Summer's Over

Warning:  Very Picture Intensive!!
It happens as it does every year. Labour Day weekend arrives along with the unofficial start to fall. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE fall! I just hate saying goodbye to summer with all its warmth and family time which it affords. This one was warm for sure, downright hot but I kept thinking of winter which will knock on our doors all too soon. 
Our summer was a busy one. In addition to paying many visits, we also had lots of visitors to our home whether it was for an overnight or to share a meal. I love spending time with my family and friends and this is a picture show of how our summer was spent.

We started off July with a visit from special friends David & Lonnie who were in Ottawa for a music recital of which David was a part of. This picture was taken along Ottawa's Rideau Canal.

Then it was off to Windsor for a visit with family and friends. We stayed with my Mom and step-dad. We took the opportunity to celebrate my mom's 86th birthday a month early since we couldn't return in August. Isn't Coco the sweetest little dog?

 
 While we were home we had the chance to get together for a coffee with our grade 5 teacher, Ken Stanton. We were the first class Ken taught following his graduation and he has fond memories of us. Ken and Bob attended the same church and Bob sang at Ken's wedding many years ago!

 

We also visited with my sisters and Bob's brother but neglected to take any pics.

Following our Windsor trip I was off to Syracuse to get together with some very special stitching friends. Since we are scattered between the US and Canada, we chose Syracuse as a central place where we could all meet. 

 

I love these ladies and only see them a couple of times a year so our get togethers are very special indeed!

 Following this return I had a bit of a breather and then it was off to our favourite vacation spot, Muskoka! This is our cottage rental on Bala Park Island.

 

This year we invited a couple to join us whom we had not seen since our wedding 15 yrs ago. Vicki and Tim are close friends but live too far from us and off the beaten path on our treks home. Vicki lived down the street from me growing up and we became fast friends in high school. It was so good catching up with the two of them.

 

Below are some pics from our fabulous week together.

 The Peerless II, docked in Port Carling

 Look at how high that thing goes!

 The Bala Ski Show

 Cruising aboard the steamship Segwun on Lake Muskoka

We spotted a classic mahogany launch on the waters

I love the mermaid keeping watch over this boathouse!

Relaxing following a swim

Some cool carvings at a store in Port Carling

Sunset over Bala Bay

Once Vicki & Tim returned home we still had a week in which to visit with a few more friends in the Parry Sound area of Muskoka.

A theme of the visits seemed to be crafts and wine dockside while the fellas took a boat jaunt around the nearby lake.

 A view of Otter Lake

John taxis Bob around Blackstone Lake

Mom and her babe

Heather and I craft and gab

All good things must come to an end though and it was soon time to return home. A beautiful sunset followed by the full moon presented itself to us on our final night at the lake.

 

 

I thought that was my last visit of the summer but I was wrong. My son Jeff and granddaughters Oceanne & Summer invited me for a quick visit before school started back. Grandma jumped at the chance and took the girls shopping for school items.

 

First came the shopping......

 

 

 After which there was a visit to the park.....

 

 

 

An ice cream following supper......

What appears to be a party hat is actually the hat on a clown waste basket!

Followed by a visit to the life size chess board on the return home.

 

 

All in all it was a great visit and I can't wait to head back there again!

 

 

So there you have it..... my summer in a nutshell or a blog post as it were! I hope I haven't bored you to tears. There are several friends and family members who don't do Facebook or Twitter and this is their way to catch up with us. 

Now bring on Autumn!!! 

July WIPocalypse

Ahh July! We're right in the middle of all that summer heat and I'm loving it. From what I can see there is a lot more waiting for us. I must admit though that I'm very thankful for a/c on some of the more humid days. 

Before all that humidity hit I managed to stitch up an early birthday gift for my friend Nan. I'm so pleased with how it turned out. This one is designed by Needlework Press and is called May The Hinges of Friendship Never Rust. I stitched it with one strand of Gloriana silk floss in Winter Woods.

Here is the backing fabric and another front view of the piece which shows the lettering a bit better.

As you can see, Nan loved it and I'm so happy.

I also made a belated birthday gift for my friend Theresa. This is a Blackbird Design called Her Majesty from their Honeybee Hill leaflet. What I didn't know was that Theresa loves bees and collects them!

I do love watching their faces when they open their gifts. It was just like Christmas with the kids!

We exchanged all these gifts, both early and late, at a weekend getaway. This is a group of stitching buddies with whom I've become fast friends. We all live at a distance from each other both in the US and Canada. We chose E Syracuse as a location for our weekend which seemed to be a central location for most of us.

One of the reasons we chose this location is because there is a fabulous stitching shop in nearby Fayetteville called A Stitcher's Garden. I think we all laid down some serious cash there, lol!

During the course of the weekend we also had a staining lesson from Theresa and Nan. They each use different methods but the results are virtually the same. We stained both linen and chenille.

Besides stitching there was also lots of shopping and eating during the weekend. These pics are courtesy of my friends Cathy and Theresa.

Even Theresa's son joined in on trying his hand at stitching. He did a fabulous job, with a little help from mom!

I was also the recipient of some wonderful belated birthday gifts during our trip. There were several handmade smalls but I will share those on my Smalls SAL report next week. In the meantime, here's a couple other gifts I was thrilled to receive. Those silks are so pretty and in my favourite colour! The pattern is one I did not yet have. The girls all know that I love anything with deer in it. I'm almost afraid to use those beautiful scissors and tape measure. They're gorgeous!

I am so blessed to have such an amazing group of stitching friends! The weekend passed by far too soon and we all agreed that we should do it again next year. The count down is on!