A weekend away!

 

Last weekend I surprised my husband with a weekend away.  We drove up to " The Rousseau Marriott" on Friday.  It was a beautiful drive, and about 1/2 hour before we arrived at the hotel the snow started to fall; soft and fluffy flakes.  It was picturesque.  

 

Our room overlooked the lake with a small private balcony..  It had a small kitchenette and lavish bathroom.  It was like staying at a qaint country Inn, with all the necessary amenities.

We awoke Saturday to a sunny view of Lake Rousseau.  After a filling breakfast we went on a hike around the Hotel grounds.

We had lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon in a cozy spot, with views of the frozen lake.  I stitched and David edited the photos we had taken on our morning walk.

We then went for a swim and sat in the outdoor hot tub before getting ready for dinner.

We ended our day with a wonderful Valentine's dinner in their Teca Restaurant.

If you would like to see the full album of our weekend away, click on the link below.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.364946370196293.90121.100000427987605&type=3&l=bb2bd5a312

Happy Valentine's Day

I would recommend a variegated red thread

On the radio the other day, the hosts were discussing why women always expect their man to take charge and arrange something special for Valentine's Day.  The callers, all men, were mixed in their opinions - one gentleman claimed that he loves Valentine's Day because it's a great opportunity to score points with his Mrs.  I quite enjoyed the banter, mainly because it's SOOO true.  Women, including myself, expect our significant other to make us feel loved and appreciated, but men have this desire as well (so I'm told).  This got me thinking; this year I will take charge and do something special for him - well us. 

And although Valentine's Day in the commercial media is sold to us as a day to spend money on our significant other, it can be so much more and why is it only for the one day.  Make the time and take every opportunity to let all those, special in your life, know that they are loved and appreciated.  Only those things that truely sooth our soul are free - family, friends and love.

My Hummingbird

My hummingbird design, my contribution to the Designer Collaboration Sampler,  had to be stitched twice before I was happy with the colours.  The first time it was stitched, the colours in the flower and leaves were a little too dark.  But by lightening the colours it now looks great.  Having ripped it out once already from the sampler, I stitched it on a seperate piece of 36ct linen before restitching it onto the sampler; just in case the colours needing changing again. 
So now I  had an extra stitched piece of my design - what to do with it?  At first I was thinking of finishing it off into an ornament, but I already have my share of those.  It was Monika's brilliant idea to see if it would fit into the lid of one of the music boxes we have in the shop.  We had been looking for a pattern that would fit the lid of the rectangular box for a while, and as it turned out, with the border of the sampler surrounding it, the design fit perfectly.
The chart is a free pattern you will receive when visiting my booth at the NeedleWorkers MarketPlace, held at the Waterside Inn in Mississauga, Ontario on April 14th & 15th, 2012.   The music boxes are available on the Gitta's website, in the store, and I will have some available at the Market, they are $24.95.
See you then!