Traveling Through California (Desert Palms, CA)

Okay, it has been a month since my last post.  Time to get everyone caught up.  We are happy to be back on the road again.  After leaving Sutherlin, we spent 10 days in Valley of the Rogue State Park.  Weather was starting to cooperate with warmer days and less rain.

So nice to be able to sit outside and go for walks without spending 15 minutes layering up!  

Walking path inside state park

Dusty was in grass heaven!  Wandering around, meowing "so much grass, so little time!".

Dusty and Hitch (front)

Our neighbor did not know he was hosting a squirrel.  This little guy spent most of the day sitting on the tire.  A perfect spot to watch the cats, eat lunch with a view, and cool enough for naps.

After having perfect weather during our state park stay, a cold front had to show up just in time for our travel day with wind and rain.  Northern California was already giving flood warnings.  Fingers crossed, we hoped for the best and kept going.

Siskiyou Pass

As we moved further south the storm front had move on and the weather cleared.  I couldn't get my usual photo of Mt Shasta this time, so I opted for Lake Shasta instead.

Lake Shasta

Yes!  It finally looks like we have found Spring!  I actually blew the dust off of my t-shirts!  I rarely wore them last summer.

Once again, the weather had us worried about traveling with a forecast of high winds.  We decided to leave a day early and get to Lancaster, CA a day early.  The reason for being in a hurry to settle in Lancaster was because I was signed up for RV School.  Yep, I took a driving course with our motorcoach that is 40' long, 8.5' wide, 11.7' tall, over 34,000 pounds with a beam steering axle, max turn cut is 38 degrees plus with tow car attached (car and tow bar) we are near 60' long.

We had a great instructor from RVSchool.com.  He showed up at our site and immediately put me at ease as he explained how we would start the day and what I would accomplish by the time we were finished.  With Dan riding along as an observer and also as my spotter for parking/backing the coach, we learned quite a bit about our coach's ability.

2 days of 4 hours per day instruction for $495 (plus a tip)was more than worth it. I can now safely maneuver in tight spaces, on narrow roads, city traffic, ascents, and descents.  With our aging, and possibility of illness or medical issues, we felt it was imperative for me to be able to safely drive the coach. I'm tired, but feeling a lot more confident about driving down road!

To celebrate my completion, we found an excellent little restaurant called Don Gus Mexican & Seafood.  The veggie burrito was delicious, but it was the cherry filled Chimichanga that I really loved!

On our way home, we stopped for a few groceries at a store we had never visited or seen before.  We were pleasantly surprised at how cheerful and colorful the store's presentation was to shoppers.  If we had not been so tired after our long day, we probably would have spent more time looking around.

Vallarta Supermarket

We are now settled in Desert Palms, CA near Palm Springs.  This is our first time visiting the area, so we will be busy exploring the surrounding area.  BTW, I did the parking while Dan directed.  We did it once without pulling forward!👍👍

Tight site

The cats were impressed....😎

Max and Dusty

On The Cutting Board

I have been working on my quilt tops.  I finished appliquéing this quilt with clipart paw prints and a dog from P.S. I Love You Two! A Sequel by Nancy J. Smith & Linda S. Milligan.  

I did not like the quilt in the book, but I do love this little guy.  I think I will call him Cosmos.

 I'm almost done with the Zoo panel.

 I just need to finish the embroidery and I can move on to the next top.

 I sort of goofed on the elephant.  I did not realize the mistake I had made until I was ready to embroidery the face.  If you haven't noticed, the face is a little lopsided.

 Oh well.. I think he still looks cute.  Okay, so I'm sort of caught up, but I am going to wait to show you photos from the Palm Springs area.  Back to the cutting board!
Happy Quilting!

In Pecking Order (Patagonia, AZ)

The Ladder-backed Woodpecker keeps its distance from me most of the times.  At least far enough away that I cannot get a good photo of one.  I usually see or hear them in the higher branches.  Some have even dropped bark on my head...I think they laugh at me afterwards.

Ladder-backed Woodpecker - female

This female surprised me by landing in a branch hanging over the trail and a big plus - in the sun.  Yea!  I finally got a few good shots of her while she looked for food.

......and I stayed out of range of the flying bark too.

I like watching the different woodpeckers, but there are times when they can be very annoying especially the Gila Woodpecker.  Recently, I had to replace my hummingbird feeder because a Gila decided the plastic flowers were in his way, soooo he pecked them off which lead to drowning several honey bees as they climbed inside to get more sugar water.  I was an unhappy camper about the drown bees, so I found a metal feeder.  NOW, the Gila can peck all he wants!  That flower is not coming off.

same photo from last post - Gila Woodpecker

What got me started on the woodpeckers?  Well, yesterday our gate sensor that announces the arrival of visitors started going crazy.  ding-dong! ding-dong!  We looked out - no car...no person....hmmm......Dan walked out to the gate to see if there were birds or an animal hanging around the sensor.  Yep, you guessed it.  The Gila was pecking away at the lens of the sensor and poked a couple of holes into it!  Goodness, Mother Nature can be a challenge and entertaining at times!  LOL!

On The Cutting Board
When I'm not chasing woodpeckers through the woods, I am busy getting some needlework done on the Cuddly Critters quilt.

The paws and ears are ready to applique, but I need to applique the raccoon's mask and add three muzzles to faces before I add them to the quilt top.

Embroidering the eyes was quite a job!  I should have ignored the instructions and appliqued the eyes.  Oh well, they are all done now.

When I need a break from the applique, I have been getting quite a bit done on the embroidery squares.  The designs are very tiny.  If I decide to make another set, I am going to enlarge them!

I have eight blocks done....

....and...okay, I don't think I'll count the ones I have left to do.  There seems to be quite a few left, but I don't mind.  It is a nice change of pace to sit and embroider these cuties.

Happy Quilting!

A Month For Celebrating! (Patagonia, AZ)

Gambels Quail

Yesterday was my birthday.  56 years and still ticking.  That's always a plus, right?  My health is good.  As a matter of fact, I feel better now then I did 10 years ago thanks to changing my eating habits to more healthier choices.  My weight? - could get rid of a few pounds.  Too much sitting in front of this darn laptop.  My mind...hmmm, well I do have my senior moments, but overall it is still functioning.  I'm sure Dan is always happy to hear that I still recognize him.

To celebrate my birthday, Dan drove me to Tucson so I could do some shopping.  I just had two stores on my list:  Trader Joe's and JoAnns, but I took my time with my shopping.  Funny how browsing through a store can be so relaxing even during the holiday season.  After I finished shopping and having my birthday lunch, we finished up with our normal grocery shopping.  By the time we got home, it was dark with our car loaded down with lots of goodies.  Who needs Santa when you get to go shopping for yourself.  Sigh!  It was a great way to celebrate and I enjoyed every minute.  Thank you Dan!

SALE!

Since this is a month do a lot of celebrating, I thought I would have a 25% off sale on all my Etsy quilts.  The sale will end on December 25.  All my quilts are well made and very durable.  I know because I use them myself.  Well, not the ones I have for sale, but I have used and still have many of my handmade quilts.  My quilts are washed in the machine and last for many years.

I believe all quilts need a loving home - to be cuddled and to give comfort.
Black Lotus Lap Quilt  $56.25

There are more photos in my Etsy shop along with descriptions and sizes.
Purple Lotus Lap Quilt $37.50

Star Baby Crib Quilt $56.25

Southwestern Kokopeli Lap Quilt $146.25

Blue Baby's Choice Crib Quilt $71.25

Pink Baby's Choice Crib Quilt $71.25

Art Nouveau Quilt $142.50

Baby's Toys Crib Quilt  $56.25

Happy Quilting!

Welcome Cats, Quilts, and Museums (La Conner, WA)

I visited La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum yesterday.  The Tudor-style Victorian mansion was fabulous to see by itself, but the old quilts on display along with the Japanese quilt exhibit made the visit perfect!

This mansion was built in 1891 and was known as the Gaches Castle.

The mansion almost did not make it after being gutted and turned into apartments for 30 years.  One of the tenants caused a major fire that took out the roof and third floor.  

There was talk of tearing down the old place, but one man saw a historic site that needed to be saved and started a restoration group.

They did a wonderful job restoring this mansion.

I just love the colors in this quilt!

They even restored the old fireplaces with Italian tile just as Mrs. Gaches would have liked it.

There are two exhibits at the museum from Japan right now.  One is "Ainu Embroidery" and the other is "At Play - Asobi: Quilts from Japan".  The Ainu Embroidery also included reverse appliqué.  I spent a lot of time studying the artwork.  I think I'm going to give reverse appliqué a try sometime soon. The embroidery consisted of "Cord" stitching or what I call couching. The coat in the photo below is all reverse appliqué and cord embroidery.

The quilts were extraordinary and made from silk, loose woven cotton, and hemp.  One quilt had me and another woman with our noses only inches from its work.  The quilt was filled with small scenes of the old life in Japan.  Beautiful gardens, detailed robes, hair, and their faces were just amazing.  I could have spent more time looking and studying all the quilts, but the museum was very busy that day.

No photos allowed, so here's some samples from a post card.

Back to the real world again.....across the street from the museum was a small butterfly garden for the public.  A very serene spot to relax and smell the flowers.

On The Cutting Board
Remember the cat material I bought a while ago?  Well, I decided to make a Welcome wall-hanging.  I used an old photo of Dusty playing on the scratch post as my kitty model.

I want to use large letters so people can see them at a distance.  I'm still working on the size and style I want to use.

 In the meantime, I am making a border using a paper foundation since the border's pattern is very small and there are a lot of pieces.

Prrrrr!

Happy Quilting!