There's No Place Like Home

I love travelling, I really do, but there is nothing better than coming home and settling back into normal or what passes for my normal. I got back from Michigan early Tuesday evening and did very little until today. It was wonderful seeing my parents DDad looks GREAT! After all the drama this spring, I was a bit nervous and my sister and her family. DSis and DBIL did a wonderful job with the family reunion/picnic. The newest family member was there - my cousin's 2 month old grandson - as usual, I can't remember the baby's name.  Other than the reunion and all the craziness that went along with getting ready, we pretty much just hung out at DSis's. Art in the Park (second largest craft show in the state) was taking place in downtown Plymouth and we walked the entire thing on Friday.  A wicked line of thunderstorms went through Monday - 60 mph winds, torrential rain, trees down, power out, etc. Fortunately, no major damage at DSis's just lots of branches down BIG branches, a couple of them were 6" around.

I did okay driving the truck. Neither of my driving days were busy travel days so there weren't a lot of cars in any of the parking areas, so parking was a non-issue. I will say it was nice to sit up above a lot of the  other vehicles and actually see what was going on in front of me.

DSis's deck was perfect for sitting and stitching until the mosquitoes came out. I took Lizzie*Kate's Socks and Underwear - Santa 2010 with me and got to here:

I'm not thrilled with my stitches on the face, but it seems to be the color and not my technique, so I'll have to live with it - maybe the final wash and iron will even them out a bit

Ran a few errands this morning and did 4 or 5 hours of yard work this afternoon. Lots of trimming I got to use the big gas powered trimmer, weeding and raking - things grew very quickly the last few weeks. DH got most of the yard mowed before the tractor overheated, so hopefully it will get done tomorrow. We've had amazingly beautiful weather the last couple of days - temperatures in the mid- to upper 80s with fairly low humidity so very comfortable. It would be wonderful if it could continue, but it is Virginia in the summer after all, so starting Sunday it's supposed to get into the 90s with higher humidity again.

Had an email from Karen at Wasatch Needlecraft telling me the third chart for With thy Needle & Thread's Birds of a Feather mystery is on its way to me. That immediately started a guilt trip as I've only finished about half of part 1. Fortunately it's not a race and my guilt trips tend to be short.

Today is my last vacation day. Two weeks off has been heavenly. I'm feeling relaxed and while not totally ready to go back to work on Monday I've had a few emails from folks at work and things are not any better than when I left I'm not feeling totally ill at the thought. Of course, I'm in the office next week and travelling to Vermont the week after (and stopping in New Hampshire to see DS) so I know I'll only have to put up with the miserabliness for a short time.