A New Year Challenge

Yesterday we went to the Franklin Club for a New Year's Buffet Brunch.  Delicious!  But then, the New Year's Buffet is always that!

The weather was fantastic - cold, but bright and sunny.  It takes about 1 hour to get to the club, but the drive was well worth it!  I took a photo of Franklin Lake while we were there.  It was snow covered, but the ice was not thick enough to walk on yet.  Soon the lake will be covered with ice huts for fishing.

I have decided to join Carrie of A Passion for Applique in her UFO Challenge for 2013.  Here are the first 3 projects I hope to finish this month.

Number 1.  This is Easy Street.  I know that it is still in progress, but I am so far behind I may never catch up if I don't put it on my to-do list.

Number 2.  The Super Heroes quilt for my DS.  This is not really a UFO either, but I have changed it and started over so many times that I feel as if it is.  I am doing it in a Kaffe, 'Target Log Cabin" style.  I have also seen it called, "Cabin Tracks'.  I don't know yet what I will call it.  Maybe 'Target Heroes".   I would love to have it finished by the end of this month.

Number 3.  This one really is a UFO.  I started it a couple of years ago.  It's a Disappearing Nine-Patch.  I ran out of the blue fabric, so I put it away.  Now I would like to finish it.  It will take some thought to figure out how to make it bigger.

A Wonderful Easter Weekend

Hope everyone had a good Easter. Ours was totally smooth and non-stressful. The Easter bunny did not hide any eggs at our house, which was a good thing. And I did not have to cook an Easter dinner, another good thing.

Instead we went to the Franklin Club. It's a fishing club we belong to. We walked around a bit and sat, watching spring and nature at work. When we were there a couple of months ago, there was ice and snow everywhere as well as a good number of ice huts on the lake. But yesterday the weather was perfect! The water was clear, the sun was shining and there were no black flies or mosquitoes yet.
And when I say 'walk', I mean it! I actually walked along the lake with only a couple of rests in my wheelchair. It was so wonderful! We sat and watched the trout, jumping out of the water as they celebrated spring and the arrival of lazy flies that landed on the surface. A gigantic spider, known as a Carolina Wolf spider walked on the brown grass beside us. I think this one must have been a female because it was over an inch and a half in size, not including her legs! I don't think I have ever seen one so big! I didn't take a photo because it was impossible to see her in the brown grass unless she was moving. Wolf spiders don't make webs, but burrow into the sand along the edge of the lake instead. They 'hunt' by chasing their prey. Fascinating creatures!

We went back to the clubhouse dining room and had a delicious Easter buffet lunch. Everything from salads, a selection of cheeses and cold cuts, shrimp, smoked salmon, a whole ham, carved by the chef himself, roast beef, lamb, chicken and so much more. For dessert there was a selection of cakes, pies and other sweets. I could never have cooked all of this at home. And just think about the mess I avoided in my kitchen!

I finished the 'Bear' baby quilt. Just haven't taken a photo yet. It was raining this morning, but now the sun has come out and I think it will be light enough to get a good photo. I worked on my spooltjes this weekend - got another 8 done. These are mostly greens because that is what I had out last week. I also started to sew a few together. I think it will be an impossible and daunting task to sew them all together at the end - when I have a few hundred of them. So if I do a few every weekend it will not seem like so much work - I hope. I am doing these by hand so I can stop and start where ever I want.

I'll post my 'Bear' quilt tomorrow.