To the Rescue

One of David's favorite interests is FIREMEN and anything related. He especially loves the "Firefighter George" video series and has figured out the prescribed fire fighting gear from his own resources. He's getting remarkably fast at donning all this equipment!
Firefighter David
He has also been interested in my knitting and stitching projects. This time I let him pull a few threads and quickly learned he'd be nice to have around to thread needles as he can even do the tiny ones. While in Chicago, I did finish my September Noah's Ark BOM. Now on to October as time is running out..........
Noah's Ark BOM 7

Chicago Memories

We are home again after ten busy, fun-filled days in the Midwest. The trees this year have been just beautiful everywhere we've gone, and especially so at Sylvan Lake where Jill and Michael live. For most of the time we were there the weather was pleasant and fallish. (These orange trees are for Rian!)
Sylvan Lake
One afternoon we all went to the Botanical Gardens, mainly to see their model train exhibit which would soon close for the season. David loves any and all trains, and we enjoyed this exhibit too, as it recreates some well known tourist spots, including a few from Washington State. Incidentally, all the train scenery is constructed of living materials.
Mesmerized
Pike Place Market
The chrysanthemums at the gardens were abundant and spectacular! I've never seen them used in such profusion as they are all throughout the Chicago area.
Purple Mums
The highlight of our visit though was the time spent with our grandchildren, just many precious moments to store atill the next time we see them. We are both very grateful to Jill and Michael for always making us feel so welcome. The days flew by, and here we are doing our usual unpacking routine and savoring our memories.
Reading Time
Miss Blue Eyes

Off to the Midwest!

In the morning we are headed off to Chicago to visit our daughter's family. We haven't seen David and Sophia since they were here in June, so we expect a lot of changes. The past few days I've been busy finishing a few projects for them. It was lots of fun to knit these two critters. It's two different patterns by Chris de Longpre, Safari Friends and Prehistoric Pals. Each pattern has 4 different animals.
Leo and Breaky
Speaking of critters, the bunnies and squirrels have been playing out back. Dick caught this confrontation yesterday.
Backyard Buddies?
Just this afternoon I sewed the last duck button on this little sweater for Sophia. It's made from yarn I got in New Jersey when we were visiting our nephew Jon and family. Just this evening in a comment on Ravelry, I learned that this yarn will be carried locally. The buttons and pattern were included with the yarn, and the ball had enough yarn to make the largest size (12 mos.) with a little left over, enough for preemie booties maybe.

And before we leave,, I need to thank Pat Winter for her beautiful thank you note plus goodies. I can't wait to get started on piecing some blocks using these silkies. Aren't the ribbons pretty?
Thanks, Pat!

Blowing Glass and Falling Leaves

A week ago today we went to the Glass Museum in Tacoma to see Anu Pentinen, a Finnish artist, working in the Hot Shop. She has created a new Pentinen bird in glass to commemorate the museum's on-going partnership with iitala, a maker of Scandinavian glassware. We love sitting in the bleachers in the Hot Shop, watching the team of glass blowers. (If you have a high speed connection, you can actually watch the artists live by clicking the appropriate spot on their website!) A bird handler from the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium also exhibited 3 birds as [art of the Bird Lover's Weekend. Two of the birds, the kookaburra and the Eurasian owl were raised at the zoo and the other, a Western screech owl, was a rescued bird that had been hit by a car somewhere in Oregon. The handler was able to coax the kookaburra to "laugh" which was very fun to see and hear. The little blue heart made in Seattle by Bedrock Industries is my souvenir from an earlier visit. The Pentinen birds unfortunately were not in our budget!
Glass Heart

Fall seemed to arrive last Saturday with very blustery winds. We went for a walk in our neighborhood, and the leaves were just raining down. I picked up this great sample of our bigleaf maple. It lives up to its name as you can see with one of my normal-sized NH leaves nestled on it with lots of room to spare. Later on that evening, we were at a party and heard lots of stories of people's difficulties crossing the 520 bridge in the wind. I was very glad we took a different route!
Two Maple Leaves

Dumpling Two

Before we left on our trip east, I finished the second Dumpling bag. This time I tried a different type of embroidery patterned after one of my sweaters. I am still hoping to find a better closure for the next bags.Before Felting
It's so much fun to open the washing machine and see how they turn out!
Presto! Change-O!

Nuttin' But Newbies Swap

While we were gone, I received this beautful block from a swap on the Crazy Quilting for Newbies site. Doesn't Janet do fabulous work? When I saw this block on her blog, I never dreamed it would one day be mine. Janet later wrote me, saying that one of the blocks she received was from me. Thank you, Janet!