Good morning, my friends. By day's end yesterday, this is how I felt:
Looking back over the past several days, I realized we began to pack for our "star party" one week ago today. There was more packing the next day, then driving, then camping, then enjoying the stars while coughing nearly to death, then more driving, then several hours in the emergency department, then unpacking, then surgery, then post-op visits, then (and this was the good part) dinner last night with Erik and Mae. It was a mix of good and bad, and it was a full week of being out of my all-important life's rut. Today will change all that. It's going to be a run-of-the-mill-day-in-the-life, and I'm looking forward to it.
As for yesterday, after I left you, I had a few small chores to take care of...finishing the laundry, for one thing. Of course, I'd just finished washing a load of jeans when an Amazon delivery arrived with two more pairs of jeans. I decided to wash the denim blue rugs from our bathroom with the jeans, so I could get those ready for wearing. And since cleaning the bathroom was one of my small chores, it fit hand in rubber glove with my plans. After that, I ran around filling bird feeders, making more hummingbird food, finishing up one other small chore, and about a dozen other little minute-long tasks. I wanted to get everything finished so that I could sew without feeling as if I should be doing something else. By the time I was able to get to my sewing, I was feeling almost too tired to sew.
Nevertheless, I quilted two of the embroidered blocks for the Seasons quilt. Starting with autumn's block, I did some swirls and some backsy-forthsy stuff in the field. (Technical quilting terms. Try to keep up.) The swirls are a good choice for these densely embroidered blocks. They are functional, and they allowed me to get into the tight little spaces.
From there, I turned my attention to winter's block. There, I quilted some snowflakes and some snow drifts. In both blocks, I've outlined the square of the quilt.
I might have done more, but I really was too tired. Inspiration was not coming to me. So I turned the quilt around (to keep the bulk on the table, rather than in my lap), and left it needle down for spring's block.
To be honest, I'm not sure I can quilt this upside down. I have in mind to do some pebbling in the centers of the sunflowers, some beelines between the bees flying all around on it, and maybe some more swirls. That all seems easy enough, but I still have a hard time up-ending my thinking that way. Since I can't draw under the best of circumstances, drawing upside down is even harder, as you might guess.
Okay, and then it simply felt too late in the day to start on the first sister for "The Yoder Sisters." I decided to do a little stitching on November's block for "A Year in the Garden." I wasn't able to get very far before it was time to leave to meet up with Erik and Mae.
Seeing my kiddos was probably the high point of a busy week. They treated us to dinner, we saw their new (used) van and how they had it decked out for camping, and we gave them our Blackstone grill. It's been a while since I've seen them in the flesh, and so that was a good way to end the day.
Okay, so today is going to be a day to recharge. The only sort of "work" I'm going to do today is to hoe the garden. I'll get out early. It's still damp and there isn't a breath of wind. I should be able to get it done without stirring up the dust too much. Also, I'm breathing easier...using my inhaler less...and generally feeling better. If I have trouble with the hoeing, I'll stop immediately. Not feeling like today is my day to have a fatal asthma attack.
But here's the best thing: When the garden is done, it's going to be nothing but sewing. It's been a while since I've had a day to sew, and sew, and sew, and I'm going to sew my guts out. Just you wait and see. I want to finish quilting the two remaining embroidered blocks for the Seasons quilt, and then I'm going to turn my attention to the sisters of "The Yoder Sisters." I think it will all fall into place when I start on it, but it's been a little nervous-making in the anticipation. Right now, I'll have some breakfast and spend some time with my slow stitching. After that the garden. And then sewing. It sounds like a good day.
Thankfully, things should settle down some now. There's nothing on the calendar for at least a couple of weeks. Father's Day...of course...but that doesn't require much of me. Eggs Benedict for Mike and then I promised him a Lemon Meringue Tart. (I want the tart too. Father's Day is just a good excuse.) We'll have to make a short grocery shopping trip tomorrow, but otherwise, it'll be just the regular rut. Sounds like heaven.
All right...so off I go. I hope you have a good day planned for yourself too. You folks waiting to see what Tropical Storm Arthur is going to do...stay safe, y'all.
Good afternoon, my friends. I'm slow on the switch this morning, but I have a good excuse. A whole lot of water has passed under the bridge in the last 24 hours. Mike had his second cataract surgery yesterday afternoon. We got lunch afterward. Then this morning we were up at the butt crack of dawn to see the doctor for his post-op appointment. We got breakfast afterward. I started a load of clothes before we left home this morning, and the last load is washing as I'm writing. There are a couple of easy housekeeping chores on the day's calendar, but the rest of the afternoon should be mostly sewing. I'll fit those chores in between sewing efforts. Priorities, people.
So let's back up to yesterday morning after I left you. You might recall I'd stitched the 10th Snowmen and Reindeer block this far.
My wait for Mike was long enough that I nearly had the whole thing finished when it was time to stop.
I didn't have it with me for this morning's appointment, but it was my first stop when we arrived home, and now it's finished. Ta Da!
Here are the ten blocks I have for this quilt so far.
Knowing that one was close to being finished, my first stop in the sewing room yesterday was to trace out November's block for "A Year in the Garden." This is the 11th of 12 blocks for this quilt.
Here are the blocks I've stitched so far.
With that finished, I turned my attention to the background for "The Yoder Sisters" project.
It was too late in the day to start the applique, but I spent some time looking over the instructions. This will probably best be done by creating the sisters on a teflon pressing sheet before fusing them to the background, and so I left it ready for my return.
Instead, I wanted to get the Seasons quilt set up so that I could start on the quilting. As a reminder, the whole quilt looks like this.
It was created from a set of four embroidery patterns from Kathy Schmitz. I believe they were intended to be small wall-hangings. I wanted to put them into a whole quilt, and so the design of the quilt is my own.
With so many colors in this quilt, I've spent some time thinking about what colors of thread I want to use. I haven't been happy with the quilts I've finished where the quilting thread has too much contrast with the background, and so I decided I'd use multiple colors of thread on top. In the bobbin, however, I'll stick with a black monofilament. If I'm remembering right, these are about a 60 weight thread. I already had a partially-wound bobbin.
For most of the top, I'll use this light tan Omni thread.
This is a 40 weight thread, and so that makes getting the tension correct a little tricky. (It is ever thus with my machine.)
In other parts of the quilt top, I'll stick with a black Essential thread.
This is a 50 weight thread. Yeah...black. What else can I say? It's black.
Okay, so with the pieced blocks, I'll use a different color for each. This variegated yellow on this summer sun block.
This variegated thread for the autumn leaf block.
A variegated blue for this winter snowflake.
I wanted to use a green on spring's tulip block, but I didn't have a nice bright green. Instead, I'll stick with this pink.
Okay, and with my threads selected, I endeavored to get the tension right. It looks good on top.
But ugh...the bottom doesn't look so good. I needed to tighten my top thread tension.
And then, it looked pretty good. It's best to check often when using a monofilament in the bobbin (or anywhere, for that matter).
So I left it needle-down and I'll start quilting the background for the fall harvest section today. I'll stick with that tan thread until I've used it in all the places I want to, and then I'll start somewhere else...probably with the pieced blocks next. And in keeping with my effort to catch up on my quilts-to-be-quilted pile, this will get first priority for my sewing days until it's finished.
It was a warm afternoon yesterday. When I went downstairs, I found Smitty trying desperately to cool his tummy furs. He had to stretch out to his full length.
When we arrived home this afternoon, I checked on the garden. The hydrangeas are beginning to color up.
This dahlia is the most watched thing in the garden right now. If I'm right, I think this is the Fuzzy Wuzzy dahlia.
When it blooms, it will look like this:
Checking in on the vegetable garden, I'm happy to find three beans plants in all of the bean pots. One has four plants, and one has five. I'm just going to leave all of them and let them grow. Think of it as insurance against critter calamities. And, honestly, doesn't this seem like a lot of effort just to grow lowly green beans?
The corn is about five inches tall now. I'll be glad when I can remove the stakes and string, but for now, it reminds us not to walk there. I think I can avoid hoeing for one more day. I'm breathing a little easier each day, but I'm still dealing with coughing spells. Probably best not to stir up too much dust.
Gazing into the "bee garden" section, I note the usual yellow and white propeller flowers. We expect to see this in areas allowed to grow wild.
Each year, I broadcast about a pound of wildflower seed. Today I noticed some lupine has appeared.
Here's another one over here.
And I'll finish up with this one photo Mike took with his astral camera when we were at the star party. Okay, so what is it?
He’s not proud of this image, but it’s a picture of Jupiter and three of its moons. There was a fourth moon visible as well, but it was too far below the moon on the left, and he couldn't capture all four moons in a single frame. He’s still learning, and this is his first attempt. I think it’s kind of cool.
Happily, we're meeting Erik and Mae for dinner out this evening. They recently purchased a beautiful used van they intend to use for camping and tail-gating parties at Oregon State football games. (We haven't seen it in person yet.) We're going to hand off our Blackstone grill to them to use when they go camping and tail-gating. We rarely use it, and so we'll let them have it with "borrowing privileges" if we have a need for a grill that doesn't require open flame. (During wildfire season, flame grilling is generally banned in most campgrounds.)
And that's all I have for you now. My last load of laundry is calling. The bird feeders are empty. Gazing out my window, I can see the birds out there tapping their little birdie feet and wondering why the service is so bad at this cheap motel. I'll deal with the laundry, and then take care of the birds. Then...finally...I can get back to my sewing. I'll start on the quilting first, and then try to get a start on the first Yoder sister. It's a busy life for someone who's retired, let me tell you.
Good morning, my friends. I'm writing fast again this morning. There have been too many write-fast mornings lately if you want to know the truth. Today I'm writing fast because Mike is having his second cataract surgery today, and I'm the driver. Poor guy can't eat anything until after his noon surgery. We'll get some lunch afterward. Fortunately, these surgeries don't lay the patient low afterward, but he's still not cleared to drive until after his follow-up appointment tomorrow. Tomorrow's appointment is earlier, and so I'll probably write tomorrow's post in the afternoon.
Okay, so what happened yesterday? Well, first-off, I should say I'm feeling quite a bit better, day-by-day. I'm not 100%, but getting there. I'm still having some coughing spells, but my rescue inhaler helps. In general, I'm just feeling better, and less as if I have to be careful about aggravating my asthma symptoms. Although I didn't hoe the garden yesterday, I did check on it, and things are looking good. All the bean seeds have sprouted unmolested by crows, and I'm happy to say I think the garden is off to a good start.
After checking the vegetables, I checked on the rest of things. I was happy to find the daylilies starting to bloom. They didn't even put up any stalks until just recently.
Every time I think the Edda clematis is finished, it puts out even more flowers. It's been the most gratifying thing in the garden so far this year.
One wonders if it will be able to outshine the dahlias. It seems early for dahlias, but mine are covered in buds. Some look as if they will open any day.
The poppy didn't do very well this year. I'm not sure why. It put up three flowers early on, but that was it. Now it put up three more pathetic looking specimens. I'm afraid the rain did them in. The pinwheel you see there is our lame attempt at keeping squirrels from digging in the pots.
And the "Exverminator" Smitty is doing his part. He's caught nine squirrels this year. Don't feel too badly for the squirrels. Yes, they are cute, but they are mischievous and destructive, and we have way too many of them. They do a lot of damage with their digging and chewing. Smitty's efforts are appreciated here.
Back inside, I made some more progress on the tenth block for the "Snowmen and Reindeer" project. The bird was chirping at me from the box, wanting me to finish him off so he and the snowman could converse. Okay, okay, okay.
I've moved my hoop down to encompass the bottom of the piece now. I'll take this with me and stitch on it while I wait for Mike's surgery to be completed.
While I was stitching, the kitties joined me for their naps. Smitty was put out that a quilt wasn't folded neatly for his use, but he deigned to nap on the bare upholstery just this once.
Sadie took her nap on the geriatric kitty pole. Black cats are not happy about this hot weather.
Later, she joined me in the sewing room to help me finish the third background quilt block for "The Yoder Sisters" project.
This block was supposed to be a star. When I sewed it together, I had the flying geese sections oriented improperly and I ended up with this "X" looking thing. I blame Sadie for this. I'm not changing it. Just don't tell anyone, okay? Mum's the word.
Before finishing for the day, I laid the background pieces out for a picture. I'll sew these together today. When this is finished, I'll be ready to start on the appliqued sisters. To be honest, I'm approaching this applique with significant trepidation. Hopefully, it'll all go together without a hitch.
I'll end by sharing this gift article about a cat who wandered onto a stage in Turkey during the final tragic scene of Romeo and Juliet. Hilarious.
Cats. Ya gotta love em. Their antics know no bounds nor any boundaries.
Okay, my friends. Gotta go. Life is calling, and I must answer the call.
Good morning, my friends. Don't let that title scare you. We're back to what passes for normal around here if, by normal, you're talking about controlled chaos. But that's beside the point. I just want to say straight out that there's nothing to worry about. The worst is all in the past. I have a lot to tell you this morning, and a lot of pictures to show you. If you're planning to read to the end, now would be a good time to refill your coffee cup. And if you're not planning to read to the end, then I'll just start out with the sewing and the worst of times, so we can end on the high note of our weekend of camping.
First...the sewing. I finished the 6th of 13 blocks for "Home is Where my Flock Is."
These are the six blocks I have for this quilt so far.
And then I took the first stitches on Block 10 for "Snowmen and Reindeer." I like to stitch their faces first so we can chat while I stitch. Also, I want to know right away if I've poked him in a sensitive spot. The bird is asking, "What am I? Chopped liver?"
Okay, and here's the worst of it. The place where we were camping was in a very dusty, dry section of Central Oregon. We get a lot of rain on the western side of the Cascade mountain range. The east side...not so much. Also, it's June, which is my biggest month for hay fever. I spent about four years getting desensitized to allergens. The original testing showed that I was allergic to something during all the months of the year. After about four years of shots, I was feeling a lot better, and eventually, I just stopped going.
Getting desensitized was effective, but not when June rolls around and the grasses and weeds start blooming. And all of that to say that I started noticing it on June 1st of this year...runny nose, itchy eyes, wheezing. I can always control the symptoms with medication. After we arrived in this allergen-manufacturing hellhole, I started noticing my symptoms worsening right away. Here's a little example of what I'm talking about. Blooming grasses. Blooming weeds. Perhaps worst of all...the dust. And it was windy to boot. The better to cause issues for asthmatic hay fever sufferers, my dear.
My symptoms continued to worsen throughout the weekend until I simply had to confine myself to the inside of the camper, especially when the wind was blowing. Staying inside helped ease my symptoms, but didn't get rid of them entirely. At least I was close to my medicines. I tried using one of our pandemic era N-95 masks, but it didn't help. Happily, after dark when the wind died down, it was bearable.
By Saturday night, we'd decided to leave early on Sunday and head for home. My symptoms didn't improve very much at all, even after we'd left the area. We decided we needed to go to the ER where I could get a nebulizer treatment...only the second time in my life I've needed this kind of treatment. The only other time was when I had severe asthma symptoms during a visit to Central California. (Maybe I should just begin to avoid any part of any state that starts with the word "Central.")
They've also started me on a five-day series of oral steroids (prednisone), and I've been told to use my rescue inhaler every four hours. Happily, I'm significantly better today, and I slept last night without waking up coughing. So, all's well that ends well, and nobody died. Yet. Actually, I think I'll continue to improve. On a positive note, I've been relieved to have an excuse not to hoe the garden this morning, and not to clean the bathroom. When it comes to excuses, I have a pretty good one this time around. It's always best to find the silver lining in every cloudy day, right?
Okay, so let's get to the best of times. For Mike and me, camping always translates into the best of times. We really love RVing. I know it isn't for everyone, but we love it. It's a little like playing house, and it constitutes forced relaxation. Also, you bring all your very best stuff. If you're old enough to remember George Carlin, you might remember his bit about "stuff." And if you're not old enough...or even if you are...here's a 5-minute video of George Carlin's take on stuff. You're welcome.
So we headed out around noon, and we drove up the McKenzie Pass-Santiam Scenic Byway. It's our usual way to head that direction both coming and going, but it can sometimes be icy and snowy. We narrowly avoided an accident on icy roads when we visited some friends in Bend a few years back. It was smooth sailing in June. I didn't take any pictures until we passed by the Big Cliff Dam.
Wikipedia tells us "[t]he dam's primary functions are flood control, power generation, irrigation, fish habitat, water quality improvement, and recreation. It is one of 13 dams created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Willamette Valley Project which was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1938.
Not too far down the road, we passed by Detroit Lake.
Wikipedia tells us Detroit Lake is situated over a historical road bed of the former Oregon Pacific Railroad. This route was built by Colonel T. Egenton Hogg as a proposed transcontinental railroad. Because of a lack of funding, the line terminated in Idanha, southeast of the lake. Idanha had rail service until the 1950s, when the track was removed for installation of the Detroit and Big Cliff reservoirs. Detroit Lake was created in 1953 after the completion of the dam. Part of the Willamette Valley Projects, the lake was intended primarily for flood control and power generation but has become one of the major recreation resources in western Oregon.
As you might guess, the Santiam River paralleled much of our drive.
Sorry this isn't in sharper focus. This area is a part of the "High Cascades Volcanic Arc," a 700-mile-long chain of volcanoes extending from southwestern British Columbia to Northern California. It sits along the Pacific Ring of Fire and was formed by the Cascadia subduction zone, where dense oceanic crust sinks beneath the North American plate. Here, you can see a stretch of volcanic rocks on both sides of the road.
Below is one of the examples of this. This is Mt. Washington, a deeply eroded, extinct shield volcano. It was active during the late Pleistocene period, although a fissure on its northeast flank erupted as recently as 1,330 years ago.
I have more mountain pictures to show you, but from a little farther down the road. Patience, my friends.
After driving for what seemed like days (winding mountain road), we arrived at the turn-off for our campground. It ended up being three miles on this road. And, sheesh, that's a lot of mailboxes for what appears to be a completely uninhabited area. We only saw a few structures along this road.
Finally, we ended up at this campground. It's a private, primitive 10-acre lot owned by the Rose City Astronomers. It's rated a "2" on the Bortle Scale of dark sky areas. Some spaces for RVs and tents have been cleared off, but it's mostly an unimproved site. (Matt, man who greeted us was, however, very proud of the flush toilet he'd installed. There are also showers.)
We were disbursed all around the campground. Our rig is the one I've pointed at with an arrow. We were kind of on the periphery.
When we arrive at a campsite the first night, we almost always have margaritas right away. As we drank them, we watched this jet take off from...somewhere. We couldn't hear it, but it was a surprisingly clear view of both the jet and the jet trails.
After relaxing for a bit, we took a walk around to see what other folks were up to. It was late in the day by this time, and so I was shooting in low light. My pictures aren't in as sharp focus as desired, but I think you can still get the idea. There were lots of folks with telescopes of all shapes and sizes.
Mike explained this one to me, but I'll admit it went in one ear and out the other, as technical things often do.
This is the dish for a radio telescope. This is a permanent installation and connects to a computer inside the one permanent structure.
Mike picked this man's brain for a while about his astral photography setup.(I blurred his face. I wasn't sure he would want his face posted on the internet.) Pay attention to the red portion near his jeans. I'm going to talk a little bit about this later.
This is our telescope. It's a Mead 10-inch, and that's about all I know about it.
We've had it for around 20 years, and it has barely been used. It's a hassle to set it up, and it's a hassle to operate it, although advances in technology have made it much easier now. It involves the use of an iPad or laptop computer and a couple of different apps. Again...don't ask me to explain technical stuff. Here's my go-to explanation: Magic.
Perhaps the most intimidating part of this whole weekend (for me) was the rule about NO LIGHTS! The only acceptable light was red light. We purchased special red light flashlights for the weekend, and Mike used some of the tape for covering a broken taillight to cover the lamps in our camper. This is how it looked inside.
Also, we had to remember not to open the truck doors, which would turn on the headlights and the dome lights, activate sirens, and probably bring back the sun, if you want to know the truth. The only picture I have of our stargazing (so far) is this one. We could see Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury in conjunction. Mercury was too faint to see with my point-and-shoot camera. In fact, to see it with our naked eyes, we had to avert our vision. And, no, this isn't in sharp focus, but it's the best I could do.
I'm hoping Mike will give me another picture within the next couple of days. He's still learning how to use his own astral camera, and he hasn't figured out this part yet. Through the telescope, we could see some of Jupiter's moons, and that's the picture I'm waiting for. Aside from that, the darkness of the sky allowed us to see approximately a millionty-skillionty stars. Simply amazing and awe-inspiring. It's a mind-bogglingly big universe.
Saturday morning, we noticed this guy as we gazed out our back window. I believe it's a vole, and we saw lots of them here.
But let's go for a walk, shall we? Please watch your speed so you won't get cited. Do as I say, not as I do.
First, I wanted to get out from behind campers and telescopes for these shots of the mountains. These are The Sisters, and the namesake of Sisters, Oregon, and the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.
To the left and outside the frame was Mt. Bachelor.
To the right and outside the frame was Mt. Jefferson. These are all considered active, but dormant volcanos.
Here's an industrious ant hole.
If it wasn't a weed or wildflower growing low to the ground it was a Juniper with berries.
As I walked, another vole popped out of the ground ahead of me. I had time to zoom in and take his picture. As I stepped forward, he popped back underground again.
This is where he lives...and look at the cool stuff he has in there. It seems even voles have stuff.
As for blooming things, my phone wasn't able to properly identify this. They were about as big as a marble and looked like little puff balls.
My phone tells me this is phacelia. We've also seen this in Death Valley. The conditions are similar.
My phone identifies this next one as Eriophyllum lanatum, or "Common Woolly sunflower." I like the second name best.
Okay, so let's talk about that red thing I mentioned earlier. This was our set-up Saturday night. You see our telescope at the top. Now, look at the top corner of the table, and you'll see a red disk. Also, our laptop computer. So think about a digital camera. The laptop serves as its screen and control buttons.
The red disk replaces the eyepiece on the telescope and acts as the camera's sensor. The telescope is the camera lens.
Hopefully, I'll have at least one picture from this set up when Mike figures out how to do it. For the rest of the explanation on how this works, I'll go with my old standby: Magic.
Okay, and I was absolutely worn out from coughing and miserable by this time. We left around 7:30 a.m. on Sunday morning (our planned day of departure) and headed to Redmond, Oregon. We got our beloved Egg McMuffins there and filled our gas tank. And a travel post wouldn't be complete without a few barns, so here you go:
Arriving in Redmond, I noticed this public art installation. The Google tells me this is called "Thoughts of Flight" It is a 30' tall aluminum sculpture. In the middle of the ring are wind cups that will spin with the wind. The double helix design of our DNA is the basis for the wind cups. The cups are inscribed with 14 word pairs of opposing life seasons. The inspiration for the word pairs comes from a popular song in 1960's, Turn, Turn, Turn by the Byrd's. There is a time for every season.
And this being Flag Day, the town was festooned with hundreds of flags lining all the streets. This is a town of about 36,000 people. I'm thinking there was a flag for every person. It was pretty amazing, really.
Moving on, I captured another photo of Mt. Jefferson.
And this is our old friend Mt. Hood.
The kitties did fine while we were gone. They wanted outside immediately, and they've been outside most of the time we've been home. Thus, no pictures, but I'll have some again for you soon.
Okay, so I've been writing for quite some time. I got rid of the most time-consuming to-do's on my list today, but I need to make a run into town to pick up the prednisone I'm supposed to be taking. They gave me a dose at the hospital, but I need to pick up the rest of the 5-day series. Thankfully, he also ordered another rescue inhaler. I use my inhalers so infrequently that I'm never sure if I'm getting an effective dose. Also, I need to make one stop in town. The flower pots are dry, and the bird feeders are empty. It's going to be a hot day, and so that will probably be the only time I spend outside today. And then, of course, there's unpacking to do. For a weekend trip, that won't require much of me. And when all that is finished, I can get back to my sewing. Hopefully, the coughing will continue to subside, and I'll be breathing easier the next time I check in with you.
Finally, Mike will get his second cataract surgery tomorrow. Having been living with monovision since his first surgery, he's antsy to get the second eye done. We're still awaiting a notification from the clinic about what time we should arrive. If it's not too early, I'll check in again tomorrow morning. If not, it will be later in the day. Okay...off I go.
