activity. We spread out and work.

This is the inside. Everyone gets a full 8 foot table.  If you squint and look to the back of the room in the far left corner, that's my space.  I need the light from the window for hand stitching and gratefully, don't need a table space.  There is a refrigerator for our drinks and a design wall and air/heat and great lighting and it works.

But for me, it's also the setting. The weather was picture perfect but the nights were cool enough that we had morning mist. 

We very much miss our original innkeepers but the people who took over are the niece, her husband  and nephew of the originals so we don't feel like we're abandoned to retirement nor is there a lack of hospitality.  The new owners are bringing their own to the table, literally.  This past summer they put in a larger veggie garden and a very nice flower garden because niece loves vases of cut flowers throughout the inn.  Gorgeous stuff.

I told the niece this was the photo of the day for me. Inside the deer fence at the edge of the flower patch was this chair. It looked like in a quiet moment you could find her just sitting and enjoying her flowers.  

We had spectacular sunsets but how many of those do you want to see? Notice the chairs there at the edge of the lake looking out at this site.

And this was the morning I left.  Full moon lit by the morning sun with the mist rising over the lake. Honestly, this place gives definition to the word "retreat." 

More tomorrow!

 

You Say It's Your Birthday

 

It's been awhile since I've visited blogland but with good reason.  I must start, though with our Adelaide's family birthday party yesterday. 

Many of the cousins are not here for one reason or another but in my humble opinion these are the ones most important in my heart.  How awful is that to say?  These are the ones that belong to PH and me and they were all there.

Adelaide wanted her young man to meet her favorite cousin so here they all are, enjoying the greenhouse and lunch.  It was a beautiful day for a beautiful young lady.

Tomorrow I start with our quilt retreat of last weekend.