My sewing machine has been in the shop for a week now getting some much-needed TLC. It should be ready to pick up today and I can’t wait. I really need to get started on the dress I’m going to wear to my brother’s wedding on the 20th.I’m planning on making something like this:

It’s dress 123 from Burda World of Fashion 05-2009. I’ve made up two muslins and believe the dress will fit me very nicely, but I’ve been fooled before by these test garments, so will be working the project with my fingers crossed.

If it doesn’t work out, I hope my fairy godmother will show up with her magic wand to transform my rags into a beautiful ball gown.

Some distraction was provided for me by going on a camping trip this past weekend. We had never visited Mount Saint Helens before, and thought it would be interesting to see. Both Robert and I remembered when it erupted in May of 1980. It was one of those events that impressed itself deeply into our psyches. While it was a dramatic and frightening thing to see via television, there was no way we could have grasped the scale of the disaster without seeing the place in person.

It’s mind-boggingly vast. We weren’t lucky enough to arrive on a clear day–fog wreathed the top of the crater, but still, the view was spectacular. The landscape is an odd mix of barren and lush. Mud flats cut through gorgeous flower-filled meadows and forests composed of magnificent trees.

Apparently, the wildflowers will be out in full force in a couple of weeks, but we were treated to gorgeous displayes of paintbrush, lupines, daisies and foxglove. We also saw elk, eagles, tadpoles and red-winged blackbirds. Although once devasted by the volcanic erruption, the place now brims with life.

Especially mosquitos. I’m still paying for forgetting the bug spray.

We had a splendid time. Sam liked seeing the volcano and going on hikes. Claire liked making the tent and roasting marshmallows. Robert liked the journey from start to finish. I enjoyed myself, but am certainly glad to be back to a mosquito-free home.