Grateful, Happy, Blessed

Thank you for visiting with me again today friends! This will conclude my travel blog posts and we will get back to my regularly scheduled creative content over the next week.

After flying back to the United States  - Heathrow to Chicago O'hare - I spent one final night at my parent's house in northern, IL before heading back to Kansas City via train. Of course, I managed to snap a few more lovely photos on their property before making my way home. As you read (and saw through my photos), it was an incredible trip and I am still in awe that I was able to make this fabulous journey alongside my parents. Time with them is treasured and a huge blessing, so I arrived home a bit worn out but with a huge smile on my face. Of course, my husband and our two German Shepherds were very happy to see me - and while it is spectacular to travel and see more of the world, it is always good to be home. I hope you enjoyed traveling along with me...

I should also mention, this is the property where I collect all the acorn caps for my wool felted acorns. You can find a large selection of wool felted acorns in my etsy shop, in various colors.

A Beautiful Beginning

Greetings friends! If you have been following me for a while, then you know I just took an incredible trip abroad with my momma and second dad. They asked me in August if I would accompany them on a trip to Paris and London in September...and everyone around the world probably heard me squeal. I was not only excited for the journey to new and unexplored places, but to spend time with my parents - something I don't get an opportunity to do nearly as often as I would like. With my husband and I living in Kansas City and my parents living in northern Illinois, we have found the easiest way to travel between our homes is by train...so, on an early September morning, I started my extended travel by making my way to their beautiful lake house property via Amtrak. I will be breaking down our travel into several posts, as I have quite a bit of beauty to share. 

This first post is focused on photos I took on their property in Illinois before we departed for Paris. As my regular readers are aware, my parents live in a wonderful, gated, lake community in Northwest Illinois and they have an extensive property. My momma's true passion is for gardening and every time I visit, I can't wait to take my photo skills into her incredible gardens. With her age, she has started to simplify her plantings to be more manageable, but to me they are just as grand. Here are some favorite photos from our visit, the day before our flight to France...and within these photos, you will find my favorite photo of my momma (in her element)...

When I tell you that this was the perfect way to start our journey, I mean it from the bottom of my heart. There is something so special about spending time with them at their home surrounded by the beauty of nature. It has the most calming, refreshing effect on me...oh, how I long to live next door...

This was day one, so be sure to stop back for my next update, when I share about our time in Paris...which exceeded all of my expectations...

The Start of Summer

Greetings friends! I have returned from my trip to northern Illinois and survived a Memorial Day neighborhood gathering at our house (the day I returned) and I am ready to get back to work. To say my lists are long would be an understatement - I have one more needlework finishing order to complete (I started it before my trip...and left my studio in shambles) and another special order, then I will be working on my Poppie Cotton projects for June (think Christmas!) and my latest Therm O Web tutorial. I also have a pile of "one-of-a-kind" pieces I would like to list in my Etsy Shop this week. There are several patterns to write that are calling my name and some model stitching that I am itching to get to, as well. With all that on my mind, I will keep this post short and let the photos "talk" for me...here are some of my favorite photos from visiting my parents at their incredible lake house property...as you will be able to see, my momma has a very green thumb (she planted everything and does all the gardening). I hope these photos will showcase their very special lakefront property - spending time with my family in such a breathtaking, nature-filled setting is quite good my my creative soul...