knitted, beaded necklaces

We spent all day Thursday (3/29) at the Biltmore….the Vanderbilt’s mountain, get-away “cottage”.  We were up at o’dark hundred to catch the bus and arrived home at 7 PM.  There’s something about riding in a bus for 6 hours that just wears you out!  Thursday night we sat around in a stupor…watching TV!

Friday morning (3/30) Michael left for rehearsal.  I walked with Beth (and Cookie) in the morning, then did chores until Michael came home.  We spent an hour finally pulling together all of our tax stuff and then loaded the car with my challenge quilt and our tax stuff and took off.  Our insurance agent is letting my display my challenge quilt in an effort to sell it.  As a matter of fact, our financial person who came over on Wednesday said that they are looking for new office space, and if I don’t sell it by June, to let her know…she might like it for the office!  Anyway, we got it set up in the agent’s office, then headed over to drop off our taxes.  We had a late lunch at the BBQ next door and then Michael went grocery shopping when we got home.  In the evening we were still tired from Thursday, so we just watched TV…but I did get the clasps sewn onto 4 necklaces I had completed some time ago:

Saturday morning (3/31) Michael took off for golf (even though I thought it was still raining!) and my knitting students arrived at 9.  We had a great time, but made some different plans for next week.  I bought a new game to take to retreat this year, so we are all playing it next Saturday morning so that I can figure out how it plays.  I spent Saturday afternoon in the studio, working on some UFO’s and after dinner we dropped Cookie off at grammy Jan’s and headed to Charlotte for Tchaikovsky at the symphony.

braided breakfast loaf, lasagna, alcohol inks

Michael left early for golf on Wednesday (3/28), but not too early to have the ‘jelly belly’ rolls fixed in a new way (which everyone who had some liked better than the smaller, swirled rolls):

With this being the 3^rd day in a row of golfing I think he will be exhausted when he gets home!  I made a quick trip to the grocery store in the morning, and then put together 4 pans of lasagna when I got home (one for us, 2 for neighbors having a rough time and one for future needs): 

 Paula came over once the lasagna was done, and she made the dough for onion rolls.  We sat and talked for awhile, then she headed home for about 20 minutes.  By the time she got back, it was time to roll the dough into rolls.  She took home one pan and I will make the other for dinner tonight, to go with the lasagna.  I had a meeting with financial person at 2, and a square dancing meeting at 4.  Tim (our square dance caller) came over for dinner Wednesday night, then we both headed back to the pavilion for a dance in the evening.  Michael had rehearsal, so I just stayed to collect the money and then headed on home to relax a bit.

Someone mentioned that Michael's alcohol ink pictures were a little blurry, so he took new ones that look much better than the ones I took:

Tuesday morning (3/27) I walked with Beth, then took off for my visit to Nancy.  Michael got invited to go golfing with another group….so I think he will end up golfing 4 times this week.  Nancy and I had a wonderful time (as usual) talking and laughing and solving all of our problems (real and imaginary).  I came home at NOON, made 2 REDHAT potholders (sorry, forgot to take a picture) and sewed in the ends on a scarf and headed up to knitting club.  Both the potholders and the scarf were previously ordered, so it was good to get them done and out of here!!!  Michael and I and Cookie did a few errands on the golf cart when I got home (dropping off dinner to a friend who had surgery and dropping off money for our recent food drive)…and then we had our first driveway party for this year.  It was terrific….we  haven’t had one in a very long time, and it was very nice to get together with our neighbors.  We had soup for dinner (previously frozen) and watched TV and crafted the rest of the night.

Michael left very early for golf on Monday (3/26) and came home in the afternoon with an 84!!!!  I walked with Beth in the morning, ran a few errands in the golf cart and spent a lot of the day repairing a backpack for a friend.  He and his wife are leaving for Disney world tomorrow and the straps were badly frayed.  I had denim and I covered the straps with that and stitched them down.  The hardest part was getting it under my needle…the straps were very thick due to the padding and I wasn’t sure I was ever going to be able to get it under my needle, let alone stitch it…but I finally got it done.  Michael went out in the afternoon to pick up the clubs he had lengthened and brought home a fish sandwich for me…he had leftover soup for dinner.

jelly bellies, rosemary bread

Sunday (3/25) was a terrific day…Michael cooked up a smurf-a-licious breakfast for the 2 of us and Cookie and I went for a walk with Beth afterwards.  Michael took a couple of his golf clubs to be lengthened and I continued to work on our Easter cards.  At 2 PM I came upstairs just to get some bread started….and I never left!  I got ‘jelly bellys’ made (peach and blackberry):

and rosemary bread:

and a new potato and dill soup (3 new recipes in 1 day!!!) that we took over at 6 PM (along with bread and jelly bellys) to Jan and Walt’s.  Walt is still not feeling well after his pacemaker implant on Thursday, so we took over dinner and shared with them.  We only stayed for a bit before come home to take care of Cookie, clean up the kitchen and work a bit more in the studio before collapsing in bed.

alcohol ink

I was up early Saturday morning (3/24) with lots to get done (I’m going to detail the minutia here because this is a pretty typical day and you’ll understand why I’m always tired at the end of them!)  I threw in a load of laundry and headed to the grocery store for their Saturday specials.  Once home I balanced the checkbook and headed downstairs to update the blog and run through my emails.  I also got 8 letters formatted, printed and addressed for sending in the next 2 weeks to our friend Dorothy, who is in a nursing home.  I finished just in time to run up to the Lake House for our 9 AM food sorting.  I had a group of ladies helping me and they did everything in a flash, enabling me to be home by 9:30 for my 4 knitting students.  As always, we had a good time and I am very pleased with the progress they are making.  They left after 11 and I had breakfast/lunch, set my hair, folded most of the laundry and spent an hour pulling together room reservations and other details for our volunteer drives for the rest of the year.  I felt I finally deserved a break and got to work in my studio for awhile.  Michael came home from golf (with an 83, including a scorching 39 on the back!!!!) and we both got ready and left for dinner at a friend’s house in Lake Wylie (fabulous chicken, carrots, zucchini, rice and rolls with chocolate pie for dessert).  We got home at 8:30, played with the dog for a bit, then watched TV and knit until bedtime.  Some days I feel like I run as fast as I can, but still fall further and further behind!

I haven’t mentioned it before, but Michael has taken a couple of art classes in a new medium called alcohol inks…here are pictures of 2 of his ‘paintings’:

He has a 3^rd class coming up soon and I can’t wait to see what he does!

beaded wallhanging - one square

Michael had an early morning ear appointment on Friday, so we went to Rock Hill for that and then stopped for breakfast at IHOP (yum!)  We hit Hobby Lobby on the way home for a few little supplies and were home after 11.  I got to finish/fix up the beading I had torn out on Thursday:

and got a bit of reading done while Michael was out having a golf lesson on sand traps.  The very first thing the instructor said to him was that both of his wedges were an inch too short….so he has to look into getting that corrected.

Bob picked me up for band practice 5:45 and I was pooped when I got home after 9:30, so I just vegged on the couch.

Thursday morning (3/22) I was up at the Lake House at 7:45 to sort food for the food drive.  I had a ton of helpers, and everyone was moving like the wind.  We were done sorting and loading into cars by 8:27 AM!!!  I came home and picked up my quilting stuff and headed off to quilting.  We were a small group today, but I got a lot of beading done…and a lot torn back out  L.  I decided I didn’t like the way one of the blocks was coming out, so I tore it all out.  Michael and I went to the mall in the afternoon to pick up a few things and then it was back home to fix my beading.  He had rehearsal from 6:30 – 7 and that gave Jan time to arrive for dinner.  Walt is in the hospital getting a pacemaker, hoping to be home on Friday.  Jan said he was in a lot of pain…they couldn’t put the pacemaker just under his skin because he is so thin….so they had to go under the muscle.  We had dinner and she stayed for a bit before heading on home.  Michael and I watched TV and I knit on a sweater for me before bed.

Cookie sleeping on comforter

Wednesday (3/21) was a great day.  Michael left early for golf and I had the whole day to myself for sewing.  Nancy came for a visit (since our Tuesday visit was shorter than normal) and (not surprisingly) we still had LOTS to talk about  J.  Eileen visited in the afternoon to get a little more instruction on her sweater and I finished up making a dog bed for the shelter before dinner, out of some material that Paula gave me several years ago.  We had leftovers for dinner and I got to watch TV and knit in the evening.  I guess my fuzzy honey was wiped out from her ‘movie vigilance’ the night before…she was sacked out for most of the afternoon while I was sewing:

Tuesday (3/20) started out wonderfully…..a nice morning walk with Beth….our first-of-the-year breakfast on the deck with Michael…and a fun visit with Nancy.  It went downhill dramatically as Nancy was walking to her car…and I was showing Keith (her husband) Cookie, and as our neighbor walked by she pointed down at my driveway and said ‘oh look, a snake’!!!!!   I screamed at Nancy to leap into her car and slam the door…..I ran inside and called my neighbor (Michael was out getting the car fixed and running errands) and Joe came over with a shovel.  Of course the little bugger slithered off into the pine straw.  My honey came home with 2 boxes of moth balls, which are now spread around the bushes next to our garage.  I took off to pick up Jan for knitting at 1, ever alert to the ground, but luckily there were no new sightings.  We had a good time at knitting and Michael made dinner shortly after I got home because (not having had lunch) we were both hungry.  We decided we wanted to watch “UP” (a great movie that Mary Jo gave me as a gift when I was in CT) in the evening with popcorn.  Once again I LOVED the movie, but something really strange happened.  Cookie was on the couch with us, and when the Ed Asner character showed up in the movie….Cookie started growling…before he even spoke.  Once he started talking, there was more growling.  In fact, Cookie was on high alert for the entire movie….weird!!!

Monday (3/19) was a very busy day.  Michael left early for golf and after an early morning walk with Beth I got cleaned up and headed up to the volunteer meeting.  That lasted 1-1/2 hours and I was home after NOON to have a quick bite to eat, play with Cookie and then head back up to the Lake House for a meeting of the Machine Embroidery Club.  Lois did a demo on embroidering on towels and then it was back home at 3:30 to type up minutes from the volunteer meeting (I’ve become the default secretary since the original one is having some medical issues).  I get the minutes almost done when it is about time to pick up Jan and Walt for dinner.  We wanted to take them out to dinner to thank them for all of the baby sitting they have done when we went to the symphony.  We all enjoyed our dinners at Ruby Tuesdays, and were finally home at 9:30 PM to collapse.

Cookie under covers, pizza

So, Cookie sleeps in a crate at night, but after we take her out at 6:30 AM, we usually let her snuggle in with us.  She usually falls asleep once she’s under the covers.  I got up Sunday morning (3/18) and got dressed and finally uncovered her.  Doesn't this look say 'REALLY?  I REALLY have to get up now???: 

I spent a lot of the afternoon sewing and finished a project….but no picks because it has to remain a secret until retreat  J.  Michael and I had a luscious pizza for dinner with sautéed mushrooms, onions, red peppers and cherry tomatoes:

 and then watched TV and knit the rest of the night.

Reflections Band Gig

Saturday morning (3/17) I got in a quick walk with Beth before my knitting clinic started at 9 AM.  My students are really coming along well and as always, we have a good time together.  I got to sew in the afternoon, and around 4:30 Michael and I started to get ready for the evening.  We dropped off Cookie at Grammy Jan’s and picked up Bob and Eileen and headed off to Monroe for a gig.  The band was entertaining at a church chili cook off and the crowd LOVED us!!!  Many people stopped to tell us how much they were enjoying the music, several couples were dancing and a few ladies told me how beautiful my voice was (as you might imagine….I am always pleased AND embarrassed when this happens)!  Michael did manage to take 2 videos with our camera - make sure you check out the 'good hair'! (if you get an email from the blog, I am not sure the videos will work; you may have to go to the blog itself to see them): 

Anyway, it was still a thrill for me to get to do this.  We were home by 9:30 and got to watch a bit of TV before bed. 

Peggy & Larry for dinner

At 8 AM Friday morning (3/16) I was at the dentist getting my permanent crown put on.  Not a great experience, but at least it is mostly over.  He wants me to live with it for a few weeks and then he will make a final adjustment.  I spent the afternoon making hamburger buns:

and a lemon meringue pie:

for our diner with Peggy and Larry:

Larry builds the frames for me when I want to mount a quilt instead of quilting it….so I usually invite them over after my project is finished so that he can see what I did with the frame (you can see the challenge quilt again behind them).  Peggy is also a quilter and had heard about my challenge quilt and she was excited to see it as well.  Michael did burgers on the grill (first grilling of 2012) and we also had sweet potato fries and a salad.  We played cards for a bit after dinner and had a really nice time visiting.  Cookie has matured remarkably in the last 3 weeks and spent most of the time doing this:

and this:

Thursday morning (3/15) was quilt guild….there was a wonderful demonstration on fabric postcards and then we had the birthday celebration for Willa.  Many people told me how much they liked the birthday cake (it was Michael’s once a year birthday cake) and even though there were 15 ladies there…I saved a small piece to bring home to Michael.  We had a long talk in the afternoon with our financial planner and in the evening, Michael rehearsed downstairs with his cohort for the spring SCCL show (legends of TV) while I knit upstairs and watched TV.

flower boxes in front

Wednesday (3/14) was a wonderful day!  Michael left early for golf and Cookie and I spent the day together…there was plenty of playing…and lots of sleeping (during which mom got lots of cutting and ironing done on retreat stuff) and we stopped up at square dancing in the afternoon.  I am the treasurer, so have to show up for every dance…but they had the exact right number of people, so we took off for Wendy’s (a fish sandwich) and then had a ride around the compound (with Cookie) to see some of the new houses being built.  I also got a chocolate layer cake baked with chocolate icing to take to quilting on Thursday for someone’s birthday.

Michael planted our front flower boxes last November, and the bunnies promptly ate everything right down to the soil.  It has been a long, slow road back, but while I was in CT they all finally burst back into bloom…they look terrific:

Michael left for his round of errands Tuesday (3/13) morning while I headed off to Nancy’s house for our weekly visit.  She was working on her challenge quilt and it looks really nice…I hope to do the same pattern some day.  I had knitting club in the afternoon and continued to work on my purses in the evening while Michael went to the movies with Larry.

ruffle scarves

Michael had a very busy day on Monday (3/19).  He had another art class using alcohol inks from 9 – 12, and he went to the computer club in the afternoon (they were talking about software to put your photos into DVD’s).  I had a knitting student visit in the morning and we totally revamped how she is doing the sleeve on her sweater…and spent the afternoon in the studio, mostly putzing around, but also getting a tiny bit further on the red hat things, and doing the finishing on a bunch of scarves (most of which I knit while in CT):

We had a new pork spicy, citrus dinner in the evening, and I spent the rest of the evening cutting out more of my small purses.

pillow cover

Saturday (3/10) turned out to be just as busy as Friday….Michael left for golf and I managed to just finish vacuuming and dusting upstairs when my knitting clinic students showed up at 9.  We had a good time and I think several of them learned a lot (they have started projects and are learning to read the knitting directions).  They left at 11 and I hustled downstairs to start pulling together information for our volunteer drive that starts Monday….I am the chairperson (basically because no one else volunteered) and I am way behind on getting it started.  I got a lot of stuff pulled together, and Linda came over at 1 to help with a few things.  Between the 2 of us I think everything will run just fine….she agreed to take care of the poster and setting up the bins and that was a big weight off of my mind.   Linda left around 2 and I got back to sewing and finished off another pillow cover (the first one had strips going on the diagonal and this one they are vertical): 

 One of my students stopped by at 4 to confirm that she was doing her decreases correctly, and then it was back to sewing again, this time trying to pull together embroiders for 2 red hat pot holders. 

Michael and I left at 6:30 to drop off Cookie at Grammy Jan and Walt’s for babysitting while we headed to Ovens Auditorium for the symphony pops and ‘the music of Michael Jackson’.  It was a fabulous show and we were ready to drop into bed after picking up Cookie at 11:15.

On Sunday (3/11) we had a relaxing morning reading the paper in front of the fire.  Cookie LOVED the fire and spent 1-1/2 hours on the hearth or very near by.  She was totally quiet the whole time….WOW…a first  J.  We got cleaned up in the afternoon and Michael made a big bowl of popcorn as we were invited over to a cocktail party at a neighbor’s.  We spent a couple of hours talking and laughing and in general having a good time.  When we got home, Michael sat down to watch some TV and I headed downstairs to try to work on some crafts.  I think I still haven’t caught up on sleep from my trip to CT and by 9 PM I could barely put 1 foot in front of the other!  I went to bed and slept straight through until 6 AM and am feeling much better today (Monday).

pics of Cookie, pillow, purses

Michael played golf again on Thursday (3/8) and on the front 9 (where he got a 50 yesterday) he scorched out a 39!!!!  And with a 43 on the back 9, he came home very happy with an 82.  I took my challenge quilt to quilt guild and several people said that even if they didn’t know it was mine, they would have guessed it; it was so unique.  That made me feel really good.  For the rest of the time there, I continued to work on beading my wall hanging for the living room.  In the afternoon I was still very tired from the trip home Tuesday, so Michael took Cookie for a walk and I got to take a nap on the back porch.  It was wonderful…it was a slightly windy day, so I got to hear the chimes Michael bought me many years ago for my birthday, chiming softly as I drifted in and out of sleep.  I love hearing them.  We had champagne and puffy things for dinner (this was postponed from Tuesday because he drove to the movies Tuesday night) and then he had a short rehearsal and I got to work on a bit of sewing.

My honey took several adorable (I’m not too proud a mama, am I??) pictures of our baby while I was gone…thought you’d like to see them.  This one is labeled - a rare moment of peace and quiet for dad:

and this one is "I found a neat place to find good eats" (she's on the door of the dishwasher in case you couldn't tell).

this one says 'fire the maid, there's still a speck on the carpet':

 and this one just says 'I am so cute you can't possibly be mad at me for chewing up that ball of yarn':

Friday morning (3/10) we had a vet appointment at 9 AM, to finally get Cookie started on her inoculations.  We were home around 9:30 and got a surprise….Connie (friend and knitting student) showed up for the knitting clinic.  I always held the clinics on Friday mornings….but now I have 2 students who are working, and now that they have finished their beginning knitting classes, I started scheduling the clinics for Saturday mornings.  The only problem is, I never said Saturday in the email…I just put the date.  Connie is not the only one who thought it was Friday!  Anyway, I hadn’t seen her in awhile, so we spent 1/2 an hour talking about knitting and getting news about HER new adorable fuzzy baby!  Once Connie left, I got to finish up a pillow top for a woman who bought one of my wall hangings and wants pillows to match:

and also 3 more purses:

then Michael and I took off for an appointment to pick up his new hearing aid.  This was a 1-1/2 hour waste of time trip.  The equipment to set up his hearing aid suddenly stopped working and there was nothing they could do to fix it….so Michael took me out for a nice lunch before we headed home.  We stopped at Aldi’s for a few groceries and Lowe’s for lots of dirt (it’s time to start seeds and plant lettuce down here) on the way.  Nancy came over for a visit shortly after we arrived (since we didn’t get to see each other on Tuesday) and when she left at 4:45 I hurriedly printed out words for my band music and took off for rehearsal.  We have a gig next Saturday (my second) and I am very excited about everything I am singing.  When I got home around 10 I was just exhausted, so I plopped down on the couch and snuggled with Michael and Cookie until it was time for bed.

Paint Can Challenge

Michael’s tee off time Wednesday (3/7) wasn’t until after 11, so we got to take a walk in the morning.  He had an uneven day.  In the first 9 holes me managed to find 3 sand traps and get 7’s on 3 holes for a grand totally of 50!!!  The back 9, he made a scorching 39.

I spent the day getting my ‘flowers’ to bloom.  I know I’ve been talking about the Paint Can Challenge for months now….so you’ll be happy to know that my quilt is finally finished!  In the beginning, we were given a paint can with 1/3 yard of green fabric, and 3 paint chips.  Here are my chips: 

We had to use a recognizable piece of the green fabric, as well as fabric that was the same as at least 2 of the paint chips.  And the entire piece had to measure 40" by 60" or 50" by 50".  I really didn’t like the brown color, and figured that I’d end up with just a baby quilt with the pink and blue chips that I got.  I changed my mind 6 times as to what I was going to do, and finally settled on a 3 dimensional flower technique I had wanted to try.  I think it turned out even prettier than I had imagined….I spent several hours Wednesday afternoon blooming all of my flowers (you make the 3-D flowers but leave them folded flat until they are all sewn together in quilt).  I loved watching each one come to life.  Here’s the wall hanging with all flowers flat: 

Then here are a couple of flowers, with the petals blooming one at a time, since that's the way I had to unfold them:

I think this next one is my favorite fabric, it shades from pink, into deep fuchsia, with yellow accents and then to orange (lots of color bang for your buck!):

Finally, the entire garden was in bloom and when Michael came home from golf, he helped me to stand it up against the wall for a final picture:

I really love it and I am REALLY GLAD that it is finally finished!  We hope to hang it in the bedroom…even though it is far too big for the space.

coming home from CT

Monday morning (3/5) BG and I got to knit and watch TV before heading out to lunch with Al (my financial planner).  BG’s tax guy is in the same building, so she made an appointment with him.  Al took us to a pub and beforehand was apologizing about the ‘fare’ saying they didn’t have many selections and stuff.  I got a Rueben sandwich and BG got a grilled cheese and we split them 1/2 and 1/2.  The grilled cheese was excellent…but the Reuben was outstanding!!!!  so very yummy.  It was a great lunch, after which we headed back to the office…me for a meeting with Al and BG for a meeting with her accountant.  Al and I talked over a variety of things, and after stopping at the grocery store, BG and I were home around 3.  BG had a chance to show me these really cute dog bandanas that she is making for her craft fair…and I might make for mine!  We had leftover for dinner, and continued our knitting far into the night.

Tuesday morning (3/6) it was up at o’dark hundred for the trip to the airport.  Everything went off without a hitch…until I got to Charlotte 30 minutes early…and was very cold waiting for Michael.  He and Cookie finally showed up and it was an eventful ride home as Cookie had thrown up on the way TO the airport, and proceeded to throw up all over me on the way FROM the airport…guess she’s not a car dog!  We gave her a bath after we got home and put all of the towels and clothes in the washer, and then took a nap…I was tired!  Once I got up, I spent the rest of the afternoon putting the borders on my paint can challenge.  Walt and Michael went the movies Tuesday night, and Jan helped me to get the quilt mounted on the frame that was delivered while I was in Connecticut.  Paula came over for a visit with Cookie and brought me a mat for my kitchen counter.  I haven’t used a dish drainer in forever, I just pu t a towel down and put my dishes on the towel.  Paula does the same thing and brought me a very thick mat that you use instead of a towel.  Someone bought her one and she loves it…I can’t wait to try it.

still visiting in CT

Sunday morning (3/4) we worked on figuring out BG’s costs for the laundry detergent she makes.  She may try to sell it at the craft fair in Colchester this year, but needed to know how much the soap and jars would cost her, to figure out a fair price.  She also showed me the cutest bandanas for dogs.  She makes them on her embroidery machine.  I haven’t decided yet whether I will try to make them for the craft fair…or just for Cookie to wear.  Janice came over to visit in the afternoon and that was great as the 3 of us sat around in the afternoon, crafting and talking.  We had pizza for dinner (I had the KISS OF DEATH pizza that is loaded with garlic….yum!) and finished a 6^th scarf before heading to bed.

Let’s see….what can I write about Saturday (3/3)???  We ate and knit and ate and knit and ate and knit.  Oh yes…there was a bit of drinking in the evening as well.  I’ve now finished 5 ruffle-y scarves since I got here.

It was a POP TART morning again on Friday (3/2), the Mary Jo and I headed into Hartford.  She dropped me off at the food court below Travelers and headed on to her company.  I found a nice spot to sit and dialed up BG to tell her I was there…as I put the phone up to my ear, I looked up…and she was standing 10 feet away from me, with her back turned in my direction….I ran over to surprise her, and we both started laughing and hugging.  She had come down with Patty (another friend) to mail some stuff.  We headed back upstairs and I got to spend a couple of hours talking with a bunch of people I used to work with.  Many said I seemed to look younger than the last time they saw me…and decided it was because I didn’t’ have the stress of work any longer.  Right before I left, Patty came over to tell me a funny story.  She and BG go to the casino to play the penny slots once in awhile.  Patty really had a hankering to go on Friday, but BG said no because I was coming….but Patty really wanted to go so she said ‘no problem….we’ll take Deb along and put her on a bench…she’ll have her knitting…we’ll bring her drinks…she’ll be happy!!’  Does that woman know me or what  J.  BG and I left around 11 and stopped for Chinese at Saigon Kitchen (OMG…their hot and spicy chicken is SO GOOD!!!)  Then we moseyed on over to Janice’s house….we had a key, but Michelle (oldest daughter) was already there, so she let us in.  BG and I parked in the dining room and knit and talked until Janice came home at 3.  By 6 PM Janice had dinner ready (fabulous lasagna that we hope she’ll bring again to retreat) with garlic bread and a salad…and Karen Brodersen, Leila and Mary Jo had all arrived.  We had a great dinner with lots of laughs, and several people got some sewing done as well.  We had transferred all of my luggage from MJ’s car to BG’s car, so we were all set to leave at 10.  I got to Colchester (BG’s house) and collapsed.

Thursday morning (3/1) I awoke to one of my favorite (but extremely rare) breakfasts: no icing, cinnamon pop tarts!  They were yummy.  We got all of our supplies ready after breakfast and headed off to Joann’s, and to drop off 2 of Mary Jo’s quilts to be quilted, and to WEBS!!!!!  I order a lot of yarn from WEBS and it was a treat to visit in person.  I got several cones of yarn to continue my scarf weaving and we finally made it home around 4:30.  We had soup for dinner and had a visit from Tara (a friend of Mary Jo’s) that I have met before.  After Tara left, we both sat on the couch and knit and watched PROJECT RUNWAY for a couple of hours before bed.

LEAP DAY!!!!!  Wednesday morning we were up early to finish off packing before leaving for the airport at 9:30.  We made it there in plenty of time and I bought a Bon Appetit magazine to peruse while waiting for the plane.  I just HAD to buy it….it had a big picture of a pizza on the front with the caption ‘make the perfect pizza crust’….I couldn’t resist.  I’m still searching for the holy grail of the perfect pizza crust (as well as the perfect raspberry square.  I AM encouraged though because last year I actually did find the perfect lemon bar).  The flight was uneventful (although very bumpy) and I landed about an hour late (there were at least 9 planes on the runway in front of us at Charlotte…I’ve never seen anything like it).  It was easy enough to find the bus stop for the express bus to Framingham, and I talked to a very interesting young man all the way there.  He was coming home for a brief visit to his parents, after spending a bit of time in Brazil.  He was thinking of going there to teach English, but first he was off to Russia to teach there.  Only 25 years old and seemed to have a wealth of maturity to him…as well as that sense of adventure.  Mary Jo wasat Framingham to pick me up…thank goodness as I landed in snowy, sleety weather with just a light jacket on.  The drive home was scary, but we made it safely to a house that smelled wonderfully of homemade soup!  The rest of the day was spent knitting and eating and sewing and talking-talking-talking!!!  Although I miss my honey a lot, it is great to be here.