Getting ready for winter....

It's time to get ready for Winter.... There are still a few roses left on my rosebushes...

What hardy plants these are.....

Guess you could say this is the last rose of summer....

Julie and Paul were kind enough to plant

tulips, daffodils for me...

Of all the things I love to do.....gardening is not one of them....

Hopefully these beds will be blooming with

color when we get back from Florida

last part of April 2009

Guy has been concentrating on getting all the

boating bedded down for the winter...

Here is Seabatt (our dingy) ready to be tucked away....

But first, all the growth has to be scrubbed off...

Now it's secured on our deck...

Next job is Sea-bbatical..
Guy built and installed a frame....

He and KB start the long process of covering it up....

He uses 2 30x40 tarps....

After many hours of pulling and tugging

and weaving 1/4" nylon ties, it is covered

and should weather the winter

storms ahead......

And now the boating 2008 season

has ended....

And Guy can begin to tackle the

Honey-Do List

that has been growing and growing

over the summer months....

Weekend in China

I went to China for the weekend.....

OK...it was only to China Lake, Maine....but it does sound

a little exotic, doesn't it?

My friend Rita picked me up Friday afternoon and off we went...

What a beautful weekend to view the spectacular

scenery.....the weather was sunny and a little on the crisp

side, but perfect for what we were headed out to do.

We had signed up for a Quilting Retreat held at the

Baptist Conference Center at China Lake Maine

There would be 18 ladies present and other than our

instructor, Kathy Stanley, we knew no one else.

This is where we ended up....a beautiful old

(and very drafty) farmhouse..

The kitchen/dining area was setup with tables, ironing boards

cutting areas ...

The overflow landed here on the porch, which is where

we setup our machines.

I think we had more fun out here in the end...

Meals were served at the Church Hall...

across the road and up the hill ...

and then down over the hill....

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner were cooked

by 2 of the Church Ladies ..and what fantastic

meals we had....

Vivian and Ellen

Barbara, Maryanne, Rita and Sue

Sue shows off the quilt she made for

her son in Iraq, at Show n' Tell

Another beautiful quilt...

Diana shows off her masterpiece!

Someday I hope to master stars like these......

We could work on any project we wanted this weekend.

Instructions were available for rugmaking, table runners,

bags, etc. but I chose to work on a Christmas wall hanging,

that grew into a Christmas quilt......

That's what is so much fun about quilting....you can go anywhere

your imagination takes you....

We made so many wonderful new friends these past

few days...many of them were up from the Bangor/Bar Harbor area

so we most probably won't see them until next year,

but we've already made dates with a couple of them from the southern area

to get together, share ideas and sew together.....

I am so thankful I could join this group for a couple of days...

It was such fun and I made so many new friends...

Can't wait until next year......

Sea-bbatical is now high and dry!

Commander Jim Thomson handling the lines

Tuesday was a sad day for Guy...

Time to put the boat away for the season....

Now time to get it ready for the winter...

Foliage Pictures

One of my favorite things to do in the Fall is go for a Foliage ride.

Friday was such a gorgeous day, we decided to drive up to Lisbon Falls,

have lunch with Carolyn & Sid and enjoy the scenery.We actually have quite a view right in our own back yard.

Carolyn & Sid will be leaving in a few weeks to spend the winter at their Florida home in No. Ft. Myers.

and we'll be leaving between Christmas and New Years to spend our winter months in Cape Canaveral.

The day was spectacular and so was this view from Handy's Boat Yard

in Falmouth.

It just doesn't get much better than this!

The colors are especially vibrant this year.

This is my very favorite shot.... at Echo Lake

So pretty...too bad we know what will be coming in the months ahead!!.....

Saturday was Project Linus Day at Marden's.

This is when the Linus quilts are handed in...the Marden's store in Sanford had a goal of 3000 quilts this year and if they didn't achieve their goal, they came mighty close to it. Rita and I have spent many quilting afternoons together preparing for this event.

Saturday finally came and we travelled down to Sanford to turn in our handiwork.

Between the 3 of us... we donated 33 quilts.

Charlene made 15, Rita 10 and I made 8 this year.

The Co-ordinators of Project Linus were introduced and shared stories of some of the

recipients of these blankets.

Of course, since we were there, we had to purchase more fabric!

And an outing always calls for a lunch break:)

Sunday was a beautiful Fall day ... not many more of these will be around,

so we decided to take the family out for the last ride of the season.

Aleina was enjoying the ride!

Sam, Pat and Grandfather on the flying bridge...

Brenda was enjoying the outing also....

They took time for a family picture before they headed home.