Terrific Tuesday

When we got up yesterday morning, the kitties were still tired in solidarity with us. They didn't go with us to San Diego, but they were sleeping it off just the same. They were waiting for cues from us to perk up after a good night's sleep. Smitty was covering his eyes with his paw.

Sadie was draped over the back of the couch...barely able to hold herself upright.

Is there any creature on earth that can get more relaxed than a cat?

As I mentioned yesterday, we had an impromptu lunch planned with our good friends Tom and Deb. Deb snagged a harbor-side table and was drinking a MaiTai when we arrived. We joined right in.

Here's a picture of Tom and Deb. They are some of my favorite people in the whole wide world.

The reason for the lunch was they had something to give me. When we were at their house the other night, they showed us these wine bottles with strings of LED lights. They make nice little mood lighting lamps. And they also had a bottle of wine selected especially for me. Can you guess why?

So at lunch, they presented the empty bottle with the LED lights inside. So cute. They even taped an extra battery to the side of the bottle. Isn't this great?

Okay, so after lunch, we headed down to "the Strand," which is the road that runs along the beach where the Oceanside Pier is located. It actually extends quite some distance up and down the coast there. Mike had in mind to ride his bike on the Strand. I wanted to take some more pictures. Along our walk, I took pictures of every blooming thing. I don't know all of these.

I've seen this ice plant everywhere, but this was my first opportunity to take its picture.

Possibly the thing I miss most about living in Southern California is the ability to grow Bougainvillea. It's so beautiful, but there's no way we're growing it in Oregon.

Here's a pretty red hibiscus.

Now here's something: It's a kumquat tree growing in a pot on someone's balcony.

Its fruits are about the size of an olive when ripe.

As we headed down the stairs to the beach, I paused to capture these Spanish tile rooftops on the apartments below.

This beach umbrella caught my eye. Our next challenge for The Endeavourers art quilt group is "color theory," and so when I see bright colors from the color wheel, I take notice.

As we approached these little pink houses, I noticed their roofs for the first time. Now I love them even more than I did before getting closer.

These are the little pink houses we can see from the pier. Here's the image from the other day.

The tide was in, and so I wasn't sure I could back up enough to get the whole row. As it turns out, it wouldn't have mattered whether the tide was in or out. There was a 3-foot drop-off here to get to the water. If I'd been barefoot and in a swimsuit, I might have been able to negotiate it. But no...I was an Oregonian, there at the beach in my shoes and my jeans and my broken shoulder. Without jumping, I couldn't get any farther away than the edge of the sand. I might have jumped, but then I'd still have to get back up again. So anyway...my plans were thwarted somewhat.

So I took the picture in two slices. I figure if I ever get around to making this quilt, I'll just splice the two images together.

Also, I noticed for the first time that there is another row behind the one lining the street. 

On the other hand, I could do just two or three of them. I kind of like this angle that shows off the roofs more.

Or I could do it straight on.

Or, I could say I'm going to do it, and then never do it. Would I do that? Would you?

Okay, so back at the trailer, I went to work on my slow-stitching. I finished stitching the southeast corner of the piece.

When I moved my hoop, I realized it was nearly finished. Also, I needed to go back and finish one of the quilt blocks, and I noticed I'd missed a spot on the pillow in the northwest corner.

And that took about another hour, and it was finished. Phew! I started this embroidery back in January, so I'm happy to finally have it finished.

Next, I'll start on this little "Liberty Sampler" from Kathy Schmitz. It'll be the first time I've done any of her designs. No reason...they just haven't been on my radar before. This one will make a small wall-hanging for a spot in my kitchen. I've been making seasonal table runners, and little seasonal wall-hangings for that spot. I have two table runners for this year's 4th of July. I'm hoping I'll get this little wall-hanging finished by then too.

So that's the news for today. We're expecting quite a storm and lots of wind and rain. You'd never know it looking at the sunshine. Mike brought up a weather map showing the storm on its way, and the wind has come up a little. Not sure if there's anything else on the agenda today, but breakfast is next.