Minnie Takes a Little Trip

Much as I am hooked on making the Country Charmer blocks we had planned a few days away along the Rideau Heritage Route and taking hand sewing made much more sense than a machine, so I packed Minnie into the car to see if we could get reacquainted a bit. We headed to a long-time family favourite, a cabin at The Opinicon at Chaffeys Locks.

The Opinicon is a traditional fishing resort - not that we fish - with tons of history that goes back over a hundred years. Sadly, for the past two years it has been closed but much to our delight (and that of hundreds of other regulars) new owners are breathing new life into the old gal. It's a work in progress with much more to be done but it was a real treat to be back for a few nights. Anyone who has ever enjoyed a meal on the porch will recognize these chairs.







The Rideau is rich in history and home to the oldest continuously operated canal in North America and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Forty-seven locks dot the 200 km waterway from Kingston to Ottawa and work today much as they did when the canal first opened in 1832, using hand cranks to operate the massive wooden locks.

It's a haven for boaters, anglers, and paddlers, and for land lubbers like us, an amazingly relaxing source of entertainment just watching the boats lock through. The fabulous food doesn't hurt either.

Minnie and I spent a little time together, either in our porch or atop the hill overlooking the lake, and four more larger diamond sets got finished.

It was totally relaxing and really fun getting back to this one.

I've still got a pile of diamonds to work with but I'm realizing that they are all quite light in colour; I need more mid to darker tones.

Here's the last one. Still lovin' the wide variety of colours and prints in this quilt.

















I thought that I might finally take the next step and join four of the four-diamond panels, but with a view like this I was too easily distracted....M