The Stitchy Post

Well, we're almost a week into August now, so I suppose I should review July's stitching goals and share with you what I hope to accomplish in August.

July Goals - Recap
Stitch Two Ornaments - Yes!
Work on Todd's Stocking - Oh boy, did I!
Work on Art Deco Spirits - A little
Work on Tour des Marques - Never had a chance!

August Goals

Work on Todd's Stocking

Work on Tour des Marques

Stitch 2 ornaments

Now onto the stitchy pictures!

Here's Todd's stocking, I've made great progress on it in the last month.

Tour des Marques, I managed to get in a good day's worth on Monday.

Michael Powell's Mini Cottages 6, this is my on the road project worked on it a bit in Florida

August Ornament #1 which I stared last night when I couldn't work on the stocking since Todd was still up.

A short while ago I won a draw on Deb's blog, and here's the goodies she sent me! Thanks for the wonderful goodies Deb!

Well my Mum and I finally made our plans for our little overnight trip. Initially we were going to head to the Ganenoque/Kingston/Rockport area for two days one night. Being the summer that we've had its turned cool and cloudy and not ideal for being on the St. Lawrence Seaway. Also if it rains there's not a lot to do indoors. So we've just booked an overnight stay in Montreal! This way if the weather's nice we can be outside exploring the old city and the port if its crap we can hit the botanical gardens, museums, etc. I'm actually quite excited about this little trip, neither of us have ever stayed right down town (we're within 1km of Vieux Montreal) even though I grew up in the West Island (until 1987). So once again I'll have another photographic journey to share with you and I can't wait!

The Tail End of My Trip

Hey blog readers! Well, I am back home, and have been since dinnertime Sunday.

So where did I leave off when I last blogged? It was Wednesday, so I have Thursday-Saturday left to cover from my Jacksonville, Florida trip.

Thursday Claire and I had a fairly low-key day. We went back to the beach! This time a different one, which is part of a State Park and you can actually drive your car onto the beach. Here are a few of my shots from that day.

Claire enjoying a sunny day.

Ships going into the intercostal waterway.

Beautiful scenery

Birds

Lifeguards

Friday Claire, Patrick and I headed back out to St. Augustine, this time to to some more touristy stuff! I have to say I think it was the hottest day I experienced during my ten days there.

We started out by walking down the main pedestrian street with all the shops.

Isn't this the ideal place to stop for a cool drink? Or in my case, the best gelato ever!

From there we cut up to Flagler College which back in the day was the Ponce de Leon Hotel, it must of been a spectacular sight in its day. We only got to see the grounds and the main lobby as we didn't want to pay for the full tour.

The main entry from inside the courtyard

The fountain in the courtyard.

Do you think these cute guys will keep the stitching frogs at bay?

Claire and Patrick

The ceiling in the lobby.

Some of the spectacular windows (some of them are Tiffany).

Is that Hungry hanging out there?

After checking out Flagler College we headed out to the Island where I conquered all 219 steps of the St. Augustine Lighthouse on a hot day! I have to say there was a wonderful cool breeze when you got to the top!

The Lighthouse from the parking lot

The Lighthouse (it was hard to photograph since the sun was right behind it, but it did make for cool effects)

Oooh that's a long way up, 219 steps you said?

The stunning view from the top.

Saturday we had another low-key day, in the morning we headed out to Claire & Patrick's church where we helped to pain the new choir room (Claire sings in the choir). Of course we were appropriately bribed with pizza. After a rest in the afternoon, we went and saw the new Harry Potter movie, I quite enjoyed it. I know they left out a lot, but if you watch it not being critical of how it doesn't stand up to the book, its not bad.

Then, as all trips do, they come to an end an its time to come home! I was up at "freakin' early o'clock" once again! I had no problems at the Jacksonville airport, but when I got to my connection in Philadelphia... everything was okay until we left the gate. We boarded on time, we left the gate on time... then we waited, and waited in line! They only had one runway open for take-offs. I should of been in the air by 9:45am and in Syracuse, NY by 10:50... well that didn't happen. We spent so much time waiting in line that a severe thunderstorm rolled in. That's when the pilot turned the engines off. We were stuck in a small plane, on the tarmac until almost 12:00! That is wayyy too long to be stuck in a small plane! I didn't get into Syracuse until almost 1pm.

I have to say as nice as it is to go away, and it was fantastic catching up with my best friend, its just as nice to get home!

Tonight was weigh in day at Weight Watchers. I was quite shocked to find I was only up 0.6lbs, so that's a total 1lbs gain while spending 10 days in Florida, eating out at least once a day... and not always the best choices were made! I am now exactly at my goal weight, before this trip I was 1lb under, so this is completely acceptable for my maintenance. So I'm very happy with the end result, and now I can focus on getting that pound back off. I've been eating properly since I got home, I've been out for a walk, and tonight I did a Taekwon-Do class and a Cardio TaeBox class (which sorely kicked my ass after being off for 10 days!).

I am off work for the rest of this week, surprise, surprise my Mum and I are in the process of putting some plans together for Thursday/Friday. I never sit still for long!

Hungry's Trip to the LNS and Lunch Out!

Claire and I had a lovely day out today! We first went to the LNS, A Stitch In Time. Neither of our wallets came away unscathed.

Me & Hungry at A Stitch In Time.

Claire oogling all the lovely models in the shop.

My New Stash.

By this time it was well into the afternoon and all three of us were hungry!

Claire was enjoying Hungry's company.

Hungry also kept us away from the very tempting dessert menu.

After lunch the storm clouds started to roll in, but we went to the beach anyhow! We were there for maybe 15 minutes when the first drops of rain started to come down. I got a few photos and a quick swim in the Atlantic Ocean.

We plan on going back to the beach tomorrow, this time earlier in the day, and to spend a few hours out there.

Did you know that deep down inside Hungry is a Trekkie? He was having too much fun with Claire's husband's memorabilia collection.

Naughty me hiding this all the way down here... sorry I'm not confident enough to give you the full body shot!

Vacation Catch Up

Hello D... BBSW readers! I know I've been pretty quiet so far this week. Of course I am on vacation, a girl can't be expected to blog every day while she's away.

So far this trip down to Jacksonville has been rather quiet and relaxed, compared to my March trip which was a whirlwind! As you all know, this trip isn't for me, its to check up on Claire. Claire is doing well, and is a good place mentally and spiritually. We've had some good and frank conversations over the last few days, I'm happy to know she's got such a good head on her shoulders! I know that the loss of a child just cripples some people.

We have been busy since I arrived, just not running around seeing all the sights and photographing the world (as is my habit). Saturday we went out to lunch at Ruby Tuesday's and did the groceries (how domestic).

I have to say this is one of the worst pictures I've ever taken... I must of been hungry, its not in focus!! This is Claire and her husband at lunch on Saturday.

Sunday afternoon, once Claire and her husband got back from church (I had a nice lie in), Claire and I went shopping! We did way more walking than buying (which can be a good thing).

That would be where I saw this lovely hibiscus.

Monday (yesterday) boy did Claire and I do a lot of walking! We hit the outlet malls in St. Augustine. Once again I got some new clothes! There were also a couple of items I didn't buy back in March that I was able to pick up this time around! I also got... my bikini! Oh my gosh! Now to find the guts to wear it at the beach... of course I have no other beach wear so there's little option.

Yup, here's my pink little number from Tommy Hillfiger!

Today was a quiet day, we stitched, and I made it into the local Weight Watcher meeting. After my first week on maintenance I'm up 0.4lbs... I think being on vacation, not eating as I would at home, and being able to eat more... I did very well. However tonight I sure pushed the boat out! I had a low point dinner at Boston's , but then we went to Cold Stone Creamery, what ice-creamy decadence! I'm going to have to walk a-lot to work this off!!!

Here's where Todd's stocking stands as of tonight.

I think tomorrow we're hitting the LNS - A Stitch in Time!

Okay Mum, I Made it Safely

Last night my Mum asked me to post on my blog that I made it safely to Claire's in Jacksonville Florida. This is the post Mum! I'm here, I'm safe, and I've given Claire a super-big hug! What a relief it is to see Claire and know that she's doing okay!

I have to say my trip down here was a little interesting. I can tell you that this girl (body) doesn't do 4am very well! Then when I got to the airport, waiting to check-in for my flight to Detroit the computer system for Northwest Airlines went down for all of Eastern US!!! They had a plane load of grumpy passengers at 5am... as they couldn't check anyone in, the staff was starting to do it manually when the system came back up. I was surprised that they got us all checked in and off the ground in time. The bonus to this, they waived the baggage fee for all passengers that saved me a few bucks. Oh yeah, word of advice, don't sit in the very last row of the plane... very noisy!!!!

I got to Detroit on time, with a little to spare so I walked around the terminal... big mistake! I came across a Mrs. Fields and I've heard all about their cookies. I was actually okay until I saw they had this chocolate/peanut butter square and caved in. That was a lot of points, and oh so tasty! We were late getting off the ground in Detroit due to a line-up on the tarmac which but my arrival 30 minutes late.

After dropping off my stuff Claire and I met up with her parents for lunch at Ted's Montana Grill. I had the most yummy bison burger! We followed lunch with a stroll through a couple of shops, I got to hit Jo-Ann's but only came away with a few fat quarters (yes Mum, I was thinking of you!).

This evening has just been relaxing, talking stitching, stitching, and a walk once it cooled down outside.