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Saturday, November 28, 2015

Hiking with Friends!

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This is a family photo heavy post!  But be sure you make it to the bottom for a Quilt-Cam announcement and a special sale going on!

The Blue Ridge Mountains are full of places to walk and hike, enjoy beautiful scenery, vast and distant vistas, plummeting waterfalls, and the amazing sounds of nature all while wrapping me in a sense of peace that I have yet to find anywhere else.

With family and friends here for the holiday weekend, we gook advantage of the unbelievably warm temps in the low 60s to load up the van with 6 grown ups and a little brown dog and head out onto the Blue Ridge Parkway for some hiking through this beautiful place, and take time out for what is likely to be the last great picnic of the year.

I am so glad we did!

Our first stop on the park way was to one of our favorite overlooks:


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I love sharing this place with friends!

Not that the elevation is anything to write home about –I giggled to myself reminding myself of how it felt in Cusco, Peru at elevations close to 12,000 feet above sea level.  But we are not comparing heights here.  We are appreciating the view!

There are many things that I definitely do not like about winter.  I’m not a fan of cold.  I don’t like scraping ice off of my windshield.  I miss long hikes when the weather is fair.  But one thing I DO love about winter is all of the things that you can finally see once the leaves are down….You can see THROUGH the bare trees to see what you can’t see when everything is leafy and green.

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Waterfalls are our theme this weekend!

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And this guy, my eldest!

Oh how I love him!

We were lucky that Jason was able to join us on Wednesday night, driving up from Columbia, SC after his shift was over, and he stayed with us until yesterday evening.  Such a ham!  But I am so proud of him! Younger son Jeff had to leave Thanksgiving evening for his job.  And we just do what we can with what they are able to do with their lives.

And though I missed Jeff, and wished I had more time with him, my gratitude muse kicks in and reminds me of how grateful I am that they are both gainfully employed tax paying citizens!

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Cascade Falls!

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Father and son on the bridge.

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Blue skies through bare trees.

Again, the temperature was amazing for Thanksgiving weekend!

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Jason hamming it up at the top of Mt Jefferson.

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Grandfather and Grandson with an amazing view below.

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This one should be your header photo, son!

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Thanks for coming to spend the holiday with us!

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Irene and her hubby Dave!

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Time spent with dad is so precious! 

I’ve loved having him here too!

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And yes there has been quilting involved!

When Irene and I were planning this weekend, figuring out what meals to fix, who was doing what, etc – I told her to plan on handwork so that we could enjoy movies and relax.  We’ve been in a binding frenzy and she finished the binding on her Garden Party Quilt last night!  Isn’t it gorgeous with the cheddar chains?  Pattern from the May/June 2015 Quiltmaker Magazine, and making an appearance in my next book due out September 2016!  ((It is feeling SO much closer now that we are closer to 2016!))

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This morning we are all going our different ways – Irene and Dave are driving back to Louisville, KY and hitting the road at the same time I am taking dad back to the airport in Greensboro to start his long journey back home to Phoenix.  I hope to be seeing him again in February and we are making plans to weave a short visit in between some traveling teaching dates.

I’ll be back home to take care of some things on the home front for a couple of days, and I’m sticking in some QUILT-CAM time tomorrow afternoon, Sunday, Nov 29th at 2pm Eastern!!

I’ll talk about our mystery for those who are having questions about clue #1.  We’ll talk about all things quilty and scrappy and life in general.

Mark your calendars and be ready to come sew with me!

I’ll catch you then!


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12 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:49 AM EST

    Glad you had a beautiful visit with family and friends, I hope all your quilty fans had the same. Thanks for sharing your holiday with us.
    Diane H. In N. Florida

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  2. Thanks for bringing us in to your world tomorrow. Glad Thanksgiving was special for you.

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  3. Irene's garden party quilt is lovely! I am looking forward to your next book coming out and am glad your garden party quilt will be in it. I have started working on your new mystery quilt clue one. Thank you Bonnie for the mystery quilt. I love your quilts! Hope you enjoy your time off work. Have a wonderful day!
    Lisa

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  4. Thanks for sharing Bonnie! I love Irene's quilt, especially like her cheddar border too!

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  5. I love the Pictures. You just missed taking the 3-generation one with your son and father. Nice that Irene brought handwork and you could share the time with friends and family! I'm stitching away on my HST's...Hope to have them ready for posting Monday. I'll be trimming dog ears for QuiltCam.

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  6. Hopefully I can cut some fabric to start this year's mystery today. I might be able to get 30 minutes of live Quilt cam before I go to work tomorrow. A littl is better than missing it all together.

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  7. Lovely post Bonnie, funny how you call them overlooks - we call them look outs!! In Australia that is

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  8. So glad you had such a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends. I always so enjoy the spectacular scenery at your cabin which you so eloquently describe. The waterfalls are beautiful. I'm doing your Winter Mystery, my first, so I'm looking forward to Quilt Cam tomorrow. Thanks for everything you do for us, Bonnie!

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  9. So glad you had a dreat time with your family and friends. Enjoying your piece of paradise though your pictures.

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  10. So glad you had a dreat time with your family and friends. Enjoying your piece of paradise though your pictures.

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  11. What a gorgeuos world you live in. Your pictures are beautiful. Am glad you had such a great time with family and friends. Gorgeous quilt iT is awesome.
    Bonnie i heard yesterday when i called my friend in Grand Prairie that you also was a Duncanville guilt membership in TX. I Am terrible with names but maybe you remember me? I send my friend THE recipe and i was telling her what a amazing lady you are. Dorothy is also a scrappy quilter.
    Thanks for sharing your pictures and family with us.
    Yoka B

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  12. Anonymous9:45 AM EST

    Happy Belated Thanksgiving
    Always enjoy reading your Quips and Snips when you're at the cabin.. Reminds me of our fantastic holiday driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains a few years ago.
    We're from Canada
    Vera

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