Every summer we make a trip up to Kelowna, B.C.  I love the lake and the house.  The shopping used to be great, but unfortunately there are no longer seven different quilt and needlework stores to visit… last year there were only three and I don’t know how many there are this year yet. 

Brad’s cousin was married on Saturday and Brad and my mother-in-law Diane went to the wedding and had a lovely time.  Of course, I wasn’t asking questions when they arrived home at 1 a.m. and were honking and honking the horn because security locked the gate at midnight.  Oops. 

The kidlets and I have had a lovely time on the beach and playing in the sand.  I also brought Twister up with me so have been busily stitching as I’m able.  It’s a big project to cart back and forth but I really want to get caught up. 

Brad heads home today and I’ll be here a few more days with the kids and Bud and Karin.   More swimming and sand castles are on the horizon. 

Yes, summer the season is spelled with a lowercase “s”.  It irritates me when companies use it uppercase when not in titles. 

Anyway - summer is finally in Seattle!  Beautiful warm weather perfect for digging in the garden, laying in the hammock and reading a book, or stitching under the gazebo.  Perfect for long days at the beach with sand toys for the kids and a book or small needlepoint for me.  Perfect for thin sundresses and kids living in swimsuits and bare feet.  The fourth of July was great.  Brad lit fireworks and barbequed and I played with the kids and stitched.  The house stayed fairly clean and no fires started.

 Stitching wise, I finished up the last Vintage Ornament, made some progress on Twister, and moved on to quilting.  I finished the top on Brad’s star quilt, pieced a small spring quilt, and am now doing some hand embroidery on it.  I’m headed with the kids up to Kelowna this next week (Brad is staying here and working) so I’m not sure what project I’ll take.  I like to have small things to work on at the beach so perhaps I’ll go through my ornaments and see what needs to be finished.  I for sure will take Twister and hopefully will get caught up! 

No one probably wonders this, but I’ll explain anyway.  Why do I bother to moderate comments?  Spam!  I get at least a dozen comments a day, all spam.  If moderation was turned off then ya’ll would know where to download free ringtones!

Probably a wordpress thing.

I finally got around to updated my finishing site yesterday.  I did lose a few pictures in the computer crashes but that’s life.

These are all on my website at www.needleworkfinishing.com, too.

The Lantern Purse

The Dollhouse Rug

Eyeglasses Case

Christmas Wreath

LEE Ornaments

Knife Edge Pillow

Bunny Pillow

Needlebook

Finally completed!  This is a present for my mother.  You can see my other Mirabilia’s I’ve stitched at http://www.summerlouise.com/albums/stitching/designers/mirabilia.html. 

Madeline loves to sing the “Row, row, row your boat” song.  Brad’s joke is that of course the person singing thinks “life is but a dream” because they’re not the person doing all the work!

Today after children’s theater I took the kidlets to the Center for Wooden Boats.  It is a maritime heritage museum on south Lake Union.  The boats there were really neat to look at and the kids also LOVED to see the sea planes take off and land - probably the best view of that unless you’re on the plane!  I put all three kids (and myself) in lifejackets and then we rented a small boat and headed out.  Of course, I’ve never actually rowed a rowboat, only canoes.  So I paddled out of the marina canoe style so I didn’t ram into any yachts, then turned the boat around and rowed around the water for a few minutes.  Overall, the kids were pretty good about sitting in the center and not all leaning over to one side at the same time.  When Travis started getting antsy I turned around and rowed (then paddled) back in.  Lots of fun and we’ll definately do it again this summer.  A good workout for my shoulders and arms, too!  Yes, Madeline sang the song off and on through the trip.

Children’s theater “camp” finished up today.  Gas wasn’t $4.40 a gallon when I registered for the class.  They were really pushing the next week of classes - a 25% discount on the class won’t pay for gas, though.  It was a lot of fun and I know the girls really enjoyed it.  We may do one next summer but I’m not sure yet - also not sure what I’m going to do this fall.  I’m going to wrangle all our activities so they’re on shared days and pack snacks for in  between. 

My garden looks awesome. 

When I was a kid, camp involved sleeping bags, splitting wood, and cooking meals on an open fire.  Now, apparently, that meaning has changed to include all day camps, which have nothing to do with the outdoors and more with the child’s interest. 

Madeline and Victoria are attending Children’s Theater “Camp” this week.  It involves quite a bit of driving there and back, which didn’t seem to be a big deal when we signed up last year… gas was cheaper then!  I’ve cut my driving in HALF, by the way.  Anyway, the class is divided into three parts - Art, Movement, and Drama.  They are both having lots of fun.  Monday was all about Australia and Tuesday was all about Africa.  I am glad the girls are together and I hope that the week finishes as nicely as it’s started.

 While the girls are at their classes, Travis and I went to see the Impressionist Exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum.  It was very inspiring.  So many beautiful pieces and the frames were just stunning as well.  All those carved rosettes and swags!  We’ll get down there again, perhaps on Thursday with the girls.  As a side note, my “Q” button on the computer isn’t working properly.  It keeps popping off and I think I just need a new button.  Thanks, Travis!  I am NOT sending in my computer for repair.  I will use superglue before I do that. 

I finished up a couple more of the Beau Geste ornaments. 

 I also finished up this Snowman Sweater needlepoint canvas that I started last year.  I spent a lot of time on this piece while my kids were at swimming class.

Lastly is an update on Twister.  Block B is completed!  I’m on to Block C to catch up with my original stitching goals.