WOW! What a Weekend!

We went to La Crosse to see Katy this weekend.  The roads were lousy for the first hour on the way there.  The further we went the better they got.  We had fun with her and her girlfriends.  I will have a later post about the stitching finds.  

We went out to dinner with a whole bunch of girls.  We were going to go to a Pizza place downtown called Pizza Amore.  They make a gluten free crust so Katy was very interested.  They wouldn't be able to seat us for an hour so we had to walk around.  It wasn't exactly nice there yesterday.  It only got to about 35 degrees and was raw.  There really wasn't much open other than bars and restaurants.  We didn't think we should be taking 18-20 y/olds into bars.  (Responsible parents)  We found a coffee place and got some drinks there.  They were hot too!  It was a very interesting coffee place.  Amazing how many people are in those places plugged in and focused on usually not one but two screens.  All the buildings are beautifully old with gorgeous tin ceilings.  

One of the posters on the wall.  I love these old posters from the 1920's.

 The pizza was great.  They had interesting combinations.  Two of the girls had the chicken caeser pizza, one had a Gyros, another a Margarita and a Seafood. Bob had a Roman Ruin: sausage, pepperoni, chorizo, artichokes, broccoli (he never eats broccoli) and I had the Thai Curry Peanut Pizza with chicken.  They were all individual sized and awesome.  I don't think there was a bad one in the bunch.

 Katy and her group of girl friends.  They are all so amazing.  

 Big Daddy Bob ready to pay the bill.  Hooray for fathers!  Way cool interior.  

Before dinner, Bob, Katy and I had gone shopping of course.  While we were in  Cross Stitchery and Mainstreet Framing, Bob took a walk down the street and found an Antique Mall.  We met him and took a walk around.  I always keep an eye out for things that look stitching related.  I found this box.  I sort of fell in love with it. I walked away from it several times.  Then I asked the proprietors if there was wiggle room in the price and there was.  That did it, it had to come home with me.  

 The little things on the end are actually latches and when you pull on one side the top will come off.  It was marked as a Handmade Swedish box.  

 I had seen the wooden box for the BBD Bee Hive pattern.  It was $155.  This box was less than that and just as interesting maybe more so.  You will see lots of pictures of it.  I am going to try and research but, if anyone out there has seen something like it, please let me know.

 I think the side and top is maple.  It is quite irregular so, I think it was hand made and with hand tools.

 The grain on the outside is just gorgeous.  It is kind of ripply in areas but in a good way.  Not like it was damaged.

 Lacing on the outside and inside to hold it together.  I'm sure there was some glue involved but, no evidence.

 The notches cut out for the latches look hand chiseled and sanded in the solid top.  There may have been a small repair or something helping to hold the handle on.  I don't care.  I think it is a really cool piece.

 A few more pictures 

 The sides have that Shaker look but, different.  

It was an even more horrible trip home today.  It started with ice in LaCrosse for the first two hours.  It was snow all the way past Wausau to Antigo.  It was still snowing the last two hours on the road but, it had started later and the roads were only wet.  The front end of my car.  There was ice on the sides too but that fell off after we slammed doors.  It was worse when we stopped for gas.  Every time we stopped we knocked ice off the lights. A trip that normally takes 5 1/2 hours took nearly 8!

We counted 10 cars in ditches, one wreck truck with trailer vs car and four roll-overs.  Thankfully, Bob is a very good Yooper driver.  He is sitting in the sauna right now trying to un-knot himself.  

We did have an great time.  More snow tonight, another inch.  I don't think the stuff will ever melt.  

Thanks for stopping!  Thanks for the great comments! and Welcome new members.  I will show my latest acquisitions in the future.  Nothing monumental but, cute.  

Keep on Stitching

Monica