Retreat 2018

I have been at retreat since Thursday afternoon and will head home today.  Friday night I went home for awhile, and last night Far Guy came over to have dinner with us... Andy’s Award Winning Ribs, corn bread,  potato salad (my recipe) and root beer floats.

I am working on Christmas Cards.

These flowers here are surviving, Far Guy reports that my flowers froze on Saturday morning and there were snow flakes in the air at home.

Far Side

A Tough Week

It was a tough week…seemed to have lots of death…and tears.

One of my Aunt’s died the same day as Chance died.  Her funeral will be next week. It seems like a long wait…I think people are dying to get into the funeral home…a bit of dark humor on this Saturday.

I am away from home…usually I leave Far Guy and Chance and go to the Craft Retreat an hour away…many times they would come visit me there.  This time Far Guy will be alone.  He encouraged me to go…I can come back home anytime over the weekend.  Far Guy says the time away will do me some good.  He has a list of things that he wants to accomplish and he may join us for supper one night.

It may snow while I am away…I packed a winter coat.  The same women have been meeting at the same retreat for many years now…several mothers and daughters will be there.  It used to be mostly scrapbooking…but has evolved to what ever craft you want to work on…I will be working on our Christmas cards.

Photo from retreat last year

Crafts

I did not go to the winter craft retreat for the weekend but I did go over and visit a little and to work on a project yesterday.  Far Guy was watching High School Hockey on TV and Chance kept him company while I was gone.

While I was there Jen gave a demonstration on Alcohol Inks.  Very interesting and beautiful designs can be made.

The ink is put on special paper called Yupo.

Jen put drops of paint on the special paper and then a bit of alcohol and then gently blew on the paper.

It is messy…and the designs can change as they dry. Jen put plastic down on the table before she began.  Jen will use the paper in her card making.

Jen had a special die that I used for my project… May Baskets.  The baskets are all cut out and I will put them together in the next few weeks… I like playing with paper. These are small baskets…they will hold some jelly beans or maybe some gum.  The girls suggested that they would hold cash quite nicely.

It was a relaxing couple of hours. It is fun to see what everyone was working on.  There were scrapbookers and card makers…and Jamie was doing business book work. Sometimes there are gals that sew…and some that work on electronic scrapbooking. There are no restrictions you can bring what ever craft/busy work you want to work on for the weekend.  I will go again in the Fall and work on Christmas Cards.

Playing with paper

I try to attend a scrapbooking retreat every year with our youngest daughter Jen.  There are twelve women in our group…a few change from time to time…I am the oldest.

I left Far Guy and Chance to fend for themselves…looks like they dusted and cleaned a bit and there was nothing that needed my attention when I got home except for a computer problem.  Far Guy said he had Gumbo two nights so that made him smile.  I was able to connect with him through Facetime, me on the Ipad and him on the Iphone.  ( I could see he was okay.)

I played with paper mostly.  I worked on our Christmas Card, it is a many step design so it will keep me busy for a few more weeks…but I have time. I took my beading projects along and quickly found out I do not have the grip strength to crimp the crimp beads yet.

I did some shopping and purchased some …more paper of course since I am a paper hoarder.  A new pair of winter boots…Bear Paws that are dark brown ...on sale!  And I got a hair cut…I am minus about six inches of the grey stuff and it is still shoulder length.

New projects. The first one is a box made out of paper including the bow.  This is accomplished with a special die and a Sizzix machine and double sided paper.

 

Second we have a small post it notepad cover.  It took a bit of math to figure out the proper spots to score the paper.  Double sided paper was used. I know my farm animals are going the wrong way…I should have cut the paper differently….I don’t care it is still cute!

Velcro Dots are used for the closure. The post it pad is glued to the inside. We also figured out what the recipe would be for the smaller post it notes. Perfect little gift for women to put in their purse.

Some of the gals scrapbook, some make cards, one sews….one just worked on organizing files in her computer.

The place we stay is a huge log building with a work area well lit and we each have a six foot work table.  There are a number of bedrooms all with single beds…and the place has a kitchen and three bathrooms…that is just one side.  The other side was a quilting retreat…I have only been in the other side once.  The grounds are nice…the place is used mainly for weddings in the spring, summer and fall and for craft retreats in between weddings and all winter long.

Jen plans all the meals so once we are there we never have to leave unless we want to.  Everyone helps with meal preparation and cleanup. Evening  meals included a baked potato bar, summer salad with chicken.  Breakfast were eggs and fruit. Lunch was snacks as everyone brings something to share…I brought apples along with individual caramel sauce for apple dipping and potato chips.

It was good to play with paper but it is also good to be home.

Sorting

I spent the afternoon sorting beads.  I have a few projects that I would like to do at a retreat at the end of the month and I wanted to get some supplies together. Sorting beeds can be done with your left hand.  I am getting better at using my right elbow too…it can shut doors.

Far Guy is like a General..no sweeping acorns…he hollers… enough!  He says I must be getting better because I am argumenative.  He says when I am really sick/in pain I don’t argue a bit…he also asked if I was ready to do the other hand yet?  Nope not so much…I hope it never requires surgery.

A family member suggested that I tape my arm to my body.  Another one asked “Why in the world were you doing dishes?’  duh…cause they were dirty?

 

See neat and orderly…those black ones in between the red ones might get moved…my OCD/CDO may take over.

Two packets ready to go to retreat. I must have been in a pink/green mood.

I am not certain that I will be able to use my hand enough to stamp Christmas Cards at retreat, watercolor and assembly perhaps but stamping takes a bit of motion that causes me pain.  I have some stamped but I know I don’t have 120 of them stamped…I may have to recruit my most handsome handy husband to help me one day next week.

My hand is better, but it still insists on swelling and is painful when used too much.  I am trying to take it as easy as I can.

Newfangled

Trying something new today... I have never used my IPad to blog.

First I had to learn about the camera.  That was fun, I especially like the pano view. Someday maybe I will use it for a photo other than Far Guy laying around. So far so good.  The camera is not too bad.

 

This is my desk pre retreat.  Last year I went for only a day, this year I am planning on three days.  God willing and the creek don't rise.

Far Guy bought me that Right Brain book for my birthday.  So far I have only read in it... No drawing yet. I will leave it home.

So far this newfangled way of blogging is ok. I guess the real test will be IF it publishes when it is supposed to.

I hope you have a good weekend!  I made vegetable soup for the retreat and that is the extent of my cooking for the weekend. 

Far Side

Back Home

The retreat was a success.  I created what I wanted to and got one project under control!!   Time away is good but getting home is good too.   I think I was missed…at least that is what they say.

The house was perfectly cleaned when I got home…dishes done…no dust in sight

The weather was warm and then a cold front came through and the temperatures dropped 30 degrees just like that.

Our summery interlude is over.

Lind Lake

It will be a busy week.  A funeral to attend.  A meeting and program I should go to…but I am undecided.  Carving…and a group gathering which I may or may not go to. AND we get October this week.  I should think about making an October list of projects.

Progress

I finished the entries in the Cousin’s Cookbook…342 recipes.  It was good to get that out of my hair.  For some reason I cannot export it to a Flash Drive…my computer says a USB Device needs a driver…and the SanDisk needs no driver according to their website.  I may have a bad Flash Drive and I will give it a go when I get home.

I have been working on my cards.

It was a beautifully warm weekend, highs yesterday were in the 80’s.

I am making progress with my beading project, I have a better idea of what is involved after Nellie visited.  She also left me with a stash of beading supplies …so I can practice up a storm.  It will be a great winter project!

I am ready to go home today.  I am used to a quieter environment.  I miss Far Guy and Chance.

Retreat Projects

I am away on a retreat…to a place where hopefully I can finish up two large projects.

I have been feeling overwhelmed.

I hummed and hawed about attending the retreat.  I should scrapbook… I should finish up The Cousins Cookbook and get it on a flash drive and I need to make cards.   I decided to go and devote one day to my cards ( Thursday night and Saturday afternoon), Friday is Cookbook Day, Saturday morning I am learning to bead with one of my best friends and Sunday I will finish up and go back home.

No scrapbooking this time around.  I can work on the scrapbooks next winter and then switch over to digital scrapbooking.  I love working with paper but I can see that I need to finish up some of my scrapbooks and get them scanned and then go digital!

Of course making cards helps calm the paper/photo hoarder… it makes her feel useful.

I  usually get tons done at a retreat, no phone = no interruptions, I can stay up all night and take a nap during the day, I can concentrate on the tasks at hand.  I can wear jammies all day long and no one says a word.

Far Guy and Chance will survive for a few days without me.  They may come visit if they get too lonely.  They have lots of food and hopefully they will stay out of trouble.

The retreat is near a lake, about 11 other women will be there, all ages…most are educators. I have met most of them at one time or another.

Lind Lake last year.

Last year I just went for one night and part of a day…I was still working back then…this year I am retired 

Relaxing

I had a really nice night/day at Lind Lake with all the scrapbooking gals.  I did not drag out my scrapbooks.  Instead I worked on my cards.  The ones I make using my photographs. Jen asked “Mom what are you going to do with all those cards?”   I send most of them out, it is surprising the number of sympathy cards I send out and of course I give some away to silent auctions and to other people “just because.” 

I find working with paper relaxing.  Since I am a paper hoarder it also gives me a reason to purchase more.  We went out for breakfast and went shopping for more paper, yes I bought some more.  I made lots of cards in the afternoon. I came home late in the day and had a nap.  It was a good day..sorry Red no pictures of a cake…we don’t eat cake very often around here!  No candles to blow out either…probably a good thing as that could have been a fire hazard.

Far Guy, Jen and family gifted me with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 software.  It will take me some time to master that program.  I hope my older brain is up to the challenge.  Good thing there are tutorials online…I may have to take notes!  Jen has the same program and really likes it so I suppose I will too after a period of adjustment.

I went for a walk. 

Cattails at Lind Lake

Very little blue sky between rain showers.  We are having a cool wet spell, I know the trees need water this time of year but I need just a little sunshine:)

Inside a scrappers mind

Today we shall interview the gals that are here with me at the retreat.  Ages 29 to 58.  Most of who are state employees, mothers or soon to be mothers and one grandmother ( I bet you can guess who that is.)  

What brought you here?

A Car.  Opportunity to spend the weekend with friends. Guilt.. so I can show my three year old her scrapbook and  so the girls will know they are loved so they won’t do drugs or be teen moms. Jen. Jen and Highway 10.  I went to a retreat last January and I was talking to Jen and she said she was going to set up another retreat..I told her to count me in! My sister told me I had to come or she was going to come and get me.  My friends.  I came to organize six years of photos. Spending time with family and scrapbooking. Jens birthday.

Are you a digital scrapper or traditional..and why?

Traditional..because it fulfills my need to play with stickers, paper and glue.  That is what I know and because I don’t  want to become addicted to digital.  I spend all day on a computer..I would not want to do it as a hobby.  Cause I am on the computer at school all the time and I like hands on stuff. I like playing with paper and being able to touch it.  Because I like buying stickers.  I am currently traditional..but I am going to cross over, because I won’t have to get out supplies every time I want to scrap.  Because I like to be creative, and I want to leave something for my kids. I like three dimensional and personal touches.

Digital..I never bought the paper supplies, I can share with my family overseas through email or they can view my pages online.  ( In the Netherlands she had never heard of scrapbooking..but learned all about it from my daughter.) I started making a surprise Christmas gift for my husband..and it was easy to hide from him..I have two small children and I don’t need the mess.

How many scrapbooks have you completed?

Zero..seven..five..my daughter is making a list she doesn’t have enough fingers to count (twenty-seven)..five..eight..three..two..fifteen to twenty, one and three. 

What is your favorite item to use in your scrapbooks?

Decorative papers, cricket, my personal trimmer, computer, black marker, patterned paper, ribbon, tape runner, ribbon (again), the computer and cricket ( again).

What is your scrapbooking philosophy?

You can never have enough stickers.  I am an event scrapper, I must keep up or I will get frustrated and quit.  Just do it!  You must buy all the paper in the free world.  Every page must go through an approval process. I am inspired by the pictures, they lead everything I do, but I am always afraid that they won’t reflect the moment perfectly.  Hmm..boy that is a tough one,  I have to think about that one..hmm.  Don’t think about it too much.  As long as you are telling a story it is worth it.    Trying to capture the moment on the page.  Have fun..no stress:)

Someone is 35!

This is the birthday card I made for Jen, this past summer was all about the water and her years growing up at a resort on the lake.  Those years were revisited for her this summer when she and her husband purchased a pontoon boat.

Thirty-five years ago, Far Guy got his wish for two little girls when our second and last daughter was born.  She was an early birthday gift for me ..along with a Electric Avocado Green Can Opener.  That can opener is upstairs in a box with a note on it that says..this must be Jen’s as I got it when she was born.

We began celebrating her birthday last night at 12:01.  Throughout the summer I have been collecting gifts for her at garage sales and Antique Shops..thirty- five of them..one for every year.  Next door neighbor Jo has been helping me find “stuff”. The first gift I gave her was a brass bell with a Carousel Horse on it..she gets a gift every time she rings the bell.  What kinds of things did I wrap up?  An apron just like her Grandmother H used to wear, a hankie that I got one year tucked into my birthday card when I was much younger, potholders ( she really needed them), candy necklaces that she used to enjoy as a child, a paper weight from the Val Chatel sale and  a little yellow wooden bunny from Finland… are just a few of the treasures I found to irritate her with.  Some of the gifts are met with tears ( the apron) some are met with smiles ( the candy necklace) some are just practical..like some new dish towels.  It is an adventure of gifts..on one of those mile stone birthdays..smack dab in the middle..not a young thirty and not an old forty.

I was tempted to have Far Guy get the ladder out and find the box with the can opener in it..maybe next year..it is well on it’s way to being an Antique.

Trica is here with a mountain of photos. She is sitting across from me.

Today I am working on the pages and the old photos of a new baby that entered the world on this day in 1975..it seems like only yesterday.

  The scrapbook retreat is going well. I am making headway. The last of the gals to arrive was my oldest daughter, Trica..she is my roommate.  She serenaded me all night long, early this morning I woke up because she was not snoring.  Kinda like when she was little and slept in a bassinet and I would listen to her breathe all night long..I knew every little sigh she made and when she became restless and was about to wake up..well times have not changed very much.  I am sure she gets her snoring from her father:) 

The little creek that comes out of the lake at the Scrapbook Retreat.

Milestones

Well I made it here..to the Scrapbook retreat.  I only drove by once…Jen and Sarah were already here. Unloading went great, I got everything unpacked, and in place and got ready to create.

Here is were I slept for a couple of hours…yes I brought a blankie and a pillow from home ..so sue me.

I have been busy..

This is just a rough layout..it may or may not be the actual two page spread. Most likely it will be ..this trip was back in 2007, just Far Guy and Chance and I off exploring in Michigan. 

My chair was really uncomfortable, I could not get it adjusted correctly..so I did what any other Mother would have done..I stole Jens..this mornings conversation went like this “ MOTHER did you mess with my chair?”..she had spent about twenty minutes last night adjusting it so it would be just perfect for her.  Little did she know that it was perfect for me too.  I replied “ Nope I did not mess with it..I stole it.”  I expect that when I take a break and leave the room she will steal it back.

Oh yeah..this entry is supposed to be about milestones.. how many blog entries do you suppose I have as of today?  Who woulda thunk it..I wanted to get more better at writing.  I guess I will have to continue..onward and forward.

One thousand entries have been made at this blog…I still have more to say, I am not sure what it is yet..but I am not out of words… yet.    I would like to thank all my readers and commenter's who have made me a legend in my own mind. 

There is a mirror above the kitchen sink here, I peeked.. and there is some old woman in there:)

Scrapbooking Retreat

I am getting ready to go to a scrapbooking retreat with both of our daughters.  I have not been to a retreat weekend for a number of years. I used to go twice a year, it was a time to catch up and relax and just giggle most of the weekend.  Jen and I have gone to retreats all over in North Dakota and Minnesota.  Trica has never been able to attend until this year..so it should be fun! 

It will take me all week to get organized.  Deciding which scrapbook I wanted to work on was the hardest.    I have one completed scrapbook..it is mine from birth (1951) to engagement (1969).  My second scrapbook takes off with our wedding in 1969 and is stalled in the year 1974. My Third scrapbook I started with 2005 and it is stalled in 2007…that is the one that I will concentrate on this time around.   A few years ago I completed scrapbooks of both the girls School Years from K through Graduation, it was quite a project.

Well in my hunt for some organization to this scrapbooking madness, I found this tucked away in my scrapbook desk..

This must have been from 2007, when Madison was in third grade.  It will go in the scrapbook.  I am still looking for a photo from around that time..I can find one from the year before..

I still have a whole week to get ready and to become more organized.  I like to have all my paper and photos and embellishments all picked out and ready to just create pages. I have been known to spend a day just picking out the paper that I will take along.  They have wifi there..so I will still be able to write everyday..I hope the weather is warm so I can sit on the dock and put my feet in the water.

I will only be about 35 miles from home.. Chance will have to be in charge of Far Guy. I may even come back home to sleep one night, I will be the oldest person there..all the rest of the gals are young things who can scrapbook endlessly without sleeping:)