She’s at it again

Today I was informed that at 11:30 babies would be arriving. Well, that was something I had to see. And so does everyone else in the world.

I rushed back to the office for a few minutes of babyhood.

And when I finally located said babies look what I found-

Yup, it’s Laura, trying to disguise herself by being blurry but as you can see she’s at it again-hogging a baby. And look at our baby. Chase has become a giant. Seriously. He was smiling until I started snapping then he clammed up.

So I pried the baby out of her arms (literally, Laura had quite the grip on that thing) and tried to get him to laugh again. He is not having any of it and is staring at Ali’s (his mother) spaghetti. He is his mother’s son.

Ok, still no luck with this baby’s expression, plus we were in some seriously bad lighting.

So I went in search of another baby and handed this on off to Mary, who was more than happy to intercept.

He perked right up after that.

I found Cora over visiting with Sadie

She is either happy or sad-it’s hard to tell with babies. Laura, in the background, is secretly plotting to get a baby back. Angie, Cora’s mother, is the half person on the far right.

Well, Sadie is looking very interested and Cora is looking cute.

So, note to self, next time go in another room where the lighting is better and watch out for baby hoggers!

Pine Needles-Decorah Iowa

 

Listen up people-

Pine Needles (how many times do I have to say it-my fave quilt store-ok, my only quilt store but still…..) has opened today in Decorah Iowa.

After 2 weeks of moving they are opening to rave reviews. Well, rave review-that would be me. I am sure other raves will be coming in soon.

So look-here we go-

That is a mannequin out there in the pink on the very left hand side of the picture. Just to give you an example of how fun this town is.

They saved me a parking spot right in front. Why my car looks blue is another trick of Microsoft Live Writer. But the store looks just like that. It is very bright and roomy-but don’t take my word for it, check out the pics-

I was very surprised to learn that all the stuff from the old store fit into the new store. It seems like there should be more stuff, but I guess it is just because the store is so spacious.

 

See what I mean?

They still keep Darwin locked up in his repair room. Some things never change.

    

 

 

                    

Pine needles is now the APQS dealer. I am kinda wanting this thing. I have tried to walk out without paying before but I think they’d notice this.

 

        Look at all the room. And check out the Bernina swag. If you can call it swag. I entered to win this machine again. You’d think those girls over there would hook me up with the winning entry.

 

I already own two of these babies. I can’t say enough good things about them.

But wait-look at this----

      Here are the girls. Notice how Connie and Marsha ignore me? Thank you Suzie. Actually, Connie never ever lets us take her picture but look what I got today-

          

           

Ta-daaaa! Connie is actually smiling and not hiding from me but wait-look at THIS-

They are all smiling at the camera-it’s a first.

They have all been very good to me and treat me like family. They sign me up for classes and retreats (usually) first. They always act happy to see me. They make me laugh and tell me my quilts are beautiful. It is more than customer service and I really appreciate it. I wish all businesses could be like this one.

So congratulations on the new store-here’s to many more happy years (and one new long-arm) together.

Chapter 4

Where we are officially on vacation.

So, after Saturday we were supposed to meet my friend Dawn and go to Gulf Hagas but of course, change of plans. Cody and Kate were leaving to come back to Minnesota on Monday so we thought we should stay around Biddeford and visit with them. We even considered helping with the move but in the end cooler heads prevailed and we realized that going to the beach was probably a way better idea.

                  

Off to Fortune’s Rocks we went. It was a tad windy. The walk out was a breeze, so to speak. But the way back was a little more difficult.

    

Dave suddenly discovered his wildlife photography side. Here is an example of what he saw.

              

Here is a close up. Not sure it is the same gull. (If I were Monk I would know)

 

He soon lost interest as the wildlife was limited.

Unfortunately, he decided to make me his next subject.

Whew, windy.

           

Seriously, enough about me.

Do you know that song “If I Had A Million Dollars”?  Well, here is what you could do with it.

After our little mini beach vacation, we went to visit Cody for one last time on Sand Dollar Haven.

You can’t beat the view. Here I am with my back to it. Go figure….

Wow, this post is just a little bit about me isn’t it?

We found another room mate-this time Brian was there.

Cute little lads, aren’t they? Kate was there too.

Those guys decided to continue packing and we felt that taking a nap was probably our only option. They were going out with friends for a last good-bye and so we planned to meet up early (8 or so?) in the AM.

Dave and I, after a short rest of a couple of hours were too exhausted to leave our domain so we ordered pizza and ate our cookies and chocolate.

Vacation, ya gotta love it.

Monday Kate and Cody and Dave and I met up at Tom Horton’s (think Dunkin’ Doughnuts meet Brueggers Bagles. Speaking of Dunkin’ Doughnuts, they have as many of those as Seattle has Starbucks and Winona has bars. Seriously, it is a virus in Southern Maine)

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Those pictures are not in order, the car pulling out should be last but Microsoft Live Writer seems to feel that the pulling out car should be first and no amount of pleading with it will work. So off they go! Oh wait, anyone notice that the bike rack is empty? And did anyone spot, in the house pictures that the bikes are stored right in the middle of the living room? Hard to miss. Fortunately, the call came BEFORE they were out of town.

I can’t fault them for I have done much more ridiculous things than that, but we won’t go into it here….

Now Dave and I are really on vacation. We decided to go on a little hike to Bradbury Mountain. It was fairly close, except for Dave was doing some sort of scenic drive navigating so I am not sure exactly how far it would be from Biddo if you drove directly there.

It was a lovely drive though, and this is where we walked.

      

I tried an art shot with some unfurled Fiddle Head Ferns. They are edible you know. I only mention it because nothing was safe in our never ending quest for calories.

We rested briefly and took some pictures of ourselves.

When we got to the top there was this kid from, where else-Iowa, who was spending 2 months doing a bird count. He had been there since March so was leaving soon. He took our picture.

And we took many pictures of the view.

           

Our little car waited patiently by the outhouses for us to return. This car was the most stripped down car I have driven since high school. Nothing was power except maybe the brakes and steering. I didn’t mind the windows but for some reason leaning over to unlock the door really bugged me. But the little car was faithful so I can’t rag on it too much.

      

After our hike we returned to our home away from home

   

And rested up for our last day.

The last day we went to find a quilt store. We found it by golly and guess what? It was closed. But we took a picture of it.

Oh well, maybe next time. We decided to go to the beach, Old Orchard Beach. All I can say is that place must be brutal to navigate when the tourists arrive. Streets are narrow as all get out. They have a Coney Island kind of vibe going with a big amusement park. I believe this is the longest beach in Maine, but don’t quote me.

It is a looong beach though.

           

Again with the birds…..

             

After we got done we stopped by the UNE to pick up more programs and decided to take pictures for posterity.

                    

We returned to pack up our little room.

 

      

We had a little, or large (by this time large amounts of food were becoming snacks), got packed and decided we needed one more stroll along the beach.

I got all arty over some rocks.

               

Here I am at the standing log forest. Unsure of the meaning.

The very next day we got up early, too early to mention, quietly left, and went to the airport.

We didn’t take one single picture to record the trip home.

The weather was good until we reached Rochester, and then it was thunder, lightening and lots of rain.

And so we returned home, back to life in the real world.

And that, my friends, was our week in Maine.