Sharing Good Times With Family

Yesterday we greeted our brother and sister-in-law from Seattle. They are on their way to Ashland for a week or so with tickets in hand to enjoy several of the annual Shakespeare productions the town of Ashland puts on so well. We had a great time just catching up with each other's lives, enjoyed a nice barbecued salmon dinner with grilled vegetables (Walla Walla Sweet Onions, portabello mushrooms, zucchini, and sweet potatoes) followed by a fresh Marionberry cobbler topped with vanilla-bean ice cream. Then, of course, the evening wouldn't be complete without a few rounds of Pegs and Jokers (men triumphed over the women, 3 to 1).

A great place under the trees to enjoy the afternoon.

A view from the lounge chairs of our summer place.

A view from the lounge chairs . . . to include the pole barn.

We were up early this morning to get our guests on the road by eight o'clock. We had such a great time but we all agreed it was way too short of a visit. We'll have to do something about that next year.

From a Little Yo-Yo

It all started when my sister, Jackie, gave me a piece of fabric that she found in her inlaw's house as they were cleaning it out. Her mother-in-law liked to sew and had lots of fabrics tucked away in an old trunk.

I get together once a week with a great group of friends who love to quilt at Park Sierra. When I left in May a few of them were making "yo-yos" and they were telling me how fun and easy they are to make, especially while travelling, because of their small size. "It's something you can do on your lap while rolling down the highway." I thought I'd like to try it but forgot to grab some fabric while packing.

Here's a shot of the fabric . . . a bit dated, don't you think?

One of the 210 yo-yos it took for this project.

The fabric I was given dated back to at least the 70s by the color and design. I graciously accepted the gift and thought I'd give that yo-yo idea a try. Well . . . needless to say I got hooked. I began using this fabric . . . then of course, as all good quilters do, I had to add some other colors of fabrics to survive the somewhat boring tedious-ness of making enough yo-yos (not quite 2" in diameter) with which to create something useful. My friends have made whole quilts down to placemats out of tacking yo-yos together until they end up with the size they need. Well . . . that sounded like a whole lot of BORING work to me.

So I decided that since Jackie was the one that got me started on this endeavor, and we have been guests in their house many times, and their guest bed does not currently have any kind of "cover" other than a plain navy blue comforder—that I would make her a decorative one. I designed it on the computer, K popped for the additional fabric I needed and, when we arrived in Cascadia, I started putting it together.

I made it small enough that I could handle it on my sewing machine, but large enough to cover her double bed. The yo-yos, which turned into flowers, represent her love of flowers, especially those blooming in her rose garden.

I had fun making it and I think she'll like it . . .
although it looks pretty darn cute on our bed.

Life is Good!

Farewell 'Til Next Time

Here they are ready for the long drive home. They'll take three days to do it. We had a fabulous time and already it seems pretty quiet around here!

Car packed and ready to go!

KL ready for the road-trip home . . . CD player working fine!

In the wee hours—I Blog

It's only a bit after 7 a.m. and K and "the girls" (JJ and KL) have gone fishing on Foster Lake hoping to bring home enough trout for dinner. It was in the plan that K would get up early and make the coffee, go and wake up the girls. Well . . . didn't happen that way!

JJ apparently got up we're guessing about 4:30, and went for a walk with the neighbor's dog, Norman, down to the park and back . . . and pretty soon we here "pssssst, Dad, it's time . . . it's a great time to get up!" Was she anxious or what?

Next thing I know, the polebarn is lit up and the coffee and some cereal has been consumed and they're off.

Now it's up to me to spend the day with JD and CD . . . and they're still sleepy heads snuggled away in their beds in the tent in the woods. It's pretty foggy out and pretty darn cold . . . so I'm thinkin' we'll be hanging out here. I had planned that maybe we'd take a picnic to the lake but it's only going to be in the very low 70s so that's not much fun for swimming in a pretty darn cold lake. It's their last day here so we'll have fun, no matter what we choose to do!

Stay tuned . . . I'll let you know how the day goes.

. . . The boys and I had a blast. CD made a "Jesus (Heart) Me" necklace while the three of us watched Wilderness Family.

JD stringing the beads for his necklace.

JD enjoying the movie in the polebarn.

We swam in the lake, well—JD did. He wanted to swim in the lake so badly before they headed home even though I tried to convince him that it would be way too cold. We drove to the lake, walked down to the beach. . . I set up my chair kickin' myself because I forgot my visor. . .the boys stuck their toes into the water. JD strolled back and forth and declared "It's colder than I thought it would be!" . . . and that was the end of our "lake outing!" McD's for lunch made us forget all about the cold lake water and we headed back home. We tried to spot the fisher-folks out on the lake but we couldn't find them.

Five minutes after we pulled in the driveway the fisher-folks came back. . .empty handed. And CD asked Papa "You skunked?" No fish, but they had a great time. K said that JJ leaned back in her boat-chair, feet up on the side of the boat, and just relaxed and took in the peacefulness of the lake. I think KL might have wished she had brought her book.

An afternoon of tolepainting . . . the kids and JJ painted some beautiful boxes while K took a nap.

KL painting a beautiful box.

CD choosing his colors with care.

A sunburned JJ wanted to paint too!

Later we hiked over to the CCs for some time on their trampoline giving the kids some good exercise. Barbecued chicken for dinner . . . the rest of the Wilderness Family movie while JJ packed up the car ready for a long drive tomorrow...and the day is gone!

It was a great visit. We so love having the Varner-Family-of-Five-Minus-One visit us in our "little piece of heaven" in Oregon. The time flew by way too fast!

Life is good!

A Berry Berry Fun Day!

This morning we set out early to a new berry farm about thirty minutes away. They had several varieties of blueberries, raspberries, marionberries, and some berries I've never heard of. We picked over twenty-five pounds of berries! It was a pretty hot day and we were pooped when we finished. Now a majority of the berries are already bagged and in the freezer, and there are fresh ones for snacking and for cereal in the morning. Oooops! I'm wrong. CD has been talking about "Grammy's Blueberry Pancakes" ever since he got here, so of course we'll do that for breakfast tomorrow. Currently the Varners have joined the CC's down at the river for a cooling off period. When they get back I'm sure they'll be ready for Cowboy Stew, and a campfire with S'mores!

Life is good!

After about an hour of picking . . . we're hot and pooped
but excited to have our berries!

Here's CD showing you his bucket full! Including stems and leaves!

Oregon blueberries ... a buck a pound! You can't beat 'em.

Marionberries waiting to be picked . . . I love 'em in pies!
We're going to make a cobblerto share with the CC's tomorrow night!

Here's KL showing you her full basket of Marionberries.

JD and CD — with their catch of the day!

We all enjoyed this beautiful rainbow trout as an appetizer!

Sisters Quilt Show

It's that time of year again and this year J came up with her three kids. And what a blast today was. K woke up JD and C at 6:30 this morning to take them fishing on Foster Lake. The boys woke up like the troupers they are, came into the studio all dressed and ready to go. After downing a bowl of cereal they were out the driveway before I even woke up. In fact it was the roar of the truck that woke me up. Couldn't believe it! I got up, poured some coffee and tiptoed back to the guesthouse (tent) to see if J and KL were stirring. Nope! So I tiptoed back —then decided I'd better wake them up at 7:15 because we had a big day too. We got ready and were on our way to the big annual quilt show in Sisters, Oregon. J had never been and had planned her trip so she could attend.

When we arrived it was a bit after 10 a.m. and already quite crowded. We found a parking place and off we went to gaze our eyes and ooooooh and aaaaaahh over several hundred quilts. Of course we had to stop in at the Stichin' Post, the local quilt shop which sponsors the event, and drop a few bucks. We had a fun time drooling over some of the quilts which I'll show you in pictures. I didn't take but a few this year because of the crowd. We had fun just being together, us "girls" and, at the same time, anxious to get back home to see how the "boys" did. They had a successful day too! And K had lots of fun with his grandsons on the lake.