Summer Vacation

I am on summer vacation. A shorter one than usual, my life calendar challenges struck again and for many stupid reasons - too many to go into - I only have 2 weeks this year ;(. None-the-less I m making the best of it and filling up my time creatively and productively. The first 2 days were eaten up taking care of life necessities, renewing car license, passport, oil change for the car, cat to the vet (YEAH - Simone got to the vet finally!), prescription renewals, house cleaning (not enough ...) etc. Thursday I finally had some time in my "studio" and created a bunch of "artsy" photos (see above) for the blog. I have been blog surfing over the last few weeks and admiring other people's creative talents soooo much. My camera talents run along side my calendar/scheduling abilities - poor to none However, with the power of a good digital camera and Picassa , well, you can see for yourself :)
I must admit it was an interesting and fun afternoon, digging through my collections of vintage linen & doilies & sewing accessories, then trying to stage them artistically. Next time I have more ideas and will branch out .

Took an afternoon and did "lunch" with a couple of quilting girlfriends. Drove out of town to a local 50's diner and flea market. We stopped at an antique store where I managed to break the lid on this Nippon sugar bowl. It was in the $5 bin and I honestly thought the lid was taped on (like they always are!). My mistake. Anyway, while we finished shopping the old gent glued the lid back together for me and then they knocked it down to $2 (probably because it was broken before me - er- the big chip on the inside!) None-the-less I am happy as it matches the three Nippon pieces my mother gave me - what's left of the tea/berry set she inherited from her mother. I have always loved this Nippon pattern, probably because mother always treasured it. So, broken or not, I will treasure this beauty as a memento of a lovely afternoon.
Yesterday I dragged the Husky downstairs to the dining room table and machine quilted (GASP) yes, I said machine quilted around each block and one border of my burgandy spinning 4 patch. Hopefully I will finish the other side today and get the binding on tomorrow. Next week will be another busy one as I am traveling to Niagara-on-the-lake with Father & step Mother to see 2 plays, and Thursday the quilt ladies are coming to my house. By Friday I'll be gearing up to go back to work (wahhhhh).
TTFN