View from my bedroom window

There's nothing quite like getting away from home and visiting my sister. She lives in the country and this photo is the view from my bedroom window. I think she has one of the prettiest ponds. Her son made it for her. Laying in bed at night with the window open and hearing the water running has been so rejuvanating. I love being here. My two sisters and I have shopped, watched a great movie (The Young Victoria), quilted, talked, gone out to eat, had coffee at Starbucks, walked in the country, all things that make for a great getaway. I feel relaxed. The first two days here were spent with my aunts and that was a good time. Laughing with them and seeing how they live life in their 80's (3 of them are, one is only late 60's) was encouraging. The oldest doesn't have good health, but she traveled here and was in great spirits.
Now today, the rest of my family arrives. Tomorrow is fun family times, and Sunday a family wedding. Monday I'm back home to my life!

A Week's Vacation

Off to Spokane for a week. It's the visit with the aunts and then next weekend a family wedding. Should be lots of fun, relaxing and good to be away. My family will join me on Friday. My suitcase it almost too heavy to carry, but I must admit that it's filled with more fabric and projects than clothes! Ahh, a true vacation!

Vacation Quilting

I must admit that my idea of a perfect vacation is a quiet place, a beautiful view, a good book and some handwork. There is a time and place for adventure and all sorts of entertainment but a true vacation is rest, relaxation and a chance to have 'down time'. I always take handwork along. I love to applique, embroider, knit, crochet and attach bindings. I just love handwork. Sometimes it's good during a movie. In fact I know some quilters who measure their time to hand stitch bindings on in terms of a 2 movie binding or a 3 movie binding, etc.

Tomorrow we leave on vacation. I plan to take my quilt, Leah's Spring, and work on the applique in the center block. I also have another quilt along (my brown quilt) that needs a lot more applique work before it will be complete. I'm taking some knitting. Of course probably only one of these will see any progress, but having a variety of handwork options always seems like a good idea on vacation. Where we are going there will be things to do, pools to swim in, hikes to take, bikes to ride, canoes to paddle down a river, etc. Most likely my family will enjoy those things immensely and I'll spend some of our time participating. My handwork, though, will be my true vacation!

Work First Then Play

I spent today cleaning. First my bedroom, which often becomes the dumping grounds for books, magazines, papers and stuff that just doesn't seem to have a home. I even sorted through all the bathroom cupboards and collected a whole garbage bag of stuff. It was amazing how many body gels and lotions I had saved with only a 1/2 inch left in them. Then I moved on to my studio. That too needed a good cleaning. After two quilting projects in the last two weeks there were scraps to put away, patterns and books to return to their proper place, and vacuuming of a lot of threads and fabric dog ears. All in all, I spent about 4 hours cleaning. The end result is I feel ready to play. Even though I want to have a relaxing week and one with some fun projects either started or completed, there is a great feeling with starting out with things clean. I can hear my mother's voice, "work first, then play". She was right you know!