A Sunday Drive

It was a day for rejuvenation yesterday, as I took a break from the Semper Fi quilt. It was just as well because my left wrist was sore from trimming all the half square triangles the day before. It was painful to move it when we went to bed last night, and so I used a splint to immobilize it. Sometimes that works over night, but it's still a little sore this morning. I'm still hoping I can get back to the quilt today, but my wrist may have the final word.

A sore wrist didn't stop me from slow-stitching yesterday morning, however. I finished off the second tree for 12 Trees for Christmas. This one is pretty much like the first tree, except the branches are heading off in a different direction. Also, it included the whipped back stitch, I showed you in yesterday's post.

And with that one finished, I traced out Tree #3. This one has a few new-to-me stitches.

There was no time for stitching on that, however, and we headed out for our Sunday drive. So what did we do? We drove to two wineries to pick up wine shipments. The leaves are mostly off the vines now, but there were a few noteworthy things. At Sokol-Blosser, there are still a few blooming things. They have some very pretty gardens surrounding their tasting room. Look at these happy little fellows!

Also, Oregon has a bumper crop of acorns this year. Don't you know the squirrels are in Fat City.

After that, we headed down to Salem, home of Witness Tree Vineyards. When we visited last time...or maybe it was last year...we learned the winery had been sold, and the vines had all been dug up. It was sad to see because this is one of our favorite wineries. We especially love the namesake Witness Tree, I've written about many times. You can read about it at this old blog post.

On yesterday's visit, we were happy to see the vineyards have been replanted.

The sign at the driveway still reads "Witness Tree," but the wines are being produced under the new name of "Elemental Cellars."

The winemaker will stay on with the new owners, and so we'll still be getting the high quality wines we've always loved. That was good news.

From there, we headed to the Block House Cafe for some lunch. It's housed in a historic building that was originally the First Baptist Church of Dayton, Oregon. The church was built in 1886. I've written about it before, and you can read more about the building's history and see some pictures right here. Our server asked us if we wanted anything besides water. We said no at first, but then Mike noticed the Bloody Mary cocktails at the next table over. Looking around the restaurant, there were a lot of Bloody Marys on the surrounding tables. And, well, we really hate to be left out, so yeah. Two of those, please.

They were so tasty...and spicy. This might be a good place to go just for the Blood Marys! And look at the serving of vegetables they come with. And tomato juice! Why, they're practically health food!

We enjoyed our lunch and then headed for home. Earlier, we'd received a delivery of something we hope will cure Smitty of his yearning for a cubby in the new fifth wheel. Originally, I saw these "window perches" on Facebook, and so I went shopping for one on Amazon. The one we ended up with seemed strong enough, and it will hold up to 44 lbs...plenty of weight for two cats. So Mike assembled it, and then we stuck it up in one of the living room windows. It attaches to the window both top and bottom with strong suction cups. Then I used their quilt from the RV catio to entice them.

Well. Smitty was 'spicious of this thing.

Don't go near it, Sadie...it's a trap.

But I wasn't willing to let well enough alone, and so I picked up Sadie and set her on it.

What fresh hell is this?

I had to shoot fast because she was only on it for about eight seconds.

She prefers her cozy quilt on the living room couch, thank you.

So we'll leave the perch up for a while. There's really no reason for them to use it in the living room because they have plenty of more trustworthy places to sit and gaze out the window. Hopefully, it will be more inviting when installed in the window of the fifth wheel.

And this seems as good a time as any to interject that they've been confined to the indoors permanently now. They have their large catio where they can get outside, of course, but we aren't letting them out any more. When we got home from Colorado, I was letting them out, thinking the coyotes were a thing of the past. Not so fast, though, because I was checking on them about every 15 minutes. On one of my safety checks, I happened to glance down toward the fence line at the bottom of the field and there, big as you please, was a coyote staring up at the house. I rounded both kitties up in record time, and brought them inside. A few days later, Mike was out riding the ATV down to the shop when he saw two more...and they are bold...not afraid of humans at all. They weren't even very easily scared away when Mike rode the ATV directly at them. And so, it saddens me because I've always felt strongly that kitties need some outdoor time. If nothing else, the exercise is good for them, but I'm afraid the coyotes have won this battle. The kitties are adjusting, but I'm not sure I ever will. I hate that they can't be outside.

With an extra hour yesterday, there was more time for slow-stitching after dinner. I got a start on Tree #3. The trunk of the tree on this one was first chain stitched in dark green. Then the chain stitch was "whipped" in light green. And then I back stitched from top to bottom in dark brown.

With that finished, I stem stitched the base of the tree.

This morning I'll get on with more whipped chain stitching on the tree branches. The running stitch between the branches will be stitched in red.

Looking out the window, it's a misty morning. And it's nice to have a little more light, even if it's hard to see the daylight fade so early in the afternoon. 'Tis the season, I guess.

If my wrist allows, I'll get back to work on Semper Fi today. My batteries have been recharged after my little break from it yesterday. I'm feeling optimistic it can be a finished flimsy before the week is over.