Adventuring......

Keeping up with the kids is a full time job! Jill and Michael just returned from Ohio, Catherine is now in Africa, and Carl has been diving at Salt Creek. We've been doing our usual things, including a walk yesterday in the pouring rain. This afternoon we went to a piano concert and had dinner with friends, all fun but not nearly as exciting as their adventures.

Here's Catherine on top of the world somewhere in India.


Sophia had great fun at the farm in Ohio. David is learning about insects, and Daniel changes a little bit every day. (Photos courtesy of Jill and Michael)







Carl sent me an interesting video of his last dive where he saw a kelp forest, lots of herring and some deep diving sealions.


Meanwhile, I finished a hat for Daniel and am caught up on week 3 of my socks.



And I finally remembered to do this month's TUSAL report. You can see the snippets of yarn from my recent projects. Looks like a new jar is in order, don't you think?


With that. we're off for an adventure of our own: a few days in Chicago, visiting the grandkids in person. See you in a week or so.

Catching Up.....

Well, I'm back but still not 100%. This has been the stubbornest bug I've had for a very long time. In the midst of it all, I got a very nice package from Pat with the sweet bird's nest necklace that I won from her giveaway. As always, her package was beautifully wrapped. Thank you, Pat!
Being a such generous soul, she included some of her lovely ribbons, a little package of beads and sequins with a nifty little flower doodad that's going on my purse, and a ciggie. She's gearing up to teach some classes which you can read about on her blog. Sounds like fun, but a tad far.......
More pretties

During the past few weeks, I've done lots of knitting and read several books. I also got to talk on the phone to Sophia for the very first time. You can see she really liked the button on her ruffled hat, and she even told me so!
More pictures soon.
"That's a cute frog, Oma."

Squawk! Squawk! Squawk!

Nope, that's not the birds, although we've heard a few this noisy. It's me, trying to talk. Somewhere I picked up a rather stubborn laryngitis bug and have felt less than wonderful for the past week. We had company, too, and I sure hope they didn't leave here with an unintended bonus!

I've been meaning to post this little guy ever since we got back. We've seen killdeer a lot in the Midwest, and once even here in our church parking lot. The bird book says their nest is a "scrape on bare ground in field, bald spot in pasture, gravel shore, roadway, etc." This house stands on what used to be farmland in MN, and you guessed it, much of where we live used to be farms also. I'd say these little fellows have lots to squawk about!
Killdeer

And then there's this member of the jay family that's been visiting us lately, mostly to steal nuts from the resident squirrel. Their "song" is a particularly raucous squawk that doesn't resemble a crow's but is distinctive. I love their blueblack feathers as well as their cheeky spirit. Steller's Jay

What's going on inside, you say? Well, this little plant decided to bloom which is always an occasion of mixed blessing. The flower is beautiful and fun to watch open, but it has a sickeningly sweet odor....at night! Our niece says that's to attract insects, but I sure hope it doesn't work. It's other interesting "trick" is that it drips a honeylike substance from the flowers. So, these lovely blossoms never last long in our house because I cut them off right after they open. It's nice to have a photo reminder though as it neither smells nor drips!
Wax Plant or Hoya

Before my voice and energy deserted me, I partially embellished the front and back of the purse that's pieced with Allie's fabrics. Now my purse is flying across the mountains to visit Janet who will add some of her magical stitches.
Purse Front

I was very excited to find the large flat button in my stepmother's button box. I also learned a lot, mostly that the stitching needs to conside the flap and overlap. I'll do better on that next time hopefully!
Purse Back

That's it for now; I'll be back when I can do more than squawk! Soon, I hope!

Back with Reinforcements!

Never a dull moment at our house! The other morning our little bandit friend returned with several of his (her?) siblings and once again tackled our fountain. At one point, all four "babies" were up there, and we were amazed that it remained upright! Maybe I'll have to taste that water to see what makes it so attractive? Not on your life! Later that evening our motion light went on, and when we looked out of our window, we counted seven of the little critters frolicking in the moonlight!
I know there's water somewhere!

When not distracted by garden visitors or outside pulling weeds, I have managed to finish a few projects. The third Gail Pan block is stitched and bordered. Only 6 more to go!
Gail Pan #3

My son's friend is doing the 3-day Walk for the Cure in September, and I thought it would be fun for her to have a little memento in honor of all her hard work, raising the required funds and training, which has taken almost a whole year. I hope she likes it! I changed the writing on a free pattern by Caroline Hofstede of Cosmic Handmade to suit the occasion. (If you'd like to read more about "Team Tracy" and the walk, click on the link on my side bar.)
A Memento

Keeping Our Cool

Seafair weekend in Seattle means the Blue Angels are in town, the hydroplanes are roaring, and the traffic is terrible, even worse than usual because of bridge closures. We can just go up the nearby Somerset hill to spot these flying daredevils; sometimes they even fly right over our house! This time we could see them over the city at a distance. Can you see the Space Needle?
Flying High over Seattle
On Thursday when I was tutoring, the Blue Angels were practicing their stunts and flew right over our heads. It was ear-splitting! They didn't come nearly as close on Saturday, but Dick did catch some good shots.
In Formation
They flew overhead this time but so fast it was hard to capture.
Up Close

To escape the heat, we can either go into the city and stroll the waterfront, or we can head to the mountains. We chose the latter and drove north to the Mount Baker national forest and found SNOW! Mount Baker, one of our slumbering volcanoes, is north of us, almost to Canada, and looks like a giant ice cream sundae from a distance. An article in Sunset magazine reminded us that the drive through Deming, Maple Falls, and Glacier was very pretty. The view of Mount Shucksan from Picture Lake appears often in travel brochures.
Follow Me

We walked the path around Picture Lake before heading up the winding "red" road with its sharp curves and steep dropoffs to Artist Point.
Picture Lake
Artist Point is tucked in a saddle between Mount Shucksan and Mount Baker and provides stunning views in all directions. On the other side of the parking lot off in the distance was the top of Mount Baker, still so snowy and white.
Snow in August

Way down below and far away, Baker Lake sparkled darkly in the haze, and across the valley below, we saw this interesting view. Was it water or wind or both that caused these peaks to form?

We saw glaciers and rocks, birds and flowers.
Up Close on Mount Shucksan
Pillars like these are everywhere and reminded us of Devil's Postpile in California.
Rock Formations

We saw green huckleberries, spirea, and other flowers along the roadside and lake path.
Fireweed
Pearly-everlasting

This friendly fellow was hoping for a handout. They are brazen and will sometimes swoop right down and steal your sandwich; that behavior has earned them their "Camp Robber" nickname.
Gray Jay

Yes, it's been hot here in the Pacific Northwest, but we had a very COOL weekend!

"Summertime and the Living's" Been.......Really, Really HOT!

Perhaps you've read about the heatwave in our area, and perhaps you haven't. Trust me, it was HOT here, almost too hot to do anything. Normally the natives start to complain when the thermometer tops 80 degrees, and on Wednesday the official temperature was 103 degrees, an all-time record! While that isn't too hot elsewhere perhaps, it's extremely hot for west of the Cascades, especially since very few homes have air conditioning. Today, it is finally cooler and our morning grey sky is back. However, we found proof of the heat in one of our bedrooms where I keep my "wee Willie Winky" candle holders.
Too Hot!

Not much happened over the past week except trying to stay cool. Both of our cats would look out side as if to say, "What's happening out there?" and then go flop down on the sort of cool tile in the front hall or the kitchen linoleum.
It's hot out there!

I did do a little piecing for a CQ project or two. Last spring I bought a nice packet of coordinated fabric from Allie and finally got them pieced for a purse project that Janet and I are doing.
Front
Back and Flap

And then, I received a lovely surprise from Kathy, her puzzle pieces and two pretty fat quarters. I am finished with one of her pieces and have a good start on the other one but won't show them till later so as not to spoil the surprise.
Thank you, Kathy!

Meanwhile, I am enjoying the COOL. It's 8:30 AM and only 63 degrees. Hurrah!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Despite having been away for a month, we found lots of flowers still blooming when we returned, along with lots of weeds. The hummingbirds love the coralbells but the irises are long gone and waiting patiently to be divided and replanted.


The daylilies are providing lots of color. This one I purchased for the name, Chicago, and just love its beautiful colors.
Chicago

Our roses have been very late this year, but that meant they are blooming now instead of when were weren't here to enjoy them. Unfortunately one of the tree roses died while we were gone, so we'll have to find a replacement. Now there is only one left of the original three, Brandy, which was always my favorite.
Brandy

Mr. Lincoln came to our yard after a windstorm broke off its predecesor right at the stake. A work friend recommended "him" because its very disease resistant, and she was right. I think its a beauty. This year for some mysterious reason none of the leaves have any bites from them, not that I'm complaining!
Mr. Lincoln

Every year I search until I find a Black-eyed Susan vine for our pots. Its flower with its very black eye intrigues me. So far it hasn't bloomed a whole lot, but Dick did catch this offering. In catching up with our magazines, I found this plant resource in Sunset magazine and thought someone besides me might enjoy its features.
Black-eyed Susan Vine

The birds have been plentiful also. The other day I saw a pileated woodpecked in our neighbor's yard, and we've had lots of visits from a hummingbird. So far, it hasn't stayed still long enough to photograph, but Dick did get this little guy who is one of two different kinds of chickadees that visit our feeder.
Hungry Visitor

Lastly, and not plant related, is a very tardy photo of my ORT jar for TUSAL. So sorry YoYo! The yarn scraps have buried most of the other pieces, but I have done a bit of stitching these past few weeks as well as lots of knitting. It's almost as colorful as a garden, don't you think?
TUSAL

Creative Every Day Ponderings

The days seem to fly by without my writing anything about the CED challenge. This month's theme is Sound, and soon after I read this, I received a photo from Jill that fit the theme perfectly. What is more distinct than the cry of a newborn? And then before you know it that sound is different, not to return until another baby arrives. As you can see David doesn't mind this sound one bit!
The Sound of a Newborn
Then there's the sound of laughter, or at least my laughter, because that's what I did when I saw today's picture of Sophia wearing her new hat. I wonder what mischief she's planning?
Silly Sophia
April's theme was Color, and in thinking about that, I realized that my color choices are pretty predictable as you can see in Sophia's hat and sweater. So, one of my new goals is to expand my color horizons, and we'll see in the coming months whether or not I can do it.

The theme for May was nature, and despite the fact that I never posted anything, we enjoyed taking lots of photos with that in mind. I should say, Dick took the photos, and I chose the subjects. During the month of May, it was pretty easy to find lots of colorful examples of nature almost anywhere you looked.
Eastern Washington
The day Cascade Pass opened following its winter closure, we drove to Winthrop, WA, and were amazed by the yellow hills, covered with a daisy-like flower, and all the fruit trees in full bloom.
Melting Snow
The snow was still present at the top of the pass but elsewhere we saw lots of cascading waterfalls, the very kind that gave our mountains their name.

Our own yard had lots of hyacinth, crocuses, camelias along with lots of tiny little bunnies looking for snacks. The appearance of this trillium was a lovely surprise; I had so hoped it would survive the winter!
Surprise!
Late one afternoon we went for a walk at a park in Kent where we saw more skunk cabbage than we'd ever seen before.
Soos Creek
True to its name, it does smell rather like those furry black and white critters.
Pretty but smelly!
We also found this example of what happens in the rain forest where we live. The trees often are covered with moss or lichens, and sometimes its a struggle to see which will survive.
"Hairy" branches

The signs, colors and sounds of nature are all around us, just waiting to be noticed if we but take the time.