A Fun Day at Camp Parkesburg

A little snow fell overnight before the ladies were scheduled to arrive.  I got up early, had some tea and doughnuts before heading outside to plow snow.  It did not take all that long, it was not too deep, maybe three or so inches, but I needed to get it done before any of the ladies arrived.

I had no sooner finished and plopped down in my recliner when I heard a door shut and Sheila had arrived.  I helped her unload and we were sitting and talking when Marji arrived.

After Danny got her stuff downstairs in the sewing room, Sheila and I followed.  We got Marji set up on the daybed (she was repairing a quilt that her mother had made many years ago) and then I moved one of the sewing machines that I had set up so Sheila could set up her own machine and we started reading the directions for the Phoebe Bag.  It was a free pattern that I had found on Craftsy.

Sheila powered along and had pieces cut out when Debbie Ready appeared.  It was such a surprise as she had feared that the bad weather would keep her off the road.  She had brought lunch for us and it was wonderful.  She had thought she had knitting and applique work to do.  But her husband had failed to pack the applique stuff and Debbie had failed to pack the knitting patterns in the bag, so she sat with Marji. We all chatted and laughed as Sheila and I worked on getting the Phoebe Bag directions understood and stitched together.  Winston joined us from time to time and entertained us with his antics.

Sheila was a few steps ahead of me all day, but that meant that she was making mistakes and I could miss the couple of parts that were not quite as clear.  Sheila turned hers first.  I wanted to get a picture of hers finished but I failed to do that.  She did get a nice one of mine.  It was a fun little project and makes a nice little bag that was not too big and not too small.

So, the first event at Camp Parkesburg was a resounding success.  And all of the participants thought the room was a great place to sew and create.

The next day was Church and Sunday School.  Sheila and I showed off our bags.  After Church, I went next door and visited with Marge Krumrine.  She is the lady who went with me to Fancy Gap last year.  She had torn a meniscus in the right knee and will be having surgery this Friday.  She seemed in good spirits and not looking forward to the procedure but wanting the pain to be over.  I hope for her sake that it works... I know my surgery did not help me at all.... in fact, I think it made it worse.  When I went back out to the van to head home I spotted a crack at the base of my windshield.  I have no idea when it happened, but the crack was already big enough to need a replacement.  And I know it was not there when I parked the car. (They are coming tomorrow, the 29th, to replace it.)

Monday and Tuesday was supposed to be a major snowstorm on the East Coast.  I was as ready as ever.  It started on Monday and I kept waiting for there to be enough snow to plow and it just never got deep enough, so I went to bed that night figuring I would have about 10 inches to plow Tuesday morning.  Imagine my surprise when it only turned out to be about three, maybe four inches of snow to deal with.  The forecasters really missed the forecast here, but farther north was getting the blizzard conditions.  The fun thing about the plowing was that when I got inside I had an email from Rob.  He had checked in on my cameras to see how much snow and saw me plowing and managed to snap a picture.  Technology is really fun when it allows my son in Alaska to take a picture of me in Pennsylvania and then send it to me!  I think it was cool.

Wind overnight last night had the snow drifting across the road.  I had gotten up in the middle of the night to pee and noticed flashing yellow lights at the windows.  A car, driving too fast for conditions, was facing north in the southbound lane buried in a ditch/drift.  While Winston and I looked out the window, a tow truck arrived, managed to putt the car out of the snow and each went on their way.  So  this morning, before I could go for some early morning blood tests, I had to plow the drifting snow....another 4 inches or so, from my driveway. Thank goodness for the plow.  Life here in the winter would be brutal and expensive if I had to pay for someone to come plow.  It was a down day (we held our 4th GriefShare session last night and I find it really takes a lot out of me) but I did laundry and made pizza for dinner... so not a total loss.