Bring On The Rain (Sutherlin, OR)

We woke up to rain last weekend.  Such a welcome sound after a dry summer.  We had plenty of beautiful days to sit outside and enjoy our new home base, but everyone was hoping for rain...lots of rain with no lightning and we got it for a couple of days!  Yes!  Now we just need about a month or two more of this gentle rain. 

We started adding a few things to our site.  I bought some half barrels after receiving plants from our neighbors.  Wasn't that sweet of them?  I had planned on waiting next year since we were getting a late start and planned to leave the area in a few months.  I have to say, it was nice to have something green among all that grey gravel.  Dan bought the long container and filled it with catnip and grass.  Of course, leave it to a cat to bypass their greens for the forbidden flowers!😺😺😺  Oh and no worries, they can nibble on Impatiens.  I just prefer they didn't.

Max approves

We spent most of this summer just enjoying our site on top of the hill, visiting the local restaurants, setting up the coach's winter maintenance, and shopping online.  Oh man!  You don't know how much I missed ordering things online.  It is hard to figure out how to get those items delivered when we are traveling.  It is so nice to have our own site number for deliveries to our door and a mailbox at the park office.

At the beginning of July, we thought we were in for a summer of record-breaking heatwaves and smoke-filled days.  

One of the smoke-filled mornings

We had our share of hot days, but for the most part, it wasn't that bad.  Most of our nights were cool enough to open windows with fans to keep the coach comfortable.  We plan to add shade to our site with an awning on the shed for next summer and maybe the following year - a gazebo.  It will be nice to have more shaded sitting areas.

We did most of our walks in the morning.  One of the leaseholders is a National Forest Ranger retiree.  He shared his talent with the park by adding a one-mile trail through the woods for walkers and mountain bike riders.  He did a wonderful job and we took full advantage on hot days to walk the tree-covered trail.  At the end of the trail, there's a grass-filled meadow surrounded by blackberry bushes.  A lot of breakfast with cereal covered with sweet blackberries.  Yum!

A view of our site from the trail.

We are almost done with our medical appointments.  We are waiting for the last vet's appointment for the cats to get their teeth cleaned before we head south.  Overall, their new Vet thought all three cats were looking great for their age.  In October, she will take bloodwork to make sure there are no hidden problems.  We did find out that Dusty is developing cataracts. 

And poor Hitch might be toothless after his teeth-cleaning.  Apparently, his gums are looking swollen, but that hasn't slowed down his constant eating.

Max doesn't need his teeth cleaned, but he is showing his age with his stiff arthritic walk, loss of weight, and now we know with this second opinion that he has a heart murmur.  I'm not looking forward to hearing about the results of his bloodwork in October.

On The Cutting Board

Getting old hasn't slowed down the cats though.  Max still helps with quilting and he still has a strong opinion that I need to take frequent kitty-cuddle breaks from my projects.

Hitch has taken his self-appointed supervisor job very seriously.  

Stop taking my picture....

and finish pinning the quilt

With the help of the cats or lack of....I managed to finish three tops and have two more that are pinned and ready to be quilted.

Monster Mash

This scrappy quilt took too many years to finish and yet I would not mind making another one since it does use up my scraps in a very colorful way.

Wonky Log Cabin

I forgot all about these finished blocks.  They must have sat in the bottom of the drawer for about 8 years(?).  It was time to get this one done.  

Fancy Sue

I have a couple of tops that I would like to add some applique designs.  I'm soaking some fabrics in clean water after washing them.  Makes for a colorful photo.

So, back to getting a few more quilts done.  

Happy Quilting!

On The Road Again 2021 Style (Bullards State Park, OR)

We are traveling again now that we have finished with our medical appointments.  Since we are self-contained and do not need to interact with a lot of people while traveling, we decided it was safe enough to get back on the road to see something different. 

So happy to be back on the Oregon coast. We are starting at the southernmost end of the Oregon coast and will work our way north to Seaside before going back south again.  

First stop:  Harris Beach State Park

The park was busy, but the beaches were not too bad.  Social distancing was easy to do between the beach areas and trails offered to visitors.

We needed our walking sticks for part of the Rock trail.  A little more rugged towards the end of the trail, but the views from the trail were spectacular!

The last of the rain blew away and left us with cloudy blue skies.  

I had no luck getting a good sunset photo.  The clouds on the horizon were too much for the sun to shine through leaving us with a fizzle of light with no show.  Maybe as it warms up and we have less rain I will have better luck.

No complaints though, I love this area whether it is rain or shine.  Below is a photo of one arched rock that used to be a nesting ground for many birds.  According to the sign, they are no longer there because people kept climbing the rock.  

We can only hope they will return now that this rock is off-limits to humans.  I saw Puffins was one of the birds that used to nest here.  I would really like to see them in their own environment.  I have only seen them in a captive environment.  They are so much fun to watch!

Along with walking the beaches and looking at the rock formations, I found a lot of unique trees...well to me they were unique looking, and of course, I had to take their picture as well.

North of Harris Beach SP is the Samuel H Boardman State Scenic Corridor.  We stopped at one of the locations called the Arch Rock Picnic Area.

It was a short easy trail from the parking lot to view the blue-green coastal waters with many rock islands.

Fabulous view of the arched rock from the pathway.  We ran out of time trying to see everything nearby so next time, we will try to explore more of the corridor area.  We also went to California to view the Redwoods.  I'll try to post again soon with more photos from that trip.

The cats are happy to be back on the road.  Dusty started to beg to go outside while we were traveling down the road.  He usually waits...actually he seems to know when we are parked for the night and just before we start to unpack.  As soon as we are stopped, he starts begging at the door, but not this time.  He was so excited to see something new that he just could not wait for us to stop!

We have trees!  Moss! Birds...lots of biiiirds!

Hitch on the other hand was rather blasé at first.  By the second day, he was trying to climb trees.

And his ol' muscles were feeling it the next day, but he hasn't given up on climbing trees.  Yesterday, we had only Dusty out since the other two did not seem in a hurry to leave the coach.  We left the door open hoping to entice them out for some exercise and exploring.  Hitch took the opportunity to run out the door and up a tree when we were not looking.  He came down the tree, trotted back to the door, looked at us, and ran right back to the tree for a second climb.  He never climbs very high so no worries.  The next time he came down, he strutted proudly past both of us twitching his tail, and went back into the coach.  Boy, did he show us!

Max in the meantime is just being his old self by hanging around the door making sure all is safe for kitties.  

Once it is safe with no stranger-danger or big dogs barking, he will do a little exploring before he decides that it is time for a nap.  The weather is still too cold for him.  He prefers the 80+ degrees while lying in the sun.

It's muddy outside!  
Why would I want to mess up this perfect fur?

We are on the move tomorrow..  On to Florence, OR!

On The Cutting Board

I have been working on my bags of scraps.  I found more than enough large pieces to make my first Disappearing 4-patch quilt.  I saw this layout online and liked this one better.  If I find enough for a second quilt, I'll use the original layout.

The quilt below was half done.  I had 20 more blocks to make. This pattern is great for using up the smaller scrappy strips.

This quilt is an old Project Linus paper-piecing pattern from the Quiltmaker magazine called Charmed Log Cabin.  I call it Wonky Log Cabin since I'm not going to quilt charmed animals in the centers.

I still have a lot of bags of leftover scraps. I might have put a dent in it, but it barely shows. So, what to do next to use up some more scraps. I have a lot of bias strips so I thought of making string/strip quilts or crazy quilts just so I would not have to do a lot of cutting, but I really don't like making them half as much as I enjoy looking at other quilters' work.

So, I started cutting 2-inch squares with a couple of patterns in mind once I'm done cutting.  The only problem was finding big enough pieces that were cut on the grain.  That's when I decided to do something really crazy.  I started marking 1/2 inch hexagons.  I know I am going to regret starting this one so I decided to make this a lifelong project that I will probably end up leaving behind for someone else to finish, but I'll have fun prepping for it and watching the scraps disappear.

Oh, while pulling out the Wonky Log Cabin blocks, I came across the A to Zzz Snowman quilt, and yes, you guessed it!  I started working on it too.  I trimmed all the blocks and I will sew them together along with the other two quilts.  Once the snowmen blocks are together, I need to embroider the fern stitch along the seams. 

Well, I think I have given myself enough projects to last through to next year.  I better get back to those scraps before they multiply again!

Happy Quilting!

It's Beginning to Feel Like Home (Sutherlin, OR)

We are back in Timber Valley Skp (Escapees Co-Op) Park in Sutherlin, OR and I am surprised to admit that it is beginning to feel like home.  We are #14 on the waiting list for a Timber Valley site.  We were #80 in August of last year, so we have moved up faster than planned.  We should have a site by this time next year at the latest, giving us a place to stay - a home base.   We will still travel in the future, but have our own site here as a home base.  After 11 years of wandering around the country, I am looking forward to having a place to call home.   

We have already established our doctors and dentists with annual checkups.  Next, we will get our cats a veterinarian.  They all need a checkup.  Shhh!  Mum's the word!

What did you say?

This comes at a good time. We were starting to notice a couple of years ago that it was getting harder to make reservations for more than two weeks during high-seasons.  Even the military FamCamps stay busy during their high-seasons.  Some are first come first serve while others have a reservation system.  

The first site before owners returned

We have spent some of our time in offseason areas by going south during the summer or to the northwest coast for the winter.  Staying in half-filled to almost empty RV parks was great, but that can get challenging while traveling through bad weather or dealing with heatwaves for long periods of time. 

Deer watching Dan work on our coach

This year, RV sales skyrocketed due to the lockdown.  Families are finding it easier to pack up kids along with pets into their own rigs traveling to their favorite getaway spots.  No hassles with waiting for flights or hotel reservations.  And that's great, but there are so many more RV sales and not enough campgrounds to accommodate the sudden interest in the RV lifestyle.

Our second site with a creek behind us.

At this time, there are very few new campgrounds being built and existing ones are not expanding, causing many to be booked up to a year in advance.  Not to mention that many RV parks are now doing short and long term leases to people that are only present during the weekends - if that - leaving travelers with slim pickings for available sites, especially with our 40ft coach. 

Cats enjoying their outdoor time

Dan spent weeks looking for RV parks with more than a week opening when we started traveling north this year. As soon as the lockdown ended, most opened RV parks were booked solid every weekend or worse for the whole summer with only a few scattered days left for travelers.

Our neighbor's site with Gert the Goat

Definitely great news for RV business profits!  I am hoping this will encourage small business owners to build more campgrounds across the nation.

Street views of the park

Please understand that I'm not complaining.  I'm just explaining why we will not be traveling as much in the future which I'm already starting to miss because there are so many places I would like to see again.

Summertime blooms in the Timber Valley

We do plan to keep traveling, but it will be more structured and planned in advance.  No more spontaneous travel plans of "which way shall we go this week" and "hey! this sounds interesting, let's go this way and stay a week or two".

Love the color and the fence

 So, you are probably wondering why we picked this area for a home base. This part of Oregon is green with lot's of animals wandering around.  Sutherlin is working hard to maintain their small town, and Roseburg is nearby for shopping trips as well.   There are also many Thousand Trails and Oregon state parks to travel to for getaways in Oregon.  This Skp co-op is on I-5 south of Eugene  and just north of Roseburg.

 You probably noticed that our site looks a little bare from the above photos.  Each site comes with full-hook-ups, a shed, and a concrete patio. Park leaseholders manage and run the park, with only a few employees. Leaseholder committees and volunteer groups do much of the maintenance and daily work in the park.

 A bare site will more than likely be our first site.  They tend to be a transit site and are often on the list for travelers to rent for short periods of time since their owners are still on the road or in this case they are still working and have a house.  We can trade to a more developed or better-located site as soon as one becomes available that others do not want.  We will be at the bottom of the trading list that is based on how long the leaseholder has been in this park.    

A family of turkey come for a visit

I'm already scoping out other people's developed sites, taking mental notes of what I like about their landscaping.  

Tired Dusty

The sites on either side of us have gardens and patios.  I really like the site with Gert the Goat.  The owner has kept her area simple and yet cool and inviting with bark instead of rocks, plenty of plants/flowers, and a wood deck.  We know her site is kitty-approved because ours keep going over for visits. 

On The Cutting Board

I'm still focusing on getting my SW quilt done.  No side distractions!  I'm so proud of myself.  Usually, by this time, I have started two new projects.  It is a slow process and of course, my mistakes are slowing me down especially when I discovered one major mistake that included a lot of ripping out seams. 

Wrong order - dark alternate block in the center

In my last post, I showed my first finished row (above).  All blocks quilted with front and back seams sewed together.  I realized my mistake when I started my second row.  I had my alternate blocks in the wrong order!  After separating the blocks, I used our bed to layout the whole quilt in the correct order and number the rows.  This became quite a challenge with cats wanting to help by rearranging my work.

Correct layout - dark alternate first

My next problem was backing.  I had bought this fabric backing for a different quilt top for our bed.  The old quilt top wasn't going to be big enough for the bed in our new coach.  I'm happy to say that I had just enough to cover all the blocks with a 4x18 inch piece left!  Whew!  

Basting Hummingbird block

I decided to sandwich then baste all the blocks and stack them all in the correct order.  Now I have this huge pile of blocks sitting in the living room.  

All blocks sandwiched and basted

It does keep me motivated to get them all quilted! 

Kokopeli

I'm quilting each block in the correct order and I plan to wait until the blocks are done before I start sewing them together.

Hand design for center quilting

Most of the quilting is in the ditch.  For non-quilters - I am quilting close to the seams.  I'm keeping the sashing designs simple for fast and easy work.

Second alternate block

Alternate block

I'm feeling better about my work-in-progress!  I'm halfway through the pile.  With any luck and no more major setbacks, I hope to post photos of the blocks sewed together....at least a couple of rows.

Happy Quilting!