Unplug, sit back and hold on tight!

It has been the best two days!  Absolutely wonderful! Cool, crisp and clear, the remaining leaves turning and falling as they swirl in the breeze.  It's been the perfect start to six days off.  I have had time to slow down, take a long motorcycle ride up the Great River Road, and simply unplug. 

This is the first time I have picked up my laptop today.  I didn't even check email this morning, unheard of for me.  God has truly blessed us with a mild fall, sunny and mostly warm.  So Hubby and I have grabbed every minute we can to ride.

Yesterday was a putter around the house kind of day, I finished the snowman hat, oh my goodness is that one absolutely precious! Made my boys a huge batch of chicken jerky treats. Did several loads of laundry.  And even found time to take a nap after having lunch with my sweet Hubby.

Frosty Hat

 Then I started preparing for the next few days.  I am going to take an assortment of projects with me to Kansas City.  I cleaned up my spinning wheel, it's been sitting in the corner looking sad and forlorn.  After dusting all the spindles and oiling all the moving parts she is purring softly, ready to help me create soft beautiful yarns.  Then I set about gathering all the brilliant wool blend rovings and a few alpacas to take with me.  I am so excited to see what the next few days brings forth.

Freckleberry dyed by The Yarn Geek

I have started gathering the yarns and needles I need for the drive.  I am working on some fingerless gloves.  I have orders for three and then I want to make a few for the next craft fair I am doing in December. I finished the first pair last night.  It felt so nice to have the smooth wood of my needles in my hands again.

The evening ended with some quality time with my son.  That was such a perfect way to wrap up the day. Although I was a bit stunned to discover my other three boys had not decided to leave me much room to climb into bed as the day had turned into late night.

Boy 1, Boy 2, Boy 3... no room for me...

This morning started out with thrifting and rummage sales with Hubby and friends.  I am not as big a fan as Hubby is, but every now and again there are real treasures to be found.  The first big rummage sale we were lucky to discover a set of brand new flannel sheets.  I love the feel of flannel as the days get colder.  I also managed to find some awesome baskets, these were free... oh the things that people throw away.

Can't wait to finish this up for Hubby!

After a quick stop home off we headed to Savers, gotta say I love that store!  We dropped off a donation before strolling through the store.  They give you a gift certificate when you donate, so that saved me 20%, Hubby being a veteran saved another 20% off that.  I was so thrilled to discover a partially finished lap quilt, it's the American Flag!  I am going to finish that up for Hubby to put in his man cave, whoever started it was quite skilled and it is so beautiful! I also found several yards of fabric to use for a couple of quilts I am working on for Christmas.  A few CD's and $12 later, and we were headed home.

I thought for certain that our day of 'savings' was over as we headed to drop our Escape off for an oil change and tire rotation.  Hubby remembered receiving a coupon in email so he grabbed that.  Wow, this lucky day did not want to end, it saved us a full 50% off auto work. 

We ran into my baby sister and her hubby and visited for a bit (even saw another sisters ex-husband - it's been 10 years, we let it stay that way).  They both looked great and seemed so happy and relaxed.  I know things have been crazy for them for a while, and it was good to see them looking happy!

Hubby and I took off to chase the colors of fall.  And we found so many!  We followed the Great River Road and decided to explore Alton, Illinois this time.  Usually we simply pass by, today we made the right.  It is a beautiful , the hills are steep and the views are spectacular!

Here's a Hubby telling me his hair is a mess... snap quick!

After a bit of exploring we found a nice little spot to have a quick lunch, we will definitely head back to Mac's when we are in that area.  A bit more exploring, snapping pictures of the beautiful homes, the view from some of the highest overlooks in the city, suddenly we realized we'd managed to burn almost all of the sunshine for the day. 

Home was about 45 minutes away and so was sunset.

We pulled up our leaf covered drive a few minutes before the sun dipped below the horizon.  Sure we should have finished cleaning up the house, packing for our trip, raking leaves and mowing the grass.  But we would have missed so many amazingly, wonderful memories... I'll take the memories any day. Life is simply too short!