A Cat's Welcome (Sutherlin, OR)

Time got away from me this week.  I swear I just posted my blog yesterday.  Of course, since posting Wednesday's blog, we have moved to Sutherlin, visited Roseburg, caught up with old friends, and explored the surrounding area.  Oh, and a little quilt shopping....gee, I wonder where the time went....

Rochester Covered Bridge near Sutherlin, OR

Before we left Florence, we stopped by Darlingtonia State Park to see the carnivorous plant.  It is called Darlingtonia or a Cobra Lily.  You can see where it gets its second name.  It even looks like it has a split snake's tongue sticking out.

The park is small so it was a short walk to the sandy bog-like area.  The air had a heavy sweet smell - better to attract flies with, right?  I wish the flowers were blooming.  They are quite pretty.

On The Cutting Board

Ta-Da!  I finished A Cat's Welcome wall hanging.  I'm finding that I like adding the tabs instead of a sleeve for hanging.

I added two buttons to each tab..

I made a small hanger out of twine and glass beads for the Gift Shop.  I attached the autumn leaf to the hanger and to the sign.  I think using a twig from the preserve will finish it in a natural way.

And I'll finish this post with a couple of photos of our furbabies soaking up the sun.

Dusty

Hitch

Happy Quilting!

Dog Day Afternoon (Florence, OR)

Okay, so it wasn't the hottest day, but there were dogs and it was a pleasantly warm afternoon.

Last weekend, we spent the afternoon in downtown Florence.  Our plan was to take a walk and do a little window shopping.  Florence was bustling with a small Farmer's Market and a car show.  We bought some fruit and Poblanos.  Then we saw the small pies...okay, I had to have the small peach/blueberry pie.  Such an unusual combination and yes, it was gooood!  Sorry, no photos of the pie, but here are some of the peaches that might end up in another pie....

The car show was fun and interesting.  I love the colors on the ones I posted here.  Very eye-catching, don't you think?

Even the dogs were having fun.  There were two of these gentle giants, but the other one was behind a car being petted by another admirer. 

We walked down to the bridge at the west end of town.  This is another of Conde McCullough's bridges except this is a draw bridge.   The two bigger obelisks on this side have control rooms for the draw bridge.

There is so much detail in each bridge and each one is very unique.  Even the under side that most travelers never see has a lot of thought put into the design.  I love this cathedral looking arches.

I thought you might like some more photos from the Shore Acres State Park.  Aren't they gorgeous?  I am amazed by the different Dahlias shapes and sizes!

On The Cutting Board

I finished the Open tag for the Gift Shop sign.  I was going to use ribbon to tie it to the acorn and it just did not look right.  I needed something that looked more natural...maybe something a squirrel might pick up...so I used a piece of twine.

I think that looks better than ribbon.

I found some green and blue buttons to add to the tabs.  I would have preferred wooden ones, but I don't have them so....    My SIL said people are layering the buttons for a different look and I think these look okay.

All Things Tangled does a Friday's Favorites. This time she did a treasury for babies and added my Pink Baby's Choice Quilt to her "Oh Baby!" collection.  I hope you will stop by her blog and say hello!

Here's one of her items for sale in Etsy.  Isn't it adorable?  I wonder if I can get one of our cats to wear a hoodie?  Riiiight, well I can dream, can't I?


White Dog Sweater Hood Brown Fur Trim Small Hoodie

Happy Quilting!

A Whale of a Good Time (Newport, OR)

We move to Florence, OR on Thursday, 6 September.  I'm looking forward to seeing some more coastal area.  I need to do a Webshots album very soon with all the photos I have collected over the summer.

I feel like Newport actually has two downtown areas.  There is the Historic Nye Beach area with lots of access to the beach with shops, restaurants, hotels, and other services. 

Beautiful murals scattered throughout the downtown area

Then, there’s the Historic Newport Bayfront area with lots of fun attractions for the family along with shops, restaurants, the marina, and commercial fishing fleets.  You can buy fresh catch-of-the-day right off the boats.  I like both of them, but we have only visited the Bayfront area so far.  Here are some of the sights.....

Gotta scratch that itch..

Of course, my favorite part is watching the sea lions on the docks.  They were being quite loud the day we were there.  We could hear their barks echoing down the street.

Barking Sea Lions

Funny...no one argued with the big guy when he came out of the water and said this is my spot.

Lots of battle scars on this one

I was here first!  No, I was!

More sea lions on the jetty...

I wonder if they planned on the whale's mural to look like it was doing a trick...

A whale of a mural

A great view of McCullough's Yaquina Bay Bridge in the background from the marina

No marina is complete without a couple of sea birds.....

Immature Seagull

On The Cutting Board

I did not like the last photos of this Lotus quilt so I took it outside to try again.  The only problem is the dense shade of our site, but the colors look a lot better compared to the last ones taken under the LED lights.

I'm thinking of moving the flower petals in more.  They look a little scattered right now.

Instead of adding the floating petals across the top like in the Purple Lotus, I'm thinking that a 3 to 5 petals and leaves in the corner would look better.  I do plan to add the stem at the bottom like before and a couple of more leaves.

I'm almost done with the Gift Shop sign.  I'm quite happy with the results.  The open sign/tag is almost done.  I want to add some buttons to the top and I still have the fall leaf to add as well.

Happy Quilting!

Exploring the Three Capes (Pacific City, OR)

We drove the three Capes Route.  It was very scenic.  My favorite was the Three Arch Rocks in the ocean which has been a National Wildlife Refuge since the early 1900s.

There was some serious road work just outside Oceanside.  While we were waiting our turn, this was our view.  I played tourist and hung out the car window taking photos.

We have been to Cape Meares State Park before, but I love going there for the scenic views and for the lighthouse.  This is the shortest lighthouse in Oregon.  I love it's location.  I tried to get a good photo of the Three Arch Rocks from the lighthouse, but the low lying clouds were not cooperating.

Near the lighthouse is the Octopus Tree - another hard subject to photograph.  The sign says the Sitka Spruce is about 250-300 years old.

Okay, one move view of the coast before I move on...

On The Cutting Board

So, when I am not out seeing the sights, I have been hand-quilting the Gift Shop sign.  About halfway through, I was beginning to wish I had used the sewing machine.  It was taking longer than I had planned.  Now that I am done, I'm glad I did not.

Well, off to work on adding a border and attaching the autumn leaf.

Happy Quilting!

Oregon and The Hunger Games (Seaside, OR)

We said good-bye to Washington State for now.  It is time to move on.  Even Hitch was happy to get back on the road.  Of course, he was a minority among the other cats.  If they had their way, we would have spent all summer in La Conner.

 After two days of traveling, we are settled in Seaside, OR for the next nine days.  I can't wait to get out and do some exploring even though we have been here before.   The back of our site has lots of woods and rabbits for kitty's entertainment.  Don't worry, they can only watch...no touching the bunnies.

There some gardens for me to look at out our front window.  So nice!

On The Cutting Board

I have been hand quilting the Gift Shop sign.  I wanted the back to look like the woods with leaves and patterns throughout.

I'm going to make the sign a little more 3D by adding this leaf.

I also finished two more blocks for the True Lover's Knot.

The Hunger Games Trilogy *no spoilers*
by Suzanne Collins

Have you read the books or seen the movie?  I know I am behind the media times since the movie will be out on DVD soon.  The trailers and the news of the premiere was the first time I had heard of The Hunger Games.  From what I was seeing on TV, I thought the story line was similar to the Twilight series.  I’m not a big fan of the Twilight series, so I did not take any interest in The Hunger Games.

Then a good friend suggested that I would like this series.  We have discussed and shared our thoughts on many books since we first met.  She warned me that not only would I like the first book, but I would want the next two books ready to start reading.   That comment made me curious to buy the first audible for my iPod. 

When I first started this series, I was skeptical.  I was pretty sure that I would not like the first book. The concept of throwing 24 children, from age 12 to 18, into an arena to fight to the death until there was only one left…and calling it entertainment just did not sound like something I would enjoy reading.  It sounds like something from the Roman times with gladiators and arenas.  Yea, I’m not too big of a fan of those times either.

But, my friend was right - I was hooked after the first chapter.  I have listened to all three books within the month and each one is about 11 hours long.  It is a story of defiance, loyalty, perseverance, and survival.  N  Add in hi-tech weapons with medieval living, deception, a ruthless government, and too much propaganda = three thought-provoking books.

In the future, North America no longer exists.  Only a place called Panem that consists of 12 districts surrounding the Capitol.  The Capitol is filled with shallow ultra-surgically-changed people and a government that rules over all the outside districts with repressive control.  There were 13 districts until #13 rebelled against the Capitol only to be annihilated, leaving behind an ash covered ground.  The Capitol felt that the flattened District 13 wasn't enough of a reminder for the other districts, so they invented the Hunger Games to redeem the lives lost during the rebellion.  For the last 75 years, each district has paid with two of their children's lives – a boy and a girl...unless they are the winner.  

The Reaping Day is the beginning of Katniss’ story.  At the age of 16, she volunteers to replace her 12-year old sister in the Hunger Games.  Katniss is a very strong person who thinks on her feet to survive.  She will do whatever it takes to protect her family and friends after losing her father in a coal mining accident.  She has two young men hoping to win her heart.  Instead of letting them help her, she feels a strong need to protect them.  At the same time, she is not sure who she can trust.

From that point on, I had to finish all three books.  I had to know how this would end for Katniss.  I saw some reviewers say they did not like the ending.  I did.  It made sense to me.

I can’t talk about the other two books without giving away details.  All I can say is this – I really enjoyed all three immensely.  There wasn’t a lot of gory detail in the actual fighting which I am grateful.  I found it hard to stop listening to the story because there never seemed to be a good spot to stop.  There was always something going on and I felt like every time I stopped, I was at a cliffhanger.  Now I want to see the movie!

Happy Quilting!