Vacationland

I recently returned from two weeks at our fishing cabin in Eastern Maine.  The weather was mostly gray and cool (we had a fire in the wood stove two days) but my kids enjoyed getting in the (freezing cold) lake every day.  We enjoyed time with my family, took a trip to Canada, enjoyed various water sports and generally unwound.  I love my time on this little island.  If you'd like a more complete story about my special place, read this post that I wrote several years ago.

I didn't get a lot of stitching done but I did take some nice pictures so that's what this post will be about.  I'm heading off to a sewing retreat at the end of the week and hope to have some projects to share when I get back.

A Special Place

One of my favorite blogs and associated Facebook page posed this question today:  Where is your favorite place to sit, dream and breathe?  This got me thinking and feeling a little bit home-away-from-homesick for a very special place. During my childhood I spent part of every summer on a tiny (1 acre) island in the middle of a freshwater lake at an equally tiny town called Meddybemps, Maine.  My family has been vacationing on this lake since long before I was around and purchased this fishing camp in 1961, the summer before I was born.  I made my first trip 2 months prior to my birth.  My brother's family is there now, escaping the tremendous heatwave we've been experiencing here in Washington, DC.  I sure wish I could join them.

The summers of my youth were spent painting rocks, weaving potholders, knitting, stenciling, and any art or craft that did not require electricity (the island has none).  As an adult I vacation there as often as I can.  I still paint rocks and knit but now also dye fabrics and hand bead (I beaded all of the lace for my wedding dress on that little island).  The natural beauty coupled with complete deprivation of modern distractions like the internet and phones make it the perfect place to let my creativity breathe and bloom.

Hand dyed fabrics drying on the clothesline out back

Summer of 2001, beading the lace for my wedding gown

Island life is full of inspiration and variety.  Imagine a place where you can snap these two pictures from the same spot on the same day:

or enjoy sunsets like this:

a place where the sky and the water are blue and clear

except when they're not

days like this are excellent for sitting by the fire with some of that knitting I mentioned

where thought and care must be given to each and every craft supply brought along since everything must be transported by boat (and the nearest stores are a long way off)

where we still make ice cream the old fashioned way

and the line between exercise and recreation is blurred

where I can spend time laughing and visiting with my family and friends

I love this picture taken in 2005 with all of my siblings

but mostly where I can spend quiet time, sitting, dreaming and breathing while my busy hands do all the work that is required for the moment.