6/25/16

A Walk in the Sunshine

It's been kind of a rainy week, here in the Pacific Northwest. It poured off and on most of the day on Thursday. Blessed as we are with grace from the Universe, Sue and I walked in what turned out to be a mostly sunny morning yesterday. Just as we were returning to our cars, we thought we felt the heavens spitting on us a little...or maybe it was just thick fog. In any case, we managed to get through our walk without getting wet, and the rest of Friday was lovely. We're promised a beautiful weekend. Mike and I will work together to finish off the catio. It'll still need "furnishing" over time, but it will be a safe place for kitties to be, day or night.

Before I left for my walk, the kitties were all wound up, running from window to window. They were excited enough that I had to check and see for myself. Well. The squirrels were all over out front, and there was one, in particular, who sat mocking the kitties and me.


You should know that someone, or something, has been stealing and eating the cherry tomatoes as they ripen. I think I have a pretty good idea who, or what, it is.


Sadie saw it too. Sadie has been wanting very badly to go outside.


They had to wait for me to get home, however, and then, only Smitty was allowed out while I filled the bird feeders and checked on the greenhouse.

To return to the walk, however, I took photographs of every blooming thing, as you might guess.




This walk below the hillside where we live starts all uphill, with a rather steep climb. My Fitbit logs 30 floors as we climb the hill. Once we get to the top and start back down the other side, this is the view we see. On a clear day, you can see Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier from this spot.


We pass by an historic, if small, cemetery. Yesterday, I noticed there were some flyers and so I picked one up.


It seems two acres of land were donated from the north side of their homestead by this couple . The Baptist Church was to use it for a burial ground and the Mt. Olive Baptist Church was erected during the summer of 1878. Church services were held there until 1916. After that, the building was used primarily for funeral services, and it was dismantled in 1953.


The first burial was in 1879, the infant child of the John W. Fleming family. The most famous person buried here is Roy Heater who became the world champion pole-vaulter at the 1905 AAU Track and Field Championships. Our local newspaper wrote that he was "recognized as the best all-around athlete ever turned out in the Northwest". Now that got me curious, and so I went on a Google search for anything else I could find about Roy Heater, and I found this picture of him:


Also, his headstone.


Have I said lately how much I the internet? The flyer also describes this as a "tranquil resting place." And you'll get no argument from me.


Some of the dates on the headstones are downright ancient...born even before me! In fact, these folks were born before the Civil War. Pretty amazing to think about. The Oregon Trail period ran from around 1811-1840. Were these some of the first new babies born here? Oregon didn't even become a state until 1859, and so these two people were teenagers when that happened.


Walking on, we saw what appears to be an old root cellar. There are lots of old and abandoned little buildings like this in the area.


Some of the wild Oregon blackberries are beginning to ripen.


I've shown you pictures over the past several months of our state flower, the Oregon grape. Here's how it gets its name. Beware, however...these are not grapes, and they are not good for eating.
They aren't poisonous, but they are very bitter.


Nothing to see here...just a cat on the side of a truck.


Walking on, we were amazed at the colors of the fields. These are crappy iPhone pictures, and so they are a little pixelated when I try to take a landscape shot. You can see the colors however. That was a pretty mint green off in the distance there.


Here's my favorite barn in yet another season.


When I got home, I prepared dinner ahead, and then got to work finishing up the fusing on Scooter's pawtrait. 


When I had taken it this far, I was ready to peel it up off the pressing sheet and fuse it to the background. Scooter was looking out the window of my friend Marei's car, and so I used the color of the car as my background.


Sometime this weekend, I'll stitch down all the pieces and then start adding details and shading with thread. The hardest part is done.

Also yesterday, I traced out Block #4 of the Bee-utiful Quilt-A-Long. This block is called "Bee Humble".


This morning I stitched everything that fit inside the first hooping.


As I've been writing this, my furry pal has been waiting impatiently for catio construction to begin. He's ready to go outside and hunt up some squirrels.


And so I can't keep my furry pal waiting. Time to get outside and become Construction Man Assistant Woman.

19 comments:

quiltzyx said...

Another lovely walk in the sun for you & Sue! Lucky for us. :)
I think you're right about the tomato-eater - that's one rotund squirrel out there!
I'll bet Smitty & Sadie can hardly wait for the catio to be finished!

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Lovely blooming things on your walk. Love old cemetaries. My youngest son and I use to take side rides looking for them, do headstone rubbings and then try to find the family/history on the internet. Oh, Smitty - get that squirrel!!

WoolenSails said...

You live in such a beautiful area and wonderful to just be able to get out and walk without driving there.

Debbie

liniecat said...

It must make walking so much more interesting seeing such beautiful flora.
Those headstones show those folks lived to a good age so I'm guessing life around there must be quite healthy!

Meg said...

I agree, that squirrel looks like it has hit a few bird feeders! It needs to go on walks with you.

Again, a great post. Very interesting. What beautiful scenery you have there.

piecefulwendy said...

I put grape jelly out the other day to try to coax the orioles to come out. Woke up this morning to see a squirrel indulging himself in the grape jelly. Your walks are so lovely, with all the flowers and views! And the Scooter quilt is just amazing.

Doreen said...

Thoroughly awesome post!!! Your kitties must spend most of their lives "on the edge"!!! LOL!

Dana Gaffney said...

Poor Sadie, she must wonder why Smitty gets to have all the fun. I hope all goes well with the building and finishing. Beautiful walk, so much to see.

Teresa in Music City said...

It's always beautiful and informative going on walks with you - well, I certainly feel as if I'm there anyway. Good luck on the catio construction! Can't wait to see what the kitties think of it when it's done.

Deb said...

Love this post from start to finish, you have such lovely blooming things to view while you walk and I thank you for sharing those photos. That squirrel is so cute and reminds me of the few that come by here and raid the bird feeders before the squirrel feeder its an on going at times loud squawky battle and often fun to watch. Nice progress on Bee Humble

SandraC said...

What a lovely post. Thanks!

Jocelyn said...

Great pictures!

Ivani said...

Lovely pictures Barbara, you sure live in a beutiful area. The dog quilt will be very pretty. I am also stitching the Bee-utiful blocks, but I am now on block #3.Happy Slow Sunday Stitching!

Kate said...

There are some lovely walks in your area. I'd never get any walking done for photographing the wildflowers!

Quilter Kathy said...

OH dear I didn't know about that quiltalong?!?!
I am missing out! Such a cute block!

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Gorgeous!! Your cats have a stalker ( ha ha)

Soma @ inkTorrents.com said...

Lovely photos! Your dog quilt will be beautiful. Thanks so much for linking up on Wandering Camera.

-Soma

betty-NZ said...

These are great shots from your walk. The flowers are so pretty and info about the church is quite interesting.

Janine @ Rainbow Hare said...

I so much enjoyed your walk. And your pictures of the squirrel and cats and your fused picture and embroidery...I hope you have a lovely month :)