A Deer, a Bear, and a Pheasant

Last week a group of friends went to my sister's cabin for a quilting retreat. We try to do this once a year. As always, we had a great time.

On the way there, I saw a deer next to the road. It sort of twitched as if it wanted to dart out into the road. Thankfully it did not.

We had our usual fun chatter, laughs, good food, good weather, and lots of sewing. "M" and I went for a refreshing swim. The first picture below is a quilt my sister made on our retreat last year. It was fun to see it completed this year.

One day three of us were sitting on the deck. My sister had been telling me of bear sightings that had been frequent this year. We have been going to that lake for 53 years, and had never seen a bear at our property, but occasionally would hear of a bear here and there. This year the reports are way up. Well, all of a sudden, on the path that parallels the lake, along trotted a bear! I must admit, I had a sudden panic instinct, and I jumped up and ran into the house. The bear heard my commotion, looked, and was equally startled. It took off at a faster trot along the path, toward my cousin's cabin. That was the last we saw of the bear all weekend, and my first-ever sighting there in 53 years. I wish I had not been a wimp but instead had grabbed my camera. If it occurs once every 53 years, I probably won't get another photo op.

We did our annual ice dyeing. "M" gave us each a pair of bamboo socks. I now have two pairs. I love them; they are so soft. Last year's are green. This year I used a dye called "orchid" for my socks and for two little kid hats.

Weather was gorgeous. One day we went into town for shopping and for lunch. I saw a moose right in the middle of town! (Oh, it's a fake one. Never mind.) We always have to visit the local quilt shop and the bookstore.

The sign was on the door of a pawn shop. It's supposed to be funny, but... is it? The shooting in Orlando had just happened the day before. Sadly, this sign may be serious. We must come to our senses one of these days!

The blocks are for two different Sunshine projects: one for a retreat a whole year from now, and one for a current project. We probably doubled the number of blocks after I took these pictures!

When we packed up to go, it was sad (as always), but decent weather for packing... and then it rained quite hard the whole time I drove home. We were lucky it didn't rain while we were packing up our vehicles. I saw a water-logged, bedraggled-looking pheasant plodding along in a farmer's field. That was it for my wildlife sightings; for auditory pleasure, we heard beautiful loon songs every night.