This past week I went on a little trip with my husband, and two daughters and their families. After being confined to our homes for the last year, we all needed a new window to look out of. The daughters came up with the idea of a “safe” vacation, using a vacation rental home. They researched and located a wonderful lakeside home in Littleton North Carolina on Lake Gaston. All ten of us went, and with 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms and lots of extra spaces, there was room for everyone.
One thing I packed for the trip was my featherweight sewing machine and a few “essential” sewing items. I picked out a basket of 2.5″ squares from my scrap saver system, added in a bag full of 4.5″ squares, and a Pat Sloan pattern called Traffic Jam. It is free on her website as a PDF pattern download. It is a perfect project for scraps.
I set up my sewing machine on a covered patio, with a view of the lake.
It didn’t take too long for some helpers to appear. They liked matching up squares in pairs for me to sew.
I sewed what ever the two girls handed to me. I managed to have “help” a couple of times when I set up my machine, and even got the five year old sewing a bit (or so she though). She and I did a little “pressing” using my light weight travel iron. I find it amazing how well she listens to instructions and concentrates on the task. The grandma kept fingers out of harms way during the sewing and the pressing.
I didn’t sew “every day” on the patio, but did manage to get 5 blocks made (with a little help from the 2 girls).
There were lots of other things to do, like walking and bike riding and sitting on the dock. The kids all had their turns in the kayaks, and on the fishing boat one of the guys brought along. There were nerf gun battles, campfires, and toasted marshmallows, and lots of sitting and enjoying the view. I did some English paper piecing with my 1 ” hexi’s and I saw some napping and knitting happening, along with card playing and a lot of wine drinking.
We took a 5 mile bike ride on The Tobacco Heritage Trail starting in LaCrosse VA. It was a beautiful paved trail and great for all age cyclist.
We also explored (by car) the Roanoke Canal area. We first went in Weldon to River Falls Park Trailhead and could honestly not figure out where in that park the trail began. But, if you need a good fishing spot, that would be a great one, along with a boat launch.
We then went back towards the Roanoke Canal Museum, and talked to a docent. He pointed us to the trail leading towards the Roanoke Rapids Dam. We hiked for about a mile and a half. Neither of us was prepared for much more than a cursory exploration of the trail. I was hoping to come back the next day with our bikes, but we decided it was more suited to a mountain bike than our hybrids. A hard pack dirt trail with lots of exposed roots, and very narrow in spots, just better suited to a mountain bike. In the process of exploring that river and trail, we got to do a little “railroad rail fanning”. We could never find a great place to stop for photos of the old trestles and bridges, but along our routes were some great old bridges and industries. Hubby is a train fan, so this exploration was suited to both of us.
We had fantastic weather all week. On Friday we got up to a pollen overload, but we hosed things off and were still able to use the outdoor spaces. As we sat out on Friday afternoon on the dock, we watched the pollen explode out of trees across the lake. If you click the link, you can see the clouds of pollen burst forth in the video –https://photos.app.goo.gl/E676RCSVpjEXgiQK9
Even with the pollen on the surface of the lake, the docks and the tables, the weather was too beautiful to stay inside the last day of our trip. We even enjoyed the thunderstorm that went through after dinner and all of Friday night. Hubby and I were glad that we had already done the bulk of our packing and loading for the trip home before the storm. We got up on Saturday to a beautiful day, and most of the pollen on things was washed away. I was amazed that my allergies didn’t go nuts, and I will attribute that to my daily dose of an antihistamine and liberal use of eye drops!
We had a wonderful time away from home, and enjoyed ourselves. This type of trip was perfect during this time of when we have all gotten a little weary of the restrictions. We were safely together, and didn’t really encounter a lot of strangers like you might in a hotel or resort property.
Have you ever done any sewing sitting “outside” ??
What’s going on in your part of the world with the vaccine? I’m going for my 2nd shot this week. Delaware just opened up to ages 16 and up, so it looks like everyone who wants a shot can sign up and get one.
Stitching Grandma 