Carpentry Skills Come in Handy

I didn't accomplish much on Dr. Acula this Labor Day weekend as I would have liked but the work that was completed required my best carpentry skills. I decided to begin this canvas by stitching the Dr.'s coffin. Amy's choice of stitches and color combinations of the Weeks Dye Works threads gave the box a definite woodgrain look. We were given the choice of stitching the knobs for the handles first and then the wood paneling or vice versa. Each way has its own pros and cons. I chose to stitch the knobs first so that I had the correct number of available spaces to stitch the Jessicas (the circular stitches around the brown center). It wasn't difficult to put in the straight stitches by running them under the Jessicas where necessary.

Tonight I think I'll stitch the little cat's coffin and then move up to the pumpkin before working on the top of the coffin.

I was happily distracted from stitching this weekend because Andrew and Anna were here for a visit. Anna arrived a few hours ahead of Andrew and we headed out to the Village Deli, a friendly neighborhood restaurant where we shared what has become a new favorite for us - fried dill pickle slices  with ranch dressing - mmmm good! Saturday we had a quiet day with a little shopping in the late morning, a great lunch at California Dreaming (hadn't been there in forever), followed by a walk through Hobby Lobby for some Halloween and Christmas inspiration - and there's lots to be had there!

Sunday we headed up to Greer, SC so that Andrew could turn in a press car (a 1 series) on loan to  him from BMW.  We discovered that the Garmin had no idea how to get us to the BMW factory despite the fact that we had correctly entered the address. There are many nice neighborhoods (and a few dodgy ones) in Greer as we quickly discovered. We eventually found BMW and turned in the car. After that we drove on up to Asheville, NC for a late lunch at The Grove Park Inn. What a beautiful view from the Sunset Grill at the Grove Park - the restaurant on the open porch across the back of the Inn overlooking Asheville and the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was a perfect day - not a cloud in the bright blue sky and a pleasant 80 degrees. You couldn't ask for more! We wandered down to the award-winning Grove Park Gallery down the hillside from the Inn. There was an interesting sculpture exhibit out in front of the Gallery. I loved the elephant ear sculpture - just didn't care for the $1500 price tag!

I don't think I've ever walked out of the Gallery without a purchase but I managed to this time despite being sorely tempted by the incredible glass artistry on display.

Hope you all had a restful and fun Labor day holiday. Back to reality tomorrow!