'Tis The Season (Key West, FL)

....for rotation!  Since my last post, we have moved twice.  Once into dry camping with a great view on the water front and a week later back into full hook-ups.   We are allowed two weeks with full hook-ups and then back to dry camping until our next turn.  I don't mind the rotation into dry camping.  It gives us a change of view and the grass covered sites are large.  The cats love the larger sites with trees/bushes to explore and soft grass to lie in.  Or as one lady put it "we are out in the country".

Could see kite surfers zipping by our rig

While in our dry camping site, we were able to watch kite surfers zip by our motorhome.  I managed to get a few shots before they disappeared around the bend.

The campground is becoming very busy with 5 to 12 newcomers showing up daily.  Every day during our walks, we stop to view the waiting list that seems to be growing steadily.  There are over 300+ dry camping sites to the 84 full hook-ups.  Right now, there are 95 people on the waiting list for full hook-ups.  We talked to one woman about her experience here last year.  There were so many campers here that they had to wait six weeks in dry camping.  Well, if that is the price to pay to enjoy this great weather and location, I am all for it.

windy enough to be airborne

We move again on Saturday.  We are hoping for our next site to be away from the water since the winds have been picking up causing a salt spray to cover both of our vehicles.   Our next stay in dry camping will probably be for over a two weeks.  Fingers are crossed that the weather will stay cool so we can sleep at night.

who are you looking at, lady?

We have been watching the Osprey and his mate rebuild their nest on the tower.  At first, I was not sure what one Osprey was doing when it started to land on a dead branch that did not look like it could hold its weight.  It looked like the bird finally realized its mistake and took off again causing the branch to whiplash.  

A couple of days later the Osprey did it again.  This time, the Osprey grabbed the branch in flight making a sharp upward movement snapping the branch off.  A new branch for the nest was on its way!  We could hear the happy mate calling all the way back to the nest, "Honey! Wait until you see what I brought home!"

It should not be too much longer before the eggs hatch if they have not yet.  Soon, we will be hearing the little ones crying for food.

We visited the Casa Marina Resort again.  This time to see the SandArt.  Here a few photos of them. It was a small competition, but the art work was great.

I just can't imagine spending so much time on such a beautiful project only to have it disappear after a couple of days.  I know I often don't see my work again, but it is comforting to think someone out there is enjoying them.

On The Cutting Board
Okay, this is the main reason why I have not been posting on my blog.  I have been very busy since Shaun left in November.  I have never been so busy with requests!  What a wonderful feeling to be so busy making items for others and loving every minute of it.  Of course, I don't mind it slowing down again since I had to put aside my books.  I did manage to listen to a couple of books with my iPod while sewing at the same time.  Oh!  I found a great deal through Audible.  If you are a member, for just 1 credit, you can have 50+ hours of "The Mists of Avalon".  I have not read the book or watched the movie so this will be quite an adventure for me.  I did not realize just how much I would end up missing my reading time.  I can't wait to get back to my ever growing list of books......Okay!  I'm really off my subject.

And back to my sewing.....as soon as I finished the three Santa garlands, I had another large order for six Happy Campers.  Looking at the photo below, it doesn't look like that big of an order, but it is time consuming to hand embroider and quilt.  Plus, I like to be in a good frame of mind so the stitches look good and not hurried (extra big stitches).

Before I had finished the six Happy Campers, Dan showed me an announcement for an Arts and Crafts/Yard Sale to be held on 19 December.  I took the plunge and signed up for my very first showing.  I had one small problem.  My inventory was very low!  I had sold so many items that my shop was looking like the day after Black Friday.  That was a great feeling to see so many sold in one year, but at the same time, I wasn't going to have much to show for Arts and Crafts.  

I managed to make six more Happy Campers, two Uncle Sam mug rugs, and a few new items that I have not tried selling before in my shop.  I was so busy sewing early in the morning until late at night that I forgot to take photos!  I took a couple with my phone just so I could remember what I had made.  

The morning did not start out well due to winds with gusts up to 22 mph and scattered showers.  Even the chairs were sliding across the sidewalk!  My neighbor at the next table was a big sweet heart by offering to park her jeep behind me to block the wind after I tried to block the wind with our Honda Fit.  Yea, that did not work very well.

Thanks to Kim's jeep, my items no long flew across the parking lot.  I finally had a table filled with colorful mug rugs.  I just wish I would have come up with a better way to display my quilts but the only way to keep them from flying away was to clip them to the chairs.  I had to tie string across the table and used more clips to keep the mug rugs on the table.  Not the best display, but I wasn't losing them either.

Check out the cute 'Believe' Santa and Singing Cats' mini wall hangings. They are so adorable and fun to make! 

Well, this show was fun and I did make quite a few sales despite the overcast windy day and the lack of customers.  I'm just not sure it is something that I want to do very often.  I became quite stressed during the last week trying to build up my inventory.  In the end, I had to decide on which ones were more important for me to focus on finishing and put the others aside to be added to the shop.  I was smart enough to close the shop for a few weeks so I could concentrate on this show and keep what was left of my inventory for the show.  I plan to open up the shop after Christmas.  For now, I need to work on finishing some more items to restock my shop.  So, it is back to the cutting board!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Mini wall hangings and lighthouse

We spend almost every morning taking a walk around the base and the campgrounds.  I don't know if I have mentioned this, but Sigsbee has three different campground areas.  I think we are in the oldest section right now.  Once the sites with hook-ups are filled, we will start rotating from full hook-ups to dry camping in a different area.

In the meantime, we are happy enough with our site.  We do get tired of walking the same area so every once in awhile we take our walking shoes and head for the downtown area.  Here are some photos from visiting the Key West Lighthouse.  It is right across the street from Ernest Hemingway's home.

I found it interesting that the light keeper's widow took over his duties along with pay in 1823 when he passed away from yellow fever.  Mrs. Mabrity proved to be diligent in keeping the lighthouse running.

The first lighthouse was built along the shore, but was destroyed during a hurricane in 1846 taking 14 lives along with some of the light keeper's children.  Later, this new lighthouse was built inland, taller, and 14 ft above sea level.

Looking out the lighthouse's door

Despite her loss, Mrs. Mabrity stayed on as light keeper for 38 years until she was fired for making comments against the North during the Civil War.  Above, you can see a little of the keeper's home from the lighthouse's door.  We were able to tour the lovely home, but my photos did not turn out.

Here are some bird's eye views from the top.

I bet Mrs. Mabrity would be surprised by the all the surrounding buildings.

All that walking has worked up a good appetite so we decided to try Amigo Tortilla Bar and Restaurant on a side street near Duvall.  We sat at a bar that faced out onto the street.  People watching became our entertainment while eating huge veggie burritos.  I was so stuffed, I did not think I could walk back to the car.

Looking at Sloppy Joe's on Duval St. from Amigo

To the left, we can see the traffic on Duvall and Sloppy Joe's.  While across the street we were able to watch people come and go from Capt. Tony's Saloon.  Sloppy Joe's use to be located in Capt. Tony's building until the rent was raised from $3 to $4.  The story goes that Sloppy Joe's owner was not happy about it so he decided to move into the empty building located on Duval St.  With help from the patrons, they picked up their drinks and with their chairs walked to the new location....sat down and continued their drinking.  You just gotta love the Key West no-waves attitude. 

Capt. Tony's Saloon

This guy is trying to toss a quarter into the fish's mouth.  If you get one into the mouth, good luck will follow you as long as you are on the island.  We saw one person get one into the mouth.  Not an easy thing to do.  They were more likely to hit someone passing by than to get a quarter into the fish's mouth.

On The Cutting Board

I have been a little sidetracked with requests from returning customers.  One asked me if I could make the Fall Cones by Nancy Halvorsen.  

This was a new challenge for me and I decided to give it a try.  The customer liked the one I made so well that she asked for two more!

 She also asked if I could make a Ghost garland.  This one was quite a challenge especially trying to get the fingers to look good.  It came out a little top heavy so it takes a little work to make sure the ghosts stay upright.  I explained this to the customer and she was fine with the results.

This garland gave me an idea of making my own Happy Camper garland...hmmm.  I'll have to think about that one.

In the meantime, the holidays are just around the corner so I decided to finish a few projects that I started last year.

I can't remember what distracted me from finishing these mini wall hangings.

It certainly did not take very long to finish them.

 They are only 5 x 5 inches and very light weight.

I decided not to use loops since they are so small.  I don't recall where I saw this method to use folded corners from small squares to make a holding area for the hanger.  It was so simple and quick to assemble.

I sewed a looped ribbon to a short piece of wire.  Slipped the wire snugly into the corners.  Ta-da!  Very easy to make.

This last mini wall hanging took a little more time with the coloring and melting the crayons into fabric.

I finished this one the same way using a small dowel.  The dowel will help with keeping the hanging from curling.

Okay, I have more holiday mug rugs - eleven to be exact - to work on before the season starts.  Sooo, I better get back to the cutting board and get them done!

Happy Quilting!

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!