Friday Finish!

 It looks like we are in for a big storm, which has started tonight. The snow is falling and the wind is picking up. We are all ready, plenty of food and gas for the generator. Good day to enjoy more sewing time.

I finished my second stitchery from Kathy Schmitz. This one I did with multiple colors and it is also a hot pad. I like the snowflake border, but realized after I looked at the photo, I should have used one of the Christmas florals to match the greenery. Kathy mentioned doing more cup stitcheries, which would be fun for more hot pads, as gifts.

Another piece I made was, a needle felted penguin. I saw a few online and then watched a video. I ended up making it more my own.  I was thinking of making some for the boys so I may do an owl next. Good practice to get more used to felting, before I tackle the harder projects.

On Saturday we took a ride down the back roads, towards the ocean. We made a stop at the old mill, which seems to be falling apart, even more. The area is beautiful though and the fishing spot had lots of birds in the bushes, but none that would sit still or come out for a photo.

We ended up following the coastal road and stopping at the beach. We didn't last long, it was windy and cold, so no beach walks. We spotted these Snow Buntings, hanging out on the roof, a first for me.

On Sunday we took a drive around a loop, where I usually spot hawks.  I saw four but they were too far and when I finally spot one close by, he took off and landed in a tree further away. To make it worse, he turned his back on me. Then we stopped to see the eagles. They were sitting in their nest area, so I couldn't get a good shot. It was nice to get out though and see them. When I got home, my resident Cardinal was waiting for me to fill the feeder.

I hope everyone is in good health and stays safe during the storm. 

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 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.