StitchinByTheLake

I started my week last Sunday by going to see these two pretty ladies - on the left is Anne (I went to high school with her) and on the right is my sister Sherry.  Anne's house in northwest Arkansas is halfway between Sherry and I so we met in the middle and got to spend three days with each other and with Anne.  Anne and Sherry both had husbands who worked for the railroad when they were young-just out of school-raising kids, and became fast friends when their daughters took dancing lessons together.  We all share the same faith, the same memories, the same friends - which of course means we laughed and we cried and we told secrets...none of which I will share with you here.  :)  

Driving up to Anne's means going through the mountains - a beautiful drive no matter the weather.  The whole time I was there it was cloudy with a few showers and every once in a while a glimpse of the sun.

The roads were curvy.... 

And I had to go through this tunnel.... 

that is really dark and scary inside! 

But besides the great visit I also got to see this gorgeous chapel in Bentonville - an unexpected treasure in that small town. 

When I got home on Wednesday I was just in time for my husband to take off for the deer woods.  Yes, I know it isn't deer season but you see here in the south there's this phenomenon that I call pre-season madness where they all go to the camp to "get it ready."  I'm not sure what they do there, and I don't really want to know, but I think they mow and put out corn and rebuild winter weathered deer stands, and eat and tell lies.  I'm positive about the lies.

That meant I got to spend three days in the sewing room.  I've had this project on my mind for a while so I focused on it the whole time and ended up with these table toppers:

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town!

Summertime

Autumn Leaves

The other three are completely finished - binding and all.  This one is about 3/4 finished...I've done the blanket stitching but haven't finished the embroidery.  The others were done completely on the machine but this one is hand appliqued and embroidered.  My goal is to do one for each month so I'm well on my way. I already have a July one but I just can't decide on September - when I do it I'll have one for each of the last 6 months of the year.  The first 6 months won't be too hard to pick I don't think - snowmen for January, hearts for February, kites for March, flowers for April, ??? for May, and something summer for June.  Got any suggestions for me?  I mean seriously, I could use some ideas!

And this week I'm going to clean out the camper, scrub it from the winter, restock the pantry, put in my winter duds, gather up some stitching and the lawn chairs, and be sure I have lots of quilts.  In a couple of weeks we'll be heading to Winfield, Kansas for a bluegrass festival and then on to Estes Park, Colorado to spend hours in the Rocky Mountains watching animals and shivering beside the camper visiting with friends.  The night temperatures there are in the forties - yea!  And the bluegrass festival in Kansas - so fun!  Lots of contests...fiddle, dulcimer, guitar and more.  Lots of festival food....turkey legs, roasted corn, ice cream, funnel cakes.  Hmmm, I better be sure I have plenty of Tums.  :)  I'll take some pictures of the camper when I get it all cleaned.  It's a wonderful home-away-from-home...two recliners, a king sized bed, a full sized shower, and the most important thing of all....a bathroom!

One of the blessings of my life is that I have generous family and friends who are willing to house sit, get my mail, sit on my deck, water my flowers.  Of course, it helps that we live on a lake.  :)  Tell the truth, you'd want to sit out here and watch the world go by too...right?