SO...It's Sunday and Here I am

The weekend has been a little strange here.  It kind of started out on Friday when we had yet another snow day here in N. Michigan.  We didn't get as much snow as the Grand  Rapids area but we did get quite a lot.  SO, school was cancelled.  I don't think they have had a full week without snow days since coming back from Christmas break.  AND they seem to come on a Monday or Friday, my new days of volunteering this year.  Anyway, I was left with a full free day to myself, something I haven't had much of lately.  I kind of knocked around the house a while and then called my friend Maryanne.  She was home and invited me to come out in the afternoon.  She and her daughter have a new enterprise/art business of dying silk scarves.  They had plans for doing them that afternoon and I was interested in seeing the process so I went out to check it out.  

 They buy the silk scarves already hemmed on the edges and all they have to do is dye them and process the dye. On this afternoon they were dying the scarves and they would process the dye on a later date.  The process for dying is very similar to doing tie dye and it goes quite quickly.  The one above is an example of Elizabeth's work on that day.

 You can kind of see Maryanne painting the dye on the folded up silk scarf here.

 She put rubber bands around the scarf after she accordion folded it and then painted the dye on the scarf, making sure to get down into the folds with the dye.

This is how that scarf turned out.  It is very pretty, especially with the red added to the blue colors.  It is a very interesting process.  I don't know what else they have to do to make the dye permanent.  On this day they were just dying and hanging them in the garage to dry.

After the quick dying session, Maryanne and I had some time to just relax and chat.  Her house overlooks a beautiful lake that was covered with snow.  The sun was shining and it was nice to sit and talk while looking out over the lake and the fresh snow of the day.  It was just the right thing for me that afternoon and helped me recharge my batteries.

I finished my photo albums projects so I am caught up with the last 2 years.  I will bring them to the wedding next weekend. It was great to get them done.  It is a time consuming project but once you get going it isn't too bad and sometimes it is fun to look over pictures and remember those moments.  I had a great time with the book that had my Paris pictures in it.  I was smiling and smiling as I put together those pages.  I will try not to get so far behind from now on.  It is my job to do the houseboat picture books from the last 3 years but that will wait until after the wedding.

WEDDING!!  Yes, it is next weekend.  I am excited to see Jessica in her dress.  She has done a good job keeping it a secret from all of us except Eva.  I have speculated if it will be white or maybe gray???   Anyway, I will know soon.

The rest of my weekend was a bit more quiet although Sue and Walt invited us over for dinner last night so it was nice to catch up with their activities and enjoy the evening with them.  There has been a bit of sad news in Bud's family this weekend.  His aunt that lives in the DC area died this past week and the ex-husband of his step-sister also died.  So today we had lunch with Megan (his niece) Patty (his step sister) Sonja and Sue.  It is hard for any young lady to lose her father and we feel especially sad for Megan.  It was a sudden death, he was found in bed Friday morning.

The rest of today we just 'chilled out' here at home, a fire in the fireplace, a nap on the sofa and quiet music playing.  It is raining out side tonight, strange weather, maybe freezing rain?? I am planning to go to the school tomorrow so who knows???

I just want to say a special thanks for such a wonderful family.  I truly appreciate all of you and your special caring ways these past few weeks.  I love you all.