I really didn’t do justice to our GTG in last night’s post, so I’ll try to rectify that now. (I was a little bummed out when I was posting last night because one of the kids had broken the cat skull that I’d found last year. I’ve taken such care with packing it and shipping it, etc. and it upset me quite a bit that one of them felt they had the right to remove it, break it, and try to hide the evidence. Just to explain my little funk.)
But on to happier things! We did indeed have a whale of a good time in Belfast and any other Mainers who’re looking for a good place to meet up for a day would not go wrong by choosing Belfast. The food at the Co-op is delicious, the people who run the shops are friendly, and the ambience is great.
My day started at the library, where I picked up some books at the sale they were having. These are the ones I got for the kids. The novels I chose for myself are hiding at the moment. The kids loved theirs and we promptly read them all cover-to-cover. 
From the library, we headed to the Co-op. I enjoyed their scrumptious bagels again. We also got some quality stitching time in, yay us! Here’s my progress on Birds of a Feather’s Apple Sampler. Sadly, it’ll have to go in the WIP pile now because I need to focus my time & energy on the samplers that will be appearing in the Gift of Stitching Monthly magazine.
After stitching and lunching, we walked around town a bit. One of our stops was the fabulous & friendly Brambles shop, where I picked up two new additions to Chateau Chaos. Aren’t they sweet? The owner gave me some great advice on ferns, too, to ensure these guys (gals?) will have a long and happy life.
At the Good Table, I picked up a much-needed scraper for handling those ‘wetter’ bread doughs, but that’s a boring a picture. We checked out some other shops, too, but I really did show remarkable self-control. Aren’t you proud of me? 
After we went our separate ways in Belfast, I headed home - but I couldn’t resist a quick stop at the Left Bank bookstore in Searsport where I found these two treasures. Ooooh!! 
Happy, happy me!
I also made a very quick stop at Rooster Brother in Ellsworth just before they closed and found six egg cups. We have boiled eggs on the weekends and it’s been a bit of bother that we didn’t bring our egg cups with us. (Whose dumb idea was that, anyway? LOL.) Egg cups here seem to be a luxury item, with prices ranging from $6 to $14 each – a steep price tag for a family this size! – so I purchased these sake cups for $1.50/each instead.
The only times I took my fabulous mittens off during all this was when I went into the shops. Didn’t want anyone reporting me for Public Weirdness. LOL! They look gorgeous, but the real treat is slipping your hand inside. Oh my goodness! It’s like a spa visit for hands.
Rico says hello to everyone. He’s having some fun today crawling around the outside of his cage. He’s still very nippy so I’m not handling him too much right now, but I’m not sure that’s the right approach either. In any case, he’s very happy to have his freedom, and the dogs have been great about not trying to eat him.
Once again, I’d like to thank Patti and Evelyn for meeting up halfway yesterday – I had a great time! And thank you to everyone who’s visited me here and left comments – you’re fabulous! Now I’m off to finish-finish my Arbor Day exchange so I can pick up with my GOS samplers on Monday. Enjoy a great week, everyone!
