Shopping And Sewing (Spokane, WA)

We said good-bye to the Great Horned Owl and her babies in Plymouth.  She was out of the nest the day before we left.  I had to wonder if she was tired of the crowded nest and wiggling babies.

I got one photo of two babies...well, sort of....one is hiding behind the tree, but you can still see two heads.  The other one looks like he is winking at me.

While I was waiting for the three babies to pop up together, I entertained myself by following the Downy Woodpecker.  A very active bird...

 who is constantly moving...

 and hunting...

ha!!  Finally, a decent shot of the face!

Downy Woodpecker

Dusty certainly enjoyed the sunshine while we were in Plymouth.  He was not happy about moving again.  He certainly let us know halfway through our trip that he was ready to stop.  He seems happy with our new site here on Fairchild AFB.  He has plenty of grass to munch on.  We should have named him lawnmower instead of Dusty.

Did someone say bird?

We are going to stay in this area for the next two weeks while we visit with family.  We have a field behind us and we have a large side yard for the cats to wander around in....on leashes, of course.
On The Cutting Board
All right!  Three Happy Campers are done.  Now, I need to get them listed.  I REALLY need to spend one day just taking photos and listing my items.  Soon..real soon...

 In the meantime, I am finishing up another Happy Camper.  I used some different stitches for more texture in the garden.

I found the cat in a tattoo website.  The site offers royalty free tattoo designs.  Most are more complicated to use for sewing, but this cat design is elegant and perfect for an embroidery design.  He even has that regal cat look going.

 I haven't done a stitch all day.  We did a lot of shopping today.  I stopped by Joann Fabric and Craft Store to stocked up on supplies.  Why is it that I never have enough?  Maybe if I spent a little more time planning ahead on my projects, I would not have that problem...yea, that'll never happen.

Happy Quilting!

Our New Neighbors (Plymouth, WA)

Travel day - we are moving north to Spokane, WA.  Before we go, I wanted to share pictures of our neighbors during our stay in Plymouth on the Columbia River.  Actually, we shared the site with them. 

We did not know the site was occupied until another camper walked over and pointed the nest out.  He thought I should know since we were walking all four of our cats at the time.

Sure enough, there was a Great Horned Owl sitting in the nest taking quite an interest in our activities.  I'm so glad he pointed her out to us.  We decided to take only two cats out at a time and to stay near them while keeping an eye on the owl.  I did mention neighbors...plural....

Great Horned Owl is a Mama!  She has three little ones, but I only managed to get photos of one curious baby peeking out at us.  Isn't he a cutie?  I'm just going to refer to the baby as a male since we know the big one is a female.

 Dan mentioned he looked like a Muppet baby.

 Baby did look like he was trying to talk to us or look ferocious while bobbing his head at us.

The next photo is my favorite.  He looks so innocent and cute.  Not so innocent though...he was watching small birds in the next tree...probably wondering when he would be able to catch one for himself.

 Since he isn't ready to leave the nest, he decided to see what was in the nest.  No food...just a piece of wood.

Oh well...looks like he will have to wait for Mama to wake up and get him something to munch.  Doesn't he look bored at the moment?  He took a nap soon after this photo.  Baby is looking pretty big.  That nest must be getting a little crowded with three growing babies and Mama.

Mama never left the nest during the daytime.  Around dusk, she takes off to go hunting.  We were careful not to disturb the family too much during the day and we were extra careful while walking our cats.

Well, time for me to finish packing...hmm, and see what project I'm going to work on during our trip today.

Happy Quilting!

Our Last Week at Patagonia

On The Cutting Board
I thought I would have a lot of free time to get caught up on my quilting projects.  Well, I was half right.  We are staying fairly busy, but not to the point that I am too tired to work a little on my projects.

I ironed together two rabbits and three Uncle Sams

And....I sewed all the feet and wings for all eight mug rugs.

Great Horned Owl
I can't believe how lucky I was to see this Great Horned Owl!  Visitors kept telling us about sighting them, but I wasn't finding a single one.  Every once in awhile, I would hear one hoot with no luck in locating the owl and now I can see why...

I was walking with a visitor and showing her some of my favorite spots for bird watching when a huge bird flew across the creek and landed in a tree.  Using my trusty 500mm lens, I was able to identify the big bird as a Great Horned Owl.  I explained to the visitor where I was looking.  Just as she spotted the owl, he flew away.

I groaned because I didn't get a very good picture and said "oh no, he flew away!"  The visitor said she was still looking at the owl.  I thought she was saying she saw where he had landed.  It turned out we were looking at two different Great Horned Owls!  And this one....was a LOT closer!   What a day!  I got my photos!

On the Road Again!

We leave the Preserve on Monday, 12 March.  We have plans to visit Bisbee, AZ before we go back to Benson for a week.  Then we are off to Yuma, AZ to check out another Escapees campground.  We are on the move once again!  Happy Trails!