Back from vacation

We spent five glorious days in northern Idaho this past week, visiting family. It was so peaceful in the mountains. I did experience a few withdrawals since we had very limited cell service and no internet access. Each day we were able to go ATV riding, play on the lake, hike, or just sit on the porch and read. I spent a lot of time on the porch. The view was spectacular and I loved taking in all that God has created. The munchkin went tubing and managed to return home without any serious injury. We had our first experience with a tick, one attached itself to her arm, but we caught it early. This is what I spent the time admiring:

Recently we did something that everyone should experience at least once in their lives. Make home made marshmallows. There is nothing better than a fresh marshmallow. My whole life I lived thinking that the white fluffy goodness was only to be found in a plastic bag on the shelf at the store. Not so! We used Alton Brown's recipe from the Food Network. It was super easy, totally delicious, and very ooey gooey. The hardest part of the whole recipe was waiting four hours for them to set. These are not good for S'mores, just as a warning, they wouldn't stay on a skewer to roast, but they are incredible in just about everything else. We've shared them with friends, neighbors, and everyone has loved them.

I haven't stitched much in the past week, but I have design ideas flying through my head and found a beautiful new thread color while visiting Haberdashery. This was my special vacation treat! We had to drive into Spokane to pick up family at the airport, and any time there's an LNS within 60 miles you can bet that I'm going to visit it. The owners were wonderful and the shop was amazing. There were models everywhere, so many creative finishing techniques, and the SCISSORS! Oh, my, the scissors. It was embarassing that I owned most of the pairs they had in there, but there were dozens and dozens of styles to choose from. The fiber selection was one of the best I have seen in a shop. The variety of colors and lines was more than I had thought I'd see in one place. Their charts were easy to sort through, there was lots of room to walk, and the stitching tables in the back were well lit for anyone to sit, stitch, and have a great time. I can't wait to go back! The picture just shows a very small front part of the shop, but you can get a good idea of their organization and space.

As for work, things have been busy. The new designs have started shipping out to shops on my auto ship and should be arriving in the next few days. I have run out of assembled froggy fobs and will spend the evening making up a new batch of those. They're hopping out of here! I've got new threaders to package, an older design to re-stitch the model, and lots of printing and packaging to do. All is good.

Tonight we're making home made pizza and root beer floats. Mmmmmmm. Hubby makes a great pizza crust and we'll be canning our own sauce this fall, made with San Marzano tomatoes that are growing (hopefully) in out backyard. All of our errands are done for the weekend and we can just enjoy our time as a family. The blow up pool is all set for the munchkin and I know she will find hours of fun splashing around.