Winter Came In (Lawton, OK)

Like a Banshee!  Howling and screeching with heavy winds pounding the side of our motorhome for the first three days of our stay in Lawton.  Then, it calmed down for a couple of days, got its second wind and came back with a vengeance....

...this time bringing with it snow, sleet, and more heavy winds.  We woke up on our second to last day to our car and the motorhome covered with a sheet of ice on one side.  

The cats claimed they were brave enough for the weather.  Yep, they lasted less than a minute and I thought I was spoiled!

We were suppose to leave today (Monday), but decided to delay our travel south until tomorrow.  We will give the cold front another day to move out of the area and for the roads to dry.  The sun is out and it looks inviting except for the temperature....yea, I'm with the cats....I think I'll stay indoors.

come pet me

We spent this last week having a wonderful visit with our daughter and our two granddaughters along with their two cats.  I could only get a photo of Flower.  She loves attention until I pulled out the camera.  She must have said something to Indy because he did not come out of hiding until after I put up the camera.

what are you doing?

Now that's a family portrait!  Don't they look like they are a lot of fun?  You bet they are.  We had a great time catching up with all three of them.  We took Bry and Vi out shopping while their mom was at work.  We found out that Vi needs everything that catches her eye whether it is a bracelet, an adult size Mario themed PJ's or Chick-Fil-A nuggets.  

In the meantime, Bry proved to be quite a young lady and very grown up by making sure Vi focused on getting what she really needed - shoes while she shopped for jeans.

Bry is in high school and also attending Upward Bound at the university.  We are very impressed with how well adjusted and mature both our granddaughters have become in the last three years.

On The Cutting Board

Or maybe that should say On the Operation Table

This is Pirate Bunny (PB).  He has been Vi's constant companion to the doctors' office, clinics, and hospitals since she was diagnosed with Hashimoto.  He was looking a little frazzled from all the caring hugs he has given Vi over the years.

Vi decided it was time for PB to get some extra loving care.  When we arrived, PB had his own hospital bed with visitor's rules so he would get the ultimate rest.  Vi showed me all PB's wounds and I asked her if he was going to have surgery.  She nodded and said she hoped he would very soon.
I asked who was doing the surgery.  She looked right at me and said "I hope you will do it."

So, PB came home with us for the night and I'm happy to say the surgery was a success.  He was feeling so good that he even got a tattoo!

Pirate Bunny went home feeling stronger and energized for the next visit to the doctor's office with Vi.

I gave Vi her quilt this week.  As you can see, she is enjoying her new quilt.  I found out that purple and pink are her favorite colors.  Which is good since I started this quilt almost 4 years ago.  I'm happy to say that this quilt will probably look like Pirate Bunny someday.

It was hard to say good-bye this time.  I hope we will be able to see them again soon.  Tomorrow, we will be heading for Texas and hopefully for some warmer weather.
Happy Quilting!

Rain, Snow, Hail, and Wind (Box Elder, SD)

Baaaad Weather!  Our trip took a little longer than we had planned.  We thought we could do the 800+ miles in two days, but the weather wasn't cooperating.  We spent three days traveling through snow, rain, hail, and heavy winds with gusts up to 60 mph.  

snow on Montana mountain pass

After 10 hours on the road for our first day, we stopped in Bozeman, MT.  We dry-camped in a Walmart parking lot and we woke to almost 4 inches of snow!

 One thing we are thankful for is the northern states are well prepared for unexpected snow falls.  The roads stayed clear of snow and ice for most of our journey.  There was one section of heavy snow fall and the snow was sticking to the road but it didn't last long...whew!  I can't imagine being on slick roads in our motorhome and towing our car in heavy winds...shudder!
We made an unexpected stop in Sheridan, WY when Dan decided that he was tired of battling the bad weather.  Plus, he did not sleep well at Walmart's (open 24 hrs) parking lot.  We knew we had some friends camp hosting in the area and decided to spend the night at their campground.  We had a great, but very short visit, with them.  Still, it was a sweet surprise for all of us to be able to visit and catch up.

Today, we celebrated Dan's birthday by going out to lunch in Rapid City.  Dan picked out a restaurant serving Nepalese food called The Everest Cuisine.  This was a first for both of us and it was very good!  Funny, since becoming vegans, I feel a little more adventurous in trying new cuisines.  I no longer worry how I'll feel the next day.  Often after eating out, I would wake up with headaches or just feel overall - miserable and overstuffed.  Not any more.  We had lentil soup, a mixed vegetable dish with curry, Basmati rice, flat bread, and a sweet dessert with wheat, nuts, raisins, and milk.  The dessert reminded me of a cinnamon rolls without the dough and Dan said it reminded him of bread pudding.  All of it was delicious!
On The Cutting Board
Okay, I promised some sneak peek photos of my latest Happy Campers.  I did not sew during our travels this time.  It was too dark, not to mention, a little unnerving to have the motorhome getting hit by gusts of winds all too often.  I spent most of my time reading.

Anyway, I only have two Happy Campers to show for now.  I had one person ask if I would add a black lab to one of the mug rugs.  I looked online for clipart that I could use with no luck.  I fell back on my collection of dogs and decided to use this cute puppy.  He is similar to the one I used in "Traveling with Emma".  His tongue isn't out and he has a more woeful look like he wants to be outside.

I'm almost done with the embroidery on the one above.  I have been wanting to make a quilt in sage and lavender colors.  Finding the right shades and time to make it....well, that is just getting off the subject...isn't it?  Anyway, I recently bought a yard of the sage green and I found that I had just enough of this purple to make a Happy Camper in this color combo.  I think I'll dig through my stash and look for some more shades of purple/lavender because I just love the way this one came out!

Okay, I'm ready to get back to work..or search.......

Happy Quilting!

Mixed Signals (Sutherlin, OR)

I always related the American Robin with spring time.  See a Robin...Spring is right around the corner.  Hmmm, doesn't seem to be working this time.  I am seeing a lot of Robins hanging around the park.  

They must be finding some good food because they are chubby little fellows.  The berries on the holly bush are almost gone.

caught red-handed or is the red-beaked?

Every time we go for a walk there seems to be more Robins than the last time.  Maybe they are here for a short time before moving farther south.

save some for me!

We are starting to warm up, but not to spring-like temperatures.  Wouldn't that be nice.  Sounds like our snow will be melting soon with warmer weather on the way.  I'm seeing small hints with clear roads and icicles everywhere.  It has been a long time since I have had icicles hanging from our home.

It was nice to have a winter wonderland for a little while.  Even though, it was hard to keep our motorhome warm. 

 I can say one good thing about a cold motorhome...our cats became very friendly during that time.  I know it was for body warmth, but I'm not picky!

Gorgeous day!  (Timber Valley SKP)

The funny part about the cats is their short memories.  They keep begging to go outside and 10 minutes after they beg to come back in.  Only Max has not been outside.  He goes as far as the door only to turn and run for a hiding spot.  "You're not going to make me go out there!"  Smart cat.

When is this cold stuff going away?!

On The Cutting Board
My scrap bag is down to large pieces of scraps and not much variety for me to keep working on the wonky log cabin blocks.  I need some smaller pieces so I'm working on another paper piece pattern.  This is called the tumble block with second design of stars.  This will use up some of the fat-quarters and larger scraps that have been taking up space.

I'm going to make two quilts this way.  The jungle theme (above) and the transportation theme below.  I started the jungle theme a couple of days ago until I tried to slice my own finger with the rotary cutter.  Not too deep, but, yea, that hurt.  I guess I should pay more attention to where my fingers are on the ruler.  I decided to take the next couple of days off from all the cutting I have been doing.

My finger is doing better, so I will start back up on paper piecing very soon.

Happy Quilting!

This Is Not Normal (Sutherlin, OR)

We have snow!  Not a lot.  Around 2-3 inches.  We are being told this is not a normal winter for this area.  I get the feeling that just about every state in the lower 48 has unusual winter weather except for Florida.  I'm glad we did not end up in the ice storm.  I have been through several ice storms and I am quite happy to miss the latest one.  It's bad enough having ice on the inside of our windows every morning.

Yesterday, I spent the day watching big fat fluffy flakes float down from the sky while working on some quilt projects and drinking lots of hot tea.

 I went out several times to walk in the falling snow and to take pictures.

I should get warmer gloves.  My poor fingers were icy red by the time I finished each walk.

The cats were begging to go outside. We let them out and it did not take them long before their feet got cold and their bellies were filled with ice clumps.  They did not stay out for very long.

Hitch - I go with you?

Of course, they forgot how they did not like the snow yesterday, so Dan took them out again today.  Dusty and Squirrel were out for about five minutes before they begged to go back inside.  Hitch decided to do a little more exploring before the cold got to him which surprised us.  He doesn't like the cold and often begs to go inside if it is too cold outside.  If it is a heatwave, Hitch will spend the day outside in the sun while I try to coax him into the shade so I don't get heat stroke.

Dusty - What is this cold stuff?

I had to go up the hill where I have seen a couple of holly bushes.  An excellent time to get some photos of the bushes with all this snow.  Talk about looking looking like Christmas!  I have more photos, but I think I'll save them for the next posting so I can add more of a festive feel to the blog.

There was a group of Robins eating berries while I was taking pictures.  This one popped up while I was taking a shot of the berries.  He was probably eyeing the berries I was taking photos.  Then he realized that I was standing there and took off before I could get a better shot of him.  He looks like he has had quite a few berries!

On The Cutting Board

What a great time to pull out that big bag of scraps and get some sewing done.  Dusty thought he could help with my pile of scraps.  Yea, he wasn't much help, other than adding more wrinkles and hiding some pieces.  He did look cute sitting there.

I'm back to working on my wonky log cabin blocks using the paper foundation patterns.  I keep way too many small pieces of scraps and this pattern is a great way to use them up.  I like to use two color combinations per block.

For following blocks, I am using pink/reds with purples on one block and orange/browns with yellows on the second block.  I love watching this block grow.  The best part is not having to measure and cut before sewing.  I just need to make sure each piece is big enough to cover its area.  It looks a mess when I first start out.

As the block progresses, it starts to take shape.

Ta Da!  Five new blocks and a small dent in my pile of scraps.  I need to make a whoooole bunch of these to get that scrap bag to shrink in size.

I'm off to do some more scrappy blocks...

Happy Quilting!

Not So Wordless Wednesday (Patagonia, AZ)

Eh? What can I say...it is definitely winter in Arizona this year.  I'm beginning to wish I kept more of my winter clothes.   We woke up to about a half an inch of snow yesterday morning.  I had to defrost the hummingbird feeder before our little buddy woke up.  As a matter of fact, there wasn't a single bird around.  I searched all the surrounding trees.  Not a single bird in any of them...hmmmm, I wonder where they all go on such a cold night...

fluffed up Housefinch

Once the sun came over the mountains, the chirping started and the feeding frenzy began.  Some of the little guys looked like they were having a hard time getting started.  Maybe we should serve coffee with their seeds then we can watch them ping off the branches!  Just kidding.  I don't want them to have caffeine headaches after we leave the area.

Pine Siskins and Lesser Goldfinch

It was our day off, so we went for a walk before breakfast. So here's some photos of our walk with lots of blue sky, sunshine, and snow....not too many birds...they were the smart ones...they stayed in their warm beds.

sunrays through snow covered branches

Dan wanted to look for tracks in the snow to see how active the area had been the night before.

We saw lots of little tracks - deer, coyote, bobcat, skunk or fox or both, and something so tiny that it only left two little lines in the snow.  Oh, no mountain lion tracks this time, but he is still around.

a misty morning on the Sonoita Creek

The green watercress in the creek added a lot of contrast to the white snow and blue sky.

Sonoita Creek

Sonoita Creek

Okay, so I'm posting too many photos of the creek.  I can't help it.  I just love the way the snow changed the creek's area.

Sonoita Creek

The Railroad trail had a mystical feel to it....very enchanting and so quiet.  We saw only one deer and no javalina.

snow covered path

very inviting

Last photo....

the end of our walk

On The Cutting Board

Another quilt top ready for layering!  This one is fitting for today's theme - A walk in the woods quilt.

Happy Quilting!