Free Day in Bayfield, Wisconsin

There was nothing on today's agenda, which gave us a nice day to do whatever we felt like doing. Smitty felt like a morning nap on his catio...

Until his leash and harness were offered up. Other campers who were leaving had already left, and new folks had not come in yet. The campground was fairly quiet, and so it seemed like a good time for a walk to him too. Here, he's showing you his best side.

He spent a little time choosing his weed.

Eventually, he selected a few blades and had a sampling of some delicious Whiskerconsin grass. As some of you have noticed, he's a regular Grass Gourmet. He's hoping he might get his own show on the Food Network.

His walk was short. When he was safely back inside and treats of valor had been dispensed, we took off to see a few things we were curious about in town. Just up the hill from us was Hauser's Apfelhaus Cidery. They had all sorts of canned good in their store, and we were interested in sampling some of their hard ciders.

Their barn/gift shop was very inviting. See the quilt block on the right side?

Looking off in the other direction, we could see Lake Superior and at least one of the Apostle Islands.

The upstairs "observation deck" was also open. After spending some time in their gift shop, we headed upstairs. Oh. My. Gosh. Look at this collection of hats. I have no explanation for this other than to marvel at their numbers. On one side of the barn...

On the opposite side of the barn...

Straight ahead...

And turning around, there were still more. We were most interested in the view from this window.

There, we had another view of Lake Superior.

We sampled some of their ciders, and by the time we left, we'd relieved them of a four pack of their Apple Pie Cider.

Outside, they had some beautiful flower gardens. Of course, I took pictures...

The echinacea made me homesick momentarily. When we left mid-August, mine were blooming.

They had some pretty colors of hollyhocks too.

As we left, I caught this picture of the apples on their trees. This area grows a lot of apples, and their apple festival will be the first week of October. Again, I'm missing the apples back home. I'd probably be making applesauce right about now.

After that, we headed off to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Visitor Center. It's built from some of the same red granite we saw on our island tour.

This was an interesting sign...

Looking beyond the sign to the corner of their property was one of the community rain gardens.

Also, there was this map showing all the islands in the national park. We sailed past each one yesterday with the exception of tiny gull island on the right-side of the map below.

On yet another map, I was interested in this particular island. Our boat captain/narrator told us the island was named for its shape. However, better aerial photographs show it's not shaped anything like a cat. There are campgrounds on many of the islands, although two of them have been designated as "preserves" because of rare flowers and other critters that are protected.

There was an operating fresnel lens inside the visitor center. I was able to capture it just as the light flashed.

Here's another photo closer up so you can get a good look at it.

On our way back outside, I noticed this white board with the Ojibwemowin word of the week. I like this idea.

From there, we drove into Bayfield. It took us quite a while to find a place to park, and then we just walked around a little bit. I wanted to visit some of the gift shops. Along the way, I took pictures of every blooming thing. This next one is kind of a puzzler. I don't know if those big pods are flower buds or a fruit resulting from the bloom. They were fuzzy, and large...maybe about the size of a large jalapeno pepper.

People were tending the flowers as we walked along, and the gardens were beautiful.

Here's another one of these not-a-hibiscus flowers. This one looks like peppermint candy.

These petunias were such a dark purple, they were nearly black.

None of the things in the gift shops appealed to me much, but I did like this sign. There was a woofie version as well.

The only thing I couldn't resist was some fudge.

We got a half pound of this one...vanilla layers around caramel and pecans. Mmm, mmm, mmm. It tastes so good, it could possibly be deadly.

We had several hours to just sit outside yesterday afternoon. I'm glad we did because a thunder storm moved in last night. As I'm finishing this off this morning, our power has gone out all over the park. Oh well. Fortunately, I have enough battery power on my computer to finish off my post. While we were outside, I worked on my slow stitching. I filled my hoop and then moved to the next position.

Then there was just a little bit left to stitch to finish it off.

Finishing it off was my goal for September's

and so I'll link up there at the end of the month. 

Now, I have the next one ready to go, and I'll probably start on it today or tomorrow.

Okay, and so this is our last morning in Wisconsin. We're ready to hit the road and head toward Michigan. We've been paying day use fees in all the state parks we've visited. Michigan requires this "recreation passport," and I purchased ours before leaving home. Now it's firmly affixed to our windshield for the duration. We're visiting a lot of state parks in Michigan.

We want to get an early start today because we're hoping to catch one of the ferries at the Copper Harbor Lighthouse. We have about 200 miles to drive, and then we'll unhitch quickly and head for the lighthouse. We have just one night there. If necessary, we could try again tomorrow morning, but we'll still have around a 175-mile drive to our next destination in Munising, Michigan. This is the one place where I wish I'd given us an extra night. When I planned the trip, I didn't know we'd have to take a boat to see the lighthouse. Oh well. The best laid plans...

So off we go. I'm hoping we'll have internet where we're headed. If so, I'll see you on the other side. If not...I'll see you when I see you.

An Overdue Milestone

It could have been a little warmer yesterday, but at least it didn't rain. The cooler temperatures made it easier to clean out the greenhouse, however. Now it's ready for a new generation of seeds. Mike dumped that half bag of potting soil into its bin after I took that picture. Today I'll get out and plant some seeds. It always feels like a fresh start to the year when we get last year's dead stuff pulled out.

So, it always seems like a big job when we look at the mess, but we had this finished in less than an hour. Each year we do it a little faster. Next year...maybe magic wands will be the only tools we'll need.

As for the rest of the yard, the cherry trees are looking marvelous right now. Let's just hope the bees are out doing their jobs.

This is the lily we finally got into the ground last year after it spent years sitting neglected in a pot. I'm surprised the thing is still alive. After all the abuse it took, it deserves a chance to grow. Fortunately the winter was relatively mild, and so it's looking pretty good.

The Andromeda is starting to get its red foliage.

This ground cover is getting its blue flowers. These are about the size of a dime. Every year I ask my friend Marei to remind me of their names. Every year I forget.

The tulips that are in with the poppies are looking so pretty right now.

Some new ones have appeared at the front door too.

I needed to fill the bird feeders, and I threw out some cracked corn for the ground-feeding birds. The birds are not picky...they'll eat whatever they find. I'm trying to attract some quail we see running around up on the main road. Many years ago I was able to get them to come to our yard, but only just that one time. Nevertheless, I remain hopeful. Besides, it makes the squirrels happy.

The blue jays take only a few seconds to notice when I fill the peanut feeder. I can barely walk away before they're after them.

Even the hummingbirds got new food yesterday.

About this time we get swallows passing through. It's so much fun to watch them zooming around. Yesterday, we saw them for the first time this year. I'm never really sure whether we're seeing swallows, or swifts, or martins. It's hard to say for sure. I was wishing this one would have faced the camera, but I think he was looking critically at the moss on our roof. As I've mentioned, anything that doesn't move gets moss growing on it in Oregon. Looks like a job for the resident engineer. It's been a while since he's been up on the roof to clean the moss. As he gets older, he's less and less willing to get up there, and so this job might get hired out this time around.

Finally, we turned on the shower over our bird bath. When we first put out a bird bath, we weren't getting many birds, and so we consulted one of the employees at the Backyard Bird Shop about it. They told us birds can't see water that isn't moving, and suggested this shower. It runs full time from one of the garden hoses, spraying a thin stream. The birds took to it instantly. We turn it off in winter because freezing temperatures will break the little nozzle. Mike hooked it up and turned it on yesterday and the birds were using it within just a few minutes.

We also hacked back some branches from certain trees where certain you-know-whos like to lie in wait.

Sadie gets pretty mad when we thwart her evil bird-murdering ways.

She's all business when she's outside.

After lunch, I got back into the sewing room, and here's where the "overdue milestone" comes in. I finished all 60 blocks for Mulligan Stew. Yay!!!!! These were the last ones. This first one isn't as sinister as it sounds.

Here's the associated story:

And here's the block I made.

Two more to go. First, this one:

And, finally, this one:

Here they are all laid out. There are four cornerstones. When I finish this quilt top, I'll add a border pieced to look like a railroad track.

So, phew! That was a long time coming. I started this quilt on April 15, 2013. So more than six years on, I finally have the blocks finished. The quilt top won't get sewn together until the end of the year, and so it still won't be finished before next year sometime.

Now, I don't know about you, but Spring always puts me in the mood for self-flagellation. I've decided my next project will be this Pansy Mosaic from Jane Kakaley. I purchased this pattern some time ago, and never made it, and so this project falls under the PINS category (Projects I Never Started).

The pixelated grid consists of 28 rows across and 40 rows down for a total of 1,120 1-1/2 inch pieces. Yikes. It sounds grueling, but they really are completely engrossing. Once I start one, I tend to work on it feverishly until it's finished. I've made a couple of her quilts before. You might remember the Blooming Sunflower, made for an "Initially Yours" challenge from my former guild. We were to make a quilt using our initials (BS for me). It was tempting to do something truly tacky and tasteless, but I ended up with this one:

For purposes of the challenge, I cut off the bottom portion of the pattern where there were more leaves and a stem. Also, you probably remember the Cardinal mosaic I did recently. I'll be quilting this one next month.

So anyway...that's my next project. Sadie loves a new project.

She helped me choose the fabrics. I needed five values each of green, yellow, purple, and blue, and one value each of black and brown.

I'll be sewing this one together in grids of 4 x 4 pieces. I just barely got started on it yesterday before deciding I'd had enough sewing for one day. It's kind of fun because many of her patterns begin with rows and rows of background. This one gets into the flowers right away. They keep propelling me forward because I'm wanting to see how it will look with the next addition.

Finally, there's a new challenge in town. You might remember when Amy Ellis used to do her One Week, One Thing challenge. She ended it some time ago, but she's back now with a new one. For now, it seems to be only on Instagram, but I think she's still considering how to make it work for everyone. Anyway, the hashtag on Instagram is #onethingwithamy and my goal is to finish up this May heart.

The challenge runs Monday through Friday, and so these are little goals. That's where I'm headed next. Today I'll be running some errands in town and planting some seeds. I expect to have some time for sewing this afternoon.