Winter to Summer in Less Than a Week . . .

Spent last weekend in Akron for Adventures in Stamping – it’s always one of the biggest shows of the year, and at the end of April the weather there could be anything from coveralls to shorts (and anything in-between).  What we got was dreary and damp, with two days of frost . . .

  

But it was bright, cheery and warm inside the Knight Center, where Christopher Alan from Brutus Monroe, Anthony Gilbert from Anthony’s Paper Craft, and Lisa Nelson from our store were doing demos for the happy crowd.  Apologies to Donna Sheetz from our store, who was also there demoing and running a cash register on Saturday – I forgot to take her picture!

Christopher had company – Cathy and Heather from Brutus Monroe also made the trip from Pittsburgh and spent the day shopping and visiting with us on Saturday.

 

It took me a minute to remember why I could hear every word Debby Drabik from Just for Fun was saying from where I was standing – she uses a microphone and speaker to make it easier on her voice.

 

A couple of views of Christopher’s visit to our store the day after the Akron show.  I’m told that he had an enthusiastic audience all day.

 

“I’m told” . . . because I wasn’t there – my friend Tom and I left on Monday morning for a golf trip in McRae, Georgia (about an hour SE of Macon).  Tom’s six-month-old grandson Edison makes the trip with him everywhere.  We stopped in Adairsville, GA to have dinner at Cracker Barrel with our friend Barry (who I stopped to see in Florida back in February).

Tom retired in January and is learning to cook and bake – he made brownies to bring along on the trip, which went nicely with my snickerdoodles and soft molasses cookies.

 

The fellowship in the evenings after we finish the golf for the day is always the highlight of my trip – but the shot that I holed from 130 yards on the first day (my first eagle in more than 20 years) was a close second.  And temps in the high 80s without a hint of clouds or wind added to the fun.

 

I thought this was really cool – the morning sunlight shining through the mist from the sprinklers on the course.  Had to get underneath a walkway to shoot the pictures without too much glare – then cropped them as best I could.

 

Got home about midnight Thursday night, so the sight of my dogwood near the back door caught me by surprise this morning.  I had said before I left that it would probably bloom by the time I returned – but of course, I forgot.  The dogwoods are at least a couple of weeks late here this year – and the temperature today is in the 80s.  I think once again we have skipped Spring and gone directly to Summer . . .