Sunday, May 1, 2011

Quilt Retreat with Little Stinkers

This weekend was our annual Centreville Quilter’s Unlimited guild spring retreat. 

car trip

We changed locations this time.  We’ve been going to a Baptist retreat center out in Winchester, VA for years.  This time we were at a Methodist camp in the wilds of Middleburg, VA.  Both sites were pretty similar in the degree of “rustic-ness”…shared rooms with wooden slatted bunk beds with crackly plastic covered hard-as-cement mattresses, bathrooms down the hall with toilet stalls and showers, a big room for sewing and meals prepared, served and cleaned up by very nice ladies on the staff there.

There was, however, a reallllly big difference in the retreat at this new venue…  STINK BUGS!

stinker

They were EVERY-FREAKING-WHERE!! 

And although they don’t bite and are not aggressive, they are GROSS and CREEPY and just everywhere!!  Some of the other quilters were not surprised as they had the little stinkers showing up around their own homes lately.  I guess I am lucky, as we’ve not had but a few ever at my house.

So, although I really enjoy our retreats for the cutting, designing, sewing and quilting,

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( I spent many hours tracing, fusing, and cutting out these zillions of flower pieces for this art quilt wall hanging)

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of course, but also more for the socializing

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and wonderfully delightful story-telling

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and tear producing belly laughter

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and sharing of expertise,

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those darn little stinkers realllllllly creeped me out BIG TIME!!  I am sooooo glad to be home and bug –free!!

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14 comments:

  1. I don't "DO" bugs very well, that will be a retreat to talk about for a long time. Bet you won't go back there next year.

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  2. Ugh... they are infesting my apartment. Makes me so upset everytime I see one... my poor husband hears the stink bug alarm at least once a day... which consists of me yelling repeatedly "stink bug stink bug stink bug!!" until he comes to kill it :)

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  3. Hi Polly! I'm glad that you had a great time (overall) at your quilting retreat, but I know what ya mean about the stink bugs creeping you out. I HATE those things! We get a few around here every year, and my cats think they are fun to play with when they catch one, but they make me run for the flyswatter to whack the heck out of them (of course, then they smell awful!). They really are gross!

    XOXO,

    Cyndi

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  4. Other than the stink bugs it sounds like you had a very enjoyable retreat.
    I've been told by those who know such stuff that if you kill a stink bug the odor is really bad and other stink bug are attracted by the smell. A viscous cycle. Best way to get them is with a hand vac. or capture it alive and toss it outside.

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  5. Oh, dear! I lived in Africa for a year & live in South Texas, where bugs are everywhere & I still hate them! I guess those guys saw the Methodist sign, "Open Hearts, Open Doors...." LOL! Maybe next year you should find a NON-denominational center & see if it's NON-buggy. But an INTER-denominational might have all kinds of bugs! hee-hee! I think my mind is getting buggy at this late hour! ha, ha!

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  6. I was sure you were going to say there were a ton of rotten kids there!! :-) Hummmmm might have been better to have the rotten kids as the bugs! :-) :-)

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  7. Oh they are awful because you can't even stomp on them as they STINK.
    At least you did have some fun. Shame about the BUGS!!

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  8. Looks like a stunning location, but I'd be right with you in being creeped out with stink bugs everywhere.

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  9. That looked like a great place for a fun retreat but I am definitely with you when it comes to bugs --- and I grew up out in the country on a farm! Glad you had a fun time even with the bugs.

    vail

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  10. Sounds like a super duper fun retreat, with the exception of the bugs. Well, at least they weren't bed bugs. Glad to hear you had fun!

    SewCalGal
    www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

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  11. I would be sure to enjoy this retreat if I was there.

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  12. That bug looks horrifying! But I'm sure the retreat was fun and the learnings were wonderful.

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  13. Your retreat sounds GREAT! but i would have run for the hills when i saw those bugs ... Yuck!

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  14. Retreat sounds like a lot of fun. We live in Falls Church and those darned stink bugs are EVERYWHERE! Fortunately, they're real slow, so they're easy to get and squash into the ickiness that they are! Have a great day!
    Chris
    lcbworks@aol.com

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Thank you sooooooo very much for taking the time to leave a comment! I am always happy to know that someone is reading my ramblings!! Polly :-)