Fantastic Friday

We had a fantastic time last Friday.  I can't believe we did all the stuff we did in just one day.  We started off early in search of the Heidelberg Haus Cafe.  We found it and waited patiently at the door as we were just a bit early.

We had breakfast there.  I knew that I wanted one of those German Chocolate rolls.  They are fantastic.

My friend looked at the menu and saw all the German offerings and asked if she could have one for breakfast.  Sure!  So she had a wiener and potato salad and said it was delicious.  I tasted them and they were very flavorful.

I couldn't resist getting some cookies to take home.  I looked in the case trying to decide on which ones.  It was too hard to decide so I just got two of each kind.  I got enough cookies to choke a horse. (I brought them home and froze most of them.)  I was so wishing they would have Springerle but it isn't the season for it.
So after breakfast we went on to see my friend Janet Brandt.  I visited her last year and had a fantastic time.  I couldn't wait for my friend to see her incredible creativeness.  I brought along my flat top casket and my  Amy Mitten Casket Keepsakes to show her.  It was so fun to show them to someone who can appreciate them.  She didn't think the wrinkles in the marbled paper on my casket even showed!  So maybe it isn't so bad after all.  My friend and I were awed at her stitched mantle piece.  It was incredible.

Even the background is stitched.  All of this came out of Janet's imagination.  Wow.  Something I didn't see last year was her doll house.  Again, it is amazing.

This is just one of many rooms in the doll house.  Each room is fantastic.  We were so lucky to get to see her panels for her casket in person. (janetbrandt.com)  This is my favorite quilt of hers.  Fantastic.

We saw fabric she designed for Moda.  Wow.  We got to ask her questions and see many more creations in her workroom.  We were just gobsmacked at all the things she is working on and has done.  Thank you Janet for letting us see everything.
Wow.  Our day would be complete after going to Janet's but there is more to come.  We have to be at Twigs by 1:30 for tea with others from the retreat.  So we find Twigs without too much trouble with an app and a GPS.  But it is deluging and we are early.  So we sit in the car and watch some fancy dressed women go inside.  I hope we aren't too under dressed.  We figure they are going to a shower of some sort. When to rain abates a bit we go inside to a very interesting shop and tea room.

 They have some really delicious iced tea.  It is called Paris tea and it a vanilla caramel flavor.  We meet up with some women we know that are going to the retreat.  We have a table for four.  They bring us a lovely three tiered plate.  Savories are on the bottom, scones and clotted cream in the middle and desserts on the top.

My friend and I look at the tiny little goodies and think that we might have to go to Burger King afterwards.  But all this is very delicious and very filling.  Two of us share the tiered plate.  The worst thing about the tea room is that it is very noisy and it is hard to talk and hear.  The baby shower is in the same room and they are a bit rowdy.  But it is fun and tasty.  
You would think our day would be done.  You would be wrong.  Our next stop is Acorn Farm.  It is out in the boonies.  We are thinking our GPS has taken us to the wrong place but we finally find it.  It is the most charming place down a two lane road.  There are many interesting and nifty things to buy.  I get Claire a set of tops that I think she will enjoy.  My friend buys a felted birdhouse that is just the cutest thing.  It is a fun place to shop.
So now we are done?  Nope.  We find that some friends have arrived in town.  Stacy Nash's Studio is open today and we decide to meet up with our friends there.  So we drive out to Fortsville.  It is raining hard again.  We find Stacy's and wait for the rain to slow down before making our way to the Studio.  Our friends are already there.

It is an interesting place and we find some treasures.  She has a very nice assortment of hand dyed velvet.  I have wanted to make Maggie Bonanomi's pea pod and had never been able to find just the right green.  Stacy has the perfect color. Actually, I get four different colors.  What restraint I have!

Our friends are hungry and it is rush hour so we just walk across the street to a place called "Indulge" to get something to eat.  I top things off with a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone.  Yum.
What a day!  We drive back to our hotels.  We are totally pooped but what a fantastic day it has been.
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