Skyline Drive

Skyline Drive is a 105 mile highway in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. As the name implies, it runs across the mountain tops and there are some spectacular vistas. This may not be the prettiest time of the year to traverse it, but there was little traffic, and it was an interesting drive.


Winter just won’t end around here, and we saw snow in many places, and some great ice formations.




There was some interesting wildlife.  I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen one of these critters alive before!  We saw a second one a few minutes later.
This guy was with three friends, but he stopped to pose for me before they all went bounding up the hill. 











Today we spent Easter with the traditional cooking, cleaning, and family time!  I do most of the cleaning, and DH does most of the cooking.  We’ll be eating ham all week, but there weren’t any other leftovers.  After our guests left, I spent a couple of hours reorganizing and cleaning my sewing room.  I have to make room for a new toy that is arriving tomorrow!!  I have a very busy week, so I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to play with it……

Have a great week everyone, and Be Kind!

Sunny

Southern Hospitality

I live in Maryland, which is technically a southern state.  But to get to the real state, you have to drive a few more miles to Virginia.  I’m always amazed by the difference in the attitudes of people.  Sales people seem genuinely happy to see you and answer questions.  Wait staff are friendly and nice.

Today’s travels brought us to Charlottesville, Virginia.  Mr. QD wanted to visit Monticello, home of our founding father, Thomas Jefferson.  We arrived at the ticket office at noon, only to be told that the earliest we could a tour was at 4:00 pm.  Sorry, I’m not waiting that long.  So we went into Charlottesville and spent some time walking along the Pedestrian Mall, and eating lunch.  There were many restaurants to choose from, and lots of cute shops.  There was some interesting artwork.

This ‘sofa’ is made from mosaic tiles.  Hubby sat on it and said it wasn’t very comfortable – LOL!

There were street musicians, and at one end of the mall was a huge area where there’s live music in the summer.  There was also a large stone wall that was used as a chalkboard, and was enjoyed by children of all ages.

Later in the afternoon, we located the local Quilt Shop, and I made sure to look at each and every item in the store while hubby napped in the car.   I walked out with only a few fat quarters!  I made a rather large purchase earlier in the week, so I need to cut back on the spending for awhile.  But it wouldn’t be polite to walk out empty handed, now would it!?!

The plan is to drive home tomorrow via Skyline Drive.  I must go get rested up!

You can never do a kindness to soon because you never know how soon it will be too late. --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sunny

Wordless Weekend

Saturday:

Sunday:

Monday:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kindness matters…..Sunny

Your Reviews on HQ Sweet 16

A girl’s gotta dream, so I might as well dream big, right?

Do you have an HQ Sweet 16?  What are your thoughts?  Love it?  Hate it?  Would you do it again?

I appreciate any input you can give.

Sunny

Where is Spring?

I’m ready for it – where is it?  We had snow and sleet and freezing rain on Monday.  I think it’s supposed to snow a little tonight.  I don’t want snow.  I want flowers and sunshine and warm breezes!!!!

This past weekend was rainy, snowy, dreary, and just the perfect weather for a Quilt Retreat.  It was my third retreat in four weeks.  Why do they all come at the same time?  We sewed, and ate, and talked, and laughed, and made new friends.  It was a wonderful weekend.  I don’t feel like I accomplished much, but I’m happy with what I did.

This little wall hanging was so tedious, but it had been rattling around in my head for a couple of months. so I was very pleased to get it to this stage.  Snowball blocks are very tedious, and as I was nearing the end of them, I had an ‘aha moment’ for a way to speed them along.  Next time.  I have 10 extra blocks, that I was planning to add to the left side, but it didn’t look right, So I can start another one as a gift, or make them into a smaller project.

I didn’t take many pictures at the retreat, but I had to capture this quilt

Imagine if you will, 331 basket blocks, all from different blue fabrics!!!  It was incredible!  The same woman was also working on another basket quilt with larger blocks, and when she discovered she had miscounted and had an extra basket block, she gave it to me!  It’s an odd size, so I’m thinking of appliqueing some flowers on it, adding a couple of borders, and having a lovely wall hanging.

I made one flower this week, from scraps from a friend at my other quilt retreat a couple of weeks ago. 

I’ve challenged myself to do a certain amount of crocheting each day this month, so I must get to it.  I have other things to share, so I hope to be back here in a day or two.  I’m also working on some personal improvement projects, so I’m keeping busy!  See you around…..

Kindness matters…..Sunny

OFW, Snow, and Squishies

Wow – It’s not even close to midnight, and I’m posting my One Flower Wednesday results.

The reason I’m so efficient is because today was a SNOW DAY!!  I got word at 6:45 this morning that our office would be closed for the day.  Our snow accumulations were predicted to be in the 10-15 inch range, and possibly even higher.  I texted DH yesterday and asked him to take a couple of pictures of the yard, so we could compare them to the piles of snow today.  Here is the view before the snow.

Notice the crocus’?  They’ve been opening up during the day, and closing at night for several days now.  And here is the view after/during the snow.

That’s right – this snow storm completely fizzled in our area.  The really great part is, I got a snow day, and I didn’t have to shovel!!  Some areas not far from here were hard hit, but our temperatures went up just a degree or two, and it made all the difference in the world.

The squishies have been arriving on a regular basis here lately.  I received my Seasonal Mug Rug from my swap partner, Mary, and she included a few extra goodies.

 

 

 

 

 

Then I received a nice package from the lovely Maria, to celebrate my birthday.

Aren’t these the cutest spools?  And look at the fabric she sent with it!!      

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Monday, I received another birthday gift, totally unexpected. Look at all this loot from my friends at Rugs with Friends. 

 

 

 

 

 

And then….. I received a package from Lisa of Lydia’s Treasures, where I won a fat quarter awhile back.  Apparently Lisa can’t count, because there were THREE fabrics in the package.

I don’t know why the postal service is struggling to stay afloat.  I’ll do my part tomorrow, when I mail 3 packages, 6 cards, and my February and March Inchy Swap envelopes.  You’ve already seen all the items I’m mailing, I just haven’t said where they are all going.

I’ve been keeping busy this week with some applique and crocheting, but nothing worth showing yet.  I’ve accumulated a few pink scraps lately, so there will be more pink hexies in the near future!

If you were affected by this latest snow storm, I hope it all melts soon, and you’re not without power for long.

Be kind to yourself……Sunny