Camping Adventures

 We went camping last week and had a great time.

I visited one of my favorite quilt shops while I was there.

It is called Bittersweet Quilt shop in Pinconing, MI

I saw this sign and thought it was SO appropriate.

Something we quilters should remember

"Beautiful things are never perfect".

SO TRUE!

Some of our friends were in Oscota which is pretty close to where we were.

We met them for lunch in Tawas and fond a new friend, LOL.

I could have stayed at his exact spot for a LOT longer.

On the way home our truck was shaking a bit so we stopped at a rest area to check the tires.

There was a bulge in the rear tire.

The lock to get the spare out was corroded and it probably took Chris about 45 minutes to get it open.

I got the boys out and put them in their pet tent.

It was SO hot in the truck,but very noisy at the rest area.

The boys were not happy.

They would have been more unhappy in the truck though.

Never a dull moment around here!

~XOP~

Some Life Happenings

 I found out that the National Breast Cancer Foundation sends out amazing free Hope Kits to women diagnosed with breast cancer.  

Look at all the goodies I received!  

You can go to their website and request a kit or donate so that they can send more kits to others too.

I even put pink on for the photo!

Next up were these butterfly blocks for our Birthday Club.

Nancy has a birthday in July and these were her request.

She wanted these butterflies in blues and purples.

We send a few little gifties along with the blocks too.

(I forgot to take any pics)

I wanted to get them done before we went camping.

We tried a new campground and I loved being at the pool!

We did manage to visit a couple of quilt shops.

One was this adorable Amish place.

Surry Road Quilt Shop

I have no idea why, but I needed this fish fabric!

It was so bright and cheery.

I could not resist bringing a few yards home with me.

This quilt shop was called Keepsake Quilting.

The owner was such a sweet lady!

I spent quite a bit of time here and bought a few things that I didn't take pics of (LOL bad habit I know)

Both shops are in the Mount Pleasant, MI area.

Both were worth checking out!

~XOP~

Lincoln Travels, Berlin, Ohio

We have been on the road again, hence the lack of posting.

First we spent 10 days in Berlin, Ohio.

Our friend Kailie was camping there and so were her folks, so we got to meet and hang out!

Chris and I went to the local garden center. 

 They have the cutest fairy garden things!

Kailie's mom and I hung out one day and went to several quilt shops.

It was so much fun to find yet another quilty friend!

We went to the fireworks one night with Jana and Rick (Kailie's folks).

It was one of the best fireworks displays I have ever seen!

This was out set up in the campground in Ohio.

Which Cole is the real one??

Kalie, Jana and I all made a Mondo bag together.

  Then we made a pouch but I didn't take a picture of mine yet.

I always love a trip to Amish country. 

 The landscape is so serene.

 Eventually though, it was time to hit the road and travel to NC.

The boys are such good travelers!

Just look at that adoration in Finny's eyes for his dad!

More to come of our travels in NC and some baby pics!  

Guess who turns one soon??

~XOP~

Fall Camping

 As you saw in my previous post, most of the weekend was spent worrying about Cole.  We did get out and I did do a little sewing.  This is our set up.  Notice the pet tent?  Cole loves this while Finn, not so much, LOL.

The fall colors were just beginning to peep out.

Laying on this quilt on the couch looking out the window was Cole's favorite past time.  

While Finn just wanted to sleep on the pillow.

We have this sticker on the outside window and it was such a great pic with the reflection of the trees.

My sweet hubby kept asking me if I wanted to sew.  I just wanted to sit and be anxious all weekend, but he knew better.  He kept asking if I wanted my sewing table set up and I kept saying no.  He was like, I'm just going to set up your table.  Then I'm just going to set up your sewing machine, haha.  So just to make him happy I got my stuff out and sewed a few new masks.  I used the new Creative Grid template and it was so easy to use!  I made us each a few new masks but honestly my heart was not in the sewing. 

I made myself a black cat mask with the spooky trees on the other side.

I made 2 more MSU masks for hubby. 
This size is the medium. 

 I think it looks giant because of the angle of the picture.

I guess that having a little "normal" was good, especially as you know, my Monday was not a fun one!

~XOP~

Catching Up

I realize that I have not posted in awhile.  

We went camping and my time was consumed with preparing to go and then the actual camping. 

 It was glorious!  

Makes me want to retire even sooner.  

We did manage to set a tentative date for my retirement, and I am so excited about that.  

June 1, 2020.  

OK on to our camping trip.  We camped at a campground in Standish, MI.  LOVED this place.

Of course we traveled with the cats.  

This was my favorite photo of Finny and my husband on the drive to the campground.

Cole preferred the console.

Here we are all set up.  You can see the pet tent in the foreground.  

That's what we put the cats in when we want them to be outside with us.

Thanks to my sweet BIL and SIL for the Spartan mat!  We really could have used 2 of these.  

There was not much grass and lots of sand.  I implemented a take your shoes off at the door policy.

You can see the truck in this photo too.

 A quick shot of the inside of the camper.  

You can see that white table where the dinette table should be, that's my sewing table.

We took the dinette table and used it for a cat coffee table.

We visited Northwoods SEVERAL times and found this woodsy friend.

I did manage to squeeze in a quilt shop.  It was called Bittersweet and was located in Pinconning MI.

You can see the beautiful stained glass windows as this is in an old church!

Really nice shop and really nice staff!

I found some Coral Queen of the Sea.

I also picked up some of this sparkly MSU fabric and that most adorable black cat fabrics!

I brought a quilt along that I needed to bind.  I can't really show it just yet because it is a gift.  

Cole is always near when I am binding. 

Finn seemed to like hanging out on the steps.

I throughly enjoyed both the indoor and outdoor pools.  

So did Chris (see him to the left of my feet?)

During the week they have a water aerobics class every day. 

 The second week they started a walking DVD, although the first day it was Zumba gold 

(which I ended up doing alone as the other ladies could not keep up with the tape).  

After years of doing regular Zumba this seemed pretty tame to me, but I still enjoyed it! 

 I could really get into that!

We made friends with the couple camping next to us.  

It was interesting, they also own an NFC, like Finn.  She works for MSU and is a quilter!!!  

I think we will stay in touch with Kay and Guy for future camping trips 

as they are in the same camping network as we are. 

This was on a heyride one afternoon.

We went out for dinner with them one night then stopped for ice cream.  

Another night Chris and I checked out this adorable cheese chop.  

There was another large mouse in the parking lot, but this one was on the roof.

Sadly our trip did come to a close as we headed home on Tuesday afternoon.  

We had so much fun!

I think we have one more trip planned before we winterize the camper.

Enjoy your weekend!

~XOP~