Carousels Go Round and Round (Seaside, OR)

We had a great time visiting with Dan's aunt in Astoria.  We swapped lots of travel stories.  Dan's aunt and uncle have been to Thailand several times.  A place we would love to see someday, so we really enjoyed hearing about their experiences.

Dan's cousin also came for a visit so we could meet his family and get caught up.  We only had some 30+ years of catching up to do.  It was wonderful and talk about a "Traveler", his cousin's work as a camera man has taken him all over the world. 

We spent a second day with Dan's cousin and family in Seaside.  We met at the carousel while their son enjoyed a few rides on the carousel.  Afterwards, we enjoyed walking around Seaside's downtown and beach area.  Hopefully, we will get together again in the future especially if we decide to lease a lot in Sutherlin, OR.

Guess which one is my favorite...

Dan and I have been enjoying the blue skies and warmer weather with long walks around Seaside.  

We have been walking to the downtown area which is about 2 miles away from the campground.  I never tire of looking at the beach style homes with their gardens along the way and the boardwalk along the beach. 

 

 The downtown area also has a wide variety of flowers.  I don't recognize most of the flowers, but would love to have a garden filled with them.

I love these poppies with the black spots against the purple.

On The Cutting Board

The "Travels with Emma" order is almost done.  I have one quilted and I am working on the second one today.  I need to add my patch to the back and a button for a door handle.....

 and they will be ready to mail by Monday!  Yea!

So, back to work.  I really like saying that.  It is probably the only time that I have ever looked forward to working...but it doesn't feel like work..more like....

Happy Quilting!

The Cosmos and The Great Blue Heron (Seaside, OR)

The Thousands Trails campground in Seaside has a wonderful gardener.  Minda does a lovely job of giving us a wide selection of colorful flowers throughout the campground.  I took only a couple of photos while talking to her about the different flowers she had planted.  

Cosmos are everywhere!  They are one of my favorites with their big blossoms and fern-like leaves.  They look so delicate and yet they get so tall.  They are also an invasive plant. I use to grow them in Albuquerque and they spread out all over the yard.  Saved me from buying more each year.  I miss my gardens.  It is so nice to have Minda's gardens to view while we are here.

pink cosmos

While walking into town, we came across a Great Blue Heron doing some fishing near the road.  I'm so glad I had my camera!

He did not feel so happy about me taking his picture.  We certainly heard about it too as he flew away squawking the whole time!

On The Cutting Board

I'm slowly getting "Travels with Emma" to the finish line.  I did some more adjustments on the wording and on Emma.  This is the old photo before the changes.

I changed Emma's tongue to a darker pink.  I added her paw out the window and I thought it would be cute to add a "Welcome" sign in the shape of a dog's bone.  What dog doesn't like to greet new people and to have a dog's bone?

I did not like the way the 's' looked in Travels when it was embroidered.  So a little ripping out and redesigning....

   Yea, I like this 's' a lot better.

This photo was taken this morning.  I finished the embroidery on one and I am halfway through the second one.

Well, I still have lots to do and I really need to get back to work.  I'm hoping to have both done by Tuesday at the latest.  But, they will have to wait until tonight, we are getting ready to go to Astoria today to visit with Dan's aunt and her family.  We are off to have a great visit.  We have lots of catching up to do since I can't remember the last time we saw them.  

Happy Quilting!

I Can See Clearly Now (Seaside, OR)

On The Cutting Board

I had a few false starts on this custom order.  The request included a black dog and two birds using the pretty grey fabric.  Choosing the clipart of dogs wasn't a problem since I have some wonderful clipart designed by Laurie Furnell.  Birds were a little harder because I could go in any direction.  I thought about using a hummingbird and a Great Blue Heron, but no of the clipart appealed to me. 

 Back to my stash of clipart.  Laurie to the rescue again!  In her "Autumn Thyme", I found some birds that were perfect.  I wish PC Hugs would reopen their website.  They had the best selection of royalty-free clipart for sale.

You might say the mug rug was out of focus for awhile.  I knew what I wanted to do, but the overall picture just wasn't coming together.  Finally, I decided that the mug rug could not be long and slim like the motorhome.  I kept adding to the roof to make it taller.  It became short and quite plump.  Now it looks more like a mug rug.

Once I got the size, I realized that "Travels with Emma" and the birds were not going to show up too well with a grey background.  Back to the drawing, I decided to embroider the title and birds inside the cream color design which means more adjusting.  I made the cream design more plump with lots of area for the embroidery.

 Ta Da!  I think Emma (dog) in the window and the cream design worked out quite well.....and....
"I can see clearly now!".... the design that is....

Emma's tongue barely shows in this photo.  I might re-do her tongue in a darker pink.  Her paw is going to hang out the window once I have added it to the background.

This is all I have done for now.  We moved on Monday to Seaside, OR.  Back to civilization and shopping.  Speaking of shopping. We went shopping yesterday in Hillsboro which is about an hour and a half from here.  I did not get much done, but it was so nice to be near stores and restaurants.

Cape Lookout Photos

We walked to Cape Lookout near Pacific City before we left the area.  This trail is only 2.4 miles or 4.8 miles round trip with a 400 ft elevation gain.  The biggest problem is the deep mud on the trails.

 It was foggy and very wet, but it was worth the walk.  I like walking in the fog.   It changes everything around me.  

Colors are more vibrant and the smell of damp wood fills the air.  Not to mention, the imagination can really get going at times.

I have to wonder just how Cape Lookout got its name.  During the time we were staying in the area, the cape was constantly covered in low clouds.  The state park mentions a lighthouse, but I did not see one.

I would spend more time researching the history, but I hear some mug rugs calling my name.

 Happy Trails!