MOUNT DORA

Did you know there are hills in Florida.  Mt Dora is situatied west of Orlando in what is to be considered the "hills of central Florida"  - it is beautiful country and Mt Dora is a charming quaint little town with cute shops and restaurants lining the streets.  On Saturday morning I picked up a sampler guild buddy of mine - Linda at a Starbucks near her home and off we went.  I opted to take the scenic route down thru the Ocala National Forest - I have been that way many times before and prefer to stay off the interstate highways whenever possible.

Our class was in  Mt Dora at A Stitchers Dream - I had never been to this shop and until recently did not know it even existed.  There was another shop in Mt Dora with a similar name that did close several years ago.  Owner Karen greeted my traveling companion Linda and I  at the door on Saturday morning - (why didn't I take a single photo of the shop?)  I was excited with the prospects of learning something new and spending the day with DF Carol who lives in central florida.  Much besides - it's been a LONG time since I was in a stitching shop devoted to counted thread work and not just a needlepoint shop.

The class was by Indigo Rose and called Six Hem Stitch Sampler.  Both Carol and Linda had all their pre-stitching finished but I felt I did pretty good with what pre-stitching I got accomplished.  I think they were able to cut all 6 of their hem stitch sections and I only managed to get 2 done but that's OK because I learned a lot and I definitely needed moral support when it came time to cutting those linen threads - WHOA - that was scary.

Here is a couple of shots of my sampler:

 The linen is Silvery Moon and the border is Waterlilies - a very deep purple and the alphabet is Waterlilies Rainforest.  there is some over one blocks done in two colors of AVAS and the pulled work and hem stitches are in Perle Cotton - a silvery gray which matches the linen perfectly.

I had such a relaxed enjoyable day at this class.  Karen's shop is on the outskirts of town in a strip mall.  We wanted to go to a neat restaurant in downtown Mt Dora.  Even though it had been raining and was threatening more rain - we jumped in my car and went to the Garden Gate Tearoom.

Please come and join us at this wonderful respite

Oh my - that must be it - look at those gorgeous bougainvilleas on the garden wall.

Take a peek inside their beautiful courtyard - where if it was not a sweltering 90+ degrees - it would be very pleasant to sit and take tea.

Linda and Carol are waiting to go in

What a beautiful place awaited us

Isn't it dreamy with all the antique dresses and pale lighting - so ethereal and delicate.

The food was outstanding and the ambiance was perfect in my opinion.  I think my companions enjoyed their lunch as much as I did.  I had their signature dish "Southern Chicken Pie" which was actually unlike anything I had ever had before.  I thought it would be similar to a quiche but it was more like a chicken pot pie but drier and not as creamy and packed full of delicious chicken. 

I just can't say how much I enjoyed this outing - it was just so good to take a class and spend time with good friends.  I will definitely be visiting this shop for more classes in the future.

I enjoy hearing from each and every one of my blog readers.  I have some new followers - so welcome to each of you - I hope I can continue to interest you in my adventures.