Tackling Some UFOs

Shocking isn't it? I finally dove into my bags of UFOs and actually finished a couple of things that have been languishing for all too long.

Our quilt group makes quilts for the local Ronald McDonald House, and this one has been half finished for a while. My rationale was that it's a summer quilt....with all those beach houses. (For some reason, the black-looking border didn't photograph well. It actually has the same colored dots as in the outside squiggly border.) But, it's done now and ready to turn in.

Sometimes we use fleece on the backs of our RMD quilts which I did here. It's a fun piece but was hard to center.

Then I found this half finished dishcloth and realized it's not good to stop mid-pattern. Luckily the multicolored yarn covers up my mistake, but it's finished now, too. Hurrah!

While I've been busy, the "girls" have been diligently guarding the house. We have a cheeky little squirrel that visits often to beg for peanuts. (Our daughter calls this "kitty TV".)

Good thing there's glass in this window! Don't you wonder what they're thinking?

There's always next time, Mocha.

Summer, Where Are You?

Our days are longer and the roses are trying to bloom, but, as you've heard already, the outside temperature still hasn't reached 75 degrees here yet this year, a fact that delights the radio hosts, judging from their constant reminders. We recently planted a new rose tree which is trying valiantly to bloom and which now has weather-related evidence in the form of "black spot".

Lest you think me a complainer, it's true we did have one nice weekend recently when we jumped in the car and headed to Bellingham. You could even see Mount Baker in the distance!

June also marks many passages, including high school graduation. Our neighbor girl, who was less than two when they moved in, is headed to the University of Montana (and blue sky country) in the fall. I think she may need this, come winter.

So here we are at the Summer Solstice. Can summer be far behind? We are tired of running the furnace and temperatures in the fifties!

Room with a View of SUN!

We had to drive a while, but we found the SUN in Chelan last weekend. Yesterday's paper said that temperatures 75 degrees and higher in our Seattle area are the latest ever here. Somehow I think we already knew that. We had a lovely view from our room, both of the beautiful roses down by the pool and of a wonderful sunset that evening.


The next morning we awakened to wonderful sunshine and decided to explore the area a bit. Two roads travel along either side of the lake before disappearing. If you want to go to Stehekin and the North Cascades National Park, both of which are at the end of the lake, a boat trip is necessary, but oh so worth the trip. This time, however, we were just exploring the local area in search of orchards. As you can see, we found blue skies and plenty of orchards.


Apples, peaches, and pears are grown in abundance on this side of the Cascades. You can also find lots of vineyards and wineries now.


As Chelan has no yarn shops, we set out to find the one the phone book listed in Chelan Falls, and with the help of the local post mistress, we did! Warehouse Woolery is just down the street from this old building.

I had a delightful chat with the owner and, of course, increased my stash. Much to my delight, she carries Be Sweet yarn which has an interesting story. As we reached Snoqualmie Pass on the way home, the curtain of clouds and rain returned. It's been a very strange spring, one that has promoted more handwork than gardening. This past month I made some progress on the Christmas SAL; only a mere 20 more letters to go!

This weekend the weather is supposed to clear up. Wouldn't that be a nice birthday gift for me and our son?

Guardian of the Floss

Much to her credit, Ginger is protecting the floss for my Christmas SAL. Actually, she is eyeing Dick who was trying to take her picture.

Meanwhile, I was working on this little project, called Sundrop. (You can find the pattern here.) Only around these parts, Raindrop might be more fitting!

Guarding floss is pretty exhausting apparently.