This and that!

 This week I have been working on a new project and started another. Before we went on vacation, I wanted something I could work on. Of course I never did work on it, but at home, it is a nice project to work on, a bit at a time, since it will take me a while to finish. It is one of the designs from Kathy Schmitz's Merry Minis Workshop. It comes with 100 designs and several patterns you can make with them.

My problem was, my freezer paper did not stay put, so my design was traced badly, but I fix things as I go. It is in one color, but I am adding a bit, here and there, to give it more pop. I also plan on adding a few areas with glitter thread.

During our trip to Maine, we visited a view places. One was Baileys island. It is a long peninsula so a nice drive with views of the inner bays. We went to the very end, where there is a large gift shop and views of the ocean. I spotted a day beacon on one island.

And on another, a lighthouse.

There was also a memorial for lobster men, near the shop.

We wanted to have lunch by the water, but one restaurant there, was closed, so we went over to the next one. At Dolphin Marina, they allowed dogs outside, but they have to stay under the table. I am not sure, but maybe because it was a late lunch,  I could get a lobster, but the sides were things I couldn't eat and they didn't cater to changes in the menu. It was really nice to sit and relax, with beautiful views and we had a very attentive waiter. 

Another restaurant we went to, was the next day. We did some shopping at the outlets and drove to the docks in Haraseekeet. They have a take out menu and allow dogs outside. I got steamers this time and we enjoyed a nice lunch at the docks.

If you are in Freeport, another great place to stop is, Cottonweeds quilt shop. I got some nice tea towels and a pattern, I am working on and should finish this week. I got a baby panel and didn't realize it goes across, not down, so I will have to rethink it for a quilt.

I hope you all have a nice weekend and a relief from the heat.

Vacation part II

 It seems my vacations make the need for a rest from the vacation. Lots of laundry, cleaning up the trailer and getting things done in and outside the house. I also feel like one week was not enough, it takes me a week to really relax, then it is time to go home.

I had planned on resting on Sunday and staying at camp, but it was a nice day with possible rain, so we went to Brunswick, which was the next town over. We were lucky enough to be in an area that had a back road to go up, and avoid the traffic on the scenic route.

Our destination was the swing bridge. We started on the opposite side, which had a paved walk along the river. 

It was a nice walk across, even though the wind made it move more than usual.

It also had nice views down the river.

And looking in the opposite direction.

We also noticed a dam and wanted to check it out. You can walk to it from the paths, but we went to the parking lot, that was close to it. 

And on the other side of the dam was a brewery. Brunswick is another nice town to visit. These were all free to see and they also have a lot of shops to explore. I hope you are enjoying following along with our adventures. I tend to find new things in each place we go and if you have any question about an area or the best places to go, I will be happy to help.

Camping week

 

We have been camping all week and have I done any crafts, nope! We have been busy, out and exploring and walks at camp, so at night, I am too tired to do much. Since we are leaving tomorrow, I will show a few photos from camp and a few more extra posts this week, to share the places we went and reviews on others.

This is our camp, still setting up. No one is in the front sites, so we have a nice spot with lots of grass. This is at Wolfs Neck Campground in Freeport Maine.

There are different points surrounded by water, at camp. Sadly, the tide is always low when we can paddle, so we couldn't paddle from camp.

At the higher tide, the kids like to swim and Bean loves that they play with him.

It is a working farm, so we can walk around the roads, past fields and have views of the coves. It is a nice place to stay, though some kids seem to be running around on their own. Most of the time it is quiet and everyone goes quiet after 10:00pm. We did get some heavy rain one night, and today some rain in the morning, but were lucky enough to get a nice afternoon, so we could enjoy our last day. 

I hope everyone had a good week and I will be posting again, after I get home.

Friday Almost Finished!

This week I have been catching up with the house and preparing for our trip. I am one of those who hates coming home to a mess, so I am doing what I can now and getting things packed in the trailer, as well as organizing to make better use of the spaces and cabinets. Hopefully the weather will be nice and we can sit outside, I hate being cooped up.

I finished my stitchery but I still have to make the mini quilt for the line and a border and I am not in the mood to think right now, lol. So, it will wait, maybe i can finish it this week, but I have one week to cook and pack and I am limited with my diet, so I want to make sure I have foods prepared ahead. Of course we will eat out, lobster is abundant in Maine;)

On this piece I wanted to use color since it is a summer piece and I wanted a happy piece to hang.

I also have nothing to work on and like I said, I have enough to think about, so I have no desire to do too much prep work and another stitchery seemed the perfect thing to make, to keep my hands busy this week. This is another pattern from Kathy Schmitz, I was thinking I might make it into a large pillow with a border, a nice gift idea.

I was going through old photos and came across some from our first kayaking trip to Maine. We stayed at a camp that was on a point, so we had water access and as you can see, a beautiful place to put in.

But, this is also where we learned, pay attention to tidal flats. This was also a tidal flat and when we came back that day, this is what we ran into. We had no way of getting in, so had to go around to the point and still wade through mud to get back in, then Bill had to lug the kayaks up a steep flight of stairs on the cliff, to get the boats up, not fun. The camp we are staying at is for kayakers, a direct ocean launch so we can always get back. The bad thing is, we may not be able to get to some areas with the mud, but I think I have found some great places to explore without paddling too many miles.

I hope you all have a good weekend. It looks like we are going to get a heat wave, so time to hit the beaches.

Friday Freebie Finish!

This week I have been taking it easy, not easy for me, lol. I worked on my stitchery but wanted to do something quick and fun. I revisited a site that I hadn't been to in awhile, Rusty Tin Roof. They used to offer a free monthly magazine with free patterns. I found some new ones I hadn't seen and made one yesterday.

The pattern is called Garden Rabbit Family by Cave Creek Primitives. Some of the patterns are still available to download, some are gone, but well worth a look while they are still up.

My bunnies are not exactly the same, I did not have status so I guess I need to hit the flower shop at the craft store, well worth having some dried flowers to put with my pieces. I found an easy way to do small patterns; I trace the pattern onto muslin with a water erasable marker and retrace the design from the back. That way I have my lines for eye and face placement and then I can just sew the back to the front and follow the lines on the back. The material I used was over dyed and grunged up, so when I added some black walnut ink, it made blobs of ink, but that makes it more fun, so I left it.

I am sorry I didn't think to remember what issue these came from, but I think it was from a spring issue, since that and summer was what I was looking at, this time.

I took a break from my stitchery, I am debating on the center, should I do a fill stitch or a spaced running stitch to look more quilted, thinking of the quilted look? I will add a blue snowflake border and border stitches too.

Another thing I do while I am resting is look for vacation places for our June anniversary week. I wanted to go to Acadia this time, but it seems all the good spots in the good camps are full already, so not sure if I want to go if I am stuck in a small spot away from the water.

One place we went that was nice was Freeport Maine and stayed at a camp there. They are an old farm on a peninsula so lots of land to go for walks with a state park down the road. We loved paddling there, this is Bill getting the boats ready to go out.

And this is what we came back to, a mile of mud flat. So, the bad thing is, I checked and the tides are not in our favor, if we can get out, we can't get back in. There are launches in other areas, but I really want to relax and enjoy the area we are in. One of the nice things about camping in Acadia, no mud flats. So, I will keep looking and inquire at the camps I like and maybe they will have something that has views and enough space, since we cannot be on top of people especially with Bean.

I hope you all have a good weekend and nice weather, we actually have some warmer days, so I am going to enjoy getting out.