THE BUZZ FROM THE HIVE

Saturday, June 30, 2012

A Squirrely Trip..............

First off, I'm going to say I'm a little upset with myself. I'm just not fully thinking "blog mode" yet and didn't take any photos of the trip. So, sorry for that omission but hopefully my "words' will suffice!


Squirrels Nest Getaway 2012  ( A Stitchers Escape with Merry Cox)


Phyllis and Debbie arrived Wednesday afternoon and we just settled in for a quiet night of stitching and relaxing after a dinner of my oven baked chicken salad (YUMMMY). Thursday we were off at 8:00 AM after working out the "puzzle" of fitting everything into my car. We have so much stuff, it's a wonder it all fits---the usual clothes and things, but then the stitching necessities: lights, magnifyers, projects, show and tell, class supplies and on and on and on!!! Drove on to our first stop in Wheeling where we got Eat N Park cookies for Phyllis, Cabellas fudge for me, Whitman tins at the Russell Stover outlet, and lunch at Cheddars. Do you notice a food theme going on here???? 


Then as we were ready to get back on I-70... an unwelcome surprise...the entrance to the highway was blocked by police and we couldn't get on!!! Not being familiar with Wheeling, except for passing through, we had no idea what to do (and of course I couldn't figure out how to get an alternate route on my GPS).Luckily, we returned to the Russell Stover outlet and the kind ladies there directed us to a back route and we were able to resume our drive. All went well for about an hour before we got in a huge back up on I-70 in Ohio!!! I have a standard transmission, so this was a killer for my knees--downhill okay--uphill--torture! Needless to say we were about 1 1/2 hours behind schedule for picking up the key to our apartment, but they were kind enough to leave it under a mat for us. (Side note---Rich and I rented a townhouse in a lovely community before we moved from Cincinnati and since I'm a former resident, I can rent their guest apartment when in town. It's works out splendidly as we have a 2 bedroom, 2 bath suite with kitchen, living and dining rooms and even a laundry room. It works perfectly for us to stitch at night and all be together).


As soon as we unpacked it was off to Skyline for Cincinnati chili (it's never as good as it is in person with the mounds of cheddar cheese piled on), then Krogers for some food stuffs. I think we bought out their Cincy chili mix packets to take home. Mary joined us at the apartment that night.. and then there was four!!!


We started out early the next day and went to the retreat (Squirrels Nest Getaway) to see what we could find at Merry's boutique. There we met up with Paola, who we had just seen the beginning of June at Salty Yarns. We weren't taking classes Friday  so we drove on over to Keepsakes for a cross stitch fix. We ran in to many of the retreat attendees there, so it was like old home week and the place was hopping!! Thanks Barb for your hospitality! Then it was on to Waynesville for lunch and a visit to The Fabric Shack. We finally got to squeeze in the Home Decorating Fabric  Shack store and were very happy to find some beautiful patterned silks--one even had bees on it!!! Lunch was very tasty and we were all treated to a complimentary cup of Chai tea after our meal--it was deliciouso (not sure that's a real word...Paola help me with my Italian :) )!


Friday evening, I met up with an old friend, her sister and Carol from The Polka Dot Chicken. Had a great time catching up at dinner ('til the band started) and then at Donna's where we could hear each other talk.


We had an all day class on Saturday, a lovely piece that fits in a special wooden box called Le Nouveau Palais Royale.  I am stitching this for my granddaughter, Cora.




Sunday was another class, So Dear to thy Heart, again with a very special shaker box.


I'll post more about the class projects as I work on getting them stitched and finished. A BIG thank you to Carol, and her staff, for hosting this wonderful event. Can't wait until  SNG 2014!!!


Sunday evening I was able to meet up with my Twisted Sisters. These are the ladies I worked with at Twisted Threads and it was great to be able to catch up on their families, new grandchildren and just life in general! I did a show'n' tell of my latest projects, but sadly, none of them are stitching much. It seems their lives are busy with other things and stitching isn't their only entertainment in the evenings! :)


Monday we were on our way home and it was smooth sailing--no back-ups, road closings or bad weather. We made good time and could relax and rehash the weekend that night. Tuesday morning, Phyllis and Debbie were on their way home , with a stop at the Longaberger Outlet in Hagerstown, and I was back to REALITY with our business. It was a wonderful trip, lots accomplished and lots to get stitching on here at the hive.


Until next time..............
Stasi



3 comments:

  1. Sounds like you had a fun trip! Two beautiful projects with Merry Cox too!

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  2. Cathy,
    It was such fun--thanks for reading about it.
    Stasi

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  3. Sounda like a great trip!

    I am taking the Le Nouveau Palais Royale class in Nov at the Attic. Would love to hear what you think of the project and how the finishing goes. I swapped out the kit fabric for a 36 count so I am hoping I can adjust the design to fit in the box. I also need to re-chart the border on the main piece because the areas for personalization aren't large enough for the names I want to use.

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