Travel – Thimbleanna

Summer Zipped By …

10 Comments / September 24, 2022 September 24, 2022 / Chat, Sewing, Travel

Well, here we are. Fall Already. I have NO idea what happened to summer. It came and it went. Life spins by exponentially as you get older, I’ve decided. I seem to remember it was a mostly fun summer and not too miserably hot. But what do I know … I stay inside and sew a lot LOL.

We have had a fun summer with our cutie patootie little granddaughters. We had cookie baking, tea parties, lots of coloring, ice cream, homemade funnel cakes, sleepovers, star gazing on quilts, and one afternoon we even had HurrayAThirdGirl all to ourselves.

What a joy they all are! I find myself wishing they could stay little forever, but then I get excited to see how their little personalities will develop. I used to be so sad that I didn’t have any little girls of my own, but I think this is the way to do it — I’m loving these little girls SO much and I don’t think I would have had time to really enjoy them as a mother!

There’s been a fair bit of travel this summer. TheSecondChild decided to move to Florida in July, so I had several trips helping him with the move. I didn’t know much about Florida, having only been there for the standard Disney World trip when the boys were little, but I loved it. Even though it was hotter than hades, and moving is hard, we had a great time. One weekend, we snuck away to Key West for a little getaway. I’ve always wanted to go and see Ernest Hemingway’s home and it was the highlight of the visit. Here’s the famous author’s desk:

And, as expected, there were cats everywhere.

I had previously also been blissfully unaware of the iguana situation in Florida. I felt like I saw an iguana almost every day — they’re like squirrels. This was poolside at our hotel in Key West. Swim with a rooster and iguana anyone???

Someone even told me that they climb trees and if/when the temps get below freezing, they temporarily freeze (because they’re cold blooded) and fall out of the trees. Maybe on your head if you’re walking by. Ewwwww! One day, back in the mainland, we were in the drive-thru line at Wendy’s and I looked over to see this:

Needless to say, I became a little iguana obsessed LOL.

There’s also been a lot of sewing over the summer. I made a little dress for FinallyAGirl’s birthday at the beginning of the summer.

The pattern is Ginger from The Children’s Corner store, and the fabric is the cute Children of Liberty print in my little shop.
I also FINALLY finished the hand piecing on my Trip Around the World quilt. I think I finished with 42 rounds and it should be a double size quilt when finished. This is a picture of the back, right after I finished the last round.

It took me TWO weeks, working a few hours a day while watching tv, to get those seams ironed down in the right order. That was a job! I’ve also been steadily hand-quilting away on HurrayAThirdGirl’s baby quilt (it’s late haha) — I’m about half-way through at this point and hoping to be done by the end of November. There are also some Christmas quilt tops that are almost done, but they will have to wait for another post.

Which at this rate, may be in the spring LOL.

Happy Fall!
XOXO,
Anna

A Marker in Time

6 Comments / December 3, 2021 December 3, 2021 / Scruff, Travel

Oh dear! How can we be on the cusp of Christmas already? October and November have flown by and, apparently I was too busy to post about it. Actually, I was only too busy in October and then, halfway through November, I had a little time, but the blog was on vacation. I hate it when some of the many tools used in the process of keeping a blog get updated, because something is always out of sync and things get broken. Hours on the phone to support people and many weeks later, a solution was found and, crossing fingers, we’re back in business. ;-D

We had an especially exciting October. I had a plan to visit TheSecondChild in Peru during the third week of October, but then, his plans changed and he wasn’t going to be there the third week of October, so with only a day notice, I had to move everything up. I was amazed that it was even possible to arrange a trip on such short notice (in this day and age of Covid and required Covid tests), but everything worked out and I suddenly found myself in Lima the first week of October. We had a great time and managed to see Peru’s star attraction along with a few other interesting sights.

I LOVED Peru! It was a really interesting trip and everyone was so friendly and helpful. I’ve written all about our week in Peru and posted it HERE. If you’ve ever thought about going there, now is a good time as the crowds are smaller than normal. You have to wear those pesky masks everywhere now, but I’ll gladly trade crowds for masks, any day!

Since the trip, I’ve just been busy catching up, wrangling the annual leaves (thank goodness for leaf blowers), and sewing and knitting a little. I finished a sweater for FinallyAnotherGirl (which should have been done for her birthday in late September {sigh}), and as soon as I get some pictures, I’ll post them. I also made a Christmas gift, but, well, pictures for that will have to wait until after Christmas. After all of that, Thanksgiving was upon us. Ours was quiet this year — TheFirstChild and his family went to the in-laws. And MyDadLovesMeBestSister and her family went out of town. We were invited to go with them, but luckily we declined, thinking it might be hard to travel with MeMum. It turned out to be a good decision, as they all ended up with Covid (they all seem to be doing well).

So, it’s been a good two months although, we did have a little sadness the week of Thanksgiving. Our little Scruff (aka TheEmptyNestChild) passed away.

I would say our sweet little Scruff, but I don’t think anyone (except maybe TheManoftheHouse) would have described Scruff as sweet. I think he bit everyone he ever met — except the grandbabies (we were always very careful when they were around him). He was 17 1/2 and I’d say he had a pretty good life. He was a fun cat and he kept us entertained. I was surprised at how many pictures I had of him (thank you blog). And also surprised that they were all before the grandbabies came along. I guess between the time the boys left home and the grandbabies, the only thing I did for fun was to take pictures of the cats LOL. Anyway, it made me happy that I had a few good ones so that I could give TheManoftheHouse one to put on his phone — he’s missing that grumpy old cat terribly.

On to the next big event. Are you getting ready? I’ve started shopping a little and hope to decorate this weekend. Always plenty to do — which is a good thing!

Have a great weekend!
XOXO,
Anna

Summertime

8 Comments / June 21, 2021 June 21, 2021 / Chat, Sewing, Travel

Wow. I can’t believe summer is here and almost half of this year has gone by already. Spring came and went in a flash and I’ve been remiss in posting, but we’ve been having lots of fun here in ThimbleannaLand.

There’s been lots of sewing, which is good — it keeps me happy! I made this fun little Cute as a Button bag from a pattern published by Zakka Workshop.

I also used another print of that cute Belle and Boo fabric to make a beach bag using the free pattern from Polkadot Chair. (Now I just need a beach vacation LOL.)

Most of my sewing this spring involved machine quilting this big quilt. I think it’s about 90″ x 98″ or something like that, so it took about 6 weeks for me to get it quilted. It’s all done now (except for a label) but I can’t show it until it’s gifted, which will be in a few months.

And lastly, I made a cute little dress for FinallyAGirl, who, unbelievably, turns 5 years old today. I’m in denial — she can’t be that old yet! The pattern is “The Skipper” from Merchant & Mills and this is the second time I’ve made it for her. She loved the first one so much, but it’s almost too little for her now, so I thought I’d make her another one. As you can see, this one is a bit big (it’s a size 5), but that’s good — hopefully it will carry her through the school year. Both dresses were made out of Rifle Paper Co. rayon — the first dress was a different floral though.

It hasn’t only been sewing around here though. There has been lots of fun with the babies. I went every weekday for six weeks to swimming lessons with the girls. Or, really, I would call them survival lessons in the water. Each of the three girls had 10 minutes a day with the instructor and it was amazing to see their progress. The oldest two went from not wanting to get their faces wet to swimming and jumping in the pool. And the baby learned how to float. The instructor would flip her underwater (which is disorienting) and she would always come up and float. For graduation, they have to swim (or float in the case of the baby) in winter clothing. Here’s a picture of the two youngest in their snowsuits.

I was really surprised that the baby’s snowsuit episode was done with glasses, patch and contact but the objective is to simulate if they were to fall into water fully dressed. And I think the two-year-old is giving me the stinkeye in that picture LOL. Anyway, highly recommended swim lessons!

Also, a few weekends ago, TheSecondChild and I had a little weekend hiking getaway to the upper peninsula of Michigan. We spent an afternoon on Mackinaw Island riding bikes. Luckily, tourist season was just barely starting — we had the ferry to the island all to ourselves, but the return trip was full. I can’t imagine how crowded it must be in the summer. We were there at the perfect time too — there were lilac bushes all over the island that were in full bloom — Sooo Beautiful!!!

The second day in the UP, we made a quick stop to see the bears at Oswald’s Bear Ranch. We were worried that it would be a bit Tiger King-ish, but it was pretty interesting and they seemed to be taking good care of the bears. My least favorite part was watching people get their pictures taken with the bear cubs — it definitely seemed exploitative and cheesy, but I guess they have to pay the bills. {Sigh.} It was worth the stop though and I’d recommend it if you’re in the area.

The rest of the day we took a 10 1/2 mile hike in Pictured Rocks National Seashore. It was beautiful and the weather was perfect. And, I suppose, for posterity, I should note that halfway through the hike I tripped on a tree root and face-planted on the trail. The mouthful of sand, bloody forehead and scratched glasses weren’t pretty, but it is kinda funny. I was just glad not to have broken anything LOL.

Soooo, if you stuck it out this long, Thank You! It’s been a fun spring and I’m looking forward to summer. I’m hoping to spend lots of time with these yayhoos and maybe get back here a little more often.

Happy Summer!

XOXO,
Anna

Three Things

15 Comments / September 22, 2018 September 22, 2018 / Baby Oh Baby, Travel

Oh. My. Gosh. September is almost over – and it’s the official first day of Fall! Summer completely FLEW by — someone should give it a speeding ticket!!! Anyway … here are three things. On a Saturday. When I can’t keep up.

Thing 1:
OUR NEW GRANDBABY IS HERE!!! YIPEE!!!

FinallyAnotherGirl put in her appearance on Sept. 16th (see? I can’t keep up!) at 9:38 p.m. Other than being an ALL day affair, it was picture perfect in every way. Everyone is healthy, which is the most important thing. FinallyAGirl was an absolute Peach all day. She spent most of the time in the hospital waiting rooms, with short visits to see Mommy. After the miracle of birth, the most amazing thing was seeing her Daddy (our baby) introduce her to her new baby sister. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room. And, she was SOOO excited! She had to tell EVERYONE “[name] Baby Sister’s Here!!!” It was the sweetest thing ever. And this is my favorite picture, caught by TheManoftheHouse on his short shift to see the two babies together (unlike last time when everyone was allowed in the room after the baby arrived, we were on a strict 2-visitor policy this time — {frown}). Anyway. I hope there will be many tender moments like this over their lifetimes.

Thing 2:
The whole baby event over the last few weeks has totally interrupted my review of my trip pictures (lots of weeding out going on over here LOL.) After Bonnie and I went to Edinburgh, we had our fun week in Shetland (pictures coming … well, whenever haha.) Then, we had a day in London before our hubbies joined us for separate London stays.

For our day in London, we decided to do a few things that hubbies wouldn’t want to do — quilt and yarny things. We started off with a big disappointment though — we went to The Antique Textiles Company. If you want to visit, you basically have to make an appointment (which is no fun.) I knew that, and had our time pre-arranged, but the owner had asked me to remind him shortly before our trip. I should have made a calendar entry or something, because I was so busy in those weeks leading up to the trip that I forgot. Therefore, he wasn’t there. BooHoo.

It would have been fun to see the quilts, but I heard later that the prices are higher than what we find here in the states, so that helped with the disappointment. Besides, the disappointment didn’t last long, because, next, we went here:

Ohhh Yes! And the very, very BEST part of the visit to Loop, was meeting THE Miss Julie herself! Bonnie and I have been Julie fans for years — I think I’ve known Julie since we started blogs over 10 years ago and Bonnie has made a ton of her adorable little animals. It was an afternoon I’ll never forget. We shopped at Loop, bought sandwiches and went to a pretty little park for lunch, shopped some more at Ray–Stitch, and then sat visiting in another little park for an hour or so until it was time for Julie to leave. What an absolute thrill it was to meet her after all these years of correspondence. And she’s just as charming and sweet and adorable as she is on her blog. Really, I just can’t gush enough LOL! Thank You Thank You forever for meeting us Julie!!!

Of course, in blogger-meet tradition, we exchanged gifts. Bonnie and I definitely came out way ahead in that department — we each received an adorable little bunny that will be cherished and loved. Julie very cleverly named my bunny Bonnie and Bonnie’s bunny Anna. Aren’t they just the cutest?

After we had to leave Julie, we decided to ride bikes in Hyde Park (because I love to ride bikes and I knew there was no way I was getting TheManoftheHouse on one haha.) It was SO hot — I don’t know about Bonnie, but I was soaking wet by the time we were done. It was so fun though — we took our new little bunnies to meet the young royals, but they wouldn’t let us in LOL.

And just like that, my fun time with Bonnie was over. The next morning, we split up and went off on our separate ways to meet our arriving families. It was hard for the bunny sisters to leave each other, but they sent each other messages on Instagram until we arrived back in the states. Anyway, it was a super fun trip and I’m so grateful to Bonnie for agreeing to go with me — I wish I could do it all over again!

Thing 3:
Over the last month or two lots of new fabric has arrived in my little etsy shop. The most exciting of which it Tilda’s new Bird Pond line. I rarely buy a whole line of fabric (as I like to pick and choose what I think are the best prints), but this line is so beautiful, I had a hard time excluding any of them. I REALLY want to cut into them, but you know. New baby sewing and that big holiday coming soon are keeping me busy for now. Fat quarter packs are here and half yard packs are here.

That’s the end of my three things — thanks for hanging out until the end. Have a wonderful weekend!
XOXO,
Anna

How I Spent My Summer Vacation …

17 Comments / September 1, 2018 September 1, 2018 / Travel

When last we spoke, I showed you a new travel bag that I made. And then I went on a long (3 weeks!) trip. And then I came home and have been too tired and busy to post LOL. Now, through the magic of a day off of work, I can squeeze out a post about our trip.

If you follow me on Instagram, you already know that I’ve been to the UK and back. The real purpose of the trip was to go on The Grand Shetland Adventure. I’ve wanted to go to Shetland for YEARS and finally, I begged my knitting friend Bonnie to go with me. I’d mentioned this trip two years ago to Bonnie, but nothing ever came of it, so this past year I must have cried or threatened or something, because Bonnie finally said yes. YAY! We had a great time, and for the purposes of posterity (haha) I like to keep records of such fun things here on my blog. Hopefully, in the next few weeks (or months or before I’m dead), I’ll write about the Shetland part of the trip and put it in the travel part of my website (the part that has been sadly neglected).

MAN IN KILT!!!

Bonnie and I flew to London separately and met at Heathrow. We were both worried that something might go wrong with our schedules, but everything was PERFECT. We met, right on cue — well, except that Bonnie was wearing glasses and I wasn’t really sure it was her LOL. From Heathrow, we went to Kings Cross train station and took a train from London to Edinburgh — my VERY favorite way to travel in the UK. It was so fun to relax and chat and catch up on the four-hour train trip — and get ready for our adventure. Bonnie had never been to Scotland, so we spent two days in Edinburgh, before taking another train to Aberdeen to catch the ferry to Shetland.

We stayed in a great little hotel, The Inn Place, right in the heart of Old Town. The location was perfect — just a short hike up the hill from the train station meant we didn’t have to drag our suitcases too far. It was also the perfect location for seeing all the sights — a short walk to The Royal Mile and all the Old Town sights, and a short walk in the opposite direction to New Town and lots of good restaurants. We lucked out and got a room on the top floor (the 4th floor), so it was very quiet (well, except for the garbage pickup early in the morning !) Here’s a rainy view out of our window:

The first day in Edinburgh, we went to the castle — a must for any first-time visitor to the capital city. Since I’d been here several times before, I only took a few pictures (and I didn’t get a good one of the whole castle, so I stole this first picture from a post a few years ago ;-P ).

After the castle, we grabbed a wonderful Sunday lunch — as the menu said, traditional Sunday Roast — in New Town. And from there, we went to visit my good buddy Pam. For me, no visit to Edinburgh is complete without popping in to see Pam and she was so sweet to take time out for us — she had a houseful of children as they were all leaving the next day for a family trip to Crieff. Lucky me though — I got to see my favorite non-biological grandchildren, and I got to meet her adorable newest grandbaby — YAY!!!

After our visit with Pam (or maybe this happened the next day? my days have run together LOL), I took Bonnie to visit Bobby. I love this sweet little story about the dog who spent 14 years guarding the grave of his owner. The grave is in Grayfiar’s Kirk, so we walked around the graveyard. If you’re a Harry Potter fan, this cemetery has lots of links to names in the Harry Potter books.

On our second day in Edinburgh, Bonnie cheerfully indulged me and we took a bus to see Craigmillar Castle, since I’d never been there before. It’s a beautiful castle ruin that I’d read about and, although it’s completely surrounded by city, the estate is so big, you feel like you’re out in the country. I loved poking around the castle ruins, but it was disappointing that we weren’t able to see the Great Hall, as there was a wedding in progress.

This is the view from the castle to Arthur’s seat. After we left the castle, we hiked two miles to the east side of the hill. We climbed up the hill a little way and then followed a road around to the west side. From there, Bonnie and I split up — she headed toward Holyrood Palace and I continued to climb up Arthur’s Seat. This was my fifth visit to Edinburgh and I’ve always wanted to climb to the top of the hill but there had never been time — finally, it happened!

The view from the top and looking out over the top of Salisbury Crags toward Edinburgh — Edinburgh Castle is the mass just to the left of the center of the photo.

By the time I hiked down from the hill, it was late afternoon, so I made my way up The Royal Mile and back to our hotel to meet Bonnie again. We walked over to New Town for dinner (and somewhere in here we made a trip to Cath Kidston!) and just like that, our time in Edinburgh came to an end. The next morning we took a train to Aberdeen to begin our Shetland adventure … but more on that later. Thanks for sticking with someone else’s boring travel pictures this far LOL!

XOXO,
Anna