A St. David's Day 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Adventure

Since I couldn't make it to Wales that day, I went to the twin city of Havre De Grace instead.

My friend, Jeff, joined me in the adventure.

The big fish made up of lots of little fish.

These are just a few of the wooden carvings on the pier near the Concord Point Lighthouse.

And you can't be near the water without a mermaid!

One of the stores we went to was Washington Street Books and Music. It was like going to a movie museum. Later this year they are going to acquire lots of the Hunger Games clothing, that should be fun to see.

So sad, this was only a few of the stitched pieces I saw in the antique store.

I did find this treasure for only $10. I'm going to replace the duck with a monthly series I'm almost finished with.

All in all, a great day!

The Cream of Leek Soup and Welsh Rarebit that night was delicious, I need to make the soup more often.

Goodies and fun with family 🧁

I went to a thrift shop today and these were my finds, all for a nice price of $12.25. I bought one frame for $1.25 and the rest were free, cool beans! And they're in good shape too.

The linen is my favourite count, 32 on antique white and white. I'll probably tie dye the white one later.

This past weekend we were in Canton visiting Gman1 & C at their new place. It's within walking distance of so many things, although we had to drive for lunch at Chaps Pit Beef. It did not disappoint, everything was good. DH drove past the first entrance since it's right next to a "Gentleman's" Club and he didn't think he should be turning into that!

Later that afternoon, we went walking around Canton and Fells Point and I found a mermaid with very shiny "shells" 👀! 

We got thirsty and just had to stop in one of the local bars for a drink. C and I tried this one - Lemon coconut raspberry white chocolate cake batter - surprisingly delicious and not too tart.

Finn checking out mini Finn that I made for C.

Just a block and a half away from their place, is Cup Love, and we had to check it out before it shut that evening. Nathan got cookie dough, C got frozen yogurt, and I got Elvis AND Barry White because I wanted to try them both... Elvis for the win!!!

Sunday morning Finn was being teased entertained by a birds on youtube.

That afternoon we went to a wedding venue in Havre de Grace with C's family to check it out.

What a beautiful place and it's a go!

We went down to the water where they'll have pictures taken for the wedding, it was just a bit chilly this time of year!

C's Dad photobombing us! I'm so glad we all get along so well together! 😆

The cool thing about Havre de Grace? Its twin city is Mumbles, Wales, where my cousin lives.

We finally got some snow yesterday, although it didn't last very long. This has been another crappy year for snow so far, maybe this month will surprise us?

Back to stitching, this is my 5th Santa for the year, it's nice to have something easy to work on.

Closing the Chapter on June 📕

June welcomed back the church's annual Clarksville Picnic which I volunteered at for almost two weeks.

That means finding treasures you never knew you were missing!

Although I was in the pricing room, I never priced anything I wanted to get; I waited until it was marked and then paid that price.

This was one of those treasures, a Yonanas soft serve maker. It was priced at $3 and I happily paid it even if didn't work out in the end. 

Basically you start with frozen bananas and then alternate adding whatever other frozen fruit you like. The first time I made it, my girlfriend Kim came over for a girls night and she laughed at it. After we made it (with bananas and mangos), she quickly apologized because it was delicious!

So far I've used mangos, blueberries, peaches, and strawberries. I want to try blackberries, pineapple, and maybe kiwi. There are plenty of "recipes" for other things, including Irish Coffee... yes, please!

Kim ended up looking online, found it at Walmart and ended up ordering one. She had friends try it after she got it and they ordered it too. Auntie Leela said she was going to get one and told her family in London about it and they are supposed to get it too! Let me know if you end up getting one, even without a taste test!

Easy clean up and after mixing it up when it's finished, it's perfect. I usually freeze half of it for the next day.

There weren't a lot of stitched pieces for sale, but these are the ones I saved. Sadly, none of them were signed by the person who stitched it. I always add my initials and date, even if it's on the back. I thought most people do, but maybe not. Do you?

This treat was $20, and I plan to paint or stain it and change the handles. I want to use this to put my fabric in, it should be easier to find it in there.

I showed this to DH and the Gmen, but they weren't interested. Such a shame, I thought it was cool!

On the day of the picnic, Nathan helped out with the youth group's dunking booth and I was the first one to dunk him. Such fun!

This was not found at the picnic, but I forgot to post it for my birthday. Dear Karen bought this for my birthday at The Stitching Post's model sale they had. I love it! I actually bought the chart years ago and hadn't stitched it yet, and here it is all finished and framed! It does look lighter in daylight, it's lovely.

I asked a few of the ladies in the shop who stitched it, but they couldn't remember.

And just like that, June was over and now it's almost August! I'll catch up eventually.

What happened to June❓❗

Back to the real world and trying to get back into blogging. I have still been stitching everyday, so that's something.

The real world meant a retreat for me in June, a funtastic getaway!

This was Flower Power in Pennsylvania, a wonderful time with friends.

My roommate, Karen, was able to come to this one!

Our table, these girls are so much fun!

The Grab Bag Exchange, the word was TULIP.

This was the box I picked from Eda. She made the project bag and pincushion, aren't they sweet?

This was my exchange - the U was hard, but I saw unscented lotion at The Stitching Post for the win!

... are the two lips in the dark!

Plenty of choices for shopping too.

What I purchased (and was gifted) from Janis @Noteworthy Needle. I'll be as busy as a bee!

My purchases from Silkweaver Fabrics and a needle threader from Rovaris.

Needleminders from Annette @Mind Your Needle. So happy to have the German and Welsh gnomes!

I purchased some smaller bags from Peggy and Roberta @BFF Pouches and Bags, and then had this one specially made since I wanted to fit my Gathering Honey in it. I love it!

Then it was mid June, and time for my birthday.

Flowers, a stitching gift certificate, a new ipad, and a much desired Wicked Witch I've been searching for for a long time, from dear Kerri!

A delicious dinner with family and us girls enjoyed some amazing crushes! 

This year I requested a chocolate cake with orange icing. DH did a great job, it was wonderful!

June isn't over, yet to come...the church picnic goodies and some recent stitching.

I'll do my best to backtrack on blog reading, but might have to settle for reading your most recent posts.

A Stitching Shore Retreat 🏖

I'm a little behind on my follow up posting about the retreat I went to at the NJ Shore in April, so here's the rest of the adventure.

Our view from the deck.

She's fixed and looking fine! I think I need to head to the beach again to continue to stitch her.

These wonderful ladies all had fantastic finishes while we were there!

There might have been some drinking...

I forgot to take a photo of what I gave for the exchange, but this is what I received. We were to pick a four letter word starting with F, can you guess this one?! The word I chose? Fart! But I wasn't alone, I think there were 2 or 3 others?

We had some hide and seek with Brad, or Chad, or maybe his name should have been Peeping Tom!

Mermaid!

Needleworker's Delight set up shop for us at the house and I couldn't resist these two.

Our gift bags, dropping the F bomb!

Darn giveaway pile, I always seem to find something I can't do without.

Unbeknownst to me, the Janice I met there is the Janice of Noteworthy Needle. I actually had this piece that I had gotten at the auction during the Super Bowl Stitching retreat, awesome!

What happens at the shore, stays at the shore!

Our house of stitchers, what a great group of gals. I'm already looking forward to next year's adventure!

I have more to post, but I really need to respond to comments, read blogs, and comment on those blogs. I'll do my best!