Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Back home again

and waiting at the airport - where is everybody??  It is almost empty.  I know I am early, but I have a hard time believing my flight is sold out.
Found a Caribou Coffee - Yum!  


Monday, July 21, 2014

Lake Lure - More Photos

One day Gail and I took a walk down to the beach and lakefront.  
It was a beautiful day - a little hot - but still nice.
This is the condo we stayed in.  I took this picture as we were pulling out.  It has been raining for two days solid!  We pulled out card games and movies - still an enjoyable time.


Sunday, July 20, 2014

More of Lake Lure, NC

The city built a new bridge, but rather than tear down the old one, they made a garden out of it.  It was very beautiful - many blooming flowers:

Quite an interesting bird house...
I really enjoyed this short walk through their well, cared-for garden.
I especially liked how they used old chairs to create flower planters.

 Jeff and Joyce ...
Gail and Jeff admiring the foliage and flowers...
Wishing wells - in the ground but made with the top section of a bird bath.
That's the end of our nature walk through the flower garden on the bridge.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

I've been traveling a bit...

this time I was in Lake Lure, North Carolina.  My sister and her husband drove up from Florida - and brought my dad!  I don't think my dad wanted to miss the trip, but I know it was somewhat hard on him.  Remember, he's 89 - 90 in two weeks!  Here are some photos of the signs around our resort:
Well, these first three are of my trip out to North Carolina.  This is as we were pulling away from the Phoenix airport.  I actually flew into the Greenville-Spartanberg Airport.  A nice, small airport.
I think it is always amazing to fly above the clouds.  They look like HUGE cotton balls.
These look like rows of cotton.  The sky is so very blue.
They picked me up at the airport and then we had to drive about an hour to the resort.  Along the way, I took an opportunity and snapped this photo of the weather-worn cottage.
This is the balcony off our livingroom.
This is the view - so beautiful - and green!  Here's my dad: 
One day when the weather was nice, just a little "misty," we took a pontoon boat ride.
It was gorgeous - again, it was so green!
I loved the docks and boat houses - there was such a variety - anything from simply fabulous to...
simple and maybe not quite so fabulous.
This stair case was in the movie "Dirty Dancing" with Patrick Swayze.  The film was actually filmed at Lake Lure, NC.
I just loved this long, switchback staircase.

This house below is one of the first, and smallest lake houses on Lake Lure.  I LOVE it!
This next is a "remnant" of a house that burned down.
I think I have a thing for boat houses.  I find them to be really quaint and inviting.
My dad, and my little brother, Jeff, on our boat ride.  Jeff and his wife came over from their home in Tennessee and were able to spend a couple of days with us.
This is the FIRST house built on the lake.  It looks like only a boathouse, but it you look again, there is a house on top of the boat house.  It is also the smallest house.
 
This is the largest home on the lake - over 15,000 square feet.  I would sure hate to clean that!  Of course, I am sure they don't.


 That's the end of our boat tour.  I'll have more photos of my trip on tomorrow's blog.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Do you remember this quilt?

It was actually the first jelly roll quilt I made.  I love this fabric.  It is "Flirt" by Moda fabrics and I think it turned out so well and the colors really grab me.  I bought the fabric before I even knew who it would be for.  It got placed on the back burner so I could finish other quilts and projects.  I made it for my sister, Gail, who lives in Florida.  I will be meeting them in North Carolina in a week, so I definitely wanted to get this off my plate and in her hands.
The only thing I needed to finish was to sew on the binding.  You know me, right?  I HATE doing that  by hand, so I decided to do a very small zig zag on the seam line.
I am actually happy with how the stitching looks.  I think it's non-obtrusive.   And it was much faster than doing it by hand.  Light years faster.
Completely. Finished. Product.