The Maine Event starts today

Prequel 

Sneak preview

Travels - Stott Park Bobbin Mill Ulverston

First a very funny story. My son and some friends stopped at a Starbucks and ordered coffee. His friend, when asked, gave his name as Marc with a c. When his coffee came, writen on the cup  was Cark. No kidding!!.

 

So Imagine our delight when we passed by Cark.

On the trip my DIL planned stops every hour so the kids could run around. One of the stops was to the Stott Park Bobbin Mill. The was a photo of a man who started at 13 and retired in his 80's. Grueling work but this is where they made wooden wool bobbins, bobbins for weaving shuttles and wooden spools for thread along with many other things. I though, "How interesting will this be" especially after glimpsing the dingy buildings. It was FASCINATING and one of our favorite stops!!

Shavings from the thread spools.

They closed down in the 70's but look what I just finished using. There was thread on this that I just used up. These are the wooden spools they made. Man, am I old.

Happy News

Five years ago at the Maine Event, I was absent. I had just been diagnosed with breast cancer but didn't tell anyone. I didn't want to cast a pall on the happy Maine Event. During the event someone suggested making me prayer flags. What a sweet gesture and it meant so much to me.

 I hung them in my bedroom from the ceiling surrounding my bed and in the spring I took them outside to hang by the Art Greenhouse. 

This past week I was "dismissed" by my Oncologist - five years cancer free. Some of you in this picture will be coming back this year for the 8th annual Maine Event. In celebration I will be hanging the remaining prayer flags in the Art Greenhouse. Yes, some of them lasted five years outside through Maine winters and sunny summers.

Thank you everyone for your kindness and love. It worked!!!

Beth

Summer chair cushions

So you probably all know my friend Marcella by now. I wanted to have aprons for the workshop participants with my logo on them, so Marcella managed to find a great deal and bought me 27. In exchange she asked me to reupholster the seats of two wicker chairs she had in her summer home. She repainted the chairs and brought me the old cushions which I actually liked a lot.

The fabric she bought was genius because the fish where upright whether the fabric was up or down.

I am using the old seat cushion pieces as a pattern. The books on the table were two Rita had borrowed and was returning.

snip snip

Sewing in the zip.

Finished

Waiting to go home.

An addition to the Derwent Museum pictures
This photo tells where the term "Black Market" originated. Fascinating

Interesting that punishment included seven years in the "colonies".

Travels - Derwent Pencil Museum

These are "trip pictures" so feel free to run for the hills. I found this Museum absolutely fascinating but not everyone is as geeky as me about pencils.

This was posted in a bar where we were eating dinner but it fits!

World's Largest Pencil

Yes, it is a yellow one.

A real "James Bond" pencil. Pretty cool.

Some people don't have enough to do............

Something I have to tell you

I just found out I have not been receiving your comments by email. This is the usual way they come. Since I don't read my blog myself (since I wrote it), I had NO idea you were commenting. I have to apologize for not responding to your comments. I think I have caught up now and will make SURE I read each post to read your comments. I love your comments and was wondering if anyone was reading. I don't know what happened with Blogger except that my address went from blogspot.com to .com. Could that make a difference???

Well, again, I am so sorry to have missed so many of your wonderful comments and been so late in my response.

Prezzies from Rita

Rita was having a clean out and brought her outcasts to me!! Aren't I the lucky one!!

In order of how much I love them:

Ink samples of red, orange, purple and green ink. Yum!!

Grumbacher oil pastels

Ink cartridges for my Lamy pens.

You never know when you might need stick on letters

She had borrowed this little book 2.75 X 3.25.

I stitched each signature in a pamphlet stitch then gathered all the threads into a braid with a large bead and wove the signatures together through their stitches. That is my hand dyed thread for the weaving.