Five on Friday April 28th

This is my first Five on Friday post. I've been reading them over on a lovely website called Love Made My Home.

For my first Five on Friday post I'm going to post five pictures of places I love to visit. This isn't in any particular order - love them all! Here is the Five on Friday Link so you can check out what everyone else is up to.

1. Munising, Michigan. This is from our first trip there in 2012 when Mum came to visit. We stayed at The Sunset Motel on the Bay. It's a lovely place. We've been there every year since our first trip. This is one of the glorious sunsets that can be seen over Lake Superior from the motel.

2.Christchurch Mansion in my hometown of Ipswich. It is a Tudor brick  mansion house in the middle of the town centre. It is situated in Christchurch Park which is a 70-acre park. As a child I loved visiting here - there were fairs and fireworks here and great play areas. As an adult I always take a walk around the park when home and usually spend time either in the mansion (it is now a museum and open to the public) or sitting outside on one of the benches in front of the mansion and reading a good book.

3. Abbey Gardens, Bury St. Edmunds. The gardens are a stone's throw away from the town centre and when Mum and I visit we always stop in Gregg's and pick up a pasty or sandwich to take down to eat. The flowers are beautiful here and so are the Abbey ruins. There is also a great cathedral nearby. I find this park just so peaceful. There is something about the place that just makes me feel happy.

4. Felixstowe. May seem like an odd choice. It's a seaside town about 14 miles from Ipswich. I have great memories of taking the train with friends on a Sunday afternoon to go visit Mannings (amusement park) and the market. As an adult I have great times there with Mum. It's our favourite place to get Fish & Chips and sit up on a bench above the gardens and eat them.

5. Mackinaw Bridge. We've stayed here a few times in the last few years on our way up to the U.P of Michigan. At night it is a beautiful sight. The bridge is lit up and quite beautiful. The hotels we have stayed by have been right on the lake and we always take a walk along the beach as the sun is going down. It is just beautiful.

There are a lot of places I've visited just once, but these are the ones that have me going back time and time again. They are filled with lots of wonderful memories. Thanks for sharing them with me!

WOYWW April 27th

It is almost May already! Another week has flown by and it is time to join Julia and the gang over at Stamping Ground for another What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday. It's time to see what everyone else is up to.

Here's my desk this week

I have a file folder album going on in the background and another Gatefold album in the foreground that I was working on Tuesday. I finished one earlier this week and posted about it yesterday. I liked how the album came together. I bought some new paper last weekend so am making another.

This is my updated cross stitch this week. She is coming along nicely! Still a long way to go though.

I just wanted to say thanks to all who visit and comment. I really appreciate your comments and looking. I'm hoping to join in with the ATC exchange as it sounds like a lot of fun!

I've been working on a new mini-album. I quite like this one. It is called a gatefold album. I like the way it looks and the ease of putting it together.

I did a waterfall page on one side of the inside cover and on the other I made a pocket for a tag.

The pages fold together nicely in the middle.

It ended up looking quite nice. I think I'll make another!

Beautiful day here again on Sunday. We took a trip up to the next lighthouse on our list. It was at Muskegon in Michigan, probably about an hour and a half away from us. It was quite chilly as it is near the lake but there were quite a few people out walking.

There are actually three lights here. They are known as The Muskegon Lights.

It was quite a walk out to the one we walked to. A little scary as there are no guard rails. Also there were a couple of (clearly marked) holes - yup, holes - through to the water. There were certain spots I clung on to hubby's hand quite tightly!

This is the 'pier' we walked along. You can see just how choppy the water is on one side and really calm on the other. I made sure I stayed on the calm side as it wasn't too deep either! The beach here is just gorgeous. The sand reminded me of the sand at Yarmouth. I imagine in the summer it gets really busy but there was quite a big car park. The only bad thing - the lighthouse wasn't actually open as it isn't quite the season. Well worth a visit though!

WOYWW April 20th

It's Wednesday again so time to join Julia and the gang over at Stamping Ground. It's What on Your Workdesk Wednesday.  Time is flying by and I can't believe Wednesday has rolled around again. It has been beautiful here in Michigan - looks like Spring is finally coming. I actually managed to open some windows and air out the house.

This is my desk. It is between projects so there is a lovely blank space. My computer has a space on it. I always listen to Radio Suffolk while I'm crafting. It's lovely to hear all what's going on at home.

This is the inside of a couple of those albums I was working on. I think I'll do a separate post with more pics. These have been really fun to make.

My Mum had a scan on Monday. Don't know how long it will take for results but hoping all will be okay so we can start planning holiday.

This is my updated cross stitch picture - haven't been working on it too much! And lastly (tried to keep this short) is a picture of Shasta my daughter's newly adopted dog. My daughter has some time off this weekend and came to visit bringing her new dog with her. Shasta is gorgeous and so very sweet. I can't believe she wasn't adopted sooner.

Off to visit desks!

After the swinging bridge we meandered along the lakeshore and down to Port Huron to see Fort Gratiot lighthouse.

Established in 1814, military Fort Gratiot, named after General Charles Gratiot, was established to guard the juncture of Lake Huron and the St. Clair River.

It's on land but (obviously) close to the lakeshore. It is also very close to Canada. There is a bridge you can travel along and into Canada.

When the lighthouse is open there are tours and you can go up to the top. Unfortunately it is still too early in the season so it wasn't open yet.

You can see Canada across the other side. So close! We went on the trip with a couple who are friends with my husband. I'm not the most social person but I had a good time. I think we might be planning another trip! Hope the weather is as nice next time!

It has been a GORGEOUS couple of days here in Michigan. Such a change from last weekend. It was great as we had a daytrip planned for today. We took a 3+ hour drive with a couple of friends of hubby's to visit a walking swing bridge in Croswell, Michigan. Quite a drive.

This thing was quite wobbly. Don't think I would have gone on it if it was any longer. I could still feel my legs wobbling when I got off it!

50 people??!!! Not sure it could hold that many. The wooden planks looked a little...iffy.

Not quite sure why that sign is there! LOL.

After the bridge we drove to look at a lighthouse. I'm going to post pictures tomorrow!

WOYWW April 13th

The middle of April already? Wow, where is time going? It's Wednesday again and time to join Julia and the gang over at Stamping Ground. It's time to visit desks around the world and see what's going on.

Here's mine. This is what it looked like late Tuesday night ready for Wednesday morning. I'm working on a couple of mini-albums. They are the waterfall pages ones. It's the first time I've made them and I like how they are turning out. 

You can see tags on my desk too - working on cutting them out to fit in the front pocket - as seen. They will get decorated just checking they would fit!

There is also another box card on my desk - almost finished but sitting there waiting for inspiration - it needs another something just not sure what!

I finished my fairy cross stitch (see last post). It turned out well. Now I have to frame it. I started working on another one at night. This one is a Santoro kit I treated myself too while I was home visiting Mum last year. It's quite a large one so is going to take a while,

Hope everyone has a great week. I really enjoy visiting the other desks and appreciate all the comments left!

It is yet another cold and snowy morning here in Michigan. Did someone forget to tell the weather that it's supposed to be Spring? The weather people say that by next Saturday it will be 19C (67F). It would make a change from the -5C it is this morning!

This is the picture today out of my window and the shot for my 366 photo challenge that, I am happy to report, I am still participating in! At least the sun is shining, right?

I've finished my cross stitch piece that I was working on. I am quite pleased with it. I didn't like all the backstitch. It was rather difficult to tell by the pattern where the backstitch was supposed to be. There was quite a bit of it (not my favourite thing to do!) and sometimes there is a separate pattern included but not in this one. You can certainly see that the backstitching is worth it though.

This is the piece before the backstitch.

This is after the backstitch. You can certainly see the difference! Now on to the next piece....

WOYWW April 6th

It's Wednesday again (and April too!) so it's time to join Julia and the gang over at Stamping Ground for What's on your Workdesk Wednesday.

My desk is very clean this week. I am between projects. I cleaned up The Big Shot and all the little bits it created and am getting ready to make a couple of cards. You can see the beginnings of them on the desk. They are a Sizzix die. It was a pain. I had forgotten how to use it (yes, it's been that long!) and made a mess of it. Daughter rang to chat just in time as by that point I was really frustrated. So I left the desk as it was and went to sit in my comfy chair to chat. Sometimes it's better to just put something aside for a while. Not so frustrating that way!

The bright stripey paper I am (thinking) I am going to use for a beach hut card of some kind. I love the look of beach huts. They are so bright and cheery. It's amazing how much people can fit inside such a small space! I love peeking inside (not too creepily) when I'm passing one by and the door is open.

I'm still working on the cross stitch. Didn't realise I needed some fluffy thread so am waiting for it to arrive before finishing up and then doing the (dreaded) backstitch.

I'm off to visit other desks. We're going through a cold snap again - had more snow at the weekend - so it's the kind of day to stay inside and craft!

I don't even seemed to have made a dent in my scrap paper. My hands started cramping up today so had to stop. Guess that's a result of getting older. Sigh. Or perhaps a lack of something. My feet were cramping horribly yesterday and I thought that it was because it was sold cold again. Maybe I need some bananas as potassium is supposed to help. I think.

I have die cut circles, squares, Happy Birthdays, umbrellas, balloons, flowers, labels, arrows etc and I haven't even  made a dent in the box of paper. So frustrating. I'm putting it away for a while I think. Maybe do some more next week! Maybe I should think of some cards to make with the scrap pieces or something other than die-cutting!

I am going to put some of the flowers and umbrellas together - after a rest!

With hubby off for a couple of days we finally got around to taking some of the already-sorted boxes to the charity shop. A box of books went to our local library as they have a great resale shop on the lower floor. I like taking books there as the money they make funds programs in the library including one my middle son used to go to years ago. He had a great time there - it was a place he felt comfortable.

Anyway, as we were at the charity shop I had to pop in to see if there was anything worth 'rescuing'. I found a whole box of cross stitch magazines and patterns that someone had dropped off! I went through them and picked out the ones that interested me. It was like a gold mine for someone who stitches! They were .25cents a piece.

There was almost the full series of Just Cross Stitch ornament mags as well as lots of Prairie Schooler leaflets, Shepherd's Bush and Drawn Thread! If I do decide to re-sale they sell quite well. I just had to 'rescue' them!

Hubby managed to take a couple of well-deserved days off. We took a drive on Thursday to Grand Haven to take a look at the lighthouse. It was our first time there. We are going to try to see as many of them as possible. There are a lot of lighthouses up and down Michigan along the lakeshores. We are starting on Lake Michigan close to us.

It was rainy when we left but beautiful by the time we made it to the lighthouse. The wind was pretty wild so there were lots of waves.

Usually you can walk right along to the house you can see at the back but there are no railings on the walkway and the water was coming right over so we decided not to. I wasn't brave (or stupid) enough to try it!

The waves were pretty wild for the lake! Ended up glad we went Thursday as Friday was a lot of colder and by Saturday we had snow!