Happy Place

I'm in Williamsburg in my happy place, the annual retreat I take with friends--some of whom I see frequently, some of whom I see occasionally, and some I see only when I'm here during this week in February.

It is absolutely lovely to be here.

Baby Girl and I arrived on Sunday. I was planning to stitch and wander around the Historic District and eat and sleep late. I've managed three out of the four--the bad knee announced it wasn't going anywhere it absolutely didn't have to go and was going to be unpleasant in general, so the wandering hasn't happened.

The stitching, eating, and sleeping late have occurred.

So this is what I've accomplished:

The piece at the top took a week. The piece at the bottom took parts of two days. Notice there is actually more stitching on the piece on the bottom. Amazing what can be accomplished when you're relaxed, well-fed, and have no other responsibilities--and I'm the person who rarely gets anything stitched in a group situation!

This is what I haven't accomplished:

Poor Hannah Thornbush has been in time out for way too long. For some reason, this band has been my Waterloo, and this evening, I cut out everything I stitched in this afternoon. That was disheartening.

I am tempted to move on to another band. The only problem is that I'm afraid I will forget this one hasn't been finished.

That is, of course, until it's been framed and hung on the wall and I happen to notice missing motifs.

Hannah is going to get another shot tomorrow evening, if I have brains after class--because tomorrow starts the first of two classes with Jackie du Plessis!

And along with Jackie's classes this week, I have some lovely accessories to add to my collection. Rachael Kinnison made this beautiful thread palette and thread winders, based on what you'd see in Williamsburg:

So am I currently quite happy?

You better believe it! I never want to leave.