Home!

"The more I enjoy my life, the better it gets."  author unknown

I loved everything about my trip.....I'm so blessed with such good friends I enjoy being with....and who have beautiful places to visit. But I'm also so blessed to be so happy at home.....and it's good to be home!

Patsy's daughter lives in a nearby town up there in downeast Maine....

and it was fun to visit the goats....and the chickens that laid the eggs we enjoyed over the last several days.  

I especially enjoyed meeting that cute tiny chicken....

who laid these adorable tiny eggs.

I got home early enough to have a nice little visit with Margie this afternoon....and she had TWO puzzles finished on her table.  Visiting her....is another one of the nice things about being home.

The Beach

We've been pretty good about getting out for walks every day....including along  beach.  It's a little bit precarious to get down to it...but Patsy and Brian will improve that over the years.  

This shows you how far down we were....and just for the record....there was an easier way down. 

It's a typical Maine rocky beach with lots of jigs and jags.

The winters are pretty harsh....so a tree has to be really tough to make it down here by the water....this one is growing right out of the rock.

My fabulous found object!

There is a little landing place on a ledge part way down the path with a firepit....such a fun place to sit and enjoy in all the seasons.

And the view is fantastic!

I brought my new wooden puzzle from Amy along....and we dumped it out on one end of the table on Sunday morning.  At this point it seemed pretty daunting.

But we fell in love with it....and because it had the rows of colors it was the perfect group puzzle. We could all work on a section...and we would shift around when we needed a change.

And by Monday evening we had joined all the layers together 

and were in the home stretch.

I purposely saved this bird for last.

What an absolute delight Amy!  Thank you!

Here's another hand project I've been working on....covering this little lamp shade. (Linda....do you recognize it?) 

I've been hand stitching on the lining...and I just finished it late this afternoon....just a little more trimming to do. The polka dot fabric will go on top.  I'll keep you posted.

We head home tomorrow.....this has been a fabulous getaway!

I feel so blessed.

Scorebook

Patsy is a number girl......and she and Brian play a lot of games and cards with family and friends including Paul and me. Our game is euchre. Patsy keeps track of EVERY score....and a lot of other things that involve numbers.  I made her a scorebook back in 2014 that is nearly full....and you can read about it here: 

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2019/04/scorebook.html

Following along with a book binding class with Gina Ferrari, I knew I the first book I wanted to make with her technique was another scorebook for Patsy.  She is so generous with her time and spaces....and this is something I can do for her.  So before I left Portland I folded the signatures....and covered the outside of the book cover. I used Gina's technique but used fused fabric rather than paper.

I wanted to have it all ready to stitch when I came on the trip....and it was the first project I worked on.

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I'm pretty tickled with the result.....and so is Patsy.

It's a long skinny book....I just folded 8 1/2 by 11 paper in half the long way using this variety paper packet I think I got at Michaels.  It's a collection of graph papers and lined papers all in soothing soft colors.  The backside of each page is just white....but when you combine them all together it makes for an interesting variety for a score book.

And the spines show....and are pretty all stacked up.

We choose to add some decorative metallic pink polka dotted paper around the first signature....so that's what shows through the front and back peek-a-book openings.  It compliments the batik fabric well.

I used a variegated thread for the stitching...I think it turned out great!

I love how the stitching lines mimic the lines of the signatures.

A pretty fun scorebook if I say so myself.

We took a little field trip into Eastport for breakfast....here are a few of the colors and textures of this charming little down east town.  In some ways...the colors seemed to match the scorebook.  Life is good.

Rhythm and Groove

Patsy, Jane, and I have been gathering like this for years and years....and when we're lucky Janice joins us too.  We have a rhythm.....and we easily slide into our groove...all quite content doing our projects, going for walks and eating good food.  Life is good when women gather.

This was the sunrise view from my room this morning.

And here are a few views from one of our walks.

And here's a little glimpse into a few projects I'm working on....

I'm pretty excited about this book binding project!

I filled my lovely zippered pouch from Lily with pens and markers to 

work on lessons from the hand lettering class.  

And this was the nugget from home.....Paul's fabulous found object!

Room With A View

 

I'm going to be just fine here in down east Maine.....don't worry about me!  

This is the view from the living room.  This is going to be awesome!!!