Signing Off for a Few

We're heading out tomorrow, and that means all day yesterday and all day today have and will be spent getting ready. Yesterday I focused on food. A few things were prepared ahead and packed. All but a few last-minute items are loaded. Today I'll focus on clothes and personal belongings. Mike has been busy getting the camper and the boat ready to go, and we were both tired pups last night. 

We talked about how much we enjoy this trip each summer. We've been going to Lake Mayfield, near Mt. Rainier, for decades. We were camping there even before Matthew was born. You can see some images of a previous trip right here. It's the first trip of the year in the truck camper, and so it's more work than usual getting ready to go. 

In a sort of maybe-this-will-work attempt to find an escape-proof harness for Sadie, I was taken in by an ad similar to this video on YouTube. If you can't see the video, then click right here.

The harness we actually purchased is this one right here. And let me just tell you that even getting the harness delivered was quite a trial. Following the tracking information provided by the company, the harness was "shipped" at the end of March. We followed it from Hong Kong, to China, and to Japan. This took weeks, and it was supposedly held up in customs for at least a week or two. Finally, I received notification that it was picked up by the shipping partner Pitney-Bowes in Inglewood, California, on June 21. Only a few weeks later, I got another notification that it was picked up at the same location on May 28th, when it was supposedly still in Japan. Then, it went to Brisbane, California (near San Francisco), then back to Los Angeles, then to Sparks, Nevada. And, excuse me, but WTF? 

Both Mike and I started believing the tracking information was being manipulated somehow because this journey made no sense at all. And so I notified PayPal the item had not been delivered (after more than three months). PayPal notified me they were waiting for more information from the shipper. In the interim, I received the notification that the item was in Sparks, Nevada, and so I escalated the complaint with PayPal. Interestingly, and rather suddenly, the item was delivered within just a day or two. So, go figure.

Okay, so all's well that ends well, right? Here's Sadie modeling her leash and vest for you. She looks happy, doesn't she?

So we took the kitties outside to test out the "escape proofness" of the harness. And let me just tell you that little stinker was out of the harness in (no exaggeration) about 7 seconds. This will the fourth and final harness we try on this little Houdini cat. We'd hoped we could get her out when we're traveling, but it seems it just isn't meant to be.

Okay, well, we're out now, so let's just take a little walk around. Check out the cherries on this tree. We've been watching them like hawks. Taken from a distance like this, you can really only see the red ones.

Up close, you can see they aren't really ready for picking. We're going to leave these until we get back from our trip. Hopefully, the greedy critters won't eat all of them before we return.

While the Bing hasn't been as productive, I did find some ripe ones within reach yesterday. Yum. They are sweet like candy!

The volunteer catnip is blooming now, and the bees love it.

Also, they're crawling all over the lavender. Mainly, we have bumble bees, but I saw a few honey bees as well.

Yesterday, I cut some and tied them into a bundle for drying. In a few weeks, I'll collect the dried flowers for lavender blossom tea. One must make lavender blossom tea, in order to make lavender blossom simple syrup, in order to make Bees Knees...our favorite summer cocktail.

Smitty stayed with me while we took our walk around. Sadie followed along too, although she's like a little black ghost, hiding under every bush we encounter.

While we were out, this guy popped up from his hidey hole. (A word with you, Sir: Stay out of the greenhouse!)

So, it was a busy day. The only stitching I did was slow-stitching. I'm about halfway finished with the last block for "I Believe in Snowmen."

In a different year and on a different planet, this might be the weekend for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. The show was canceled this year because of concerns about COVID-19. Although this is an outdoor event, it is also a crowded event. Sisters is a small community, and so you can hardly blame them for worrying over tens of thousands of people descending on their little town bringing their virus cooties with them. Instead, this year's show is a virtual show. Anyone can enter. Head over here to see how. In a nutshell, take a picture of your quilt outdoors somewhere, and then post it either to Facebook or to Instagram with the hashtag: #soqs2020  Here's my entry:

Okay, so as my title would indicate, I'm going to take about a week off from blogging. Today I'll be packing, and tomorrow we'll be heading out. Matthew will be holding down the fort (or the ranch, if you prefer) while we're gone. We'll be back on Friday afternoon. Probably, you won't hear from me again before next Saturday. But wait...all is not lost! My 10th Blogiversary is coming up, and so I'll be hosting a giveaway. You'll find the giveaway post on Monday. You're all invited to the party, so don't miss out!

And with that, my friends, I'm signing off. See you on the other side.