Still Catching Up

Maybe I'm just slow, but the after-vacation catch-up is taking a while. First, I forgot to post my TUSAL pic, and I'm now three days late (oops). I'm pretty sure I lost some orts during my travels, but oh well!

I've been working my way back into blogland by reading backwards until I get caught up at each blog I visit. It takes a while to read and click on the interesting stuff, so hours pass and not much progress is made. Ya'll have been busy! I love seeing what's been happening.

On my stitchy front, here's where I stand in Eden. The end is definitely close!

During my little changes here and there, I think I've left too many spaces between the lines of writing. I'm gonna stitch the half-stars on the bottom and make a decision about unstitching the second row. I'm even gonna shorten the motifs by one stitch to help things along. I really don't wanna unstitch and restitch at this point, but I'm not sure just ignoring it is gonna work for me. I just realized that I'm gritting my teeth while I type! Deep breathing may help. Unstitching is part of stitching, right?

This is my short little post for today. There are things to do and places to go this afternoon, so I'm off. Make some fun.

Home Again

It's always so much fun to be home again after a trip! Going places and seeing friends is wonderful, but I love getting into my own bed. The man I hang around with and Zack picked me up at the airport very late Thursday night. I had Nikki all lined up to take care of the airport chore, but someone else wanted to stay up late (gasp!). I know! It's been many years since a man wanted to pick me up at the airport. Obviously, this is a very nice man.

Anyway, this is my first lengthy time at the computer since I left on June 8. I had thoughts of posting from the road, but I was having too much fun to sit and type. That's a good thing. I have no stitchy pictures for you right now (I was also having too much fun to stitch much), so here are some pretty pictures from my travels. I flew into Burlington, Vermont, stayed a few days with friends down by Middlebury, and then drove to see another friend who lives in Bath, Maine. After a few days there, I drove back to Vermont. I had a couple of driving adventures due to a mixture of crappy Mapquest directions (my theory is that some of their employees think it's funny to send users on crazy trips through small towns) and operator error (me?). I had to use a lifeline on the way back to Vermont when I was in a downpour near Killington. I phoned my friend Diane (a challenge in the cell phone black hole that is Vermont) to ask if I was really and truly on the right track. Eventually, all intended destinations were reached without tears or law enforcement contact.

First, the lupines were amazing all through Maine. There were fields of them by the sides of roads, next to houses ... just everywhere. My mom loves flowers, so here's one of the pictures I took for her ...

We went to dinner one night in Harpswell, Maine, and here's a picture of the sunset we enjoyed on the way back to Bath. Do you see that rock in the bay? There's a seal on top of it, but it's a little tough to see.

And below is a picture of the lighthouse at Popham Beach in Maine. On one of the gorgeous days we had, we walked the beach. Too, too pretty.

And how about a view of the Adirondacks across Lake Champlain? You can't see the lake, but the mountains are on the other side of it. This was taken right down the road from where my friends live in Cornwall, Vermont. I love it there.

I worked very hard at doing my part to stimulate the economy, and a money diet is in effect for the rest of the summer. No buying unnecessary items ... right up until I see that fabric/fiber/project I can't resist. If I'm struck by the urge, there may be a few more pictures you may have to endure in future posts.

Since today was Father's Day, I was over at the folks' house to visit. I brought ready-to-freeze blueberry ice cream over, and Dad helped me with the ice cream freezer. Mmmmm, good! Mom has been through two chemo treatments and is feeling pretty good. We're all pleasantly surprised at this point. So your prayers and good thoughts and chants are working! Thank you again for your efforts.

I'm still hard at work catching up at home and in blogland, and I haven't yet had time to visit everyone. I missed all of you and your news, and it's wonderful to get back into the rhythm of the blogs. When taking much-needed breaks from closet-cleaning (ugh, please save me), stash-reorganization (very scary but so much fun) and general scouring, blogland will be my first choice for procrastination. Stitching will have to be put into the schedule, of course, and we'll see how that pans out. Until the next post ... make some fun.