A Busy Morning!

Tomorrow we leave for our four day retreat.  We'll be leaving around 3:00 pm for Gail's cottage located in Bear River, Nova Scotia, approximately 20 miles from where we live.  

I'm so excited and looking so forward to it!  Five of us are going and it promises to be a time filled with sewing, eating, laughing, playing pranks (this part I'm a little concerned about)...oh, and did I mention eating?

This morning I've been at it for almost 3 and a half hours, preparing Mr. Painted Quilt's favorite "snack" foods.  Of course I wouldn't want him to starve while I'm away having fun...and doing my share of eating too!  *wink*

So, the chilli is on the stove simmering...

The macaroni salad is made, covered and in the refrigerator chilling...

And the Cornish pastie pie is prepped and will be coming along with me to the retreat.

If you'd like the recipe to my pastie pie and to see how I make it, just click HERE.  I promise you, it's yummy!

While prepping all the food this morning, I realized that this was the longest I've stood at any given time since my surgery.  No wonder I'm so tired and admittedly, a little sore.  I think I'm going to need a little snooze this afternoon but not before I deliver a few more quilt samples to Darlene's new quilt shop.

My friend Darlene is opening a quilt shop in Digby, Nova Scotia on the 1st of November.  You've "met" Darlene before...she's the one who designed the mystery quilt that was so popular throughout blogland just a short while ago. You can visit her blog here...Quilts by Darlene.

Remember a couple of posts back when I showed you a sneak peek of a quilt that I was making for a friend?

Well here it is, finished and hanging in Darlene's shop which by the way is called, "A Needle Pulling Thread".

The picture isn't the best and you can't see any of the detail because the lighting is off due to the fact that the windows in Darlene's shop are covered with paper in order to keep everyone in suspense until her grand opening on the first of November.

So, if you're anywhere near Digby from that time forward, make sure that you stop in at A Needle Pulling Thread located at 3 Warwick Street, right downtown.  If you love country, primitive, Civil War and reproduction fabrics...not to mention hand dyed wool...then this is definitely the place for you to visit.  I don't think there is another quilt shop in Canada that I know of that will have the look and selection of products that Darlene is carrying.  She also has some gifts and antiques and collectibles to tickle you heart and tempt your pocket book as well!  

I'll be taking some photos of her shop once it's all set up and I'm sure Darlene will too.  Why not stop by her blog and wish her well?  I'm sure she'd love to hear from you!

I'll leave you with a photo of the boys taken this morning as they warmed their tootsies by the first fire of the season in the kitchen.

Ahhhh.  Bliss!

 Now I'd better give the chilli a stir before it burns!

Happy stitching!