Out in the woods

Spent the weekend the way many SE Michiganders tend to do - headed up north! Put Coop in the car, threw some clothes together, and headed off into the woods for a weekend of rest, relaxation, and naps.

We were somewhere between Mancelona and Traverse City. Our friend, Matt, has a cabin on 15 acres in the middle of the woods. It was fabulous! I could stay there for days - weeks even :)

Friday night we experienced a terrible thunderstorm. Thunder rolled and lightning lit up the sky. The lights flickered a few times, but won the battle. We watched the amazing light show from the huge porch until it started to rain sideways and were forced inside.

Saturday we headed into Bellaire for breakfast at a great local place called Tooney's. Fantastic breakfast and great coffee. It's great to find the little local places to visit while out exploring - no chain stores and restaurants for me :)

Then we drove into Alden, for a stop at the Alden Mill House. Alden is one of the cutest little towns I've ever been in. Tiny town with the main street stopping right on Torch Lake! What a beautiful place. Had me seriously thinking about picking up a real estate guide, but I resisted the temptation - Paul might freeze solid in the winter. Alden Mill House is this great local shop that sells all kinds of cooking gadgets and handmade spice blends. We picked up there Garlic Pepper blends and a meat marinade - both are great!

Then back to the cabin for reading on the porch, Coop exploring the woods, and a nice nap on the comfy couch.

Paul drove, so I had time to finally finish the binding on my Authentic lap quilt. I got to use it all weekend and love how warm it is! So I grabbed some pictures of my completed project.

After an awesome Belgian waffle breakfast by Matt, we loaded up our stuff and headed back to reality. Hopefully, we can do it again soon!

Annie's quilt

My second attempt at quilting was for my friend, Brooke. She was pregnant with her first baby - a girl! I found a great tutorial on Moda Bake Shop for a coin quilt and matching bag, so being the enthusiasic new quilter, I jumped in with both feet and went for it! It made from Hushabye by Tula Pink.

Let me tell you that coin quilts aren't that easy. Especially lining them up! But that's inexperience and an inconsistent 1/4" seam talking :) I've gotten much better at lining things up now!

Brooke sent me a few pictures, as I was in a rush to get her gifts to her before she went on maternity leave and didn't get any! I also had this quilted at Monarch Quilts in Brighton (I still have not improved on my free-form machine quilting!!)

Here are the pictures with Annie! She's adorable and even has a blog of her own :)

One last visit in Puppydom....

I headed up to see Angie at Tifari for one last visit with the puppies before they head to their forever-homes. And I brought Big Papa, Cooper with me! Angie's girl, Piper really wanted Coop to run with her - she did circles around the yard at Mach I; but Coop just watched her like she was crazy :)

Here are some of the pics from the day. The sun was shining in between the trees and really shows how bad my photography skills are, but how can you go wrong with puppy pictures!!

Cooper had a parade of puppies trailing him most of the time we were there. They were very curious about the new big dog that came to visit.....There are many versions of this picture!