Friday Finish and Fun!

This week I worked on a stitchery. It is a pattern from Kathy Schmitz's, One Stitch Club. It is fun to get a new one each month and they make wonderful pillows. The designs this year have a bird theme and are all the same size, so those who want, can make them into a quilt.

I made a pillow, something I can decorate with or give as a gift. It measures 10" x 10". I wanted it a bit larger, so I added a little border.

Last weekend we took the boys to the aquarium and then to the owl sanctuary, as well as a picnic. The boys loved seeing the outside areas, now that it is warm enough. The sanctuary was a great place to play and explore.

We went for a picnic in between and I wanted some place close that wasn't crowded, so we went to the Mystic cemetery, which was nearby. It was a beautiful day to sit and enjoy watching the boats and the boys were fascinated by the gravestones. The funny thing was, I told Bill to stop at a place that had an open area and parking, and when we got out, I noticed the gravestone in front, said Daniele. Spelled differently than my daughter's name, but a strange coincidence.

At the sanctuary, they noticed that the different trees, made different sounds when they banged a stick on them.

And a few of the critters we saw at the aquarium, as well as, a Tom who was showing off to the two females in my yard. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Holiday Happenings!

It's been a whirlwind week, with getting everything ready for Christmas, but we were able to spend a few days outside and do some beach combing for a few hours, even though it was a bit chilly. And the wonderful thing about being on the beach in the late afternoon, is the sunsets. We stayed long enough to enjoy a beautiful sunset over the bay.

We found a lot of new glass pieces, that you can get in a craft store. I am assuming someone lost a garden display with all the wind we had and it floated to our beach.

We had the kids at our house on Christmas eve. We enjoyed a nice dinner and I let the kids open one of their big presents.

Nick loved the new floor piano and Alex was more interested in all the pretty lights and things he could pull off the shelves.

And Bean wanted to open one of his presents. Alex wanted to help and was disappointed when I said it was for Bean, a big blue octopus.

Christmas was spent at their house. The kids made dinner and I played with the boys, so it was a nice treat to relax and enjoy time with them. Although I wouldn't call it relaxing, both boys want my attention so a bit chaotic, to keep up with them. But, a joy that is worth a few sore muscles, lol.

I got Nick a view master, but found out that the reels are expensive and hard to find, so I will look for more in the thrifts and yard sales. If anyone has any old reels they don't want, I would love to have them.

I really wanted to rest, but the boys wanted to go to the aquarium, the next day, so we went. It was fun seeing the look of wonder and awe on Alex's face, since it was his first time. Again, it was chaotic, but a joy to see them both enjoying themselves and having fun together.

I stayed home for a few days, no rest, lots to catch up on and clean. I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday week and a Happy New Year!

Weekend Wanderings!

This was a great weekend for getting out, even though it is getting cold. But not too cold to go for long drives and find new places to shop.

We headed into Connecticut to check out a new quilt store. We have driven by this town a lot and never knew that it was there. Sometimes it pays to do searches of areas you want to visit for shops that are in the area.

The store is called Colchester Mill Fabrics. I wasn't sure how nice it would be and if it was local mill fabrics but I was pleasantly surprised. It was a full service quilt shop, with 3 large rooms of fabrics, supplies and crafting items. They carry a lot of Moda fabrics and even wools, so it is a great store to stop in, if you are in the area.

The staff was friendly and helpful, if you had a question or needed to know where something was, they had the answer. So much nicer than the big stores, where they have no idea what is in stock. The only negative for me was, not that many prim patterns. They had a few but none that I wanted, which I guess is a good thing, lol.

Another thing they have is an assortment of gifts and decorative items. I found this cute snowman garland and had to have it. The hearts are rusty, but the flash washed the prim out.

Once you are done shopping, you can drive to the next town up, and visit the Shops at Marlborough Barn where there is a wonderful antique barn and a few other small shops and businesses. I was surprised at how big it was inside, room after room of antiques and primitive goodies and gift items. The prices were also reasonable, so another shop we can visit, since our favorite one is closing.

On Sunday, I just wanted to have fun and I wanted to have fun with Nick. Luckily my son stopped by and Nick stayed here, so we could just go and not pick him up. We took him to Mystic Aquarium which is also in Connecticut, not sure whey we just don't move there, lol.

We wanted to see the new Dinosaur exhibit, which was really fun and the boys loved it, both of them.

I loved what I saw in this photo, I think the whale is smiling at me;)

I took a quick shot of the penguins and noticed something picking out, behind the rock, when I looked at it closely. We all had a fun time, and since we got a Grandparents pass, we can come back anytime and bring Alex with us.

Today was an easy day, we went to our favorite antique barn, which is closing this year. They are trying to find a new place, so hoping they can and continue to host dealers and prim artists, since we usually find great things there. Today nothing interested me, but always fun to look.

Since we had time and the tide was going out, we hit the beach for an hour. Bean got to play and I found some nice pieces of glass, for my collection. It was cold and getting cloudy, so we didn't wait for the tide to go all the way out, I am sure there was a lot more glass, waiting to be found.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a week ahead, full of creating. The kids decided to have dinner at their house, so I said fine, leaves me more time to work on my quilts and get my Christmas items ready.

Weekend Wanderings!

Bill ended up getting the weekend off so we got to get out and do a few things, which was nice. We decided to go back to the trailer place and I wanted to look at all the trailers, even tent campers. Each one has pluses and each had things I didn't like, but since we are limited by weight, we had a choice of a larger tent camper or a trailer and we went with the trailer. No extra room for the kids but the table can be a small bed if we need it and I feel safer in a trailer, especially since we camp locally and Bill works nights. So, in a few weeks, we will have the trailer and I reserved a spot for a few days at our local state park to test it out. This time I won't have to worry about the smell;)

I have also been having problems with my computer, the graphics drive must be going since it keeps crashing when I do photos. I hate getting a new computer, I am used to this one, but I need my graphics for photoshop and patterns, so I broke down and got a new one. Hopefully I have saved everything properly and if anyone contacts me and doesn't hear from me, it might be because I lost the mail. I also tend to forget things, so if you ever do ask me a question, do not be afraid to ask again if I do not respond. I also appreciate the opinions on quilting machines, but for now, I will just get ideas and put the word out at the stores, that I am looking, so maybe I can get a used one or a deal. And thank you for all the comments from "no replys",  I wish I could email and thank you personally.

Sunday my son stopped by so they could go to church with us. He always hides in the kiddy room since Nick is a bit boisterous, as is all two year olds, but I had him sit with us in a side area, where we could make a quick escape if needed;) Nick sat quietly next to me and thumbed through the hymnal and was fine until the sermon, so Grandma whipped out the snacks and let him crunch on those. (Remind me to bring quieter snacks;) Then he slipped and hit his head and the crying started, lol. But, he quieted down when I whipped out the snacks again and we got through the mass without any more mishaps.

After church we went to the Mystic aquarium to see the new exhibits. It is indoors, so perfect for a hot day. They had some fun displays and photo opportunities but not as elaborate as I expected. It was also way too crowded so we didn't stay too long.

I have to do my photos with preview, so I can't edit as well as with photoshop and I cannot straighten the crooked photos, so here are a few for  you to enjoy.

Everything is better when you explore it with a child, Nick makes everything seem fun.

Nick was quite impressed by this big guy.

There are some fun things for kids to do, so it is a great place to take the kids, especially on a rainy day or hot day.

The guys in the shark cage.

Nick driving the safari jeep, he did not want to get out;) I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and hopefully this week, I can get organized and start working on some projects and new ideas.

Weekly Wanderings!

This week, Bill had off so we did a lot of driving around and just having fun. One of the things I wanted to do, before the exhibit was gone, was to see the found art exhibit at the aquarium. Artists took items that they found on the beaches and made art pieces from them. There were large ones and smaller ones, and amazing what they did with junk that inconsiderate people threw on the beach or items washed up on shore.

This piece was fun and made from all types of trash, but it became something fun and beautiful.

Inside was a giant Jelly Fish on a coral reef, so much creativity in the use of found items.

And Jellies hanging from the ceilings, as well as a wall of masks. It was fun seeing all the art and we walked around and enjoyed the indoor tanks, but it was so crowded, we didn't stay long.

Another place I have been wanting to see, was in the same area, so we headed to Enders Island, which is a small island in the Mystic Connecticut area. It is home to priests and retreats. It was was cold and barren but still beautiful with it's stone walkways and views of Fisher's Sound. The church would be beautiful to attend a service at, imagine having a retreat here.

With a new year, we did a few new things that we never make time for. One was driving to the lighthouse to watch the sunset. The problem was, I forgot my gloves, so my hands froze and I couldn't move them after sitting out in the cold winds.

Bill was taking photos with his pad, so he caught me taking photos from the cliffs.

And this is the sun setting over the horizon. The colors just got more magnificent as the sun went down, but by then, it was too dark to pick up the colors and my frozen hands couldn't even press the shutter. It was a wonderful way to end the first day of the new year. And to top it off, I went outside that night and caught a flaming meteor as it flew overhead. What a way to start off the New Year. I hope your new year is filled with many joys and blessings.

Weekend Wanderings Giveaway!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, we had one day with rain and one beautiful day, so we were able to get out and enjoy some fun this weekend.

Saturday started out nice, but I knew that we were going to get rain, so I thought it would be a good day for the aquarium. We were able to walk around outside for a bit, then when the rains came, we enjoyed the indoor exhibits. I even sat through a 4D preview movie, very fun but I am not sure I would want to watch a whole movie that way. They also had bubbles, no idea why they did that, lol.

The seals were being silly and giving us quite the show with their antics.

Even the fish in the tanks were being silly. Not sure what this silly guy was thinking as he stared out at me.

I finally figured out if I turned off my flash, I could get better photos of the fish in the tanks. I will have to work on learning more about settings and practice each time I go. I love the seahorses, maybe a future design idea.

And even the penguins were being silly and fun to watch.

Sunday was Gillette Castle Day. I wanted to go back and walk around the grounds and old railway paths. I almost missed this, until someone pointed up to it, can you see what I saw?

And to the right of this kitty, there is another. William Gillette loved cats and the castle was filled with real kitties. He has an interesting life story and history in theater and the beginnings of motion pictures.

There are over one hundred acres and he had over 3 miles of trails for his miniature train,  that you can walk on.

And we stumbled onto the path with a tunnel, it as a bit creepy since it was so dark inside, so I made Bill go first, then Dani, then I followed, lol.

I made Dani crouch down so I could get a photo of the inside. I used a flash and this is the only photo with orbs. I also lightened it, so you could see the interior, it was almost pitch black, walking through. Nothing in the tunnel to reflect from and nothing on my camera, so who knows?

And speaking of ghosts, look who we met up with, on the way back, Sherlock and his wife Mary.

The next stop was to be a ferry ride, across the river, but the road was closed, which meant driving around a longer route. Since I wanted to go to the swing bridge, I looked on the map and saw that we were closer, just driving up to it. We had to take a detour, so much for saving time. Then when we got there, we saw a line and the sound of sirens. So, we gave up on waiting to go over the bridge and drove around the cars and parked on the banks further down and walked up for a nice view of the bridge and the river.

Then we decided to go see the waterfall at Devil's Hopyard before heading home. The falls were beautiful and a nice way to relax at a long day.

Unfortunately we were too early for foliage, but we got to enjoy a nice walk around the falls and then across the covered bridge.

And now for this week's giveaway. You can use the smiling fish or the penguins and give me a caption for either photo. Or you can do one for each and put them in separate comments for two chances to win. The winner will get their choice of any of my epatterns or booklets.I will pick a name and announce a winner on my friday posting.

Weekend Wanderings!

We had an easy weekend, the weather is cooler so no paddling and it was the first weekend of hunting season, so I decided to stay out of the woods. My son saw my photos of the aquarium and decided he wanted to go too, so we took him and Nicholas with us and got a guest pass that we can use for him or any one person we want to take with us. It is nice since anyone can go with us and it is a big money saver.

Nicholas hadn't taken a very good nap and was sleepy, but once we got to the aquarium he was full of energy. He loved watching the whales from the glass windows. He didn't like sitting in his stroller and wanted to run all over the place.

Inside there are lots of tanks with all types of fish, it was a day for smiles for Dad and son.

Going together was nice for dad too, while I watched Nicholas, dad got to be a kid again, too;) They have several petting tanks and this one had sharks and baby skates. 

Today I got the quilting done on my Christmas wall hanging, so all I have to do is finish off the binding and antique it.

Weekend Wanderings!

After Friday's paddle, I crashed, that was a bit too much with the sun and paddling against the winds so we decided to do something fun without over doing it. 

Since we never get to the beach during the summer, except in our boats, we decided to go to the ocean and play in the waves. This beach is in Point Judith and the nice thing about it is, it is shallow, so you can walk out and play in the waves without dropping off.

The air was cooler at the ocean but the water was warm.

Going out to play in the waves.

Sunday I was still tired so I decided it was a good day to go to Mystic Aquarium. I haven't been since the kids were little and they had a lot of new things since we were there. We got a senior membership, so for the cost of two visits, we can go anytime for a year and bring Nick along for free, so looking forward to taking him.

They had a lot of beautiful sea displays inside, but it is hard to get good shots through dirty, scratched glass;) I think Jelly Fish are beautiful as long as they are not swimming in the ocean with me.

Not sure what these guys were, but they just looked funny and just sat in their little crate house.

Rock Fish hides with his surroundings. I was taking a photo and Bill was asking, where is it, lol.

I took a lot of photos but most were blurry or washed out from the sun, so next time I will try and go during a cloudy day or later during the day. I did take some video of the beluga whales, they put on a show for me and even made whale cries, but I cannot remember how to convert it for iTunes.

A new exhibit is the Titanic exhibit. There are a lot of fun interactive areas to enjoy and inside some of the rooms, you really feel like you are down in the deeps. Bill and I had fun being goofy on the bow of the titanic, but I forgot she was leaning forward, and posed wrong;)

To end the day, we went to another ocean beach. It was a beautiful day to go and not too crowded. This is East Beach in Charlestown, RI.

This beach was cold and deep, so I decided to sit in my chair and enjoy the views, perfect way to end the day. Now it is time for me to get back to a routine. Today I spent half the day cooking up things from the garden and the other half cleaning, so time for me to relax for the night and tomorrow I can get back to my sewing projects.

Speaking of sewing, I found a wonderful tutorial today. If you would like to make a fun and beautiful halloween bag, check out Christina's tote tutorial at Sometimes Crafter.