An Awesome Vacation! Woohoo!

We left for vacation on March 24, and got back yesterday, April 17!  And we put 4, 187 miles on the car!  Whoa!

It was a fabulous vacation in every way!  The cruise, the visiting with relatives and friends, the golf, even the drive was great!  We saw some really beautiful parts of the country that we hadn't really checked out before.  And the weather was so perfect the entire time!  I think we lucked out in every way!

I've posted a few pics from the road, but here are the last of my vaca pics.

Besides driving around to find golf courses to play, we also hit several antique shops!  Yay!

I found this great 'yard long' military pic at the first shop we hit!  What luck!  Never did see any more along the way, so I was really glad I picked up this one to add to my collection.  Just above the pic is a little 6" wooden ruler.....old and very sweet!  And above that are darning eggs!  I've been collecting those for about 30 years.....and they are harder to find these days, but I managed to find 5 in one shop!  The mother lode!  lol  And a nice long spindle spool with wool attached, and a drawer from a treadle machine......these will make nice little display items in my antiquey house!  I also picked up 4 vintage booklets for tatting and one pot holder booklet.  I also collect vintage pot holders, and I've been thinking to make a few myself.....I just love 'em, but would never dare use my vintage ones.

We also managed to find a few thrift shops and I picked up 3 shirts for cutting up for quilts!  Woohoo!

And, of course, we stopped at Mary Jo's Fabric Store in NC.  The top of the pic shows my 6 yards of cheddar (Woot!) and some really great cotton candlewicking thread that I think would be perfect for some embellishment.  I got the colors that looked like they would go with my civil war repros......we'll see what happens.  I was very restrained while in the shop, and I'm kicking myself now......cuz each paddle of that thread was just 5 cents!  I should have bought the hold dang rack!  LOL  But again.......will I actually use it, hmmmmmm!  Maybe it's good I only bought ten paddles!  lol

As I said in my post from the road.......we turned this vacation into a Krispy Kreme road trip!  I ask you......is there anything better than seeing that red light on!?!

Holy cow.......I couldn't even wait to get a pic......HA!

It was so disheartening to learn that so many of the Krispy Kreme shops have closed!  There is only 1 in New England now, and that's at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Conneticut!  Sheesh!

When we were in VA,  the guy pumping our gas got so excited to see the box in the back seat....and asked where the heck we got them!  We had been in Greensboro, NC that morning, and he was so bummed, cuz they had closed the two shops that were near him.  Of course, we only had 2 left in the box, and there was NO WAY I was giving up either of those.  Is that greedy......yes!  But hey, we're talkin Krispy Kreme here folks!  I'll share just about anything, but not those!  lol

I'll tell ya, hubby was a real trooper this trip, cuz not only did he willingly stop at every antique, quilt or thrift shop I wanted to go into, but he also stayed awake the ENTIRE 4,000 miles of this vacation!  In case I haven't mentioned before, I do ALL the driving when we are together.  My hubby's driving scares the ba-jesus out of me!  So, rather than hear me freak out or whine about it, I just do all the driving.  Which is great, but hubby usually falls asleep the minute we leave the driveway!  Which made this vacation just that much sweeter......he stayed awake, he managed the gps the whole way, and we talked, and laughed, and noticed the scenery, and made plans for future drives, and had a wonderful time!  It was amazing!  And he's awesome!

When we got home yesterday, the first thing I saw was our 'crazy tulip'!  We call him crazy, cuz he is the first thing that pops out of the ground, usually while there is still a lot of snow!  And most years, there is no bloom, just leaves.  We never planted him, he just appeared one year......and has come back each year!  None of my other tulips have survived the gophers, but this little guy is still around!  And we caught him in bloom, too!  Yay!

And, of course, the first dang thing I wanted to do was sew.......but I just wanted to push fabric......nothing too mind-bending!  So I cut a bunch of 2" squares from my repros, and started sewing them up!  These will finish at 6" square, and I've cut enough for 9 of them......I'm thinking to put them on-point......but I'm not there yet.

Here are 2 finished, and 4 still needing the center seam.

I'll finish these up tonight, and tomorrow I'll be working on my jubilee quilt again.  The top is really at the nearly-finished stage......I just need to sew the blocks to the sashing, then the borders, and I'm done.  I'm pretty excited about getting it this far so quickly, and I can't wait to get to it tomorrow.

You know, vacations are awfully fun, but it really is good to be home again.  I love sleeping in my own bed, and having home-made soup for supper (it was sooooo good), and getting back into a real routine.  I spent today going through the tub of mail, balancing the checkbook, tons of laundry, grocery shopping, catching up on blogs, and playing the computer games that need more 'connection' than what the hotels can give you.  I even got to go thrifting today, and picked up several more shirts to cut up for quilts.  Yeah......it's good to be home!

Have a great day!

regan

Still on Vacation! Woohoo!

I'm still on vacation, but I have a few minutes of internet access, so I thought I'd post a bunch of pics from the vaca so far!  We are on the last stretch of it.....should be home in about 5 days.  I just love how driving vacations can linger......and I am making sure we are taking our time!  :o)

We started in late March with a drive from our home in Maine, to Philadelphia.  I'd never seen 'the bell' before, so it was a perfect first destination!

First signs of spring in Philadelphia!  Yay!

The Liberty Bell and the statue of George Washington in front of the State House!

The room where 'those guys' signed the Declaration of Independence!  lol

Philly was fun, but we had golfing to do......so we headed to Fort Lee in Virginia, Fort Bragg in NC and Fort Stewart in Georgia.  Woohoo!  It was so good to get to play again.  Our local course closes the middle of October and doesn't open until the middle of April each year......so we are just about to burst waiting for it.  And golfing on bases is really cheap......my kind of golf!  Ha!

Then we headed for Tampa, and then got on our cruise!  Woohoo!  Royal Caribbean to Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico for a 5 day cruise!  Totally fun in every way!  It was my 2nd cruise, but my hubby's first, so I wanted to make sure he had a fantastic time......so he'd want to do it again!  AND HE DOES!  Yippee!

 My hubby, John.

Me on the deck, waiting for our room to be ready.  It was a lovely ship, but I didn't get many pictures......I guess I was having way too much fun!

This was a floor medallion on one of the decks......a beautiful Mariner's Compass.  Quilty inspiration!

 Yep.....I love towel animals......had to take a pic of each one!  Too sweet!

 This was the puppy dog towel that I made for our room steward with his tip envelope on the last day.  Hubby and I had just taken a 'towel animal making demo' and it was the one I really liked!

 MONKEY!

Here's the turtle our steward left for us.....next to my puppy!

And hubby and I also took a napkin folding class.......so naturally I left an elf shoe at every table I sat at from that moment on!  :o)

Our excursion in Cozumel was taking the Xtrail dune buggies through the jungle to the Jade Caverns.  It was awesome!  The ride through the jungle was amazing.....and you totally get covered in mud from the tires on the dune buggy.  FUN!  Then you get to the caverns, and you can swim in the pools.  It was a little murky looking for me.....but hubby and a bunch of others jumped in from the top of the caverns!

When we went to Costa Maya, we took an excursion to the Chocchobean Mayan Temples.  Our guide was really good, and gave us so much history and information about them.  There were several temples that had already been excavated (just since the 1990's), and many more that are just hills with trees on them, until the government can come up with some more money to fund more excavating.

Here we are at the top, looking down at the next group!

These were some really cool trees there.....have no idea what kind.  But very cool!

When we finished the cruise, we visited a bit more in Tampa with our cousins, April and Drew.  Did we get any pics of them, or the new grandson?......No!  Sheesh!  But I know April was taking a bunch of pics, so maybe I'll post one when she sends one along.  Speaking of April......she just started a blog......here's the link......Life Without a Tagline.  April is awesome in every way......and as I like to say, she's the 'voice of reason' in every group, especially when the family gets together!  lol

While we were in the Tampa area, we took a quick trip down to Ft. Myers to visit my sister, Alison.  Three words.......Norman Love Chocolates!  If you've never tried them, you are truly missing out!  If you are ever in Ft. Myers or Naples Florida, or a Godiva Chocolatier, then definitely get several!  They are little works of art, and totally yummy!  I even got to talk with Norman, himself!  :o)  And then we went next door and had some of his gelato......Holy Cow!  The best!

And did I mention that we had pretty much turned this into a Krispy Kreme vacation!  LOL  You know, we don't have any KK anywhere near us......and there is nothing like an original glaze Krispy Kreme donut!  YUM!  My favorite!  And all this chocolate, gelato and donuts are on top of all the amazing food we had on the ship!  Oy!

Yep......hubby and I are definitely going back on Weight Watchers when we get home......but for the next week, we are still living it up!  lol  I love being on vacation and eating every yummy I see!

When we left Tampa on Monday, we headed for Suzanne and John's place in The Villages in central Florida. We just spent a fabulous 3 days with them, golfing, eating, visiting and checking out all the villages have to offer.  Hubby and I are in the beginning stages of figuring out what we are going to do with our winters when we fully retire in 2 years.  And this area is looking really good.  We were also told by April that the Mount Dora area (also central Florida) is a lovely little town right up our alley!  And boy, were they right!  They so know us!  And yesterday we golfed with another couple we know from Maine in another local area, and that all looked good, too!  We have so many choices to consider now.  We just need to figure out what is really important to us.....and go from there.

Right now, we are in Atlanta, a good stopping point on our way to Mary Jo's Quilt Store in North Carolina tomorrow!  Can't wait!  Woohoo!

Speaking of quilting......I managed to mark and cut a bunch of civil war repro fabric for my 8-pointed star quilt......my next hand work project.  I saw the inspiration antique quilt on the Museum of the Confederacy's site.....www.mocquilts.org.....The Shelton 8 Pointed Star quilt.  I just love the striped fabric for the sashing, and I've always wanted to do this in small size......so these are going to work up to just under 3 inches square.

I made most of these while at Suzanne's; we spent Tuesday morning at her quilt guild meeting.....a very nice group of ladies.  I'm still deciding on what background to use......an off white/beige, or maybe a small shirting print......still don't know.  The 7 on the right are just half done.....still need the center joining seam, but my light wasn't great, so I didn't want to chance a crappy join.

And.......still on a quilty note......when I saw this car in the parking lot of our hotel in North Carolina......all I could say was......"That's a perfect cheddar color!"  Ha!

My pic reads more yellow......but in real life.....it was CHEDDAR!  ha!

Hope you have a great weekend.  I'll post more when I'm home!

regan

2012! Woohoo!

Here it is the middle of January, and this is my first post of the year!  Holy cow....how did that happen!?!

Well......I've been sick again!  And I was thinking this was very familiar, so I looked at my Jan 2011 posts, and yeah.....I was sick then, too!  What the hell!?!  I even called out of work last week......I NEVER do that!  And spent the whole day in bed, not even the couch!  Yep....sick!

I'm feeling better now......but that dragging feeling is still lingering!  Just suck it up, and move on, right!?!  :o)

So, I have been quilting, but not much......nothing to show, cuz I haven't taken any pics.....hopefully in a few days.  I've got the baby quilt top done, but am still figuring on the batting.  I talked with the gals at our quilt group, and I'm going to make a few small quilt sandwiches to see how the different battings behave when washed.  I need for this baby quilt to be fairly flat after washing, not crinkled and puckered like I usually like my quilts to look.  This baby quilt needs to have that 'polished, smooth, modern' look to it, so the puckers might be too much.  Of course, I haven't done this yet, so hopefully this week I can get to it!

What I DID get to today was .......just like this time last year.......I booked another cruise!  Woohoo!  Could it be because it was only 2 degrees out this morning when I woke up????  Hmmmmm!

Hubby and I are going on Royal Caribbean in March/April to the Western Caribbean, porting in Cozumel and Puerta Costa Maya, Mexico.  5 fun filled days out of Tampa, where we'll get to stay and visit with our cousins, April and Drew (yep, same April that the quilt is for!).  By then, the baby will be born, so we'll get to see the little peanut, too!  Yay!

I'm so excited I could just bust!  :o)

And I still need to book the excursions, but the plan is to take the Xrail dune buggy drive through the jungle, to the Jade Caverns, take a little swim, and drive back out!  A totally mud-splattered fun kind of day!  Yay!  If you're wondering what it really is.....here's a link to a blog from a gal that was just there!  Fun!

http://www.andherlittledogtoo.com/2010/12/our-xrail-tour-in-cozumel-mexico.html

Of course, one of the excursions was to do a zip line, and we were totally jazzed about doing it, but then we saw a video about the exact one we would be on.....and it's nothing like what we want!  We want to be that Geico Pig on the zip line!  Have you seen that little guy!  Too damned cute!  Wee wee weeeeeee!  HA!  Check out the link below........love the little pig feet dancing in the air, and the little snort......pinwheels!  HA!

GEICO Pig on a Zip line video! Too funny!

Ok.......I'm laughing too damned hard now to be able to type!

Hope you all have a great week!

Wee wee weeeeeeeee!

regan

Back from the Cruise

Holy cow!  What a cruise!  It was awesome in every way!  I've never cruised before, so it was all new and exciting.....every minute!  We stopped in 3 ports, and had our days at sea for sewing our brains out with Bonnie Hunter!  She is as genuine and wonderful as she is on her blog and website.  I got to walk/run with her and Lori (from Humble Quilts blog) every morning, and it was the best thing......cuz I just weighed myself, and I am EXACTLY what I was when I left!  Yahoooooey!  Thank you Bonnie and Lori for helping me keep that extra 10 pounds off my behind!  lol

It was all so much fun.....and of course.....I captured a few fun moments in pics!  Hope you enjoy them, and if you were EVER considering a cruise, be it with quilting or not.....DO IT!  I am definitely going again and again!

Here's the boat we sailed on.....it looked SO huge from the dock!  And it was even bigger once you got on!  We got lost almost every time we left the room!  lol

That's me on the dock of Nassau, Bahamas......it was blazing hot that day, but still managed to wander around and buy a few souvenirs.....the visor was a necessary purchase!

In our room each night after dinner, we had a sweet little guy waiting for us!  Our steward even used my sunglasses on the cute little pup!

Koala bear!

Elephants bringing chocolate......yea!

This was a project that someone (sorry don't know who) was playing with during the cruise.....but this was NOT the cruise project with Bonnie.  Can't show that because there is another cruise in November doing it.....and we don't want to spoil it for them!

Beautiful Janome Horizon machines were provided for us!  What a luxury!  And they were discounted for purchase if you wanted to pick one up!  A really great deal, I just wish I hadn't already bought my Juki months ago, or I would have jumped on this machine like a monkey on a cupcake!  (ok, that phase is not original to me, it was from Everyone Loves Raymond.....but I love it, and I get to use it!  lol)

This was controlled chaos......really!

Need a little more room for your fabric.....pile it up behind your chair!  lol

 The piles were everywhere!  lol

 Pressing stations were in constant use!  It was so nice to have irons.....we didn't expect to have them (the boat doesn't allow irons in the rooms, and they confiscated several being brought on!)

Everyone busy at there machines!

This was the boat that was within a couple of hours of us throughout the cruise!  I think it was called the Oasis of the Seas.....it was enormous!  Holy cow.....look at all those balconies!  Yikes!

This is the monster water slides on our boat!  Woohoo!  And I captured a few brave souls willing to take the plunge!

Here is Laurie, Sarah and Kathie......I think they're wondering were everyone is!

 Hi!!!!!!

The Bonnie and Lori joined them......woohoo!......NOW we're ready to go!

 Up up up!

Holy cow......that's a long way up!

Here's Bonnie......"What the heck just happened!?!"

Too much fun.....that's what!

Kathie taking the plunge!

Oh my god!  That was so much fun!!!!!!

Laurie having a blast!

Lori......totally surprised at the end!

Bonnie and Kathie taking on the race challenge!

Woohooooooooo!

Kathie......definitely saying "Uh, Bonnie.....that would be ME winning this race!"


We had a really nice sit and stitch session out on the deck one evening!  It was so nice out there, with a little breeze to cool us down.  Here's Sarah, Emily and Lu keenly listening to Bonnie.  The poor gal in the background reading was sitting amongst us, and I guess my comment of "Are we all really going to squish in here?" sent her running to the next sectional!  Sorry!  Didn't mean to chase her off!  lol

Here's Sherry, Ada and Suzy stitchin' away!

Bonnie working away on her hexie quilt.  She gave several lessons on doing the hexie's with the English Paper Piecing method......I think she has a few new hexie followers!  Bonnie also gave a couple of lessons on making the Maverick Stars......so much fun!  And there was a ton of scrappy goodness on the sharing table to  whip out a bunch!

This was one of the appetizers one night at dinner.....a melon soup.  The server makes a presentation of it by pouring it around the little island of melon.  Yet another beautiful dish......every one of them was a work of art!  We had the most delicious food every evening......a few of my favorites were the giant prawns and the salmon, and the desserts were amazing.....the creme brulee, raspberry and dark and white chocolate cake, tiramisu, hazelnut cake, and the list goes on and on!  Sheesh, it was amazing food!

Lovely!

And notice the window seat we had......this was our view at dinner every night!  Amazing!

This was one of two Afternoon Teas that were given.  It was lovely!

 This is the tram ride to the top of the mountain on St. Thomas.  You could see everything from up here.

 A wonderful view of our boat docked in St. Thomas.  A bit of weather in the distance, but not where we were.

 At the top of the tram were several observation decks, a little bar/restaurant, a couple of shopping kiosks, and some birds and animals.  Fun!

Peacocks walking freely.

A pic of Bonnie and Lori at the opposite viewing deck.

The goats were so cute!

One night we had a little frog in our room!

And one night there were little frog legs in a dish!  (And no, I did not order those!)

Here are people heading out to shop in St. Maarten!

 Run little shoppers, run!

And I got to fly my kite in St. Maarten and in Nassau!  I was so proud of myself being able to put it together without the assistance of my hubby!  He's the kite flyer, not me!  But it flew each time perfectly!  Yay!

 This is the pool deck......there were two pools, this is the one where families can go.....and the other one was just for adults......peace and quiet......beautiful!

 This is were I got an awful sunburn!  My usual tan is a golfer's tan.....so there are parts of me that have never seen the light of day!  Needless to say....they are a hideous shade of crimson/purple right now.....but they will turn to a tan soon!  Just need to keep the aloe close until then!  lol  And that's my new St. Thomas orange tote bag.....of course it's orange!  What other color would I pick!?!  lol

 A pic of the harbor at St. Maarten.

Jet skiers in St. Maarten.......which made me realize that I NEED to get my hubby to go on a cruise with me!  We would have had so much fun jet skiing in this beautiful bay!  Like a dream!

Well....that's my little taste of the Carribean.....hope you enjoyed it!  I know I did!  And get this.....we docked on Saturday.....this is Monday......and I'm still feeling the the rocking of the boat!  My retired sailor hubby says it lasts a few days usually!  And what's really funny, is that all those times he came off a ship from 6 to 8 months out at sea......he NEVER mentioned that he was still swirling and swaying days later!  I remember making comments to him many times like, "What....are you drunk?  Why are you bumping into things!?!"...... and he never said he was still feeling the ocean!  Crazy, huh?  As I sit here typing, I'm swaying!  lol

I still have laundry to do, and I have to work tonight!  Cripes!  Vacation is officially over!  Dang!

Hope you all had a great Labor Day Weekend!

regan