Monday Meandering 10 - 1 - 2018

Welcome October 

When last I wrote, the normal Monday blog was actually written on Thursday evening and set to post very early Monday morning.  YES!  I succeeded on doing that correctly!  Let's hear it for succeeding with a new skill.  What I didn't share was Friday afternoon we were leaving for a week of vacation.  Pat and I and our friends left for a cruise on the St. Lawrence River and the North Atlantic.  I've been wanting to do this cruise for years but it generally conflicted with my October retreat or Pat's barbershop competition.  So when everything aligned beautifully we talked our friends into going with us and off we went.  

Eventually I'll add more pictures but I sure don't want to over do it.  Today I'll share a few pics from the first day and a half.  (I promise, I won't be putting 20 pictures on a post but maybe 10 every once and a while!) We flew to Montreal to take the Veendam of Holland American line. Here we are ready for our adventure. 

Our evening was spent cruising up (down?) the St Lawrence River enjoying the views. Here is a lovely church.  The church's roof was gleaming silver in the late afternoon sun.  My guess is it has a metal roof. This picture doesn't do it justice.  We were hoping that the leaves would be giving us a beautiful show but that wasn't the case. Lots of green trees although the green is definitely looking like the end of summer.  

The journey continued overnight.  In the morning we were in Quebec City harbor. We had arranged tours in several of the ports.  Today's was a city tour which would start after an early lunch. Because these tours weren't offered by the cruise line, we had to walk to get to our meeting place.  We passed this part of the harbor with lots of small and large boats.  One of the hallmarks of all the locations we sailed to was harbors filled with sail boats and sometimes motor boats.  

The sky was cloudy and rain was threatening.  It mostly was misting during our tour -- no heavy downpours.  This was the first indication I may not have packed correctly for the trip.  My raincoat was water "resistant" not water "proof" and pretty old. Before we left the dock area we had to go over the water --- oops! It was actually a lock that we had to cross and the way forward was blocked because it was filling! When we looked around we realized there was a bridge over it -- fun to see and feel the power of the water as it filled the lock. 

We were able to catch our bus very close to the harbor. What we didn't know is we were taken up to a different area to pick up the tour bus.  (Hum, hindsight is 20-20!  That's where the cruise line's bus was dropping off folks!)  We had an excellent tour guide/driver.  He had worked for the national park system for years and was working as a guide/driver in retirement.  

I'll close with one more picture that I took specifically because it reminded me of a quilting pattern.  Loved the doors painted in various colors and the cool knocker -- along with the transom window with leaded glass.  This was taken in Old Quebec city.  I can sure see this design on a quilt. (Don't expect to see it on any of my quilts anytime in the near or distant future!) 

We got home early Saturday evening totally exhausted.  That said, both Pat and I would love to go to any of the communities we visited for a longer stay.  Needless to say neither of us did anything more than unpack that night.  The next morning wasn't much better except I did all the laundry.  

Late afternoon I started perking up and eventually headed down to the studio.  I

had checked my goals list and realized I hadn't done much of any of them.  (On the other hand, I knew I wasn't going to either.)  I pulled out the pillowcase pieces that I'd cut earlier and made up one case.  After dinner I cut out another and made a second case.  Unfortunately, that was almost the only finishes I had for the month of September.  I'll be adding up my usage and purchases fairly soon so I know where I stand.  Here's the two pillowcases -- Christmas with some super heroes. (And, I have no idea who they are except Spiderman.) 

 Here's my goals from last week... yea, not many and not many successes.

September 24, 2018

Cut a quilt for retreat Oops, didn’t happen  

Finish up sock Um, nope

Knit on Theo’s sweater √

Make a pillowcase (well, it could happen, maybe)√√ 

And this week I plan to get a LOT done! 

October 1, 2018

Finish cutting 2 projects - pirates and friendship star

Embroider 4 pirate blocks 

Figure out a 3rd project

Knit on Theo’s sweater (maybe start the body over….) 

Finish sock 

Attend retreat!!! YEA

Finish pirate top, friendship star and maybe one more project! 

I'm linking up with my regular Monday linky parties: Oh Scrap!, Monday Making, Main Crush Monday, and Moving It Forward.  I'm hoping I can get back to writing my Monday blog on Sunday evening... it sure makes Monday easier if I can! 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie