A day in the country

 

It's nice to get out and have a wee change of pace from our new normal. It's very subdued, and we're within our little bubble - just in case you think we're going rogue here!

It didn't take long to load up the car, but still, it's amazing how much stuff one needs to bring. This is everything I emptied from the car. All that remains in the car is an assortment of coats, hats, scarves, and mitts that I'll dig out as I need them. And honestly, there is only one container of projects. 

The stuff I brought

The drive was good, and I arrived just when we're allowed to enter the house! I've got the timing down just right! In case you're wondering, we're at Fireside Retreat. A wonderful retreat house in the country and yet close enough to everything we need. It's the fourth retreat for the year and certainly not the last. It's been dicey all year with planning and working around restrictions. But for mental health reasons, it's important to have some normalcy in life, which works for me. 

I wasn't the only one who packed light. This is all Lynn brought. ONE basket. Normally, she has a couple of bags of projects. But she emptied some of her project containers into bags, and they fit much better into the basket. I see we have a new trend starting, and well - it just makes sense. Katheleen also came very lightly loaded, and Ronda had a bit more stuff as she is journaling and binding quilts. Thanks to Tish for showing us the light!!!

Lynn's basket of projects

The bottom line is that we're all learning to be lighter packers. And from what happened yesterday, I'm not sure I'm even going to get much done! Everything takes way longer to do than you think. 

Plus, we went out for lunch, and I don't know how much time we spent just talking. It was very therapeutic, and because we are so few, well, we're using up the entire space in the house! But we have less stuff to fill it with, so we're filling it with our presence!

There is one spot in the house that is very empty, and that's in the kitchen. The fridge is pretty bare. So that makes me think that it's all the others that aren't here this time that fill that fridge!! Those heavy snackers!!!!

The nearly empty fridge

But we've got things worked out for meals, and we're going to be just fine!

I should say that we all went for a walk after lunch. Another first! There are some beautiful trails near the house, so we went for a nice walk after lunch, which helped settle that huge lunch. 

Walking on the trails

I did go for another long walk by myself later in the afternoon. It was glorious to get out and walk in a different environment than the city! The temperature dropped during the day, and the wind was brisk, but it didn't matter - it was just glorious to get out. Can you believe - I'm only THIRTY-FIVE miles to the Santa Monica pier in LA. I'm so excited!!! 

So I did get some work done yesterday. I got four of these five blocks done. One of them was already sewn, and the rest were cut out. These are the blocks for the border of Winter Wonderland. The blocks have been sitting there for YEARS. It's on my UFO list, and after a suggestion by Lynn yesterday, I might even be able to get this UFO done this year!!!

Red and white blocks for Winter Wonderland

Don't ask me what I was thinking when I cut out the fabrics. Really? I chose those red and white prints for the flying geese units? They just look bizarre because there's too much white in them. I don't care - I'm not recutting. They are good enough for the border. So these two blocks are done!!!

Two more blocks - DONE

I got all the prepping done for THREE more blocks. The flying geese are made, as are the half-square triangles. I just need to sew these together. I believe there are 14 more blocks cut out, and once those are done, I can do something else. But I do need to sew some binding on quilts today. I'm not taking that huge bag back home! Those four quilts belong to someone here at the retreat. They can take them home!!!

Components of three blocks ready to sew together

I got a few enders and leaders done, but you don't need to see that project. 

There are a lot of firsts at this retreat. The first time we sat at the dining room table to eat! When you're sewing there, it seems small, but with only four eating at the table - it's huge!!!

A sit-down dinner in the dining room

So that's it for today. It's going to be another super day of just relaxing, sewing, and well - whatever else I want to do. I can hardly wait to get started!!! I see Katheleen has already fired up her sewing machine, and I'm about to do the same!

Have a super day!

Ciao!!!