A weekend to remember

I think I've just about recovered from my craft retreat/girls' weekend. We stayed at The Meadows Craft Retreat near Northfield, MN, and I would highly recommend it if you're ever looking for a retreat location. The house and grounds were beautiful, and the owners also have a hobby farm, so we spent a fair amount of time visiting with the resident cows, chickens, cats and the dog, Daisy. Everyone had a wonderful time and worked on a variety of projects: quilting, card-making, jewelry-making, embroidery, knitting and even putting together jigsaw puzzles for the people who didn't feel like being crafty. Here are a few pictures of our memorable weekend.

There was a beautiful porch that was a perfect place to sit and read or just listen to the birds. On the day we arrived I sat on the porch swing to read for a bit and ended up taking a nap. We had beautiful weather the first day and a half and then it cooled off and was overcast and rainy. The rain was probably a good thing; otherwise I don't think I would have left this porch. It was so relaxing!

This birdhouse was on the patio just outside the kitchen/dining room (another fabulous outdoor space!). We spent a lot of time watching this industrious little wren (sitting on top the birdhouse) bring twigs to the house and try to get them in the hole. A few times she was determined to carry up a twig that was clearly too heavy, and even though she frantically flapped her wings, she could only get it about halfway up to the house. I think she worked harder than I did during the weekend!

Moooo! Here I am feeding the cows. My sister and I went out at least once each day and picked grass to feed them. There were six cows, and they all wanted their fair share (plus a little bit more ...).

Some of the ladies hard at work. Later in the evenings a few of us ended up hardly working, but we had a lot of laughs.

One evening I found the chickens roosting in the barn. The rooster is there, too, and he was a character. I never actually heard him crow at dawn, but whenever we went to see the chickens, he would strut around and crow for all he was worth.

Gathered for breakfast on our last morning. I was definitely sad to see it come to an end. Everyone was talking about going back next year, and I think that would be great. I'd love to go one weekend a month if I could.

Here are the fifteen cards I finished during the weekend. I only brought four stamp sets, a few neutral ink pads and coordinating card stock, my markers, Brights Collection card stock and Designer Series Paper, and a tools and embellishments. So compared to my usual choices, I was working with pretty "limited" supplies. I could have finished more cards, but I wanted to have fun and relax instead of stressing about the number of cards I made.

Later this week I'll post individual pictures of the cards. Thanks for stopping by!