So Relaxed I'm Purring

A good, new friend invited me up to her family's cabin near Caseville/PortAustin for the weekend. The scenery was stunning (just the start of Michigan's color change). The food was fabulous (produce from the Farmer's Market and burgers from Walt's whose motto is "Nobody beats Walt's meat!"). And really relaxing and enjoyable company. I really loved spending time with the Lemmens & Somershoes! They are good people.

Missy and Diego, as well as Marilyn and Mike, drove me all over the tip of "the Thumb".

We visited lovely beaches. The water was so blue but low. Missy said water levels are 2 feet below normal and sand bars are more visible.

This park was really cool because the beach was so pristine that you could see small bird tracks and snake tracks in the sand.

We stopped at a wonderful Farmer's market in Port Austin.

And saw a really cool bank (converted into a restaurant) near the entrance.

Mibbs & Merlirin also gave me a tour of several historic cemeteries in the areas. Diego is standing next to a really cool headstone at Port Crescent Cemetery. The man buried here helped make the bricks used to build this chimney - aftera fire destroyed the chimney, his family used the stones to build his headstone.

This cool stone, which looks like a Chinese coin, is in the Caseville Township Cemetery.

Of course, the highlight of a trip for a group of geocachers is exploring the local geocaches. And my tour guides rocked! Headless Horsemen Bridge, the "Froggy" cache, their personal caches and a great bridge from the Michigan Lost Town series. This is the Village of Port Crescent bridge.

This Geocache series features Michigan towns that no longer exist. Reading the history is very cool - many in the Thumb were destroyed by the Great Fire of 1871. Here's a really cool gas station that Missy stopped at on the way home - the cache was missing, but the location was really neat.

I must admit that I'm saddened the weekend went so quickly. I had a blast talking with my new friends, playing card games, discussing our favorite episodes of The Big Bang Theory, eating ice cream at the local putt-putt.

But, maybe if I'm on my best behavior, they'll invite me back next year!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend too!

Elisa

Whole Lotta Stitching Going On

Chooky (from my Some Kind of Wonderful stitch-along) has cracked the whip for our upcoming deadline. Although I will not make it (it's been a complicated summer), I am in full stitch mode. If I really push things I may get the top done by deadline, but I've decided I want this one "done right" and not "done quick". I just hope I don't get booted in the next round.

Now that I'm able to focus on my SAL, I've been working on all my blocks simultaneously - LOL. All my blocks are in different stages of undress.... er.. completion! Many are complete (I've shared those already). Some are appliquéd and half stitched. Some are appliquéd and marked for stitching. Some are cut out. Some just have their selected fabrics next to the pattern

Can't wait to share!

Happy stitching,

Elisa

 

Another Memory Quilt

It's been a tough week here - a very dear man, one of the sweetest souls I've ever met, has passed. The family has spent several days traveling for hours for the viewing and the funeral. This man, a "people person" like my late Mother, always had a twinkle in his eye (not kidding) and always genuinely wanted to know how you were. He would sit riveted until you answered, and he would listen. He laughed; he hugged; and he loved his family.

I think that's why working on the latest memory quilt has been so tough on me. A coworker has brought me several bags of clothes. His mother-in-law passed several years ago, and he wants a quilt to give his wife for Christmas.

The toughest part of these projects is normally deciding which pattern features the fabric to the best effect. Not this time....

I pulled out a sweater and there's a safety pin attached with red, white and blue beads.

She made many of her own clothes. I can see her stitching and tucks to make the skirts fit. I also see fabrics I used in my own quilts from when I first started out,

There's the sweatshirt with the fabric painted handprints of her grandchildren.

There's a nightgown with straight pins still pinned to the bodice. Have you done that? While stitching late at night you pull out a straight pin from the project at hand and pin it to your nightclothes so you don't lose it later? I do that all the time.

She loved Disney characters. I've found shirts with embroidered Mickeys, Eyore, Pooh, and more.

The one thing that gives me peace is knowing that my coworker's wife will have a tangible reminder of her late mother. Mine passed decades ago and I mostly have pictures... And my sister, who takes after her.

Hug your loved ones today.

Elisa

I <HEART> Family

Today was a day of joy and sadness in the family. It seems fitting that I finished this block today.

For the privacy of others, I cannot say more. But... Take a moment to hug your loved ones.

Elisa

 

Needle Has Been Busy

See? I told you I've been working on my blocks! I've been working on the appliqué all week - the embroidery shouldn't take long. Pretty cool, eh?

Though, I have to admit, I'd probably get more done if I wasn't distracted by this!

The family went caching at Willow Metropark - working on our MGA12 puzzle.

Will share block close ups when the stitching is done!

Happy stitching!

Elisa

 

What Happened to Labor Day?!?

Remember as a kid when Labor Day was a big deal with a 3-month weekend, barbecues, and ice cream? When did it turn into catching up on chores for the upcoming work week? Luckily, I've been invited to a dinner party Tonight, so that will brighten things up!

Finished another block for my journal quilt (and another signed strip too!). It's a lot less wonky in person.

I did find time for some fun. Here are some favorite pictures from the Carpenter Lake Nature Preserve in Southfield from yesterday. I love the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone!

I couldn't get a good picture of Carpenter Lake - the deck was in shadow yet the lake reflecting so much light.

Happy Labor Day everyone!

Elisa

 

"Busy Day" in Dayton

I can't believe that summer us coming to a close! Time for at least one more adventure! So, early yesterday morning, off I went to Dayton with Lorna (WikidKriket) and Corey (SnakeyLicks).

Where to? The Boonshoft Museum in Dayton, OH for the GPS Adventure Maze. According to the site:

Get lost in the GPS Adventures Maze and learn how to find your way using GPS!

You'll learn about traditional and modern navigation, explore ways GPS is used, find out where the technology is heading in the future, and discover geocaching, a family-friendly treasure hunting game in the great outdoors.

As a geocacher, it's a way to learn more about the sport we love, counts as a "find" (since you have to locate the prize - the exhibit) and an excuse to get together & meet other cachers from all over the country.

For a day adventure, it wasn't the smoothest of beginnings. The coordinates took us to an unfabulous back door of the museum, and, after make our way to the front, one of our party walked into a pole, drawing blood.

SnakeyLicks & WikidKriket

But we made it! Heading up to exhibit hall, we were each given a game card and spent the next hour solving puzzles, finding caches, and learning the history of geocaching.

We had great fun and quickly secured the codes to move room to room.

In the end, you had to take the clues you gathered on your game piece to determine "where in the world you are". My game piece had me in Puntas Arenas, Chile. Here's Corey enjoying the rest of the museum.

If you are new to my blog (it's a quilting and caching blog) and have never heard about this fabulous game/sport/hobby, visit my post here.

So, what did I mean by a "busy day"? This was called an "Event/Maze" cache. On the way in, we met some new caching friends over a "Traditional" cache - we used our gps to find a treasure box (called a "cache") in the woods. After the exhibit, we enjoyed a "Letterbox" cache - based in another popular hobby called "letterboxing", we followed instructions and not coordinates to find the treasure box.

There are about a dozen different types of caches - the variety keeps the game interesting - some being much more difficult to complete than others. And so far we managed to "find" some of the hardest already! As the day was young, my group decided our mission in Dayton was to complete a "busy day" - successfully log six or more different cache types in a day.

Here we are at a "Virtual" - one of the rarest types, you must locate a specific historical marker or object and answer questions to get credit for the find. This is a sculpture of the Wright Brothers' bi-plane in downtown Dayton.

Lucky for us, there was an "Earth" cache right across the street. Earth caches teach the cacher a lesson on geological formations or occurrences. To gain credit for the "find", one must answer questions based on the location and normally upload a group picture to prove you were there. Here I'm goofing around with my sister in front of the Hydraulic Jump.

Afterwards, we tried to complete a "Multi" cache but failed. A Multi cache will require you to go to one or more locations to gather coordinates to find the final stage, the cache. We gathered our clues - on a haunted bridge - but the final alluded us.

In a panic as darkness and rain were setting in, we scrambled to find one more cache type to complete our "busy day". Luckily, a nearby "Puzzle" cache advertised itself as super easy so we made the 3-mile trek over the river. A Puzzle cache is exactly that... Solve a puzzle and the final is revealed. Sometimes you have to gather clues from nearby signs or solve a crossword puzzle or decode a cypher. Luckily for us victory was ours around 7pm with the final cache in hand!

Here is my geocachding.com screenshot - the smileys show I found six different icons in a day.

For those that know me well, I'm sure you've noticed the number in the upper right corner. This week I made my 1000th find!

Thank you for letting me share my Busy Day with you!

Happy caching!

Elisa

P.s. Please note that all definitions above are my own interpretations. I love this sport. If you'd like to learn about the other types of caches or more about geocaching, please visit Geocaching.com. I am not a paid endorser - I'm just a geo-nut!

P.p.s. Yes, and I'm still a quilter. More finishes to share this week!