It’s (almost) all about the family!

I stayed home this week!

I’d been away at least a part of the week for five weeks straight and *I just wanted to stay home… no packing, no driving, no deadlines… Don’t get me wrong I love all that stuff but sometimes you can almost have too much of a good thing?

Quilt Market is going on in Portland right now while I’m typing this and I’m not there. I’ve been to the last four Spring Markets and they were great, but this time I decided to stay home. My ticket is already purchased for Houston in the Fall, and my hotel room is booked too, but it just seemed like a good idea to sit this one out.

So, if I stayed home what have I been up to? There has been sewing (June and July butterflies)… there has been unpacking and clearing up… and there has been a visit! Emily is ten weeks old which means Joanne just has two more weeks of maternity leave left. She suggested I could go back to Wisconsin but see * above… Yes, I persuaded her to pack up and come here! Just one night. I set up the Pack and Play, found the bouncy chair and even discovered a nearly full packet of size one diapers.

I think Emily liked the bouncy chair! Note the vintage pink and brown…We went into town to find Joanne some going back to work worthy clothes. It wore Emily out?The one thing that Joanne and I had had on our agenda for a while, before maternity leave even started, was that she was going to teach me how to crochet. When Joanne had announced her intention to learn a new skill so she could make baby blankets I suspected it was because I didn’t know how… She has not only completed blankets, but hats too, and now she was going to show me how to do it.

Well, Joanne is a patient instructor! I never managed to work out how to even hold the crochet hook before and now look, a granny square made by a granny 🙂
Joanne had selected a couple of YouTube videos from simplydaisy for me to watch and added her own words of wisdom – hook to the left being the most useful phrase.

I have been practicing since she left. I really want to make sure I have the muscle memories and neural pathways fully formed. It’s been really good for me to learn something completely new. I did have a few moments where I thought I was never going to get it but Joanne  helped me power on through… Yet again I’ve been reminded how it feels to be a student in one of my classes when I’m making something look so simple but I’ve been doing it for years…

Thanks Joanne… You’re making a pretty great job of looking after your daughter too.

It’s been a good week to stay home.