Getting Ready For July (Cove Palisades SP, OR)

We are staying in Cove Palisades State Park near Madras, OR.  An interesting campground in a canyon on a peninsula surrounded by two rivers: the Deschutes River and the Crooked River.  

river splits

The road leading into this area is very narrow with loose gravel on steep slopes on both sides.  Did I mention the logging trucks?  Yea, they were sharing the narrow road along with other boaters and RVs.  Did I also mention it was a little scary at times?  Then, there's the narrow bridge...Dan had to drive down the middle of it.  There was no way we could cross with oncoming traffic.  Lucky for us, the driver across the river saw us and waited while we crossed the bridge.  She was a sweetie to wait!

Narrow bridge and road

Once we were settled, we were quite happy with our new home.  This is a popular summer weekend get-away for the locals.  The campground went from a ghost town to party central on Friday.  It was rather entertaining to watch people quickly setting up their areas.  Talk about rushing to relax!

 We hiked up the side of the canyon yesterday.  One mile and 600 feet elevation later...this was our views of snow capped mountains in the distance and of both rivers (above photos).

 We have only been in this area once before for one night and it was a long time ago.  So, we plan to do some exploring of eastern Oregon for the next month.

Monday, we will move to LaPine, OR just south of Bend.

Hitch wore himself out running from tree to tree and chasing very brave lizards.  He wore me out trying to keep up with him.  I'm a little worried that he is re-energizing for his next outdoor visit....I should rename him - Solar Kat.

Sunshine on my belly.

On The Cutting Board

I finished four 4th of July wall hangings designed by Nancy Halvorsen for my Etsy shop.  This is the first time I have set a goal for myself.  Not only did I meet my goal, I finished and listed two days ahead of my due date!  I'm going to give that goal setting a try again for my next set of Etsy projects.

SOLD!

"Land That I Love"  sold the next day!  Thank you!  I hope to sell the other three before July.

9x9 Let Freedom Ring

I'm making some smaller wall hangings as well.  They were a lot of fun to make, so I might try making some mini wall hangings soon.

9.5x7.5

I did a little tea-dye staining on the backgrounds of the two small wall hangings.  I thought making the primitives look a little aged would add a little more character to them.

9.5x7.5

Happy Quilting!

On the Columbia River (Crescent Bar, WA)

We spent the last four days in Crescent Bar in central Washington.  Below is a view from our campground of the wide, the deep blue....Columbia River.  

We did a lot of driving around with a little reminiscing.  They say you can never go home, but I enjoy seeing how the old town has changed.  Dan grew up in Manson and Wenatchee.  I spent 8 years of my teen life in Wenatchee.  We had a class together in high school, but did not really talk to one another until after Dan graduated.  We dated all through my senior year.  Dan joined the Air Force.  I graduated and we were married within the month.  June 30 will by our 38th anniversary.  How time flies!

We visited the Rocky Reach Dam.  Their grounds are always immaculate and it looks like they have added more art to the grounds.

The horse power mural is still there and just as impressive as the first time I saw it.

One more photo of the grounds.....

We went to Lake Chelan to see how Manson has changed.  The whole area has grown, but there are still fruit orchards along with new wine grape fields scattered throughout the area.  Below is a photo of Lake Chelan. Doesn't the water look inviting?

Flowers blooming everywhere and I did take more photos of them, but for today I will post my favorite one of a huge white poppy.

In Wenatchee, we walked part of the Riverfront Loop.  The loop is a little over 10 miles and crosses the Columbia twice.  Lots of walkers, joggers, and bike riders...busy...busy!

View from the East Wenatchee side

We crossed one of the two pedestrian bridges

A view from the pedestrian bridge.

On our way back, we watched these two dogs retrieve the ball from the water.  Well, one did while the other one watched.

 A long travel day tomorrow - Wednesday.  We are heading south to Oregon.   This means I am getting closer to my visit in Sisters, OR and their quilt show!  WhooHoo!
Happy Trails!

Behind But Not Forgotten (Crescent Bar, WA)

I'm a day behind on posting.  The last two days have been a bear of a day with not much time to sit and think about what I was going to post.  We traveled on Friday.  A short, but very windy trip that left us tired when we arrived in Crescent Bar, WA.  We both went to bed early last night.

Before we left Spokane, we spent one day sitting in a waiting room while our motorhome had some work done on it.  And I mean 'one' full work day from 7 a.m. to after 4 p.m..  My behind can tell you all about the sitting. I did not bring my computer to work on my pending blog post.  Yet, the day was not wasted....I finished the embroidery on this project.  It took 5 hours to complete.  

Except for short walking breaks and lunch, I kept at this just to see how much time it would take to finish.  I actually thought the motorhome would be done long before the embroidery.  Boy, was I wrong!  It is rather nice to know how long it takes me to do this part.  Of course, I still have no idea how long it takes me to collect the fabric, cut and fuse pieces, or to finish it with quilting.  I'm sure it takes me several work days.  But since I enjoy making and don't consider them work, I have no plans to finish timing myself.

Walk This Way

Here's where Dan and I have been spending a lot of our time for the last few weeks.  Fairchild A.F.B. has a very nice running/walking track near their fitness center.  Don't let the photos of empty tracks fool you.  That place is busy no matter what the weather or time of day.

The track has a soft rubber surface that makes it very easy to walk more miles without feeling the mileage.  All the green grass with the hill in the middle is visually appealing and has my mind just a-wandering while we walk.

I like the postpile rocks at the top of the hill.  It has the mysterious European look to it.

The walk up the hill gave us a lovely view of the field and the surrounding area.

According to FitBit, the walk up the hill completes two flights of stairs.  We go up and down...up and down...
Well, that's it for today.  I need to get to work on my last project so I can get it listed real soon.

Happy Trails!

Fit To Be Tied To A Computer (Spokane, WA)

Look at that!  Blue sky with a few fluffy clouds.  It is turning into a gorgeous day.  The cats are begging to go outside and I agree with them.  Time to get outside and enjoy some sunshine.

Getting Fit

Recently, Dan bought each of us a new way to monitor our walking.  I have been using the GPS, but it only tells me distance, time, and speed.  It sort of challenged me to walk a little farther or faster, but I had no idea what I was burning in calories, not to mention, it was bulky to carry.  I tried to keep records of what I was doing, but that got a little monotonous.  I have been trying to lose weight since last summer and keep a walking routine as well.

So, here is my new toy and I love it.  The Fitbit monitors my steps, flights of stairs, calories burned, and  distance.  It will also monitor my sleep if I wear it at night which has been interesting to see how the cats often interrupt my sleep and how long it takes me to get back to sleep.

Very small device with big information

The best part - I don't have to manually enter any of this information into the computer just my calorie intake.  I am already seeing a difference.  I'm walking more often.  I wear the Fitbit all day long and try not to sit for long periods of time when I am home.

Oh!  Almost every morning, I do about 1000 steps just from cleaning up after the cats' midnight parties and whatever else needs attention.  I wonder what I use to get in steps when we had a house and I was cleaning it.

So, this is what I see when I go to the Fitbit site.  There's more information below, but this gives you an idea.  I love looking at the charts and the percentages of what I have done or need to do.

There is another site that our Fitbits are connected to...this one is called NeuFit.   This site has challenging quests for a few fitness monitor systems.  I joined a few quests just to see if the challenges would motivate me more than just the Fitbit.  I can connect with other people or go solo. 

We also have a new weight scale by Withings.  The scale is also connected to our computer.  The scale takes our weight, body fat, and heart rate.  I feel like I have walked into a sci-fi movie.

Blogger's Quilt Festival
Thank you for voting for my baby quilt.  Congratulations to Nifty Stitcher for winning the baby quilt category and to all the other winners.  Lots of talent out there in the world!

On The Cutting Board

I should have these two mini wall hangings done by the end of this week!  Both designs are by Nancy Halvorsen.  They were suppose to be made into cones, but I don't have the room to store cones without them getting squashed.  Both minis are about 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches.  Such a nice change of pace to start and finish a project within a couple of weeks.  

I know....if I stopped starting so many at one time...well, that is never going to happen.

Happy Quilting!

Cats and Fabrics, Who Can Ask For More? (Spokane, WA)

It has been a slow week for outings and photos.  I did get one good one of Max and Dusty.  Max loves to cuddle with anyone that sits still long enough for him to sneak up on them.  Apparently, he wasn't very sneaky.  Dusty woke up and decided to give Max a bath.  

Max and Dusty

That's when I showed up with the camera...of course, he stopped bathing Max and actually posed for me.  That doesn't happen very often for me.  They usually scatter as soon as they see me with the camera.  Uh oh!  She's got the camera...Run!!

On The Cutting Board

Spokane's weather:  cold winds, overcast, and a little bit of rain.  

My weather:  90 percent chance of heat from the iron with many hours of digging for that one piece of fabric, extreme project planning that will keep me going all day long.   WARNING!  Do not expect to see the fabric piles to fade away by evening.

2 snowmen and a Welcome Cat

I can see on the horizon many projects ready for embroidery and embellishments...

I love Laurel Burch's material

Snow day!

Tomorrow's forecast:  extreme chance of great satisfaction of getting many wall hangings ready for sewing.

Made in U.S.A. Minis

sigh!......Happy Quilting!

Recycling Feathered Friends (Spokane, WA)

There is a tall tree right outside our motorhome's door with a nest that looks like it is made of fuzzy feathers.  For the past week, the Western Kingbird couple has been building the nest.  They have been quite entertaining while I am sitting outside with the cats.  

Western Kingbird

 Squirrels find out the hard way that the birds do not want any visitors in their tree.  I have seen them chase two squirrels away and I'm pretty sure there are no eggs yet since they are still working on perfecting their little nest.

Oh, and speaking of the nest...it is made of lint from the dryer's vent!  I found a piece of lint on the ground under the nest and thought...maybe I should get a closer look at that nest.  Sure enough!  It is lint.  This baby bird is going to have one safe and cozy nest to grow up in.

I read this quote online a while back.  I liked what she said and decided to keep it.  I just found it again in my documents.  I tried the link and it is no longer available so I will just share what I saved that day.

Birds are important because they keep systems in balance: they pollinate plants, disperse seeds, scavenge carcasses and recycle nutrients back into the earth. But they also feed our spirits, marking for us the passage of the seasons, moving us to create art and poetry, inspiring us to flight and reminding us that we are not only on, but of, this earth. ~ Melanie Driscoll, Director of bird conservation for the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi Flyway

On The Cutting Board
Whoo Hoo! The "Let Freedom Ring" wall hanging sold within 24 hours!  Thank you!!!

So, I decided I wasn't quite done putting together the quilt kits.  I dragged out all my material and put together a bunch of wall hangings. I have four 4th of the July wall hangings by Nancy Halvorsen and one tea party theme by Urban Threads. Urban Threads has unique designs in machine and hand embroidery patterns. I have ordered a few and have way too many favorites!

I slipped in the snowball/penguin quilt too.  I just love the penguin material!

There is still time to vote at the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I want to thank my friends and family for voting for me.  Much appreciated! 

Okay, back to the piles of fabrics and making more wall hangings.....or mug rugs....oh, and I have to cut some more fabric from my scrap bags......

Happy Quilting!