hiking and packing adventures

With the sewing machine still down for the count, I thought I'd share a few shots from our hiking trip to Potato Knob (just south of Mount Mitchell). The blueberries were quite cool and delicious, though we were in the middle of a bear sanctuary, so we nibbled watchfully.

But the time has come... the Carestio family is moving uptown! Goodbye, West A'ville; hello, North Asheville. With the move, I'm thinking a little blog break may be in order, at least til I get my craft room set up and ready for action. So, until next time....

labor day (for real)

Now for something different.... There is something about buying furniture - especially the used, cheap kind - that sets my heart aglow. After months (really!) of looking for dining room chairs that didn't cost a fortune, I found these beauties (not really!) on Friday at the local Habitat for Humanity store. And the set was on sale: even better.

After some intense sanding, priming, painting, and sealing - oh, and stripping and stapling and sweating (labor!) - I have a new set of dining chairs that I absolutely love. And the fabric: super yummy. I think it's actually outdoor furniture fabric, but that's probably a good thing since the hubs and I both tend to be the spilly type. I love these types of projects - especially the transformation aspect.

Speaking of transformations, we're about to make a big one: moving from our much-loved, yet pricey rental house to an apartment. We're saying goodbye to a lot: lovely West A'ville, a superb yard, our hot tub (sniffle, sniffle)... and it's bittersweet for sure. But there are some definite positives: hello, my first ever very own craft room!

virtual quilting bee, round #1

Here is installment #1 of my round with the Common Threads virtual quilting bee. What fun! I love the colors Amber chose... It'll make it hard come my turn. I think my favorite part of both blocks is the tone-on-tone blue stripes. I'm thinking I'll have to put that technique to use again sometime soon.

Unfortunately, these blocks have done the unthinkable: they have killed my sewing machine. Well, actually, it was probably the 20+ years of steady use without a servicing. Either way, I'm taking her in for a checkup: fingers crossed. Gosh, I never thought I would get so emotionally attached to a machine.

And I can't help but share some lovely shots from our weekend camping in the mountains. We camped at Lake Santeetlah - which was still warm enough to for swimming (oh, moonlight swims!) - and did a little bit of hiking at Joyce Kilmer. And Baby took her first canoe ride... like a champ! Admittedly, we were trying to extract one last flurry of summer fun, but the nip in the air is nice, too.