it's all about me

I spent my entire weekend working on things for ME. I seldom make anything for myself, but I have a huge backlog of things I have been meaning to make.
It was our annual mystery ride weekend with my quilt group from the town I moved from. We left Friday night and got back on Sunday. A great time was had by all. We rented a house on a lake that slept 14 for the entire weekend. The view from my sewing machine as I sewed the day away.
We walked to one quilt shop on Saturday and stopped at another on the trip home on Sunday. I was not a good girl . I felt it was necessary to support the local businesses who opened after hours and on Sunday for us. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I got some beautiful repro's and 4 skeins of sock yarn.

We sewed Friday night, all day Saturday and half of Sunday before heading home. I made myself a tote bag like I designed for my bag swap , last year's SSCS and April last Christmas. I have tried to personalize them by changing up the pocket. I also made this cute little pouch from a Whimsicals book I recently bought. I just thought this was so adorable.

It's about time I got back to my wool rug. I know it's been a really long time since I worked on it, but I have all of them preped and only have 1 and a half stars left. Then I have to attach them to the background. That will probably be the hardest part. :-/

I really needed a vacation. It was great to get away for a long weekend and catch up with my friends with no worries. I'm going to have to work harder to keep in touch. I just wish work didn't take so much of my time.

This makes 2 projects for my OPAM challenge. I missed two months, but I've already completed more than one a month. :-D

where i grew up

We went to visit my dad the other day and I took some pictures so I could show everyone where I grew up. My parents lived in the same house almost their entire marriage. It is down on the coast in Maine. Mostly cottages and summer homes, down a long dirt road. We were the only year-round family there. Growing up I hated it. It was isolated and I didn't have anyone to play with except my sister. There weren't any other children on our road so my sister and I had to walk 3/4 of a mile to catch the bus. I tend to be a type A personality, always trying to be on time or early. My sister, on the other hand, was more laid back. I remember many times running the last few yards as the bus was waiting and us arguing because she was making me late. :D
Here is the view from the front deck. We would walk along the shoreline and see how far we could get before we couldn't go any further. That sand bar through the trees was also a great playground. I remember going out with our cousins and we would each draw floor plans of houses in the sand and create a little village. We would play "house" for a while visiting each other, but we would quickly lose interest in that. The fun was in the designing. My kids and niece and nephew LOVED playing out there as well. My niece and nephew named the rocky outcropping on the left of the picture Survivor Island when the TV show came out. They would go out and play "survivor".

I'm not sure what's going to happen with the property. My dad can't physically stay there winters anymore and we're not really comfortable with him so there in the summer either. Difficult how fast things change as you get older.

ds update

DS is home. DH took a train down to Rhode Island and drove him back in his car. He is taking painkillers so he can't drive until he stops. He had an appointment here on Friday and then had his hand operated on yesterday. There were 2 muscles and a tendon that had to be repaired. The Dr. feels he will make a full recovery. His hand is all bandaged up and in a splint for the next week and then he will get a smaller splint and start physical therapy. He wouldn't let me take a picture (he's rather grumpy). He had hoped to be back at work week after next, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. We'll have to see how things progress.

We took a little drive this weekend since DS can't do much more than walk or ride. He loves history and we have been to most of the forts in the state, but never hit Fort McClary in Kittery. We took the long scenic way to get there and had a nice walk around the site. It was an absolutely gorgeous weekend.

April came and sat with me while I waited for DS to have his operation yesterday. It was helpful to have someone with me, especially since the actual operation took about twice as long as they said it would. We had a nice chat and knit-in. Today she finished her Swallowtail shawl we started back in March. Woo hoo! Mine is up to the point where I start borders, but I seem to have stalled. I worked on some socks. I have missed the last 2 months for the OPAM challenge. I have to get at least one done this month and I think I can make it with my socks.

he really should have come with a manual

DS has been working this summer on a small cruise ship as an engineer. They have different trips in the Great Lakes and up and down the Eastern coastline. They finished their Maine coastal trips last weekend and are leaving tomorrow for a trip through the Great Lakes to Canada. Long time blog readers will remember our fun one week after we dropped DS off at college. He appears to be a very breakable child. Well at least that time he was in the same state!
My fun this morning started with a 10:30 am call at work telling me there was nothing to "freak out" about, he was all bandaged up and able to walk to the ambulance ready for a trip to the hospital from where his ship was docked in RHODE ISLAND. I don't think children realize how hard it is to hear something like that when they are 3 states and 4 hours away. I was ready to drop what I was carrying and get in my car. Apparently he had cut a deep gash in his hand when his knife slipped and he thought he might need stitches. To make a long, very stressful, day long, story short, he ended up spending all day in the emergency room, calling with updates. The hand specialist determined he damaged a tendon and needs surgery to repair it. For some reason this can't be scheduled there until the middle of next week. He is just anxious to get back to work so wants it ASAP. (what's up with that?) They stitched the skin for now and bandaged him up. I have some phone calls to make in the morning to find a good hand specialist and we might bring him here for the surgery. At this point he is safely ensconced in a hotel as his bedroom leaves for Canada early tomorrow morning. I made sure to get the name of the hotel as he is alone and told him if he didn't answer his cell I would be sending someone from the hotel to check and make sure he is alright. DD had a bad reaction to Vicadin after she had surgery once and I am so worried about him there all alone. We will probably be going to get him tomorrow as he really shouldn't be driving. {{heavy sigh}}
I think an instruction manual should have come with him when he was born.... Do not allow to play football. Do not allow to play with or use sharp tools. He will give you many, many sleepless nights. Try to take it in stride and drink heavily. ;-)