Dear Friends, When I was a very young child, my parents bought a piece of beachfront property on Bear Lake up on the Idaho border. I still remember that very first summer when they rented a tiny little trailer and we camped for a week on the edge of the lake--all seven of us squished inside. I was only about 4 and my mom set up a tiny table and chairs on the beach for my brother and I to color on. It was so much fun and the lake--in my memory--was as big as an ocean could be. For all of my growing up years we spent many days and weeks up on this property, however never again right on the sand. We could never seem to gather the money to build a cabin, so we stayed in the most amazing assortment of shelters over those years. We weathered rain, and hail, and heat, and bats and loved every minute that we spent there. Just after I got married, our family finally built a cabin under the massive cottonwood trees that had sheltered us for so many years. We hung a huge wooden swing on one branch and a hammock on the trunk and scattered Adirondack chairs on the lawn in front of the lake, and it has become a small corner of heaven. Last week, my little family and Teri finally made it up there for our annual summer trip. We ended up with tremendous night storms and cool, cloudy days, but we enjoyed every second of our time. The boys swam and coaxed Teri in under the guise of a game of bocce balls. We stitched, and designed, and did puzzles and Scrabble. I curled up in a blanket on the hammock and read for hours. And we walked Lindbergh along the quiet beach for miles and miles, our toes and paws splashing through the icy mountain water. And finally I returned to reality with my soul refreshed.
Now I still want to be in summer mode--as does the weather evidently--but school is well under way and fall is fast upon us. We are busy, busy at the shop, and everyone is stitching Halloween. As you can see by Teri's pictures below, she has darling things on display and her biggest challenge is keeping the books in for more than 1 day. We just received the new Blackbird Halloween book, and it is very wonderful. It is not only filled with their tiny stocking patterns, but it has a pendant and a pin cushion that Teri is setting out to make this weekend. Fabulous!!! Now's the time to get going. And if you are not ready to get going on Halloween, check out this lovely new Ackworth sampler--Mary Busby. This pattern is part of the Acworth School, but not printed by Needleprints. You will love it. I am so tempted to try it out, but really I have so many started I have to finish something first. Besides we are busy getting ready for the St. Charles market the end of September. Can't wait.
Finally, as September approaches swiftly, here are some dates to keep in mind. First of all we are always closed the Saturday and Monday of Labor Day. This year will be no different. We will be open on Friday the 4th and closed on Saturday the 5th and closed on Monday the 7th of September. Soooooo don't plan to come by on that long weekend. The other fun date to keep in mind is September 29th--a Tuesday. This year marks our 25th birthday party here at the shop and as always we will be having an open house. We will be open just in the day--up until 6:00 and in the afternoon we will be serving homemade ice cream and cake. Yippee!!! We will have just returned from market the day before, so we should have lots of great new things for you as well as a few surprises. Hope we see you then. Well, I have to go and think about what to fix for dinner--always my nemesis. Have a wonderful and safe week.
Until next week--ever Tina
