A Day To Play

Hello friends! Here I am posting from Haddam, CT....where I am thrilled to be staying at Sue's marvelous cottage on the Connecticut River - isn't her cottage absolutely adorable??! What a treat to be able to spend the whole day here - seeing the beautiful sights, hearing the history, and spending some one on one time with Sue from Stitcher's Hideaway - I had the most wonderful, relaxing day! We arrived last night - got a good night of sleep and spent today exploring. This morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast and chatted away...then we took a walk around Camp Bethel where her cottage is located - what a beautiful place to spend a day away - so quiet and calming. I was particularly interested in the history of the camp and the area...and was amazed that many of these cottages were built in the late 1800's early 1900's. Each cottage is fun and unique...and all have wonderful stories and histories...



















The view from her cottage is AMAZING...I could gaze at it for hours!...and we enjoyed a nice lunch from her balcony sitting room overlooking the river - lovely! We were surrounded by beauty and I was able to see so many inspiring things...

Including this adorable squirrel who I managed to snap a photo of while it was peeking at us from around a tree.

I was also quite taken by the camp's quaint Boyd Memorial Chapel, nestled in with all the cottages and surrounded by nature...where generations have gathered, worshiped, and married (including Sue and her husband!).

After taking our walk and enjoying lunch with a spectacular view of the river, we headed to Eagle Landing State Park (only a few minutes away) to take a riverboat cruise of the lower Connecticut River. It was a perfect sunny day and we thoroughly enjoyed our trip down the river - and although the trees were just starting to turn colors - the view was "out of this world"....plus we saw lots of local wildlife - including large beautiful swans. It was so relaxing and just what we both needed after preparing for the upcoming retreats.

After the riverboat excursion, Sue was kind enough to take me to Colchester, CT to visit Colchester Mill Fabrics - a HUGE fabric store with just about anything you could want or need for any sewing/quilting/crafting project. I found a few wonderful new fabrics and some beaded trims that will be making the trip back to Iowa with me.

Then we headed to the shore for dinner. We went to a marvelous place called Saybrook Point Dock & Dine in Old Saybrook, CT, where we ate in the waterfront dining room overlooking the ocean. Before heading inside, I couldn't resist taking photos of a nearby lighthouse and the seagulls that were perched so perfectly on all the dock posts.

All this already, and I have only been in Connecticut for one day - I feel so extremely blessed....and so thankful to Sue who invited me to make the trip early, shared her world with me, and showed me the area. Tomorrow we head to Mystic, CT and the retreat fun begins! We have a few really cool stops to make on the way, so I will have more to share - then the class set-up begins. I can hardly wait to meet the students and teach "Pocketful of Peppermint" - it is going to be a great week!!