Fun Weekend

We packed up and did a quick trip to visit the grandkids this last weekend (Max and I were both needing a fix). It makes for a very hurried trip leaving after work on a Friday night and dealing with the traffic that is out there, but in the long run it is always worth it. We arrived tried and went right to bed (everyone except Denise were already asleep). We headed out to the Renaissance Faire Saturday afternoon and had a good time with that. Desirae was VERY excited to met the Queen and she was very kind and gracious. Desirae was very coy and shy, but the meeting took place and Desirae was given a "gold coin" (filled with chocolate) from the Queen. The day turned out beautifully and in the shade it was very pleasant. Deanna had an opportunity to run around and explore a bit (playing in the dirt and dancing to the music seemed to be her favorites).

Everyone had their turn at chasing her around (actually more like herding her).

On Sunday before we had to head home, Duane set up his Living Room Studio and we had great fun taking a bunch of pictues. We really got some great shots and it is nice to have good pictues of Max and I. Devin was not in the picture taking mode, but Duane got some great shots of Desirae and her Nana. Check Duane's blog for a sampling of some of the pictues (my favorite is me choking him)!

Monday morning I woke up with a head cold and I felt pretty miserable all day. Today is a better day and I have been messing with the new software I purchased for my sewing machine.

Later . . .

Busy . . .

We had a busy weekend and it went by so quickly. We are trying to get the Quads sold and both the batteries were completely dead. Paul came by and he and Max went in search of batteries - ended up at Kragen after hitting all the motorcyle and motocross stores in town. After they dealt with the batteries then turned to tying flies. I worked in my sewing room doing a shirt for Paul with the Moose and Clark Fork, Idaho and a Fly and "Bite Me". Kathy came over for dinner and she worked on Max's notebook while I folded material and Paul and Max continued to tie flies.

I spent all day in my sewing room today. I purchased a 8.5 inch rotary ruler and made all my material the same size. It is much easier to see and the closet looks much neater having everything actually stacked in an orderly fashion. I am determined to get my sewing room shaped up and organized and today was a BIG start. I also started a "Goodwill Bag" and am cleaning out some things that are just not needed or necessary. Tomorrow I will tackle some boxes of things I have been saving to put on Ebay and make up my mind if they go to Goodwill or on Ebay. As soon as I get things straightened up I plan to start cutting on the jeans that I have stacked up in my closet (that job could take forever).

Later . . .

Catching up

I cannot believe that we have been home for almost a week and I have not made an entry AND that I stopped making entries while in Idaho. We had such a good time and had such full days that by the time we came in for the evening I was just too tired to mess with pictures and blog entries. I do have a bunch of good pictures, which I will try to get on the blog in the near future.

I spent the majority of the week getting ready for my knee surgery, which did NOT happen today. One more time it was rescheduled. I have decided to just put it off until December 22nd and go on with the things we have planned and not have to worry about my knee.

I am taking off tomorrow with my new friend, Lynn, and her sister to go to an International Quilters Festival. I was really disappointed when she invited me because I was having surgery and would not be able to attend, but now I can go. She said there will be hundreds of vendors and it is quite something.

I know I have been sketchy with information, but we had a GREAT time on vacation and brought back a LOT of trout. Max was soooooooo excited when she caught a trout on a fly she tired at our dining room table. I did not get a picture like the one I took of Paul because we were in our float tubes in the middle of the lake and I did not have my camera with me. She continued to catch many trout on her own tied flies and so did Paul.

Later . . .

Fun and Fish

Yesterday was a fun day at Round Lake. We took the float tubes and had some fun fishing. We did not catch a lot of fish, but Kathy did catch a nice trout. When you have a nice lake it is really great to get the float tubes out and be able to get around the lake - even though Max and I did not catch anything, we had some fun.

Today we all slept in (we seemed to all be tired) and then did some driving around trying to find a decent creek or river for Max and Paul to do some fly fishing, but all the creeks and rivers are pretty dry right now. However we went back to the bridge on the Clark Fork River and did some fishing. The REALLY cool thing was that Paul caught a fish on a fly that he tied at our living room table.How cool is that?! Paul and I both caught a fish that we did not know what it was. We had no picture and no one knew what they were - pretty gold colored fish, but we did the catch and release thing because we did not know what they were and did not want to be in possession of something that was not to be taken.

We are planning to hook up with Wanda and Don tomorrow morning for breakfast and then we are all going to Anelope Lake in hopes of catching some more fish. Time is starting to fly and Friday will be here before we know it.

Later . . .

More fun - no fish

Now here we have a couple of people who look like they are really ready to catch some fish! Max, Paul and I went out in search of fish this afternoon and ended up with some really nice pictures, some good "bites", fish stories and NO fish! We did have a good time and the Clark Fork River was moving well and gave us some beautiful scenery. The weather was very nice - not too hot and not too cold.

We were fishing just beyond the foot bridge and as the sun was going down it was really beautiful. Tomorrow we are planning a trip to one of the nearby lakes in hopes of actually getting a fish to stay on our hooks.

Later . . .

Vacation progress

We went fishing yesterday afternoon at Johnson Creek. Did not catch any fish, but threw some lures and enjoyed ourselves. The water was pretty low and not flowing – so we figured we would not catch anything, but it is always fun to throw some lures and anticipate the possibility of catching something.

Max and Paul woke early and headed down to the dock to try their luck. Paul caught a good sized perch and then our upstairs neighbor invited them to go out with him on his boat for a little fishing. Paul ended up catching some fish, but Max came back with no fish and two less lures.

When they were finished, we headed in to town to the Fly store; however we ended up at Walmart where Paul picked up a cheap pole and we bought some groceries. We had breakfast and headed back to the Condo. We are planning on trying our luck on the Clark Fork River this afternoon. Tomorrow we might try a couple of the lakes around here that stock fish (we all need to catch something).

Later …

Arrived in Idaho

We were a bit delayed in our arrival in Idaho because Paul had brake problems and had to take his car in. They had to replace the rotors on the front so we did not get back on the road until almost 11:30 AM. We still had a nice drive and stopped along the way to see sights and relax and eat. We arrived just in time to get checked in before the office closed. This is where our Condo is - not right on the water, but one back and we can see the water from our place. We unpacked and got a good night's sleep.

We hooked up with Wanda and Don for breakfast (pancakes, bacon and eggs) and then went out on their boat for a little afternoon fishing (wrong time of day, but it was a beautiful boat ride).
We are heading out to throw some lures and then Wanda and Don are feeding us ribs for dinner.

Paul is having some bad luck on this trip - he broke one of his fly poles and the other one is the top to one and the bottom to another. We will be making a trip for the purchase of a new fly pole tomorrow.

Later . . .

Let the vacation begin

We were off to a good start this morning at 8:00 AM. Max went to the Donut Wheel for donuts and we stopped at Starbucks for coffee. We had a good trip and stopped along the way at two Fly Fishing stores! We had lunch in Weed and arrived in Bend about 6:30 PM for our nights stay. We are planning on making a trip to Fred Myers and then just relaxing and getting a good nights sleep for our arrival in Idaho tomorrow. We are staying at the Holiday Inn Express and they have wireless connections in all the rooms.

Later . . .








Retrieved the camera from the car after going to Fred Myers, so thought I would add a couple of pictures Max took.

Home Safely

I arrived home safe and sound this afternoon around 3:30 PM. The trip home was smooth and the traffic was not bad at all. I was greated with a very warm welcome from Max and the dogs. After we unpacked the car of all the boxes, suitcase and sewing machines, Max and I ran out to get something for Kathy (she had gall bladder surgery on Friday). Max took me out for a excellent Italian dinner and we picked up Cold Stone on the way home.

The beds for the dogs came in and we presented them with their new presents. We are both hoping this will keep Kodi from rolling under the bed!

Later . . .

Great day

Today turned out to be a very successful day. I finished my quilt and I did a pretty good job on it. I learned how to do corners, which turned out really well. I am very pleased with the finished product and I totally love the fabric and the backing. After the fact, I learned a couple some sewing basics that would have made things easier, but progress not perfection. I just have not sewed enough to know all the ins and outs of my machine and how to measure and place my stuff to get a consistent straight stitch. I did my first placemat and it turned out great. I was soooooo pleased with myself! Joy says I am doing an excellent job for a beginner (that is what big sisters are supposed to say). Joy and I spent all day at our sewing machines. She is about to finish my bathrobe, but I want to do some embroidery on the pockets before she sews them on. We got out the serger and I learned how to do a rolled hem. Now I can make my own placements and matching napkins. Tomorrow is the day we go to Joy’s sewing class and we are going to make some fleece scarves that I plan on doing some embroidery on and sending to Ireland. The whole week has been very productive, but I have been somewhat of a slave driver – let’s get to the sewing room and TEACH me. Watch out world – a sewer has been born.

The week is going by quickly, but it certainly has been productive and FUN!

Later . . .

Productive day

Joy and I had a productive day today. She sewed a cover for my serger that matches the VERY cool one she made for my sewing machine. I pinned and sewed my quilt project and I must say quilting is not an easy thing. I really like putting together squares and making quilt tops, but trying to quilt on a regular sewing machine is a bit of a hassle. Nonetheless, I enjoyed myself and was actually quite proud when I was finished. The lesson for tomorrow will be to square up the quilt and then make and affix the binding. Joy made me a bathrobe that we have to do button holes and hem the sleeves. We are then going to work on making place mats and napkins. If time permits, she is going to show me how to make the top that she has previously been sewing for me. I forgot to take pictures of the placemats and napkins she made for me before I arrived (they are REALLY cool). She also made a totally cool apron (it felt like Christmas in October). She also made some stuff for Debby that I am not going to post pictures of in case Debby checks the blog.

Still hot around here, but at least we are not getting smoke and ashes from the fires around us. Yesterday there was a heavy smoke smell in the air and the day before there were actually ashes falling. It all depends on the wind and they put out alerts to only run your air in the car on re-circulate and to keep all the windows in your house closed and don't go outside if you don't have to.

Later . . .

Safe arrival

The trip to Ventura was pretty smooth, once I corrected the wrong freeway mistake. I am so accustomed to going to the grandkid's house that after I gased up this morning I headed out Highway 580 instead of the correct Highway 680. Once I was sailing down the road, I thought about going through San Jose and realized 580 would NOT take me anywhere near San Jose. I had to cut over to 101 via 152, which added some time to the trip, but it was nonetheless a nice drive and I listened to my new Christina Aguelera CD. I stopped to have lunch and a nice visit with brother Don and then headed on arriving in Ventura around 4:30. Joy and I don't see each other often so we have soooooo much to catch up on consisting of "show and tell". I am pretty excited to do some sewing and I will take some pictures tomorrow of the VERY cool sewing machine cover she made me.

I am tired and going to try to get some sleep (it is much hotter here than I expected - it is the coast - it is suppose to be cool).

Later . . .

Yet more embriodery

I decided to make a trip to Ventura to visit my sister, Joy. I have not seen her in a while and with all the vacations we have coming up along with my knee surgery and then the Holidays I figured now would be the time to make the trip. I will be going down on Monday and coming back on Saturday. She is going to help me with quilting matters and since she has sewn soooooooo many things for me, I wanted to do some embriodery on a shirt for her and this is the finished product (I hope she does not check the blog tonight or tomorrow before I arrive). I have been messing around with small embriodery on the cuffs and I think it adds some charm to the shirt. Here are some shots of the actual embriodery.









I will try to do blog entries while I am in Ventura, but no promises.

Later . . .

Keeping busy . . .

Since we have decided to sell the Quads, we decided to check them out and get everything organized. Kind of sad, but we just don't have the place to ride them and the places we do have a gazillion other people ride there at the same time - not really what I call fun. It will be nice to open up the space in the garage (and try not to fill it real soon, but I am thinking longarm quilting machine).








I messed around with my embroidery most of the day yesterday and was pleased with the results. I have been wanting to try the quilt patch for signing quits and decided to do one to see how it looks - Nice. I did a small embroidery on the cuff of one of my shirts (actually on both cuffs) that turned out well. I did the fly with "bite me" on a t-shirt to see how it would look and feel - nice. I did the fly with "bite me" and a Moose with "Clark Fork, Idaho to see how they would look - nice. I want to do a couple of shirts for Wanda and Don to take to them when we visit the end of September.









All I can really say is it is really nice to have energy again and the ability to actually do things that I enjoy. I must pass on the information that I am STILL suffering "video thumb" and I am going to have to knock of playing for a while. I can see me in the doctor's office having to explain to the doctor that my thumb is all messed up because of the contoller on my PS2!

Later . . .

Working on embriodery

I have been having some fun now that I have my sewing room in workable order. I started to put my celtic circles together and decided I wanted to do embroidery. I figured since Max and Paul are immersed in fly fishing it would be appropriate to do something along those lines. I purchased the design online for $2.99 and it turned out really well. My goal is to get good at this and perhaps be able to sell some of my work.

Nonetheless, I am having fun!

Later . . .

Kodi trouble

I know that Kodi is a reless sleeper, but I do NOT know how he manages to get himself all the way under the bed! This has been going on for several days and I think it might be the result of throwing out their dog beds and not being able to replace them. They are on order and hopefully we will have new beds by tomorrow! However he manages to get under the bed he has not figured out how to get himself back out. He wants to belly crawl and his massive shoulders will NOT fit. I have to get him to roll over on his side and then pull him out from under the bed. This is NOT something I am enjoying in the middle of the night. The first time this happened I heard him crying, but I could not find him. The first time was funny, the second time was amusing and now it is a pain!

Later . . .

Nothing much . . .

Not a whole lot going on around here right now. The weather has turned hot again and Kodi and I are not very happy. Speaking of Kodi not being happy, last night that huge mutt ran full force, head-on into our sliding glass door. Thank God it would appear all he got from the incident was a bloody nose and one heck of a headache. Needless to say it knocked him silly (thank goodness he has a REALLY hard head and that he did NOT break the glass). I did keep a check on him through the night by waking him up and this morning he gave one of “those” looks so I have been leaving him alone today and he is fine (unless he has something that will pop up later).

We still have a rodent in the back and are trying to catch it. It is either the mother or father and “IF” it is the mother we need to reunite her with her family before she finds a replace male! Someone is definitely there because of the dog’s behavior. Also Max and Debby saw it run out of the tomato plants up and over the fence.

The birds are accustomed to the bird bath and are having parties on a daily basis. They are really fun to watch bathe the on sale $15 purchase was completely worth it).

Later . . .

Where does the time go?

Wow – where does the time go????? I don’t even think I have taken many pictures. I have continued to work on my sewing room and it is pretty well organized with things were “I think” they should be. Unfortunately no matter how well I organize the room does not get bigger. I am ready to put my Celtic circles together and proceed with making quilts (even though I don’t know what to do next).

Max is feeling much better these days, but not fully recovered (cramps). However, she is very excited about tying flies and getting ready for our Idaho trip. I am looking forward to the Idaho trip myself, but I don’t get THAT excited about fishing. Max and Paul are really looking forward to doing some river fishing – not my thing since I don’t fly fish and loose every lure I throw into a river.

A very disappointing thing happened with our order of Hatch chilies. They have been having unusually bad weather in New Mexico and have had a lot of hail. When our box arrived and Max got ready to roast, she found the MAJORITY were spoiled. The company said that with the hail they cannot see the bruises on the chilies when they pick, but they show up later. They were very nice and offered to refund our money, but we would rather have the chilies if they can get a good pick. According to the weather reports for that area it is not looking good.

Later . . .

Fly Tying

The fly tying turned into a “family” affair. Max and Paul spent several days tying flies while Max was recuperating. The whole procedure is actually quite fascinating, also very tedious in nature. Hopefully they will both be able to catch a fish on one of the flies they tied! Once again Max used Kodi hair for one of the tails on a fly. It will be interesting to see how it works and if it attracts a fish!

Later . . .

Sewing again

I have my sewing room pretty well arranged as far as placement of objects, but I still need to sort through all my drawers. I was able to do some embroidery today. I downloaded a free design from the new site I found to check out the quality of the designs. I must say I am impressed with the design (especially the price). I did download a couple of other designs that cost $2.99 each and will have to see how they turn out.

I am anxious to try some designs and to do some more things for the kids. I found an adorable design that has two unicorns and has printed over the unicorns “I am the big sister”. Then they have the same design that says “I am the little sister”. I thought they would be really cute for Desirae and Deanna. I found some really cool dragons for Devin. There is pretty much anything you want out there.

Later . . .

The "RAT" project

I guess I did not previously address the “Rat” issue in a blog. This adventure all began when we put up the bird feeders (they are messy little eaters). We first spotted a “creature” munching away on the bird food that was on the ground. We tired to get a close look and it did not appear to be a rat – perhaps a large mouse. Actually it did the cutest little hop when it ran away and we enjoyed watching it. Unfortunately when we spotted TWO little creatures munching away at the bird food we instantly went to BABIES! We did not want to kill them, so we purchased a small animal trap. Well much to our surprise the wire openings did not keep the critters in. The trap was snapped, the food was gone, but the cage was empty.

Max bought some smaller wire and wrapped the entire cage (which was not easy considering the spring mechanism had to be free to work). Needless to say I was completely surprised when I checked the cage last night and found a FAMILY of five! We took them out in the hills and let them go. They were very happy little rats considering this morning there was a very hungry looking large cat sitting on the fence staring at them thinking about the possibility of a gourmet breakfast.

We will put the cage out again and see if there are any more critters to be caught. The critters drive Kodi crazy. He can be dead asleep and either smell them or hear them, but he is up like a shot and going into a frenzy before anyone can get to the door to open it for him.

Later . . .