Continuing South

we arrived at the Grand Coulee Dam area in central Washington.  Too much to see in just a short time, so we spent an extra night so we could do some justice to exploring the area.

First off, Coulee City – a quaint little town that must have a lot of history to tell, but it was Sunday morning and there was almost not a soul in sight:

Then off to Dry Falls State Park and Interpretive Center.  The film and posters told of violent floods at the end of the ice age that broke off huge boulders of basalt rock and carried them many miles, at a speed of apparently 65 mph.

We could only stand in awe at the rock formations left standing and the placid lake and slow-moving river left behind:

We watched Washington’s own cliff-divers:

Then a trip down to Steamboat Rock State Park, so named because of this rock:

And in the evening, we visited the dam itself:

The dam was built over 8 years during the 1930’s partly as a response to the troubled Depression years by Franklin Roosevelt.

We took in the laser light show, which again depicted the history of the area:

It was an impressive display and well worth the trip.

Onward and southward!     Blessings, Peg

On the Road Again

Ultimate destination, Napa Valley California, but this first stretch is being spent exploring a little more of Washington state.

After a night spent not too far from the Canadian border, at a campground near to some good shopping so we could stock up on groceries, we headed south east.  Along the way we spotted a few deer looking sprightly, and then a mama started ambling across the road.  As we slowed down, and were concentrating on watching her, we almost missed seeing her fawn.  As we came to a stop, I grabbed the camera, and just managed to catch her before she was hidden by Grizz’s hat on the dashboard:

Here’s a close-up, isn’t she tiny?  We figure she can only be days old at the most.  Can you make out the spots?  I’m calling her ‘she’ because the spots appeared to be in rows, and many, many years ago somebody told me that baby girl fawns’ spots are in tidy rows, where baby boy’s are just a jumble (now wouldn’t that just make sense??LOL)

As we drove further south, the terrain changed from the coastal mountains that we’ve traveled through so very many times, to the almost desert-like scenery of the Okanogan Valley, which extends from BC through a good part of Washington state.  At one point, a cherry orchard twinkled in the sunlight, looking almost like Christmas – the farmer had decorated his trees with foil ‘ribbons’ of red and silver and green and blue to try to keep the birds away so that he might actually get a cherry crop.

Our destination for the second night – Grand Coulee Dam.  And now the mountains flattened out, and we drove through canyon-like area

As we listened to our country-and-western music, we could almost picture John Wayne and his crew riding through here in quest of the bad men.

At our campsite, as we relaxed and basked in the warmth of the sun this first evening, we watched finches searching for nibbles:

Tomorrow, off to the Dam!

Happy animal and bird-watching!   Blessings, Peg

Helping Hands

A little while ago, a blogger friend put out a challenge, making blocks to share with other quilters – she’d collect the blocks, divvy them up, and send them back out again.  This looked like a lot of fun, so I joined in, got busy making my blocks, mailed them off just before the deadline, and then waited – and waited – and waited some more.  As did our hostess!  A couple of people failed to send their blocks in.  In the end, our hostess decided to send out the blocks she had to those who’d participated, so we could all get on with making the quilts.

How disappointing.  And how very discouraging for our hostess!

This morning I read of a ‘helping’ place.  Hayley over at Mrs. Pickles Garden has created a Flicker group called Bees Helping Bees

It’s a place to go if you’re missing some blocks for your quilting bee, if you need a helping hand getting it all together. 

What a great idea, what a kindness, and what a relief!

So, if you’re in a position needing help, or if you think you can help others, check it out.  Just click here to see what it’s all about.

 

Happy helpers!                   Blessings, Peg

 

We should be on our way to California this morning, just a couple of things to tidy up at this end before we can actually head out – will post pictures of our travels!                 

Wednesday’s Words and Hodgepodge

It’s Wednesday again – where HAS the time gone!!  We’re getting ready for a 2-week vacation, so sewing has been set aside for now.  But here’s Hodgepodge for this week – if you want to read others, click on the link on my sidebar.

1. What do you think makes a good dad?

LOVE – a long, long time ago somebody said to me that all you need to do is love your children, and whatever your mistakes, they won’t be destroyed.  I’m so thankful to have a dad who loves me and loved me all my life (and no, he wasn’t afraid to discipline), and to have a husband who loves our children and has loved them from the minute they were born.

2.  What's something you learned from your own father?

Honesty, integrity, and hard work – well I guess that’s actually three things, but they are the life lessons that my dad taught by word and by example.  I can only hope that I even a little bit emulate him in these areas.

3. It's your birthday-what kind of cake will we be having?

Chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate – what other kind is there???

4. When you're faced with a big decision are you more of a go with your gut type of person, or are you someone who reasons it all out, weighing the pros and cons?

Ooh, that’s a toughie – sometimes one, sometimes the other.  I’d like to say I always reason things out, but it’s not actually true in EVERY case

5. June is National Dairy Month. What's your favorite dairy item? Most often purchased dairy item?

I like almost all things dairy, most recently I discovered lemon yogurt – tastes like sour cream lemon pie, so I feel like I’m eating dessert every time I have some (most mornings for breakfast LOL)!

6. Explorer Jacques Cousteau was born on June 11, 1910....what's something you've recently discovered or something you'd like to explore?

I’d like to explore the cave dwellings in New Mexico – the whole idea of that culture fascinates me.  One more thing on the bucket list.

7. Are you typical of your generation?

Well, having grown up in the hippie years, I know I certainly wasn’t typical of my generation as a young person.  Now, I’m probably about as typical as they come – nothing out of the ordinary here!

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Getting ready for a trailer trip, and I’m always on the look-out for easy recipes.  I found this one a little while ago, but don’t want to take all these ingredients along with us, so am thinking of using the idea along with a biscuit mix for a quick go-along when we have chili (and we always have chili sometime along the way when we’re traveling).  At least this way I don’t have to have a rolling pin and cookie cutter to make the biscuits:

This is Red Lobster's Cheese Biscuit recipe done in a loaf pan.
3 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
4 ounces cheddar cheese, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 1/4 cups milk
3/4 cup sour cream
3 Tablespoons of butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan with oil. In a bowl, whisk together the first 5 ingredients. Carefully stir in cheese cubes until covered in flour mixture, this will help prevent your cheese sinking to the bottom of your loaf of bread. In a different bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Fold the wet mixture into the flour and cheese mixture, stir until just combined, do not over stir. Spread the mixture into the loaf pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes and then remove from pan. Allow to cool for one hour before slicing and serving.

Another recipe idea – angel food cake baked with crushed pineapple instead of water.  Again a cake mix, and bake in a loaf pan instead of a tube pan (which won’t fit in the trailer oven anyway).  Yummy and a nice light dessert!

Happy June and travels!                 Blessings, Peg

101,528

stitches.  That’s what it took to finish up my latest cross-stitch.
Several years ago, we visited a local artist to purchase a print that we’d been wanting. Marion Rose Keay was known for her folk-art paintings of local sites and tourism venues.  At the time we already had ‘The Apple Farm’

and ‘Greendale’

hanging on our walls. 
What we liked best about her paintings was the fact that they reflected the places where we ‘lived’, right here, at home.
At that visit we added ‘The Yellow Barn’

to our collection. 
But, to our dismay, Marion had changed her style of painting to a much more contemporary, almost impressionist style.  Not that her paintings weren’t lovely, just not the style that we like to hang on our walls.  Besides that, her folk-art were of places near and dear to our hearts.  Then we learned that she had no prints of any other of her folk-art, but she showed us some photos, and then, to our delight GAVE us two photos, with full permission to reproduce them in whatever form we’d like.
This one

is of Bridal Falls, a tourist stop near to us, with Mount Cheam in the background (we can see Mt. Cheam out our back windows most days – just not when it’s cloudy and rainy).  My plan is to someday make a quilt, using this picture for the pattern.
The other is this photo

Kilby Farm, a heritage site not too far down the road.   Using PC stitch, I created a cross-stitch pattern:
The pattern was printed out on 9 sheets of paper (so I could actually read it), required 100 floss colors, and as I said earlier 101,528 stitches.
I started in January of 2007, and worked on this project periodically, inserting other more ‘urgent’ projects in between over these past years.  Total months of working on it – 31.  Hours, well those are just too many to count, but they were spent in this chair:

And the end result:

It needs pressing, but first I want to do some outlining, and I think I’ll take this along on our next trip to keep my hands busy (and not stuffing food in my mouth) when we have some evening relaxing time.
Over the years, the pattern took a beating:

And I actually had to reprint the last page because some of the squares were just too worn from the constant handling.
So just a few more hours and it’ll be ready for framing.  But now what am I going to do with myself in front of the TV????
Another note, in checking yet once again to see how Marion Rose Keay’s career is developing, I discovered that, in fact, she passed away in November of 2011, a sad loss to the world of art.  Here’s a photo from the cover page of a web-site where her prints can be purchased (I assume they’re still available, but can’t find any definitive dates):

A loss to the world of art, but her talent and spirit will remain in this world through her paintings.
Happy stitching!            Blessings, Peg

Wednesday’s Words and Hodgepodge

It’s back again – time to reveal a little more of my life and thoughts!  If you want to read more Hodgepodge, please click on the link on my sidebar.

1. Have you learned more from success or failure? Explain.

Probably from my failures, because the problems and consequences stick more in my head, and the feelings …… well you know, I’m sure

2.  What did you call your grandparents when you were growing up? If you have children, what do they call your parents? If you have grandchildren, what do they call you?

Grandma and Grandpa seems to be the common thread in our families, all the way around.  We don’t have grandchildren yet, but we have had opportunity to discuss this with our kids, and have decided we want to be Nan and Opa, just to be a little differentiated from the other side whenever this happens LOL!

3.  You're invited to a luau.  In keeping with that theme, what dish will you bring to share?

Well, something with pineapple if I have my choice, but Grizz does most of the cooking around here, and he’d probably research traditional Hawaiian foods and bring something exotic (and complicated).

4. Besides Jesus, what one person's life story do you think everyone should know about?

My first thought is Gandhi, and then I think of Mother Teresa – both lived lives that could teach us all much about loving the world around us.

5. "Don't sweat the small stuff." Agree or Disagree? Why?

Definitely agree – especially if you’re in the middle of raising teenagers.  There are so many times when we have to deal with big issues, that it’s just so much easier on everybody to let the small stuff go.

6.  June is National Rivers Month. When were you last on a river? What's the prettiest river you've ever seen? What's a river you'd like to see?

Well, if you mean by being ‘on’ a river, actually being in (on a boat or something else) the river water, well that was a river tour in Central America when we were on a Panama cruise five years ago.  The prettiest river – the one that first comes to mind is the Colorado River, which we drove along through Massachusetts and Vermont last summer: It was a lovely pastoral view every time we got a glimpse of it – and so much different in this area than it is in Colorado!  A river I’d like to see is the Danube – now a couple of years ago I would have said the Mississippi, but we crossed that a couple of times on our trip last year, although both the Danube and Mississippi are on my list of river cruises I’d like to do someday.

7.  Speaking of rivers-paddling, fishing, swimming, or bird watching safely from the shore? Which activity would you choose? Yes-you have to choose.

Actually – none of the above.  I’d like to just sit beside the river and read a book while Grizz fishes beside me, or float down it on a cruise boat.  But if I have to choose one of these – well then bird-watching, except that I am woefully ignorant of most types of birds LOL!

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

With vacation time upon us, and Grizz and I heading out with the trailer soon, I think of safety and security while we’re out and about.  Here’s a tip for those of you heading to beaches and parks for vacations or day trips:

Happy travels!                  Blessings, Peg

Another Week Has Flown By

Sheesh!  I think I said a week ago, I’d have some pictures in a couple of days.  Well, I think the pictures were taken, but sitting down to share them with you all just didn’t happen.  In between, there have been some medical appointments, trailer fix-ups, then kids arrived from Alberta and we went down to Ferndale, WA for a day to watch DS1 compete in the Scottish Heavy Events (and forgot our camera – how we don’t know as we only own 3 or 4!!), and a day with Sis- and Bro-in-law, some friends for dinner, and suddenly the week is gone!

But, the quilting finished from early in the week:

A couple of table mats from the LQS BOM project:

And a picnicking table cover:

Just using up stash mostly, and in the meantime managed to get on some more beginnings, for more UFO’s in the cupboard. 

Now to finish up some other projects before we go on vacation, and the machines go in for servicing while we’re away.  But first – it’s laundry day, so must get to it!

And the sun is shining again today, so will be trying to get out and enjoy some of that!

Happy sun and sewing!                   Blessings, Peg