Only Two Weeks Left (Hot Springs, SD)

We are down to our last two weeks here.  We will leave after Labor Day weekend.  Usually I am counting the days until we leave.  I blame my travel bug for that antsy feeling to get on the road again, but it did not show up this time.  Our stay here has been pleasant and our co-workers have been great.

On The Cutting Board

This will probably be my last order for this year.  I will not be listing my new projects or renewing the old ones until next year.  I have decided to close the shop while we are working at Amazon.com.  I will open the shop back up in January.  Between 40 to 60 hour weeks, it will be very hard to find time to mail orders.  I do plan to keep sewing during the winter, so please stop by to see what I am working on this winter.

I finished this custom order today for a friend.  I might make a couple of more Happy Campers in this shape and a few in the shape of Class A motorhome (like ours) for next year's listings.

I was a little worried about the deep inward curve puckering from the stiff fabric when I sewed the layers together.  It came out so much better than I had hoped for.  Nice and flat.

I plan to spend the next two weeks putting together projects for this winter.  I need to cut out more mug rugs and mark them for embroidering.  I have a few wall hangings, but I would love to add to the pile.  Oh yes, I should also put together a couple of quilt kits for those energetic evenings when I feel like sewing.

Happy Quilting!

How High Is The Water, Momma? (Hot Springs, SD)

I barely got setup to sew a border onto this bunny quilt when the park's flood siren went off.  We thought that was a little strange since the sky had cleared up after a heavy rain/hail storm and the grounds was starting to dry out.  Campers were busy building fires and getting meals ready.  It was turning into a nice evening.

Dan called the ranger and soon the ranger was calling back to say that they would be evacuating low lying campsites!  Wow, really??  Apparently the rain had caused a flash flood from a connecting canyon and it was on its way to our area.  While Dan spread the news to start packing, I went out back to look at the stream behind our motorhome.

campers packing in a hurry

Well, the small stream was now a fast moving little river.  I never see the water from our site, but I could see it quite clearly at that moment!  The head ranger had all the campers and day use people out within a couple hours.  Some of the road was already covered in 6 inches of water and still rising.

fire pit is still smoking from the campers

We did not have to worry about moving since our site sits up high enough, but we did pack up our outside items just in case of more heavy rains.

20 ft below and behind our site

Gosh, this is the first time the campground has been so quiet!  We wandered around picking up some trash that was left behind and watched the water level.  Then I got that song by Johnny Cash stuck on repeat in my head - "How high is the water, Momma? Well, it's 5 feet high and risin'!"  Well, we did not have to worry about the water rising too much.  The photo below shows the highest point.  Not too bad for us or for the park.

road to wildlife area

They opened up the road gates this morning.  The day use area is back in business, but the campground only has one camper so it will be another quiet evening for us.  You know what?....I think I'll get that border done tonight.

Happy Quilting!

4th of July (Hot Springs, SD)

Happy 4th of July!  Our little campground has been busy most of the week.  

Pinterest

Hot Springs does something different for the 4th.  The city allows people to bring their own fireworks to the public parks.  Sounds like double the fun for celebrating - watch your own and your neighbors, but we will probably be needed here to keep an eye on this area.

The lake has been even more busy with lots of people enjoying the perfect weather for swimming, picnics, and fishing.  I got this photo around 7:30 pm just before the sun disappeared behind the hills.

A serene moment on Cold Brook Lake

On The Cutting Board

Okay!  Two more Happy Campers ready to have doors and windows fused onto them.  I have a few more mug rugs that I would like to finish embroidering before I start layering them.

I have also been working on a new Welcome sign - A Macaw's Welcome.  I found a cute photo of a Macaw online and turned it into a pattern.

Now, I need to think about a border....hmm, maybe some wonky squares in bold colors?  Well, back to the cutting board or drawing board...

Happy Quilting!

Not So Wordless Wednesday (Hot Springs, SD)

I'm a little behind on posting.  I thought I would get you caught up by posting photos from last week....

The Burro Gang Strikes Again!

And again.....always looking for the mother lode of perfect apples.  We drove through Custer State Park last week.  Our biggest hope was to see the wild burros.  There was quite a large group of them and people were outside their cars taking photos and feeding them.  The burros were very accommodating.

"Say Cheese!"....

 "Come on lady!  I said cheese!  Where's my carrot?"

There were so many cute little ones.  I wonder how the cats would feel if I adopted one?  Did I hear a hiss?

 Lucky for the cats, there is no room.  I'll just have to go back to visit them again.

 I hear they love carrots too....

New Site - New Job

We said good-bye to the Head Ranger on Saturday.  She and her husband are going to travel part-time in their trailer with three cats and a dog.  I'm sorry to see her go.  I think we would have had a great time together.  Safe Travels!  Her replacement will be coming in later this week.  In the meantime, we will work with the two younger rangers.

The old camp host decided to leave a day early so we were able to move to full hook-ups on Sunday.  We spent part of Sunday and Monday working with two rangers.  With the campground was full during the weekend, we have a very good idea of what will be expected from us.  We probably won't have a problem finding things to do for our 20 hours per week.

Our new site

Still no shade.  Since it isn't as windy here, we can keep our small awning out.  The afternoons have been getting a little warm, but it cools off in the evenings.  I certainly like our views a lot more than the last place.  Our cats certainly like our new home.  They are begging to go outside two and three times a day.  I can't blame them.  It's nice outside!

One more photo of Cold Brook Lake taken from the dam side.  It is a small lake, but very clear and a nice shade of blue.

I'm getting back into my sewing.  I'll try to post some photos of my latest projects soon.
Happy Quilting!

Perfect Timing (Hot Springs, SD)

We are all settled in at Cold Brook Lake - Corps of Engineers park.  

We are only one mile from Hot Springs SD.  A very interesting looking town with sandstone buildings with a river and a waterfall in the downtown area. Yes, I do plan to take pictures of the area soon, but I'll be limited on posting photos since our internet is very slow here.  I might need to find the local library and look into using their WiFi.

We like this area a lot, but we are dry camping.  This campground is not setup for large rigs or for hook-ups (no utilities).  I can handle a couple of weeks of dry camping, but not too long.  Having to ration water/showers, turning on our generator to power heaters or my iron has me daydreaming about the convenience of flipping a switch for POWER.

So, here's the perfect timing.  It turns out the camp host is leaving on Monday, 23 June, and the lead ranger asked us if we were willing to fill in.  Can we?  You bet...we can stay until September!  The best part - we get to move into the camp host's site...a very nice site with water, 50 amp electric, and a sewer dump into the pit toilet vault via a sewer solution hookup (a little more work).  The best of two worlds - we can stay and have full hook-ups!

The trade for the site is simple, help any arriving campers who need assistance with self registering, be a on-site presence and call authorities with any problems, minor restocking of pit toilet supplies, and minor trash pickup.  Two summer interns do all the major duties around the large park.  The park itself is large and spread out, but the camping area is smaller with only 13 total sites.  The day use area at the lake gets the most usage from the locals, and there is an archery range.

The weather has been a little crazy.  It goes from hot and humid to cold and wet then back to hot and humid in one day.  Hmm, a lot of changing of clothes.  A couple of nights ago, we had thunderstorm warnings with a chance of golf-ball size hail.  Dangerous for pets and people so stay indoors.  There were a few tent campers and of course, I worried about them.  One family packed up and left.  The other group left their tents and went for a drive.  The hail only got to the size of large peas which can still hurt, and the heavy rains lasted a couple of hours before it passed over us.

In the morning I peeked out to see a clothes line strung from one end of the camping area to the other side.  It looked funny, but if you don't have access to a dryer...well, you got to do whatever you can to dry out your gear, right?

On The Cutting Board

Ironing is out for awhile, but I am getting some hand-work done.  Actually, this is my quilt therapy for stressful times.  It seems to be working quite well.  I went from sleeping a couple of hours a night to sleeping in late.  Even the cats could not wake me at 4 am for an early breakfast.

Variation of the Lover's Knot pattern

I have been working on this project for over a year.  It seems to be the one that I enjoy doing the most when I need to calm down and relax.  Plus, it is very portable so I am taking it outside while I enjoy the sunshine and the sound of birds.  I tried to sew while watching one of the cats, but they are not cooperating.  If I stand with one of them, they just lay in one spot.  I sit down to sew and the little turkey decides it is time to go for a walk.  It doesn't matter which one I have outdoors.  They all do it.

Okay, I'm all caught up for now.  I'm looking forward to doing some more exploring of the Black Hills area, to our new jobs, and of course, to making some more quilts!

Happy Quilting!