Back From Vacation!

I think I've been missed! Apparently, my sister Carol has been going through withdrawl symptoms because I haven't posted in my blog for a week. She reads this blog at work, you see ... in her spare free time, of course, so she's nothing to do but twiddle her thumbs, while impatiently waiting for my next blog entry. In the meantime, she thought to send me a nasty email demanding my return. :)

But yes indeed, we did go away for a few days. Hubby and I headed north, driving the back country roads of PA, stopping along the way at any place that looked interesting which included a LOT of thrift/Goodwill/Salvation Army stores.
Our GPS shows us where to find all the thrift stores in the area where we are traveling, so it's fun and easy.

We went as far as the Grand Canyon of Pa (beautiful) and then headed south a little and made our way back home, staying on country roads rather than major highways.
One of the highlights was stopping in a small village of Benzette, Pa. It's a really quiet, small community of ELK.

Yes, Elk roam the area freely ... grazing right out in the open in backyards and fields.
We were told to visit the area early in the morning right after sunrise or in the evening at dusk to see the elk. Those are the times that they come out of the woods to graze. However, we were there at about 4pm and easily spotted a herd of 6 in someones yard.
It's just amazing to see these large creatures.
We were so impressed that we decided to kill some time until dusk so that we could see more.
We did see lots more that evening ... even larger than these. They don't run away like deer so it's very tempting to creep up close to them to get a picture, but signs all around warn us to keep our distance.
But how cool is that to live there and have these huge creatures visiting in your backyard? If I lived there, I'd be sure to feed them lots of goodies to keep them coming back .....
And I know I'd be tempted to give them all some nice warm penny rug blankets to put on their backs. :) Silly me. Go HERE if you'd like to read about the elk in that area.

Oh I found some thrift store treasures ... I wasn't really intending to buy wool but we stopped at a tiny community thrift store ... and I forget where it was, but it was the friendliest thrift store I've even been in. Cute little ladies were stationed in the back of the store and they were sorting through bags that had been donated, getting them ready to put out in the shop. I spotted this wonderful wool sitting on top of one of the bags. I told the ladies that I would love to buy it if they'd price it for me. The one lady said that she didn't know why I would want it "isn't it too itchy to use for a blanket?" she said. ... I got the impression that they were going to throw it out. When I told her that I use it for making penny rugs ... she offered to through other bags to find me other wool that she was throwing out ... Hahah ... sweet!

I could probably still be there, going through bags with her, finding wool.
I declined though, telling her that I was thrilled with this find. The price? 50 cents! I gave her a dollar though. I couldn't believe it .... 2 yards of wool fabric for $1 !

Overdyed with some browns will make this wool oh sooooooo nice!

I found this old wooden stool for $3. I'll recover it and paint the wood. The grandson seems to have already claimed it though ... it's just the perfect size for him to sit on!

We bought lots of other things too ... just so much fun finding treasures.

So I'm back to sewing ... planning to Ebay list some things tomorrow ....

I have some good ideas in my head now too ... inspired by our vacation time away .. Can't wait to get started drawing them out!
Happy Day everyone!