Holy mosquitoes, Batman

Another week at “Fun at Camp” has come and gone.  This year was a little different because Greg, Vanessa and Ella came and spent the entire week.  That meant a whole week enjoying my granddaughter.  She is getting so big and is walking, although tentatively.  She gets around so much faster crawling that I think she prefers speed over technique.

Bill, Wendy and I arrived late Friday afternoon about 30 minutes before a horrendous thunderstorm struck the area.  It was very scary.  Lightening was striking everywhere around us.  Wendy was a little panicky because we didn’t have cell service and she was afraid something would happen and we would have no way of telling anyone we needed help.  Thankfully, that wasn’t necessary.  Neither of us liked it very much but Bill didn’t seem too shaken by the whole thing.

For the most part, the weather was good all week.  We were able to spend some time on the beach every day, even though it clouded up in the afternoon early in the week.  We took advantage of a cloudy day on Sunday and went to play miniature golf.  Well, it was cloudy when we left but was pouring by the time we called it quits somewhere around the 8th hole.  Everyone was drenched but that didn’t stop us from getting ice cream on the way home.

We spent time doing what we always do at camp…reading, floating, eating, relaxing, listening to the Red Sox (that can be a real downer sometimes, though).

Speaking of mosquitoes.  We were warned that they were very numerous this summer.  That was a understatement!  They were awful.  Usually, when we sit around the campfire at night, there are a few mosquitoes.  However, this year they were swarming all day.  Even though it didn’t rain every afternoon when it got cloudy, we couldn’t go outside and just sit because we would be eaten alive.  The little kids are very tasty to the darn things…they were full of little red bites.  Ella got most of them on her face and Trevor got them around his ankles.  Even though we slathered them with all kinds of kid safe bug killer, they still got lots of bites.  Finally, by the end of the week and cooler temperatures, they subsided, which allowed us to sit by the lake and read.  The only good thing about them was the fact that they were small and slow.  If you spotted them landing on you they were easy to smack.

It was an entire week without internet, which felt a little strange.  Funny how quickly the computer, e-mail, Facebook, Google etc. have become a staple of our existence.

Needless to say, I haven’t gotten any sewing done lately.  After completing the hanging sleeve for the “Oriental Flower” I actually got a few inches sewn down.  I planned to work on it a little last night but by the time we spent about 10 hours, packing, cleaning, unpacking and putting away, I couldn’t keep my eyes open much past 9.  I had to return to work today so going to bed early was not a problem.

Bill and I traveled to North Conway one afternoon to pick up some staples at the grocery store.  We stopped at a great little quilt shop there.  Of course, we couldn’t leave without buying something.  Bill purchased a charm pack of Halloween fabrics so that I can make something to decorate Wendy’s apartment.

I found some butterfly fabric which I have started to collect for a quilt for Vanessa.  It was on sale for $3.99/yd so I bought the end of the bolt, 2 3/4 yards, which I can use for the backing.  I also bought some bee fabric on sale to use for the backing of Wendy’s bee quilt, which I haven’t started but have all the fabric I need.

Now to make a decision on the pattern.  I want to make a scalloped edge which I have never done before and am thinking about some applique but that may mean that I don’t finish it for another several years.  That’s just too long.

I have 9 more shifts and 16 more days to work before retirement.  I’m getting excited.  I have an interview with Loews on Monday for a part-time position.  They are opening a new store in town so it would be perfect.  I’m crossing my fingers!

Thanks for stopping by…

;o)

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“Fun at Camp”

Ahhhh, vacation. We spent the week at a rental camp on Pekwaquet Pond in Brownfield, Maine. It’s nothing special, just a small 2 bedroom camp that we have been renting for the past 25 years. The kids pitch tents in the yard and Bill and I sleep inside. The pond is quite small which was always perfect when the kids were small because we could see them wherever they paddled.

We gave the week a B rating. The weather wasn’t perfect but it wasn’t terrible and we had the Olympics to watch at night or when the weather wasn’t the best. There were a couple of partly sunny days and three beautiful days. The other two were cloudy with some rain. We took a trip into North Conway on the yucky day and did a little outlet shopping.

Greg, Vanessa and Ella came to visit on Saturday. Greg managed to fit most of the things he remembers from camp into a short four hour stay…canoeing, badminton, fishing and swimming. Ella had her first “dip” in the pond. She got her feet wet but she didn’t care for it very much. I had to admit, when I put my feet in the water, it was cold!

Scott and Trevor cam for the weekend. The slept overnight in the tent and they both appeared to enjoy themselves. Trevor and Papa Bill did a little fishing…

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Home again, home again, jiggity jig

I had planned to blog a little each day of my vacation with bits and pieces of the day’s events. Obviously, that didn’t happen; the internet service at the timeshare was iffy at best. So I’ll just go to Plan B…a short synopsis of our wonderful vacation, day by day.

Fri. 4/25…partly sunny– We shopped at our favorites today…Zooks, The Old Country Store, Cedar Lane. I bought 4 yds of 30’s fabrics for the forum exchange. I also purchased some other fabrics that I’m going to use on small gifts for the kids (so, I’ll keep the themes a secret). I was very good, limiting myself to only the fabrics I had on my list. Bill, on the other hand, bought several yds of asian fabrics. I bought some needles, rotary blades and thread at Cedar Lane.

We went to the Peoples Place Museum in the Old Country Store to see “A Showcase of Quilts: Dazzling Contemporary Creations” which included several quilts done by Fons and Porter along with other artists. We visited Su’s friend, Emma Stoltzfus. She is a wonderful Amish woman with a small shop of her own. I already own several of her works, including two bed quilts and 2 or 3 wallhangings. She brought out two cinnamon sticks for us. Bill decided on two wallhangings that he wanted but had to run to the ATM machine to get cash as she doesn’t take credit. I stayed and visited with her while he was away. I helped her load homemade bakery items onto a carriage that they take to the campground in the evenings in order to sell the baked goods. I purchased six oatmeal raisin cookies and a fresh blackberry pie. Yum, Yum! They were all delicious. No, we didn’t eat them all that day but managed to spread our treats out for most of the week.

We had dinner at Cracker Barrel where Bill discovered that he had misplaced his debit card. Horrors!!! The last time he used the card was at the ATM machine but the bank was closed by this time, after 6 PM. It was a stressful night not knowing if he would find it at the bank the next morning.

It was a nice day wandering around the Intercourse area with no pressure what-so-ever.

Sat. 4/26…sunny–Yeah! Bill’s card was swallowed by the ATM machine and the bank was very helpful in returning it to him. All is well.

It was a good trip to Williamsburg. The daffodils in the median had already gone by. There is a tree that grows along the highway with purple flowers. I thought it was wisteria but the flowers grow upward rather than hanging down.

It was 87* when we arrived at our time share, Historic Powhatan Plantation Resort. We changed into shorts and went for a walk, stopping in the gazebo to enjoy a cup of coffee and the late afternoon sun.

Sun. 4/27…cloudy, threatening rain–We went to the gym and got some cardio exercise. Mary Ann, Jack and his girlfriend, Stephanie came to visit. Jack & Stephanie went to have lunch with a friend and we walked to the Grill with Mary Ann for lunch, which was quite tasty. They left around 4:30, we took a drive to the grocery store. The fields were full of cows sharing their space with geese, lots and lots of geese. There were several families of geese on the plantation site. The goslings are such cute little fuzzy things, waddling along with mom and dad, looking for bugs or whatever it is that geese eat. The azaleas were in bloom.

Mon 4/28…cloudy, heavy rain in the afternoon–To the gym again, that’s what we do when the weather does not cooperate with us. We headed into Colonial Williamsburg (C W) to see as much as possible before the heavy rain started to fall. We were able to visit the Governor’s Palace, Randolph House and the Capitol Bldg. We found a nice little bakery off Main Street and enjoyed a bisquit w/ham and a slice of cheddar cheese, cold cider and tea. Our dessert was their famous gingerbread cookies. You can’t eat just one. We toured the museum. We enjoyed a beer (me) and a coke (Bill) while we waited for a pizza that we took home for dinner. Sat peacefully that evening and watched Dancing with the Stars…we are totally hooked.

There was an F3 tornado about 40 miles south of us! That is unprecedented in VA, they NEVER have tornadoes, at least not until we came to visit. No one was killed although there was extreme damage. It also landed briefly to the north of us. Apparently it was dancing all around us while we obliviously wandered around C W.

Tues 4/29…rain in the morning, partly cloudy by afternoon–Visited the C W jail, toured the courthouse and Wetherburn’s Tavern, found a bench located in a sunny garden later in the day and sat for awhile. We purchased tickets for a “ghost” walk and the “Cry Witch” reenactment. Dinner at the Powhatan Grill was followed by a quiet night watching Dancing w/the Stars results.

Wed 4/30…sunny, breezy, cooler than normal–Jamestown Settlement was today’s destination; not just ours but tons of kids also. That was okay but we really enjoyed Historic Jamestown where we walked for quite awhile , saw the Archararium and walked through New Town, a kind of subdivision of Jamestown. On our walk we stood quietly and watched three deer wandering through one of the fields while a squirrel in a nearby tree munched away on a nut; munch, munch, munch, stop, look around, munch, munch, munch. Isn’t nature great? We had lunch at a small cafe next to the James River. It was an extremely pleasant day.

Thurs 5/l…sunny and warm, 75*–Visited Historic Yorktown, walked to the village and had lunch at the Carrot Tree in the historic Diggs House.

We each enjoyed a crab wrap and orzo pasta salad…excellent. Both of us highly recommend this little place if you visit Yorktown. We walked down to the river and back to the welcome center, drove around the auto tour although we had some trouble with the map (could have been operator error on my part).

After a short trip back to the condo and some wi-fi service at the Grill we enjoyed our “Legends, Myths and Ghosts Walk” in C W which included three great storytellers and allowed us to be home by 10:00.

Fri 5/2…sunny and warm–Yorktown Victory Memorial, run by the state, was today’s destination; it was very well done. We ate again at the Carrot Tree and took along a piece of carrot cake for our dessert later. The pool at the timeshare was not open for swimming but we sat in the sun for a couple of hours. We had tickets for the “Cry Witch” reenactment at 9:00 in the C W Capitol Building; very well done, a little mini-play.

Sat & Sun; 5/3 & 5/4–traveled home. No incidents on the road, stopped outside of Scranton for the night on Saturday and arrived home around 3:30 on Sunday. I was very happy to sleep in my own bed after several days.

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Why do they call it an expressway?

Amazingly we got on the road only eight minutes after our planned departure time, which was 9:00. We stopped at the Little Yellow Store and bought some ice for the cooler. We also had a chance to say hi to Jake, an absolutely beautiful black lab pup.

It was a beautiful, sunny day and we made good time, until we entered the Cross Bronx Expressway. We came to a screeching halt and sat in traffic for over an hour, barely moving. The was an accident just before the George Washington Bridge. We only traveled one mile in 30 minutes and it took us four hours to travel 159 miles! YUCK!!!

If that wasn’t bad enough we hit more heavy, slow traffic 40 miles outside of Lancaster. The seven hour trip took us nine and it was 7:00 PM by the time we pulled into the Howard Johnson in Lancaster.

Fuel on the New Jersey Turnpike was only $3.17/gal. but the lines were very long and we didn’t want to spend any more time sitting and waiting. The price was $3.49 in Lancaster when we arrived but by the time we walked to Friendly’s for dinner, half an hour later, it was up to $3.53!

It was beautiful to see the plowed and planted rolling farmland looking just like a beautiful patchwork quilt and the sprawling farms where the fields were rows of light and dark browns and greens. It was a long, aggravating day but we traveled safely and arrived without incident. That’s a happy ending.

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Get ready, Get set, GO…to Williamsburg

We have been planning this trip since late last fall. Once we realized that we had a time share to use prior to year’s end and wouldn’t be able to do so, we paid a little extra and booked this trip. I’m working tonight and get off at 7 AM; we plan to leave as early as possible in the morning, hopefully by 9. I’ll report on how well that works out; we don’t move as efficiently as we always think we will.

This was a busy day. I dutifully did my 30 minutes at the gym this morning right after work. I went to “coffee club” in Springvale and visited for a little while. Ran home, showered and changed, then out again for some quick errands. I spent the rest of the day packing everything I will need for 6 weeks in Williamsburg. Oh yeah, we are only going for a week. I just can’t seem to pack “small”. I always try to pack only the necessities but always have more than I need. Most of the problem is climate…I need shorts, sleeveless tops and sandals, then I need long pants, t-shirts or blouses, shoes and socks. I need a light jacket, windbreaker and raincoat for the days that we are caught in drenching rain (don’t plan on that happening this trip). On top of all that I need the hair products, styling tools, makeup, etc.

I packed in my small carry-on suitcase. I am extremely impressed that it didn’t explode and spew clothes over the entire bedroom once I got the darn thing zipped. I also packed my large duffle bag with the items I need for the two nights we are stopping in Lancaster, PA. Lancaster is a little out of the way but we love the area and especially the fabrics and Amish crafts. We find that fabric is consistently priced 1/3 to 1/2 less than in our area. A couple of our favorite shops are Zooks and The Old Country Store.

I’m looking for 30’s fabrics in order to participate in the exchange on MQResource. Bee fabric and some Funky Monkey fabric is on my list as I want to make quilts for each of the kids. I’ll be looking for some notions as well. I’m sincerely planning on using some willpower when it comes to fabric. I don’t really need anything as I have more than I can store already. I have been to the Lancaster area several times on bus trips but have never seen Williamsburg.

We have purchased an annual pass for Williamsburg as it includes some evening programs that we would have had to pay extra for with the purchase of a three day pass. We don’t have any specific plans. We are a “fly by the seat of our pants” kind of couple doing whatever seems right at the time.

I talked with Vanessa earlier and things remain status quo. Her Dr. appt. yesterday went well with no changes: continued bed rest. They have a fairly good support system including friends from church. They are bringing some meals, visiting and playing games. That makes the time go faster for Vanessa and takes some of the weight off Greg’s shoulders although he still has plenty to do. They both seem to be in good spirits and tomorrow is week 32. Yeah!

I’m looking forward to working on the “Oriental Flower” when I return. There are several ideas for the background running through my head and Tracye on MQResource has given me some instruction on a diamond background that she used on her “Hell Bent for Leather” quilt.

I bought a sketch book today so I can practice quilting patterns and some doodling. I have been using scrap pieces of paper and trying to keep track of them. I drew a feather that is actually pretty good but I haven’t been able to duplicate it. At least I have proof that it’s in there somewhere.

PS. It was 84* today.

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