Come & Visit the Sewcial Studio Blog

Now that Sewcial Studio (our new sewing & quilt shop) is open, I've dedicated a blog to the store.  Come on over for a visit by clicking here.

Our first sale announcement and Grand Opening details are on that blog.

Our Last Days in Alaska

We have thoroughly enjoyed our days in Alaska with Bryan.  Monday was his first day at his summer job (following training) as an assistant to the Park Rangers at the Welcome Center in Anchorage.

 While he was working yesterday we drove to the Portage Glacier hoping to take a boat cruise up to the glacier...

 The drive to Portage was beautiful, of course.  The green trees and snow of this photo are part of the same mountain, but the water gave this photo a unique effect...

Unfortunately, the snow was so deep this year that the boat is still stuck in ice at Portage and the Visitor's Center was drying out after having snow covering the entire building.

 


So, we decided to continue down the road to visit Whittier, AK and possibly hop on a tour boat there.  The only way to get to Whittier was by boat or through this 2+ mile tunnel... hmmm

This tunnel is shared between trains, cars, and larger trucks and there's an hourly schedule for each to pass through...

 Since we had experienced an earthquake on the first day of our trip, we were glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

 Whittier is a very small but lovely fishing village. 

 We loved this little gift shop in which many of the items were made by the owner.

 The far side of the bay is the only boat or ship exit

 Can you see the blue ice in the photo below?

This has been a wonderful trip. The people of Alaska are warm and friendly, and Anchorage is a beautiful city.

We'll be flying home during the night tonight and will try to get back onto our regular sleeping schedule.  Having spent days in so much sunlight, it will be nice to see the stars again. 

Alaska, you are beautiful and we will be back. 

Alaska, Days 3 & 4

 A cruise ship arrives in Resurrection Bay as we are heading back to Anchorage

 The first 2 of 6 moose sightings for the day

 Moose #6 walking along in Turn Again Arm (bay south of Anchorage)

 Scarey wildlife

 Frigid kite-surfing fun

A close-up of moose #6

Alaska, Day 2

 Of course, we have to find the quilt shops

 Bryan coming out of his summer job training to have lunch with us

 Yeah, he's mine

 The view from Flat Top

 The DH and the DS

 Up on Flat Top Mountain

Alaska

Okay, our first morning in Alaska and we had a little earthquake!   4.7, just a baby   (YIPES!!!)

Bryan looks wonderful and he loves Anchorage.  Forgot to get a photo of him after a long day of travel, but we'll be seeing him at his new summer job this afternoon at the Anchorage Welcome Center.  Anyone who knows Bryan knows that a "talking" job is right up his alley.  : )

We were surprised to find that Anchorage is very much like the cities we visited in Germany--very clean, very well planned, full of art and interesting sights.  We walked over to Humpy's for dinner last night--wild Alaskan cod, yummmmm.

This morning the sun came up on the same side of the building as the sunset last night.   Hmm    It might have gotten dark sometime in the night, but we didn't see any of it.   Supposedly it got dark after 11:30pm, but when I woke up at 3:45 it was light again, haha.  So cool.

More later 

Happy Mother's Day -- A Day of Rest

 Ah, it's Sunday and Mother's Day; a day of rest--just what I needed after this last hectic month.  

We opened Sewcial Studio sewing and quilt shop in mid-April and have been receiving fabric regularly; I'm also slowly learning QuickBooks for the business.  Two weeks ago I was at the Sew Free Retreat for 5 days as a vendor, then we were off to Mobile, AL and the Azalea City Quilt Guild to give a program and workshop this week.  Whew!

On Tuesday morning our house-sitter arrives and we are off to ALASKA for 8 glorious days!  Our younger son (the former soldier) has lived in Anchorage for a year and has just finished his first year at the University of Alaska.  The laptop is going with us, so I plan to  post some photos. 

For now, here are a few photos of fabrics we received this week and a sample made by Catherine Hart for the store...

 This next one is called Giraffe Love.  Adorable

 This may be the only bolt of really girlie fabric in the store, but it's lovely.

Catherine did a beautiful job on these tulips; the pattern is one of Big Fork Bay's collection.