Off to retreat!

Tomorrow after lunch I head off to my first Cross Stitch Cupboard stitching retreat in Gananoque, Ont. Cross Stitch Cupboard is my LNS in Ottawa. I've always known about the retreats but they have been so popular and I was under the impression that it was nearly impossible to get into the Fall retreat. It became so popular that they started up a Spring Retreat for those who could not get into the fall one. It was Dani who mentioned it to me in the spring at a SAL at my house. She had just booked and as far as she knew they were still taking bookings. It's cheaper if you share a room so she suggested we book one together. Sure enough there was room and I was in! The location is really lovely. The Gananoque Inn sits on the St. Lawrence River and offers a gorgeous view. If you check out Dani's blog entry for Oct. 8 you'll see a picture of the Inn. This year Jeannette Douglas is teaching a class which I've signed up for on the Saturday. Sunday I've signed up for a beginner's Hardanger class. I'm told by those who've been to these in the past that I'm in for a real treat! After the stitching weekend is over my DH is driving up to join me. We're staying an extra night at the Inn and we have Monday off to do as we please. We might follow Dani's lead and tour Boldt Castle or we may take a short drive over the border to Watertown, NY for some early Christmas shopping. I can hardly wait!

This past week I was included in the You Make Me Smile Award by Beatrice. Thank you so much Beatrice, you really made my day. I haven't been blogging long but it didn't take me long to learn what a lovely group of people stitchers are! They are all so friendly and generous with their talents. As a rule of the award I have to pass this on to 10 people who make me smile. I know that several of you have already been tagged but since I'm fairly new to this, I'm still adding to my list of blogs that I visit. However I do know that all of you have made me smile at some time or another! I enjoy reading your posts and learning stitching tips from you.

The list includes:

Rebecca of Rebel in Ontario

Dani of Black Belt Stitching Wizard

Vonna of The Twisted Stitcher

Cheryl of Clydeside Stitching

Karen of Little Cat Blogs

Lynne of Queen of My Domaine

Cyndi of Just One More Stitch

Pam of Another Day Gone By

Joanne of Aussie Stitcher

Mindi of What's Up With Wyora?

Please don't be offended if I've not added you to the list. I know that so many of you have been tagged more than once and I was hoping to introduce some new blogs to the list.

I've been feeling better this week and made some progress on Faith. Just the border and a bit more of the butterfly and it's a happy dance. Don't know if I'll get it finished on the weekend with all the other stitching I'll be working on at the retreat but I'm certainly going to try. I've got another project all kitted up and ready to go. I'm going to be doing The Trilogy's Baby Spots for a coworker's daughter who is expecting in late November. Now it's off to pack and get organized for the weekend. I hope to have lots to fill you in on next week! I'll leave you with a picture of my sweetheart Finnigan. He's pretty well an indoor cat but he was quite adamant about going out on the back deck this evening to check things out. After running around out there for a while he came in and promptly went to nap. This is where I found him as I headed down to the computer. What a life!!