Dinner Cruise

When I wrote yesterday's post, I'd completely forgotten we planned a dinner cruise on the Willamette River last night. There was so much to do around our place this summer, we didn't get in much boating time. Now, here we sit in September, and time is running out. So, we put a "dinner cruise" on the calendar last week. We even talked about it Tuesday evening. Then Wednesday rolled around, and I'd already forgotten about it.

So, I went about my morning routine as if I had all the time in the world. I finished stitching the last snowflake.

There is a lot of beading on this one. I did about a third of it yesterday morning, and then decided it was time to move myself along.

It was then I looked at the calendar, which noted the "dinner cruise."

(image attribution)

So then, I was in a mad scramble to get two salads made and into the refrigerator. We'd already decided on the menu, and my contribution was a Seafood Pasta Salad with Lemon-Saffron Herb Dressing (special request from Mike), and a Watermelon Salad with Rum and Mint (a favorite of mine). And that took up the rest of my time until after lunch. While I was waiting for the water to boil, I was able to get out and water the flower pots, but it still felt like I was hurrying myself along.

Not to worry. I still found some time to sew. I have the first three of five rows of blocks sewn together for the Garden Sunshine quilt. There is also a white border to be added before I can call this a finished flimsy. 

Before quitting for the day, I found an appropriate backing and binding fabric in my stash. I'm hoping I'll have time to get that all put together before the day ends.

Smitty helped me select the backing fabric. He was eyeing the several fabrics I picked out.

When we'd made our selection, we turned our attention to something for the binding. Like so many of us, Smitty thinks quilt bindings are the most boring part of quilting.

My neck was bothering me. I've spent too much time looking down between prepping tomatoes for canning, beading, and sewing. I took about 20 minutes to sit with an ice pack, and that was tremendously helpful. And then it was time to head out. It was a nice day to be out on the river. The weather was warm, and the water inviting.

We cruised some distance down the river, ate our dinner, relaxed and talked, and then headed back for the boat launch as the sun was setting.

It was a nice way to relax and unwind after being so busy earlier.

This morning Miss Sadie will be visiting the vet. We're going to have them take a look at her ears and see if we can figure out why they're so itchy. She won't be happy about this.

I'm hoping to finish off the last snowflake today, and then I'm hoping to get Garden Sunshine sewn into a flimsy. There's some housework to do, but otherwise, I think the calendar is clear. On the other hand, I said that yesterday too. I simply cannot be trusted when it comes to the calendar.