August 20-21: Two for One

Since we are visiting my sister for only the weekend, I decided to take advantage of the fact that they are off attending a wedding right now.  We have been having a wonderful time and there has been a great deal of laughing and exchanging of memories.  Our spouses have joined in at times, but I am certain that they are glad we are not together all the time -- just for the sake of quiet if nothing else.  I say, let the good times roll!

Yesterday, my niece and nephew, Liz and Dave, came from western Michigan to spend the day with us.  Liz is a quilter so you would be correct in thinking quilt shops were visited.  We drove to Milford, MI, where the book said we would find a quilt shop.  It had moved, but the new shop owner gave us directions. We decided to explore the main street in Milford because it was filled with lots of small boutique type shops.  We went into one that had many signs painted on canvas.  Kevin found one that said "I am always in agreement with myself."  I saw one that said "Find someone you love with your whole heart."  We also found one that summed up my nephew's, Ben, take on life -- "I would agree with you, but then we would both be wrong."  No money spent but a fun time was had by all.  From that shop we went across the street and had lunch at a deli.  Food was fine but the waitresses were just plain sweet.  That is how I like to be treated when I am out for a meal.

We drove to Highland, MI, and located the Heron River Quilts.  The guys voted to go next door to an eclectic consignment store that gave them lots to talk about.  Debbie, Liz and I spent our time looking at everything in the quilt shop.  It was well lit with a friendly staff.  I only intended to buy my fat quarter, but I also bought a paper piecing pattern so that I could make myself a Halloween decoration for our apartment. 

My brother-in-law, Dick, joined us as we were finishing our visit to this shop.  The guys decided to go off and do their own thing so Liz volunteered to drive and I operated the GPS.  We went to two other shops and enjoyed some laughs as we traveled.  We did not have too much time to see the shops because they both closed at 4:00, but Liz and I did do some purchasing and Debbie managed to visit with a number of people about our adventure.  Meanwhile the guys went to Home Depot and the grocery store.  I am certain we all had our own forms of fun.

The second shop we visited was called Creative Quilt Kits and was located in Brighton, MI.  There were numerous panels and lots of very unique novelty fabrics.  There was also a large number of kits available.  The shop was quite large with a number of rooms of fabric bolts.  The one slight drawback was that they do not carry or cut fat quarters, but that was easily rectified by my handing off 1/2 of my 1/2 yard to Liz.  Debbie helped Liz find a tree skirt pattern.  It is one that is made with the 10 degree ruler.  (Made me think of a wall hanging that my friend Sharon made for her church.)

Monarch Quilts was also in Brighton, MI.  We really did cut it close on time.  I think we had about 5 minutes left before it was scheduled to close.  We breezed in between the rain drops and I quickly found my fat quarter. The shop had a very nice layout with many quilts and quilty items on display.  Because the place was so easy to navigate, I even had time left to locate and purchase a replacement thimble and some purple guide strips that I shared with Liz.  We walked out of the shop at 4:02.

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When we, the royal court, arrived back in Waterford, dinner was already being prepared.  Dick chose to make kabobs, fruit salad, and a veggie mix of red/green peppers, onions, squash, and probably something else.  Delish!!!!! Ben and Jill joined us for dinner and we ended the meal with cherry pie and ice cream to celebrate Jill's birthday.  My sister tried all kinds of antics to get us to sing to Jill as the pie was brought out, but we were all laughing so hard that she had to keep starting over.  I think Jill suspected something after the first few rounds of laughter, but she said she could not figure out what was happening so she just had a little more to eat.  She is a sweet young woman!

Dave and Liz headed home after dinner.  The rest of us played a rousing game of Chickenfoot dominoes.  The birthday girl was the biggest loser, but Dick only beat me by 4 points.  Love to play games, but some visits seem to lend themselves to other things.  Glad we were able to get the games in.

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August 21:

This morning we got up and went to mass.  Then we came home and Dick made some delicious scrambled eggs with veggies and Canadian bacon mixed in.  He always seems to serve a great meal.  The Greek yogurt and blackberries were superb as well.

Today is just being laid back.  Kevin and I are storing up our energy for the next leg of our journey while washing our clothes and catching up on correspondence.  When Debbie and Dick return from the wedding, we plan to take them out for a meal and continue our visiting.  These are memories that are priceless to me.