re·treat rəˈtrēt/

re·treat

rəˈtrēt/  noun

1. 1. 

   an act of moving back or withdrawing.

And that is just what we did...we all withdrew from the hustle and bustle of the madness of day-to-day life and enjoyed a long weekend at the beach.

The weather was not so good but we didn't notice.   Seems the locals were quite well versed in the weather and we were just bee bopping along like a bunch of blue-hairs on a bus trip.  Only when we tried to order take-outs for delivery and the 'natives' weren't venturing out did we get a clue that hey, it was pretty bad out.   I think OCMD received something like 10 to 12 inches of rain in about 36 hours.   What do we know......we just want to hang out and stitch together...

 From our house's front porch....above and below.  It was rough surf at the beach.

 Saturday morning a walk on the boardwalk showed the aftermath of the wind and rain.

Enough of bad weather.  Stay inside and stitch!  I don't see a problem.

What is more important is to know I am blessed.   I am so fortunate to not only belong to a group that meets weekly to stitch but I am lucky enough to have them as roommates at a weekend at the shore where we stay with others of our 'tribe'.    There were 19 this time around and a few regulars were missing.   Our room was missing one member this weekend....she's  in Florida......hmph!    (she was missed)

Friday dawned and the weather improved enough that we were able to go out to one of our favorites restaurants, The Sunset Grille.    I had the angel hair pasta with crab meat.  Of course, every meal is something to do with Maryland crabs.

As for stitching,  I was able to finish Random Thoughts by Drawn Thread.   So much for sewing the border on my flight on Thursday.    Guess I'd better pick out something else to stitch on the plane.     The border was interesting with a complete change of color and stitching about every three inches.                

I like to challenge myself and stitch a piece that has something new in it for me.   I have never withdrawn threads so this was a nice introduction.   And I had never done scoring or the hem-stitch before.   Scoring was not too difficult but tedious if you know what I mean.....I really needed another set of hands almost.  As for the hem stitch, it was time consuming but I got 'er done.   I am a bit off not the lower left corner and I think I need to adjust the mitered corner to pull it in for a straighter line.

I picked up charms and the bell pull hardware from Salty Yarns.   They did not have exactly the called for charms but in my 'need' to have it,  I picked up the bird and shovel instead.  Each are meaningful for me.

Once I finally finished the hem stitch which took me the better part of a day, I set to work on my witch.   This is where I was when I started the weekend of my Boo To You from Pat Thode at HeartStrings.  And below, ta-da! Look how much progress I was able to make!  A bit of hem on her dress and a black cape down both sides and I may be able to stitch and finish her for this Halloween.  And believe it or not, now that I am home and unpacked, I just want to stitch some more.

Upon checking out of Salty Yarns on Sunday morning, I was declared the winner.....again.....I won the honor of spending the most from our group.  Mainly because  I bought a ton of NPI silks for an upcoming project which I justified!

Of course, on the day we are leaving there was actually a bit of sun.....no matter.....we got to enjoy what we came for.....a weekend of laughter, sharing, great food, great times......and some stitching and shopping too.  See you in April  January Lankford Hotel and Salty Yarns.