9/18/16

Odds and Ends

We arrived home late yesterday afternoon. Already, we have the trailer unpacked, and most of the laundry is done. Smitty has been out. Sadie and Smitty have explored Smitty's clubhouse for any stray critters that might have moved in while we were gone, and we've all had a pretty good night's sleep. Can't beat that.

When I took the pictures off my phone this morning, I found a few stray odds and ends. On our last day in Swan Valley we had breakfast at a local restaurant with our friends Bill and Marei. As is often seen in small towns, a corner of the restaurant had shelves of items hand made by the locals for sale. When I saw this, there was no turning back. It had to be mine.


From there, it was a fairly short drive to Boise where we stayed for the night before moving on yesterday morning. As we were pulling out of the RV park at Boise, we noticed this catio. Pretty fancy, huh? Any cat would be envious of this.


It isn't far from Boise to the state line, and this sign is always a welcome sight. As much as we love traveling (especially RV traveling), it's always good to be home.


It was still a long way home, however. We caught our first glimpse of the Columbia River just east of Arlington.


Eastern Oregon is what we think of as high desert and fairly arid. Western Oregon is a much wetter region, and it wasn't long before our rainy western climate caught up with us.


It rained hard the rest of the way home, which is always scary. Fortunately, it was a Saturday and so traffic was light and fairly calm.

We had leftovers in the refrigerator for dinner last night, and then we watched a little TV and hit the sack. This morning has been spent getting things pretty much back to normal. It was nice to spend some time on my embroidery this morning in a more leisurely fashion than our driving days allow.


You can see that this one is almost finished. There's just a little left in the middle, and then there's a bat flying in the upper right corner...a little difficult to see in this image.

Now it's rehooped and ready to go. A couple of more sittings and I should have it finished.


In the final half hour before we left home two weeks ago, I started cutting strips for my newest project while I waited for Mike to finish his packing. This is the beginning of the table topper I'm doing for the Let's Book It challenge in September. This is the Pumpkin Patch table topper designed by Julie Weaver and included in the current issue of Quilter's World.


Before we left, I was able to pick out the fabrics I wanted to use, and then I got five of six colors of strips cut to piece the pumpkins together.


When I was ready to cut the sixth color strips, Mike came and announced that he was packed up and ready to go. Here's where I left it, and there it sits, waiting for me.


And now, I'm back where I left off. Things are pretty well put away and it's time to sew. Fortunately, Past Self was smart enough to freeze some leftover dinner items. Last night Present Self checked the freezer and pulled out three days worth of meals. It's nice not to have to go to the grocery store right away.

So what's been going on in your neck of the woods?

9 comments:

Sher S. said...

glad you had a great trip, loving seeing everywhere you went. Loved the quilt shops, am jealous that I couldn't buy fabrics too. The kitties seemed to have a great time as well. glad you are ready to get sewing again, how do you get yourself ready to just go sew? I'm in a funk and can't seem to want to sew. Love the tabletopper you are going to make, it's great!

quiltzyx said...

What a cool camper plaque! Lots of camper-y things out these days, isn't there?
Glad you 4 made it home safe & sound. And smart, smart Past Self, leaving you some frozen dinners - brilliant chica!!

Quilting Babcia said...

Welcome home! It's always good to be home with everything back to whatever your version of normal is!

Sally said...

Welcome home! I've really enjoyed reading about and looking at all the photos of your trip.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Yes, welcome home! Now that is a fancy catio - did the furkids put in an order? Good on you for having ready meals so you can relax a few days. Love the sign!!

WoolenSails said...

Love that sign, something I want to make for our trailer, so I will have to decide on a design or painting on wood to match us and our name. I also like your cat space, nice to be able to put the box outside like that.

Debbie

Debbie said...

That sign is so you. Love the pumpkins!

Summer said...

I love the pumpkins! Glad you had a nice trip ♥

summerdaisycottage.blogspot.com

Brown Family said...

That is a sweet catico and it is attaches to nice ride! I know it can be scary in rain pulling a trailer! I hate to be on the rode with big rigs in the rain! You have a good start on the pumpkins!