Vacation ends and real life begins anew

Thursday was our day to visit the big cats at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Rescue.

Lions…

and Tigers 

and Bears…

Oh, my.

We love to go to the rescue.  The tickets for the tours are expensive, so we feel like we’ve contributed to the cause in a way.  But, because it’s so hot when we get there, the animals are much more interested in shade and water than us, so we don’t see a lot of them. 

But, we did see a lot of this

So, it works out. 

After that, there was a bit of rushing to a couple of favorite shops, where I did a catch and release of this machine.

She was very pretty, with all her decals intact and just that one chunk of black paint chipped from in front of the needle plate.  Don’t need another machine.  Left her there for someone else.

Sydney had a swim and we dressed (slacks for the gentlemen and a dress for the lady) and we ate at Arkansas’s (sp?) best Italian Restaurant, Ermilio’s.  Love it.  Open 5-9 every day and if you’re not there at 4:45, then you’re waiting for a table.  And, they’re serious about not seating incomplete parties.

Before dawn on Friday, we were all packed in the truck and on our way southwest.  Nine hours later, we pulled into our drive and we’ve worked our fingers to the poor, bare, bones trying to get everything back in order for everyday life to begin again, today.

On Saturday, I went to quilting bee for a bit of machine time and started a quilt for the sitter.  I finished the top yesterday afternoon and hope to get it pin basted one night this week so I can quilt it next weekend.  Maybe on the treadle?  Other than that, it’s miserable hot here, but we didn’t have to water because of that rain last week.  The gardens took off and a lot of my time was spent just tying things up.  I’ll do pictures of those things later in the week.

Everybody be safe and have a great Monday.  Lane