Wool and Wabbits

Today I washed a load of wool from a shelf. I have been storing my extra in the basement and the cats have been using it as a bed. So, I throw the worst pieces away and wash the rest, then I am storing it in drawers and putting the dyed wools on the shelfs in my room.

This is what I got out of the dryer today. This pile is undyed wools, all thrifts. Some are so dark, I will not dye it, but use as is.
It is not the best for hooking, but some can be dyed and used to hook and some will go into wool sewing projects.



This is already dyed, pieces I shelved, or some from previous projects. So it is a mix of thrift and new wools. Once I get all the wool washed and semi organized, I will reorganize it again into piles for hooking and sewing. Some of the wool has been washed several times, so it is too thick, but works great for small projects.



I worked on my new cross stitch and messed up by grabbing the wrong blue. So, I spent a lot of time taking out stitches.
For a break, I sit on the porch with my coffee. I love it in the early evening and the bunnies come out to play and enjoy the clover.



And for those of you who wanted to know what the inside of Lauri's cabin looks like, she sent me a photo. She is thinking about renting it out. It is perfect for a getaway and central to a lot of areas in Maine. The stairs lead to a loft, where we slept, it is really nice and cozy, with all the amenities, so much better than a stuffy hotel.

A New Teaser

I made up some projects to take on my trip, I never made got done with the first one;)
So, I started the new cross stitch piece and thought you might like to see a teaser.
I am making this to look like an old fraktur, so I am using black to outline the main designs.
I have already messed up by missing some stitches on one side, but I am too lazy to go all the way back and redo it.
Luckily she will just be a little shorter;)

I will also get back to redoing the adam and eve piece, so the pattern matches the finished piece.



For the trip finale, we stopped at the outlets on the way home. I was not impressed with the prices, but I do love my sketchers, so I got a new pair of sneakers and bill bought himself a good pair of work boots. I also needed new kayak boots for the summer, so I was able to find my brand at the sports store there.

Since we were going through Massachusetts, I just had to stop by the quilted crow, a treat for me. I have been looking for some tan homespuns and they had what I needed, now I wish I had bought yardage, it will be for an outer section on a quilt I plan on making and not sure I have enough, guess I will have to go back, lol. I fell in love with the fat quarter bundle, it is Moda Cross weave, will be fun to make a quilt with and love the shades. And of course some hand dyed gold to go into some simple amish style quilts. And yes I know, they never use gold in their quilts, but I do;)

Paddling in Maine

I love kayaking in Maine. The lakes are so clean and clear and you are always surrounded by forest and mountains.
We decided to try a lake close by called Mousam lake outside the town of Sanford. Another thing I love is that most of the lakes have little islands. They are fun to paddle around and great wind blockers.



There are also lots of small rivers that are fun to explore.



Sometimes it is hard to find a landing to stop and take a rest. A lot of the land is owned by people, but we found a sandy spot in the middle of the lake that was marked with rocks.



On the way back to our cabin, I wanted to take a swim at the town park in Sanford. The water is so crisp and clean, but it was perfect for a hot day and the views on the river are gorgeous. There is a place to put in at the park, so next time I want to paddle along the river and take a hike on the trail that goes around the area. And as to whether we had lobster? Of course we did. Lauri and Dick made us a wonderful lobster dinner, complete with steamers, corn and potato salad. And I will say it was the best seafood dinner I have had.

Vacation Fun!

Today was my husband's last day off, so I threw a load of laundry in the washer and left the rest of the mess for later;)
We went to the state park for a paddle, it was a beautiful day, not too humid and the water at the lake was warm, so we got to get in some swimming too.

We start at the launch site and paddle along the shoreline which takes us past the campgrounds and lots of little coves.



We always take a break when we get around to the other side. There is a little beach where the old campgrounds were, so it is a nice spot to take a lunch break and go for another swim, before we paddle back across.



And now for more of Maine. We didn't want to overdo it, or travel too far, so we decided to check out the area from wells, down to York. I have to admit, it was not my kind of place, a lot of traffic and tourists and mostly open coastline. I prefer the areas with islands and less people. But it was a nice day and we ended up taking a walking trail that follows the shore.

This area had lots of rocky coastline.



Lots of coves and more rocks.



The walk goes on until you reach the Ogunguit beach area. It was hot as heck and I wish I had know they had little beaches on the walk. I could have thrown my suit on and enjoyed a cool dip in the ocean.



The beach is large and long. The whole area is basically one beach after another, so if you love to go to the ocean, it is a wonderful place to visit or stay. I did not get any pictures of the inside of our cabin or Lauri's house. Tomorrow I will have photos of our kayak trip. Nothing exciting, but we spent our time relaxing this time, so no big adventures;)

Too Good to be True!

Remember the grand hotel and the beautiful seaside suite we reserved?
Well, they didn't mention that the points only covered half of the rental and we had to pay an additional 300.00 a night for the suite. Nothing like finding yourself without your dream vacation on your anniversary.

Luckily, I have a wonderful friend who lives in Maine and was nice enough to let two people she never met in person, come and stay in her cabin. Lauri was a wonderful host and what could have been a disaster, turned into a wonderful vacation for us.
This was the cabin we stayed in, part of a historic home site that they renovated and turned into a charming cottage.



At night we enjoyed sitting outside and enjoying the wildlife that frequents their property. This little fawn was having a ball romping about the yard. My husband has one more day off, so we plan on enjoying a beautiful day at home, by paddling at our state park. More photos and vacation adventures to follow.

Happy Dog

Today was hot, so I waited until later in the afternoon to go out.
I did get my colors picked for the new cross stitch.
Casey was in his element, he loves to go outside, even if it is just to watch me water the garden.
We did get some Ball throwing in, though. Can you believe he is 10 this year, he still acts like a puppy.



This is the expression I got when I asked him if he wanted a biscuit. He knew I didn't have one, so he tilted his head and arched his brow at me, with his, "yeh right", look. Of course the minute I snap the photo, he lost the actual look, but it is funny, he has tons of expressions.



We walked around the yard and I was surprised when I found rasberries growing in the bushes around the shed. Not sure if I want to pick them, there are tons of poison oak bushes mixed in. I do love rasberries though.

Dog days of summer

Today I had to go out and get some supplies for our trip.
We have a good health food store, so I got some goodies that I can eat without cooking.
Then I cooked and spent the rest of the day working on my new cross stitch pattern.
It does take a lot of work and that is just working it up in the program. Next I will stitch it and make changes where needed.
Then I will redo the pattern to match, so there are a lot of steps and time put into making the patterns, but worth it.

We had a nice breeze today, even though it was a bit humid, so I sat on the porch for breaks.
Casey loves to go outside. This is his, aren't you coming look.



He decided to give up and just enjoy the day, while I sat on my butt, on the deck.
But he still had hopes that I would join him in some play time.