Almost Mid-July

We had a vendor at our quilt show this year and we all had lots of fun oohing and aahing over her large selection of beautiful batiks.  It was hard to pick, but I finally decided on the 7 shown below and made the table runner above using 6 of them.  I have plenty left over to make at least 1 more if I switch the fabric around a bit.  And there should be scraps for the scrap bin too!  I am not sure exactly when I will get around to quilting it - probably after I get some batting, I would say.  All in all - a very quick and easy project thanks to the excellent instructions in the book Clever Quarters.

My son and I did get away for our mini 1 night getaway.  Really, it was just a test to see if he could help me set up the big tent and he did a great job!  So, now we can plan a longer camping trip and go in style.  I really like this tent because when I wake up early in the morning I can just sneak out to the little screened in area and read - my chair stays nice and dry in there.  When my sister-in-law saw my tent set up a few years ago - she got the same one, because she likes to camp with her 2 BIG dogs - the dogs like the screen tent area too!  Keeps the bugs away anyway.  It is the LL Bean King Pine tent in case you are wondering - just ignore the fact that I have the rain cover on backwards, OK?  It is supposed to go the other way, but by the time I got it on that way - I wasn't going to change it. 

We could pick our own site (the place was pretty empty!) and I picked right in the middle of the RV's, but with no electric - nice, big, flat, grassy.  Well, I wanted room to spread out and figure the thing out.  Plus - there is a paved loop that goes around and from this site I could see the entire loop while my son rode his bike around and around.  Next time I will pick a site at the top of the loop that backs up to the woods, but for this trip, I really liked the site.  Besides - it was super close to the restrooms and water spiket.

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One thing I did do before taking the tent down - I got out my JUMBO Sharpie marker from my truck and labeled the rain cover and tent - FRONT/BACK.  Should make things a bit easier next time around.  But believe me, if I can set up this tent - anyone can!  Just ask one of my sisters who was seriously doubting that the 2 of us could get it up this year.  Yeah, I think she just wanted to borrow it (grin!).

Even more amazing than the fact that we got the tent set-up - I was actually able to start a campfire.  If you put a little bit of melted parafin wax and dryer lint in some old cardboard egg cartons - you have an excellent fire starter (1 egg "cube" per fire should do the trick).  Don't forget to pack newspaper!  We buy our wood/kindling on site - there is a big campaign not to transport firewood so as not to transport bugs that destroy forests.  Sounds reasonable to me.  So, we had our campfire and made our s'mores and had a good time!  Here are a few photos from our walk right before we started our campfire:

We walked along the beach in 1 direction and then crossed over the little bit of land and walked back along the pond.  Once that fog rolls in it is very cold, but I was prepared with double layers of fleece and extra warm sleeping gear.  Yes, it was alot of work to actually get out the door and GO and then we only had 1 night so setting up/taking down was a bit of a hassle (but I packed light) but you know, once I was there, I really did relax.  The 2 of us had a good time.  Even if you only have a little bit of time, just pick something close to home and go!  It is almost mid-July now (how did that happen?) and before you know it - summer will be over.

And on the homefront, tonight in the kitchen I have a new batch of sourdough starter going and a batch of foccicia bread starter going too - we have some fresh baked bread on the horizon - waiting for the starter to ripen is always the hardest part, but once it is started you can just keep adding to it and keep going from there.  I really should have started it the 1st day I got back but I've been right out straight busy!  We've been making home-made tortillas though - my son is very good at rolling them out for me and he usually likes what he helps make -so I've been able to fill them with slightly spicy pork or chicken with cheese and sourcream and he has been eating it - amazing since he eats hardly any meat at all!  Guess we will keep making the tortillas too then.  A little extra protein is always good for growing kids.

Catching Up

It's always fun to see my quilts hanging in a show.  These 2 quilts were in my guild's recent show - I wasn't even here for "turn-in" day and someone else came to pick which ones to show and even sewed the hanging sleeves on them for me.  When I asked my husband which ones where going to be in the show - his answer was - get this - "2 different multi-colored ones".  Great clue!  Ha, ha.  Anyway, it was a fun show - I think there were 33 large quilts and many smaller quilts and needlework/knitting/etc. items as well.  The fun thing about our show is that many, many quilts are hand-quilted (not mine, but it is nice to still see hand-quilted quilts!).  It is a big fund-raiser for my guild and I think they had a very good turnout.  That is a good thing because it helps pay the heating bill during those long, cold winter months.  Top quilt is a pattern by Gayle Bong (in the book Save the Scraps) and the 2nd quilt is just a wonky-log cabin style quilt with novelty prints cut into heart shapes and appliqued in the centers (no pattern) - I've blogged about both quilts somewhere on my blog!

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I am always saying - I have 1001 things to blog about, but I never seem to get around to posting everything and then new stuff happens and the cycle starts all over again!  Well, as the saying goes - a photo says a thousand words, so maybe a few photos will save me alot of typing!

This is an old "traveling post office" that was in display in Austria right before we left.  It serviced rural areas.  I thought it was neat.  I just love "stumbling" upon unique displays and always take the time to see what it is all about.

Looking out the plane window!  It was a long, long trip, but thankfully we made all our connections just fine.  Except - I totally forgot about having extra US cash on me for a bus ticket and only had enough US currency for 1 adult and 1/2 a child.  Oops!  It is a bus that collects the fare (which is not cheap, trust me) while you are ON the bus - so no chance of using your debit card.  Well, guess what?  The bus people decided that my son could ride for free - didn't even charge me the 1/2 fare I did have on hand.  I was so relieved, because I really didn't want to get off the bus, go find an ATM machine and then have to wait for another bus at the very tail end of an already long trip.  So, it all ended well - human decency does live on.

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And now - we are most definately out of the city.  Way out.  After an all-too-short visit with my family. 

Just to give you an idea... we are 2 1/2 hours to the nearest Wal-Mart.  In North American terms - that qualifies as being "way out".

I've been working like crazy, but tomorrow there is a break in the schedule so we are getting out all our camping gear (plus a quick trip to the store for the all important s'mores fixings) and my son and I are going camping for the night - very close to home but it will all seem like a big adventure to him and it means - no major traveling for me.  What is not to like about that plan?