Tuesday To Do #4: Will Travel (But Will Greatly Miss Snow, Cat and Sewing Room)


Hola!  Happy Tuesday!
Linking up to Tuesday To Do and Sew & Tell.

When last I posted, I made only one goal:  to work on my current
quilt and name it.  I've decided to stick to "Flannel Woods" but due
to a lot of traveling, I haven't sewn a thing in these two weeks.
But hey, I'm going to do an update anyway...

First up I decided to tag along on hub's biz trip to DC.  With an
early afternoon flight, I'd only partially packed the day before
but that night we got hit with a blizzard that resulted in a loss of
power for 33K people around midnight--us included.  I'll skip all of
the drama but I was mere minutes from cancelling when suddenly
 we were all brought back into this century.  It made for a very hectic
(can I stress that enough??)
departure but somehow I made it without forgetting a thing.

Oh I love a good snow storm and, with our deck stocked full of
wood, I don't even mind power loss so I was rather annoyed
that I couldn't just relax and enjoy it.  A small reason among
many bigger ones that I almost stayed home but c'est la vie.


This was not my first trip to DC so while I did take in a few sights
like Ford Theater and the National Archives, I also spent plenty of
time chilling and reading in coffee shops and in a favorite pub.
I also did a little shopping.  Side note:  after many years, I finally
caved and got some lululemon's.  I'll be buying more.  'Nuff said.


To keep things quilty in this post, I snapped a couple shots of the
wallpaper in the house where Lincoln was cared for as he died.
(Sorry they keep it kind of dark in there!)


These aren't originals but they're close and if I were more into
applique, I think I'd recreate some of these in quilts.  For me,
applique is really a matter of "ain't nobody got time for that".
Maybe I'll just copy the color schemes sometime.
 

Temps may have been arctic at home but not in DC so I was
able to do a lot of walking around, something I have no prob
doing by myself...during the day that is.


(Hubs was along for this one.)
So I guess I do have this progress to report:  10k steps per day ☑️ 

We arrived back home Friday evening, and then turned right
around and flew out Saturday for the Dominican Republic.


Again, I missed the -25 windchill fun back home.  There I was
in the sun, temps in the upper 80's and a spectacular view, and
yet a part of my heart was back home with the snow and snuggly
 weather.  I was also a little worried about the chickens, the power
 staying on and all that jazz.  We just have a knack for leaving
when the weather gets interesting I guess.  Don't get me wrong,
it was all lovely.  But I'm trying to convince hubs to look at
traveling at slightly different times of the year.

A major flight delay put us in Chicago overnight again before we
caught that last flight home so least I got to enjoy their snow.
Back here things are in the ugly-snow phase but I'm trying to enjoy
it anyway.  We're entering into more of a 40's temp week.  To me,
this is the ugliest winter weather.  Too cold  to really be outside but
not cold enough to snow and and be pretty.
Still, I'll be grateful for the rain that's on the way.

I knocked out three books while on vacation:


A Girl Called Samson by Amy Harmon.  On Kindle Unlimited and a
Revolutionary War story--two things that work for me.  It's loosely
based on the true story of a woman who disguised herself and served
as a soldier.  Coincidentally for me, a decent part of it took place at
West Point and in the surrounding towns which was all kinds of fun
since I can easily picture the area and layout in my mind having
traveled all around there extensively.  I'm still trying to decide if this
really qualifies as a  "worthwhile read" for me though since it ended
up being romantic (and that part not true)* but I did enjoy it.
 *(Just a tad, ahem, spicy but not really descriptive, thankfully.)


The second was Beneath a Scarlet Sky, another by Mark Sullivan.
Holey moley, this one was even better than The Last Green Valley
that I mentioned in my last post.   It's only January and I'm only
 6 books in but I'm positive it will be my favorite read of the year.


Jim Popkin.  At times the writing was a little dry but this look into
how our government works was interesting.  Spies and crime aren't
normally for me but I still found this worth the read.  And perhaps
a bit more enjoyable having just visited DC the week before?
A definite "worthwhile read."
 
It looks like I'm killin' it on the reading but it's only due to all of
the vacation/travel time.  Now that I'm back home, it will be
much harder to find time to read with the quilts calling.

On to quilty things...
Knowing I was going to be gone, I took my Pfaff in for a tune-up.
She was finished just before we got back so now we're both
quite ready to get this party started.  So, for next week:

* * * Week 4 Priority * * *
1)  Finish Flannel Woods top; find backing

2) Go through fabrics; organize and purge any unwanteds
Also go through scraps.

Well, not my most interesting post but it's good to be home!
Happy quilting!

Comments

Linda said…
What a fun post - loved every word. Your trip to DC sounds like fun, and that breakfast bowl looks like one of my favorites! When I used to go with Hubs on biz trips I had no problem being alone and walking or driving to places by myself. I kind of miss those times (but not enough to go back to pre-retirement!) The Dominican Republic looks gorgeous! Were the chickens OK when you got home? Love that yellow-ish wallpaper, yes it would make a gorgeous quilt.
sounds like you have had an interesting winter zipping here and there while the rest of us are huddled in the cold LOL -- I thought the spy book you mentioned sounds good and got it on kindle unlimited
Bernie Kringel said…
I bet you are so happy to be home. Traveling is fun but coming home feels great. I loved A Girl Named Samson. I knew is was fictionalized but it gave such a great look into what she went through - the added romance kept it interesting. I thought it was a good read.
Home Sewn By Us said…
Hi Cheree! Now that's a newsy post with lots of pretty non-snow-filled photos. It looks like you had a blast except for all those travel delays, etc. Yippee to have your machine all serviced and ready to go when you are. Now it's back to bidness for a while, maybe. {{Hugs}} ~smile~ Roseanne
piecefulwendy said…
Well, I enjoyed the update, and seeing the photos! I need to check out that second book, because now I'm curious. Was your machine humming today?
Vicki W said…
I loved Beneath a Scarlet Sky so I'll have to check out Green Valley! I read Code Name Blue Wren and really liked it so we have similar tastes. I'll check into the Amy harmon book too.
Kate said…
Looks like you had some fun trips and missed the worst of the really cold stuff. Enjoy getting back to your sewing room. I don't really feel like I've gotten back from vacation till I've had a good afternoon in my sewing room.
Kim said…
Oh, dear! Now I have another book (Beneath a Scarlet Sky looks interesting) to add to my already too long TBR list. :) Your travels look fun and interesting and I'm glad you got to enjoy them (and miss the winter weather, which is not my favorite).
Kathryn T said…
Well what an exciting time. Loved reading about your travels and your reluctance to leave all that gorgeous snow behind. Look at those three books you got read. Awesome. And love the wall paper.
Marsha Cooper said…
I went on a school trip to Washington D.C. in 9th grade. May have been many (many) years ago, but since I don't get to travel often at all, it was a trip to remember.