retreat goodness

What a time we had on retreat this weekend!

I hustled around Thursday preparing last minute details like goody boxes and homemade banana-granola muffins.  Mom arrived on Friday and after one more craft store stop, we headed to Chris’ Cottage in Danville, Kentucky.  We spent the evening visiting with Chris, setting up the retreat space and making accordion books on the kitchen porch.

And then the magic of retreat began.

The most amazing women showed up.  Artists and advocates and teachers.

We began our morning in the Cottage circling with journaling and dancing and visualizing.  My lunch of squash soup, salad, and apple crisp turned out just delicious-whew!  We enjoyed lunch over in the main farmhouse, settling ourselves between the kitchen porch and the kitchen table.  Chris Kubale, the Cottage Proprietress and one of my dear mentors joined us for lunch and answered the group’s questions about renewing over a lifetime.  It was so beautiful to hear her in action; she had told me her wish was/is to “sit around and be wise” and boy did this manifest on Saturday!  We stayed in the main house for most of the afternoon as we crafted renewal plans in our accordion books and enjoyed private massages in the Cottage.  At the end of the day, we circled one more time to wrap up all the juicy nuggets we were taking away from the day.

I was especially grateful to have so much loving help and support.  From my mom’s extra hands over and over to Chris’ hospitality, not to mention all the incredible love from the women on retreat. 

It was a beautiful circle of women.  Women listening to themselves and each other.  Women laughing and questioning and pondering and creating.  Women renewing.