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~

Fall Camping

We went off camping last week

 (likely our last outing for the year).  

I packed up the boys and Chris got the camper.  

This is how Finny rode the entire way 

( almost 3 hours).

While Cole just relaxed in the passenger seat on "his" pillow.  

It is a half yard of fleece filled up with my teeny tiny scraps and 

batting cut offs that I can't use for anything.  

I thought you all might enjoy a few photos of our camper.

 I stepped out one day and saw my Sparty mat covered with fall leaves.  

Pretty photo!

In the previous photo you can see the pet tent set up sans the pets.

Here they are enjoying their tent while we enjoyed a campfire.

Chris seemed to like the great outdoors as much as the boys!

One afternoon we stopped at Tony's for Tacos.  SO GOOD

There is a fruit market close by that had amazing produce!

Cabbages and Cauliflowers bigger than my head!

The gourds and squash were all outside and looked so pretty.

No trip is complete without stopping at the Bittersweet Quilt Shop.

My haul.  

I ended up back there two more times for a friend that wanted more of the star print on the bottom.

If you need some too,  here is the selvage information.  Bittersweet no longer has any though.

The boys enjoy hanging out on the couch watching the birds and the leaves fall.

We also stopped at Northwoods (because of course we did) and I met up with Big Foot.

Finny likes to lay on the bed and ask for pets every time you walk toward the bathroom!

Chris set up my sewing table.

I managed to get all the blocks sewn for 2 Double Slice quilts!

And Finn thought it was a fine place to hang out.

 Cole just laid down next to me 

Until it was dinner time and the I got the stare down.

I think this pretty much sums up our extended weekend. 

It is going to be great when we can do this more often!

Is it retirement time yet?

10 more months! 

(but who's counting?)

~XOP~

Shop Hop

I don't think I shared this with you all.  

On Thursday, my daughter called me at work and needed a favor.  

She has a barn cam in her barn and noticed that some of the bigger birds had knocked over the heat lamp and she was worried the straw could catch fire and burn her barn down.  

Would I please drive over to her house and turn off the lamp?  

This was around 11:30 in the morning and I was halfway into a CrAzY busy day at work. 

 Her work would not allow her to take the hour it would take to do this.  

Sheesh!  

So I took her car (I don't drive to work, I take the bus) and drove the 30 minutes over to her house.  

I turned off the lamp and this burning spot was in the barn! 

 I poured some water over it so the embers would not catch fire.  

Crisis averted.  

Drove the 30 minutes back and continued my work day.

My SIL and I went on a shop hop on Friday.  

We had so much fun!  I don't think I took any pictures of my loot but 

I did manage this selfie of the two of us!

This was the final shop we stopped at near Battle Creek.  

It was called Sew Unique Threads.  

My SIL and I are taking a Fiber Works class together and need some florals 

(I don't have much in my stash).  

I was really hoping that one of the many shops we stopped at would have some Kaffe florals.  

This last shop had TONS of Kaffe!!  

It was a very nice shop and the woman working there was so nice to us.  

There was a fair amount of Tula fabric too.  

The rest of the weekend was spent cleaning on Saturday and

 being entertained by these two goofballs.  

I needed a break and to be able to clean for a bit without "help", 

so I put the boys outside in their tent.  

Hallie wandered over to say hello while I was outside.

The garden was FULL of peppers and some tomatoes.

Perfect for making and canning 10 pints of salsa!  I did this on Sunday.

How was your weekend?

What did you do?

~XOP~