Weekend Wanderings and Winner!

First I will announce the winner of the giveaway. The winner is Sunny! Sunny please pick a pattern from my ecrater site and email me with your choice, congratulations! And thanks to everyone for playing along with me this week. I had some fun and I wore myself out, lol.

The last paddle was Sunday and we stayed close to home since the traffic get to be too much on the weekends, at our favorite spots.

We went out of the harbor and planned on paddling down the bay. As we were getting ready to take off, Bill started talking to another paddler and he ended up paddling with us for a bit, so we had to take it slower and didn't go as far, as I planned.

Here are the guys chatting away, nice for me since I could relax and enjoy the views and take photos;)

The wind was blowing and of course against us, so that made paddling slower too. The fun thing is the waves were larger and I love rolling on the ocean. We decided to paddle to the point and stop there since the cove side is calmer and there is a nice spot for swimming.

And the point is narrow at this end, so I could walk across to the bay side and enjoy the views and the breezes.

On the way back we spotted a trawler coming in, the seagulls were flocking all around it.

Once the trawler came though the breakers, the seagulls all congregated on the rocks. I guess all that tailgating tired them out. Of course the week is over and I am finally relaxing and wanting to go out again, lol. I hope everyone had a fun weekend and now it is time to get back to creating, I have a lot of projects, waiting to be finished.

Anniversary Fun or Exhaustion Giveaway!

Yesterday we took a day off since it was raining on and off and we needed to get things done and get some rest. Well, rest didn't happen, but we did a lot of shopping and running around and cleaning house and catching up on laundry.

I will start with the winner of the giveaway and the question for the next:
And the winner of the Giveaway is Saundra! Please email me with your choice of epattern from my ecrater site. And for the newest contest, I will make this easy. What year was Bill and I married? I will giveaway another epattern of the winner's choice. I will announce a winner on monday night.

Wednesday we paddled at a place called Bluff Point in Connecticut. The paddle took us up a river and up to a long sandy beach with access to the ocean.

We landed near the end of the beach so we could take a look at the ocean, to see what the conditions were. It was a cloudy day and the water was calm and glassy. The little island is actually a chain of islands that are hidden behind this one.

Paddling out of the channel we had views of Avery Point Light and A division of The University of Connecticut. I had to use my little camera, so everything seems further away.

Paddling around the islands, we can to the point of the last island, no place to land.

Coming around the island, you can see the Long Island sound. This was a beautiful place to paddle with amazing views and a place I will definitely come back to.

Today I was tired to start with, but I wanted to get out, so we ended up at Ninigret Park, which is a saltwater pond that goes out to the ocean. The paddle was only 3 miles, but most of it was against the wind and at the beach, I walked around most of the time, so not much rest;) 

A quiet stretch of beach, all to ourselves.

Where we parked our kayaks was along a stretch of the breach way. We we entertained by all of the birds that were feeding in the tidal pools.

This guy was comical and all over the place.

This bird was definitely unique, and I am not sure what it was. When I first saw it, it was small and squat, then it got up and stretched it's neck and body and looked more like an egret. This was it's in between size, truly interesting.

And of course, what would the beach be without a seagull. This is a young one, you can tell because of the mottled colors. He was happy, sitting on his rock and enjoying the cool breezes.

And to end a wonderful week, though we still have the weekend, Bill and I were being silly. He drew the heart and I did the writing, I think we had too much sun;)

Anniversary Week Continues and Another Giveaway!

I hope you are all enjoying my photos of my vacation week. After a long winter it is so nice to be outside every day and enjoy the beautiful weather we are having.

First I will announce the winner of the last giveaway. What is Bill looking at? If you looked in the right hand corner, you would have seen sky writing, lol. While we were out, a plane was writing an advertising and the wind was blowing it away as soon as he was forming the letters, not sure how effective that was.

The winner of my newest pattern is Gayle! If you could please email me so I can reply to your email, I will get your pattern out to you.

Yesterday we went for a paddle from the Barn Island launch in Connecticut. I love this area since it has a nice launch and you can paddle out into the sound where you are surrounded by RI, Connecticut and looking out you will see Fishers Island, which belongs to NY, so we are surrounded by 3 states. We paddled down the cove for a bit and cut across to a sandy island sitting between the states.

This is the area that we launch from, our destination is out to the right.

This is looking down the beach towards Napatree point in RI. As you can see, we had the beach to ourselves, most of the people go to the further end, we stay in the middle. We have the inlet on one side and the ocean, on the other. I actually swam in the ocean, even if it was a bit cold.

At the ocean, the seagulls were flying around me.

And seagulls squawking at me.

These two were doing a happy dance for me.

When I got back to our tent area, I heard a chirping and looked down. I thought this poor sand piper was hurt, it was dragging it's wings through the sand in front of me. Then she stood  up and flapped her wings and walked away, lol. I realized she was playing hurt to steer me away from her nest.

And on the inner beach, I found two of these cute babies walking around. I have never seen a baby seagull, they are too cute.

I also spotted a couple of these guys, I have no idea what they are, but they sure are funny looking and they do not sit still for photos.

And for the final photo and the giveaway photo! I thought this seagull sitting on the crates, would make a nice photo, so I took a shot of her. Then she took off and started dive bombing me, lol. I didn't realize I was disturbing a nesting area. Can you see what she is hiding, in this photo? I didn't notice until I saw the photo, when I got home. I will pick a name from all of the comments and the winner will win their choice of any of my epatterns. I will draw a name on friday night and show you more photos from today's trip and anything we do on friday.

Anniversary Fun and Giveaway!

This weekend was the start of our Anniversary vacation, and we are staying home again. Luckily we have lots of fun things to do in our area without the cost of a hotel;)

Saturday, Bill had to work so we went for a few hours, out on the bay, to the town beach and around the outer cove. Just enough to get out and have a little fun and enough to stiffen my muscles up, lol.

I bought my small waterproof camera, it is nice for landscape shots, but not good for closeups. I tried to get up close for a shot but it made it look even further away. I noticed Bill was watching them and they were watching Bill.

We paddled out on the bay since it was low tide. This next photo is the giveaway photo! What do you think Bill is looking at, there is a clue in the photo;) All answers will be counted in the contest, right or wrong. The winner will receive a copy of my newest pattern, Antique Sand Pail. I will pick a winner on wednesday night.

Today we went down the river to the ocean. I wanted to do an easy paddle with a fun day at the beach.
We always pass this little island and old shack, just love it.

We found the perfect place to set up our umbrella and enjoy the views. We came in at low tide, so it was nice and calm at the mouth to the bay. We set up, on the right, on higher ground.

Lots of people set up in the back where the river comes out, great place for swimming.

And no one to our right, the beach keeps going to the main beach which was wall to wall people. I liked our spot, much better.

On the way back we stopped to enjoy the birds in the flatlands and this guy stood still long enough for a photo. I hope you enjoyed my fun at the beach and we shall see where I end up tomorrow;)

New Punch Needle Pattern!

This week I was being lazy and then I got an idea, which led to another idea and a new punch needle design. I was browsing and looking at antique pails and got the idea, why not make a punch needle that looks like an antique pail.

The design was done with dmc floss, with a mix of 3 and 6 strands. One problem is the needles are not the same size in heights, so I had to fix a few things after I finished and it still is a bit messy. I wanted to work it in a #1 height and now I know, stay with the #2 height, I do better with that.

I finished it off by using a rusty wire for the handle and then aged it with walnut ink. I tried taking photos in different areas, but nothing worked to show off how it really looks. I was going for an old rusty pail.

If you would like to make your own, I have a link to the pattern and it is also on my ecrater site. For my epatterns, I give a color photo, a black and white drawing and basic colors, that I used. I think my hand needs a break, way too much punching so time for a break.

And this is my week for a break. It is our anniversary tomorrow and Bill took the week off, so you know where I will be. I want to go to Connecticut and paddle in some of the places we went to. I love paddling during the weekdays, no crowds. Unfortunately they need Bill tomorrow night for a 12 hour test session, so we will go for a local paddle tomorrow so he can get some rest before he goes in. The weather will be sunny and hot, so hopefully nothing goes wrong and we can enjoy a beautiful week on the water.

Americana Punch Needle!

No outdoor activity this weekend. I am still recovering from my last two hikes and Bill was on a trip, so perfect time for me to relax and make something new for the house.

The design is by Robin of Bird In The Hand Primitives. Her designs are fun to do and it really worked up quickly.

I used dmc floss, 6 strands, some as is, some of my hand dyes and a bit of scraps from my scrap box. The edging is done with red, white and blue yard of Twisted Cording. I tie my yarns onto a handle and twist by hand. I gave it a bit of walnut stain to antique it and put it with a few of my americana items.

The balls in the basket change color with the seasons. They were still red and green from Christmas so I changed the green ones to blue fabrics, by adding enough blues to cover the green. It is an easy way to change out your rag ball colors without redoing the whole ball.

The cute little mouse is a wonderful creation by Ragpatch Primitives, that I won, years ago. I guess I need to make a cupboard mat next and repaint that cupboard, while I am at it;) The wall is the one we just painted, so still trying to decide what to put on that area.

Friday Finishes ….. Almost

It as a slow week this week, but I did finish a new punch needle piece. My friend Kelley sent me a pattern, a few years ago and I decided it was time to finally do it. The design is by Brenda Gervais and she put hers on a hornbook. I am still deciding on how I want to finish mine, I need to go down to my supplies and see what fun things I have to mount it on or maybe make my own.

I still need to age it a bit, I don't want to darken it too much but I want it to look old. I used different heights on this one, so the letters stick out a little more and the light background is at the shortest height.

Today I sat around waiting to feel better so I could clean the house, that never  happened. I gave up and started a new punch needle. This is a freebie from Robin of Bird In The Hand Primitives. She has put up two freebies, so check them out, both are fun to do in any medium.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Weekend Wanderings!

I hope everyone got to enjoy the weekend. We had beautiful weather but hotter than I would have liked. On saturday I wanted to go for a shorter walk to a new area. It said 3 miles, but I wasn't thinking, that was for one side of the park, in one town, once you cross the bridge, you are on the other side which added another 3 miles. So, we walked over 6 miles and it was hot and the mosquitos were out in full force.

I had a map, so we headed to the bridge. What I didn't know was, we went on a different trail so we actually went in a different area and found a different bridge.

As you can see, the bridge had a long wooden walkway. That is because the area is swampy and swampy means mosquitos. I am glad I had bug spray with me.

After we walked up and down granite hills, we came out to the back side of the bridge we were looking for. The original bridge was used as a crossing to move granite to the next town. Then another was built and the floods carried it away. Hopefully the new metal bridge will last longer.

The views from the bridge were worth a rest stop. Rushing waters on one side, calm on the other. This is the river we paddle on, but a section we haven't been on, something for a future paddle.

I finally had my bearings for where we were on the map, so the next stop was a historic grave. The grave sits near the river and I found this grave from a revolutionary war veteran.

Our final destination was the overlook. A beautiful place for a lunch break. A place I will definitely go back to and hike on the other side of the trails which criss cross the river.

Sunday was another hot day but we had to finish the new door frame and walls, so we did some shopping for supplies and Bill got that started. While we waited for the dust to settle, I decided it was the perfect time to go for a paddle at our town harbor. The tide was high in the afternoon, so the best time to enjoy the coves.

We paddled up to the breakers and enjoyed the cool breezes and the water was warm enough to sit in and cool down.

We went into town and enjoyed people watching, or maybe they were watching us;) A perfect way to end the weekend.

Friday Finishes and Winners!

This week I actually finished two pieces. The first is a stitchery by Woodberry Designs. You can still visit her page and download the stitchery if you would like one.

My sister redid a room in her apartment with a garden theme, so I thought this would be a nice piece for her new room. I like the saying and it is garden and sewing, so something from me to her since she lives far away.

The original is done in red work, but I liked the idea of using some basic colors on my piece.

The second piece was something quick and easy. I wanted to make a mini americana quilt for my bunny, just for fun. I used up scraps in this piece and hand stitched it with black pearl cotton. I sprayed watered down walnut stain on it, when it was done.

And now for the giveaway winners! The correct answer was B, the story goes that the couple were not allowed to get married so they eloped and paddled away in a canoe. They paddled into the ocean, and when they saw the river, they paddled up and landed at the fresh water brook. The local indians befriended them and eventually they built a home and farm in the same area.

Donna G. gave the correct answer so she is the winner of one epattern and the random number generator picked #11, which is Julie Fukuda. Ladies please email me with the pattern of your choice from my ecrater site.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Weekend Wanderings Giveaway!

Saturday we stayed home, we had a new slider going in to replace the french doors. They finished putting the door in and Bill is doing the framing. Today he put the spray foam in the frame area and as usual got foam on more than the door and one thing was, my long ark quilt that I had hanging over the doors. I think I can just take out the stitches on the border and then cut that off and rebind it, I hope;)

Sunday was a beautiful day and too hot for one thing and too cold for another. I decided to just get out for a ride and a few walks in areas near the ocean for the breezes but away from the crowds.

The first place we visited was a short walk next to a park. I had read a story online about an event that happened here, so I thought it would be fun to check it out, since it was a short walk. So, for this contest, tell me what story you think is the real story about this place. I will draw a name from the winning answers and one from all the comments. The winners will have their choice of any one of my epatterns. The contest will end on Friday and I will announce the winner, Friday night.

A. A peace treaty was signed with the local indian tribe.
B. A couple eloped and landed their canoe here.
C. The Mayflower landed here.
D. Roger Williams started the first baptist church with an outdoor sermon, here.

Then onto the real hike. We went back to the glacial park, it has great trails and if you hike on the upper trails, great ocean breezes.

My daughter loved the views from the rest area. Great place to just sit and enjoy a cool breeze without fighting the traffic.

On the way back I spied a Lady Slipper, a nice way to end a beautiful day.