Two rainy Days in Vermont & the Best Treasure

We're back after three days in Vermont visiting my mom and grandmother. My mom lives on a country dirt road surrounded by fields and woods. This the rainy view from her front porch. Everything was starting to green up, no wonder since it rained for two days. We did enjoy a nature walk before the rain started but spent most of the visit inside because of the weather. We were all looking forward to attending the auction. Rain or shine you can always go treasure hunting. There weren't any major treasures to be found at the auction but that was alright, we discovered a treasure far greater. We were able to spend three days with my grandmother, mother, my sister and two nephews. Time with family is precious and is the greatest treasure you can have!


We had four generations of women together. We took this photo which represents each generation. I love the idea that our hands show the experience and wisdom of each of us. This photo is a treasure we'll cherish for a long time to come.


The auction wasn't a total bust. I got 12 sets of these melamine plates and the green glass jar. The plates will go into our picnic basket while the saucers and cups will be used for kid tea parties.

It was very soggy, but we did get to visit the Dog Chapel. We visited last year and had a great time taking pictures and looking at all the art work. The rain limited the number of pictures this year but it was still an enjoyable visit. Nature Girl is shown sitting on a fish bench holding a carved fish. She's wearing the Dora garden gloves her Mimi gave her. She had to wear them everywhere we went!
The neat thing about the Dog Chapel is that you can write a note to a deceased pet and leave it pinned on the wall of the Chapel. Our cat Jack died last March. During our visit last year Nature Girl made some scribbles and I wrote "We miss you Jack Cat." We pinned it to the wall before we left. We were surprised to see it was still there. Nature Girl thought we needed to leave another note this year. She drew a cat's face(it looked like a cat this time) then she dictated a note for me to write. It said " We miss you Jack Cat. Sometimes we're going to get a new cat. I think he'll like to play with your toys. I'm at the Dog Chapel. Love Nature Girl." It was very sweet and so honest. She really wants a new cat, but we have to talk her dad into it first. She has decided it must be an orange cat this time.
While visiting with my family I tried Chicken Scratch for the first time. I used the bookmark patterns from Kerri Made and plan to sew it into a bookmark this week. If you haven't tried it yet you should. It's very addicting!
I have some crafty things to work on this week and I hope to catch up on blog reading during the next few days. I'm wondering what you have all been up to the last few days.