Road trip anyone?????

So how does one travel around the province cheap and fast to get license plates???   How about a motorcycle?  A helicopter?   A drone????    I have several days planned to get some more plates in Ontario and well - it is crazy.

I managed to get a couple more in Ontario yesterday - Guelph, Fergus and Georgetown.  What I need is a "friend" in Northern Ontario.

Anyway - here is the recap for Vermont so I can get onto the rest of my life.


A Quilter's Garden - Montpelier      - got TWO plates and the pattern












Stitched - Shelburne - got the pattern and the plate

Yankee Pride - Essex Junction   - got TWO plates and the pattern














Sunny Laurel Sisters - Colchester   - got the plate and the pattern for 2015.  Loved the 2014 pattern so much - I picked it up as well.  Not sure what it has to do with water - but cute country scenes.

And there you have it - all the plates I picked up on my way home.   BUT - there are other provinces.   The Nova Scotia plates are in the mail, the NB plates are taken care of thanks to Marie and Shelley, the Manitoba plates are all picked up and waiting to be mailed (thanks to my longtime NON quilter friend Jen), ALL the Saskatchewan plates are waiting to be picked up  (thanks to Susan), Salt Spring Island (thanks to my aunt Yvonne), Burnaby store (thanks to my non-quilting sister-in-laws), Penicton area covered (again - another non-quilting sister-in-law - Donna), Canmore - thanks to Pauline, Calgary (thanks to Facebook friend Kathy and neighbour - Rhonda), St. Albert (biking buddy - Neil).   Now some of these may fall through - it is hard when on vacation to get stuff, especially if you don't have a car so don't worry Rhonda.  But you can see the coordination needed to make all this happen. Oh - I think Liz was going to try and pick up something as well - haven't heard from her yet. I am also swapping about 25 more plates with various culprits and hope to get some more from the US.  That is a whole co-ordination nightmare in itself.   And if I end up with duplicates - that is OK as I have people I am trading with. 

And then we get to Ontario. Don't even ask.  There are 77 plates in total in this province.  I physically have 10 in my hands.  Six I picked up myself and four thanks to Lois, Ruth and Marilyn.  BUT at last count, there are 29 that have been ordered/picked up by friends who live in those areas or who have travelled there to pick them up.  BIG BIG thanks to   Elaine (not me!), Pat, Maureen, Maria, Joyce, Laurraine, Nancy, Claire, Mary, Carol and Shelley. They are just feeding my frenzy!!!!!!

I have a couple of days planned to get some more and so that leaves 10 that need a warm body to pick them up!   Those are the ones in the outer reaches of our great province.    OK - back to the planning table.  Yikes!!!!   There must be a circular loop that one could do to make that happen. 

Here are the ones that I don't have  

Creekbank Sewing - Mount Forest

Diane's Creative Elements - Sturgeon Falls

Life's a Stitch - Sault Ste. Marie

Mother's Fabric - Wiarton  (2 plates)

Needleworks Studio - Cochrane

The Cottage Quilter - Corbeil

The Needlebox - Little Current

The Quilting Barn - New Liskeard

Homespun Designs - Stouffville   (Carol or Elaine may have picked this up)

By George - I think you could go across Manitoulin Island and a "short" detour north and yes - you could get those all in one trip.  Anyone up for a LONG road trip????   2 days!!!   You only live once and wouldn't it be exciting to get ALL the plates from Ontario!!!!!   Well - let's see what Liz came up with on her trip and well..........

BUT where does one keep all these things when you are collecting them?????    In your Plate and Pin Pal of course!!!!!   I went to Undercover Quilts and More yesterday. The store is located  in Fergus and Betty Gormack designed this little holder.  I met Betty in PEI and her, Robin and I went out for dinner one night. I bought the kit so maybe that is what I will do today so I can easily keep all these collectibles in one place. I wonder how many plates it will hold????

Plate and Pin Pal

My plates that I physically have in my hands!!!!

On top of that - the month of July is also the Soutern Ontario Shop Hop. There are 15 stores in that shop hop. I snagged three of them yesterday.  Not sure if I will get them all, but there is a free kit to pick up in each store - the theme is blue and white.   It is doable - 15 stores in one month!!!   Heck - I've done 9 in one day!!!!!

Kits for the July Shop Hop

Last night was a perfect night to test out the new Radler beer in a can.  It really is like a cooler - very refreshing.  Now you remember me saying that I could only find TWO cans in my local Beer Store. 

The ONLY two cans in my beer store

Look at the display in one of the New Brunswick stores!!!!   And there is that ORANGE bike!!!!!  Marie checked and the date of the draw is July 26th!!!!   I can't wait that long to see if Marie wins!!!!!   She put in another entry. 

The ORANGE Radler bike!!!!

And if you can't win an orange bike - you can always make your bike orange.   I heard through the grapevine that Connie (a friend of Marie's) is going to paint her bike orange.  I think she needs to come to NB and enter that contest a LOT so she is pretty much guaranteed to win. Or she should be sending Marie to the Beer Store everyday to put in another ballot.  Hey - that is what friends are for!!!!!   Marie - if you would like us to come and drink that beer for you - well just say the word!!!!

There is to be absolutely NO LAUGHING or SHAKING of the head as how silly we are.  This row by row is like school for adults.  Geography!  Oh yes - I have learned the geography of many states and provinces over the last month and I am sure not done. Budgeting - well that went out the window in the first week. Scheduling - oh yes - that is a huge component - god forbid that you arrive at a store that has already closed for the day. Logistics - how to minimize the driving distance and maximum the number of plates or patterns acquired in one day.   Coordination - how to swap plates with 5 different people and have no one end up with duplciates. So technically I look at the Row by Row as a way of keeping our minds FREE of mental illness that hit as you age.   We are all going live LONG LONG lives - which is good because we will need that long to use up our stashes!!!!!


On that note - enough of my day has been consumed by Row by Row stuff.  I need to get to work.

Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!