After the retreat.....

Well, I have been to my first retreat. I somehow thought I'd come back all rested, relaxed and rejuvinated.....but I'm pooped!!!

 I think if it had been a day longer, maybe there would have been time to sit back and enjoy a good book (which I took, but didn't get looked at) or gone for a nice walk on the grounds of Five Oaks. It seemed like such a beautiful, tranquil spot...what I saw out the window, at least. I will definitely go again if given the opportunity.

There were nice friends, some old and some new. Lots of sewing accomplished. And a wee bit bit of wine consumed. Here are a couple of bottles that sums up the weekend ...

"Relax" was recommended by my son....it was a bit sweeter than I'm used to, but the second glass was much better!

The food at Five Oaks was wonderful. Lots of variety and we didn't go hungry. A favourite of many of us was a coleslaw with some diced apples and cranberries in it.

I was able to get some serious sewing done. I did get to my "Raise the Barn Roof High" by Victoria Gertenbach. You can see her blog The Silly BooDilly HERE. I've been waiting to start this project since November when another mini-retreat was cancelled. I arrived at Five Oaks and immediately got at it and was done by lunch the next day! It is a small quilt, 36" square inches or so. I think I'll hand-quilt it...Victoria's is done in a spiral and looks fantastic. I'm not sure I can manage that on the longarm so hand-quilting it is. I'm looking forward to it since I have a new quilting hoop I've been wanting to try and, also, the fabrics were so soft I'm looking forward to the feel of the quilting of it. I don't know if I'll piece with Oak Shott's (sp?) again since they were so stretchy but it should make for a nice, mooshy quilt in the end!

Here is a pic of my quilt, very much like Victoria's since I liked her colours so much!....

One of our guild members and her friend from Calgary were working on matching wall-hangings....what a great time of year to work on something celebrating Spring, it gives you a reminder that it will be right around the corner!

Here we all are working hard in the room that we had for sewing.....lots of room for each of us to sew, cut and press, and still space left for a table of treats to keep our energy up!

I also had time to work on one of my oldest UFO's....started eleven years ago. All the blocks were hand-pieced back then and all that needs doing is the pieced sashings and borders. I made real progress on that. Also, worked a bit on the mystery quilt I'm doing at Quilt Junction in Waterford. I was able to poke a few stitches into my applique project....but not as much as I thought I would.

So, the retreat is now over. That means that it is time to buckle down and start my journey to better health. I think I'll post on here a few times a week any new foods or recipes I may try so I can maybe use this blog to help me keep on track.

The first new food was one I had last night. Some kind of vegetable called Bok Choy. I have never tried it before although it was probably hidden in some of the dishes in  Chinese restaurants. My sister recommended it, actually the Baby Bok Choy....and I sauteed it in a bit of oil with mushrooms, garlic and a touch of salt and pepper. Good stuff, we'll definitely have it again. I'll have to google what kind of nutrients are found in Bok Choy.

That's all for now...I'll just share a picture of Cooper and me cuddling before I had to leave for retreat the next day!