February Vacation

We made it to Michigan on Feb 15th. Our first stop was to see my dad in his office. We went out to my brother's house afterwards, & crashed early after being up flying all night.

My brother Dave & his wife Linda (her taking a picture of me & Warren above), live on White Lake near the channel into Lake Michigan.

Weather was very cold & blustery. It snowed heavily while we were there.

Above is the lighthouse where Dave & Linda were married. Linda's great -grandfather used to be the lighthouse keeper there.
That evening we went to my sister Em's (actually her name is Melodie, but I call her Em)

surprise birthday party.

She quilts too, & her daughter's MIL made her a quilt cake. It was very tasty!

Here's a shot of my siblings & my Dad. Mom passed away in 1992. I'm the monkey in the middle.

We went out to see Em at her house the day after the party, then the storm started. We made it back to my brother's house & stayed put after that. These deer visited his back yard every evening.

The next day we went into Muskegon & had lunch with Dad. Then we went to his house & visited a while. I shot this picture of our old house next door to Dad's.

This is my Dad's house, the little place where I grew up.

We went out by Lake Michigan, just a short drive up the road from Dave's place.

I tried to take a few pictures for Allie.

This is the road to her family cottage. I would've gone down there to take a picture of the cottage for her, if the snow hadn't been knee deep, or if I'd taken my snow shoes with me!

Next we flew to Seattle. We went up to Bellingham the first day, & went to Megan Best's house. I tried out the A-1 quilting Machine & fell instantly in love with it. It was way easier to move than any other longarm that I've tried, so we ordered my machine!

Megan's studio was very neat, & I loved her thread collection.

My DD Michelle & her DH Jon, & DGD Darian stayed the weekend in our condo in Port Townsend on Discovery Bay with us.

Weather was much nicer there. It felt like spring. I ended up buying a sweater to wear because all I had with me was a winter coat, & it was too warm (50's).

Sunday the kids went home & we went to Bainbridge Island to pick up our friends from Salem, Oregon,

Ilene & Stu.

On Monday we went to a wild animal farm where we had a fun time.

There were several animals, here are just a few of them...

This guy tried to stick his head in the car.

The lamas surrounded us.

On Tuesday we went for a hike to Marymere Falls.

I loved the towering trees of the Olympic Rainforest.

And gnarled roots.

Stu was having fun with his new camera.

The falls were pretty.

On our last day, we stopped off in Poulsbo before heading into Seattle. We took a short walk,

sight seeing the quaint little town.

We took the ferry into Seattle.

where we had lunch, then took Ilene & Stu to their train. Next we went to Michelle & Jon's to visit for a bit before we caught our flight back to Anchorage. Mindy picked us up late at the airport, & when we got home, all these fused glass treasures were waiting for me (a gift from Mindy). Along with my very needy cat. He was glad to see us & has been clinging to me ever since.

I've Been Lying

Well, sorry no pictures today. Can't find the connector to plud it in, but I have to confess I've been lying to you all. We didn't fly to Seattle on Thursday, we went to Michigan instead. My DS Em turned 60 yesterday, & we had a surprise party for her. We actually head to Seattle next Wednesday.

I gave her a purse that I made for her, & will post the photos yesterday. I want to ask Mindy if she knew that she had some glass that glows in the dark. When they turned out the lights to wait for Em to come in, one of the blue glass cabachons that I had attached to the purse glowed beautifully in the dark! I was amazed!

We're staying at my brother & SIL's house on Whitelake. The weather is ice rain today. It's a good day to stay in by the fire. Yesterday we walked along the channel out to Lake Michigan. The winds were bitter, but it is beautiful. There are hundreds of swans & other water fowl.
I couldn't help but think of Allie while I was out there by the lake.

Valentines Day with Calendar Girls.

Happy Valentine's Day everybody! My DH said he'd share the Valentine I made for him with you all. I'm getting ready to take off here, in a bit. Sorry the photo isn't better, maybe I'll re-shoot later. The center is wool rovings needle felted on to a piece of wool plaid. I free motion quilted the background, then layered the wool on top & free motioned it down too.
I tried to simulate the look of hand stitches by going over the same lines 3 times each to look like big, thick embroidery stitches.

Today we had our regular Calendar Girls meeting. Mona & Jackie are 2 of the 3 born in the same year, & this month is Mona's birthday (on the left). Someone gave her the polka dot pantyhose, & Jackie was sporting a new hat.

Carol showed us her February Journal quilt in progress. It went with my outfit today.

Rena's house had lots of neat stuff. One of my favorite things was her halibut pillow.

Mona recently lost her husband, & we decided to make a comfort quilt for her. It was a surprise.

Can you tell?

Here it is, to Mona with love...

Rena made a great lunch. She served the BEST tasting Quiche I've ever eaten, & a Caesar Salad,
with a good crusty bread.

I LOVED her flatware too. It was so cute. Everything fishy..

Each plate was unique..very cute.

This is Rena on the right, in blue.

That's Mary G on my immediate left. Doesn't she look good for someone who was really sick & nearly dead at Christmas!?

Of course we had to have birthday cake for dessert.

47 or 74, you decide.

Sorry you weren't with us Margaret & Jan.

It was a really fun day.

I'll try to get a quick post in on Saturday from my daughter's, to say happy birthday to my big sister. Bye for now!