Friday working on!

 

This week I have been working on a Christmas quilt panel. I am hand quilting it, stitching around the black outlines. It also has some greenery and red that is not outlined, so I am using red and green single floss to stitch those areas. I have a few more small areas and then I can get to the outer border and add an edge, so not too much more.

Last week we took a ride and took a back road route. I wanted to see the old mill area, since they said it was being torn down and made into a park. Well, the building is still there and nothing has been done. I would love to explore it, but there is no way in, the area is too overgrown.

We headed to the beach areas to see if any birds were hanging out. There were a lot of egrets and herons clustered in the middle of the salt water pond, on their way south. On an inlet, I spotted this Great blue heron. He was just hanging out and then noticed the egrets and started puffing up and making funny gestures. 

Then he chased one away.

Then he went after the other and got a whack in the head, as it flew off. I think it was a young one who was being territorial, even though he was just passing through.

Another day we went for a ride into Connecticut. We drove down a road that passes through a reservoir. The colors were getting darker, but still pretty.

Then we stopped at a preserve in the area. It was a farm and they donated it with the stipulation that the farm and animals were kept private. We parked at the farm area to start the hike.

The path we took, went though wooded areas to an overlook.

And this was the view.

Back into the woods we found an old cellar.

We tried the trail on the opposite side and passed old farm equipment, a river and it ended up at a pond. With the droughts, it was more of a marsh. It was a nice walk and another place to revisit in the spring, when the birds come back.

We have rain coming in, so we will try and get out during the clearings. I got a new bike coming in, something better for trails, so I am giving Nick my mountain bike, and today we picked up a new one for Alex. He had his stolen, so now they will both have good bikes that fit their size. Tomorrow we will take them riding after the rain stops, so can't wait to surprise them.

I hope you all had a good week and can get out and enjoy the good days, before winter sets in.

Friday Finish!

 This week I am still working on my quilt, and of course I know wish, I had machine quilted it. I have most of the main design done, but the smaller areas have no black outline, so I will have to do those in thinner, matching threads.

I grabbed another item out of my to do pile. This was a design by Lynette Anderson. I used to work punch needle pieces for her, for her booklets. This was one I never got around to and decided it was too much to do more.

Not the best job, rushed it and I did some with smaller needle and others with large, so didn't come out like I wanted. It was a circle, so I wanted to add a base to make it look like a snow globe, didn't quite work out, but it will have to do.

Last week we went to Connecticut. I enjoyed the ride and we were able to stop at the quilt store. I got some nice christmas print to use as a border on some of the quilts I am doing. Then we stopped at a pond to see the colors. They were nice, but not as bright as the previous week.

After we went to Comstock bridge and hiked up the hill. It has a beautiful view of the surrounding hills and river. But, not this year. The trees have taken over, so we could enjoy the views, but not get a clear view with the camera.

The next day we went to the kids to drop off a few things. The boys didn't want to go out, so we decided to head to the pond down the road. We go all the time, but have never walked around the pond. I was surprised at how nice the walk was and it was nice to be out without driving for hours.

The first thing we passed was the troll.

And came out to beautiful views of the pond.

On the opposite side is a waterfall.

And a side view of the area, in better light.

Coming around to the other side is a point with tall pines.

When we got back around, we went across the street and walked down the boardwalk to another pond. 

Today it was too windy to be at the beach or the woods. We went for a drive and ended up at the ocean. The tide was coming in and the waves were coming up. I hope everyone had a nice week and not hit with the flooding that some areas got.

Fall adventures!

 

( A day late, since Blogger decided to act up last night and not let me post photos. )

This week I have been working on a quilt and another project that will be done by next week. Our church is having a yard sale, so I spent a lot of time, gathering up items. 

With the nice weather and fall foliage, I am enjoying getting out, to get some exercise and enjoy the beautiful colors. Last Friday we went to a pond that has a nice trail around it. 

The colors were popping all over.

After we finished the hike, we drove up to another area that has a trail to a rocky cliff. We ended up taking longer since I took the wrong trail, then got to the right one and took the wrong path, but we finally got to the right path and enjoyed the short hike up. 

The next day we went to pick up the boys but got our signals crossed and they weren't home. So, we went to a nearby area, the boyscout camp, to do a short hike. We ended up going around the whole pond, which can be quite the hike in some areas. Lots of old log bridges, planks and rocks.

lt was Quite the hike, but beautiful views and a nice stop at the rocks for a snack break. When we came off the path, we walked to the smaller pond.

Yesterday we went for a ride to a local pond and enjoyed the views. It was a cloudy day with some sun, so a lot of the photos went dark and it is hard to get the full effect of the beauty, of the fall leaves.

We walked along part of the bike path. They still have not leveled it out and there are a lot of areas that have caved in, but still nice to walk on.

Then we rode into Connecticut to check out the farms in the area. I thought this barn was a nice scene with a bit of fall to the side.

Then we headed to Mt. Misery. In this area, farmers were giving land and nothing would grow and with all the bad luck, they blamed the devil and moved away. We hiked up the steep side, which I forgot was steep and rough.

But, we made it to the top.

Beautiful views for miles, but hard to capture all the colors.

I decided my knees couldn't take going back down the steep side, so we took the easy way back, an old fire road. It was nice getting out and the air is fresh and cool now. I hope you all enjoyed your week and following along with me, on my adventures.

Friday Finish!

 

This week I have been working on hand quilting, so that will take awhile. I have a box of projects that I made, but never finished, so I took two out and finished them. I made them into little pillows and added a yarn edge. The fox will be a Christmas present to a friend. I have a lot of finished pieces, so I may need to do a craft sale someday.

Last weekend I was still recovering, so we did a few rides to get out, and then rain. Today I was ready to get out for a bit and wanted to get some apples before they ran out. It was not too crowded, so a good day to go. I got a large bag and a smaller one for the kids.

We took the scenic back roads home and made a few stops. One is a pond with an old sawmill. With the drought, they have not been able to open for visits, since the falls are not flowing. It is a nice spot to stop and walk around the pond.

There were a few Mallards enjoying the pond and this couple had a friend, sharing their log.

We drove by the farms.

And a stop at another pond. Lots of colors popping in Connecticut, but a lot of areas have narrow roads and no place to pull over, so I couldn't get shots in a lot of areas. Hopefully tomorrow I will be up to a bike ride or a walk, to catch more foliage.

I hope everyone had a good week and can enjoy the fall weather in your area.

Friday Finish!

 

This week I finished a Thanksgiving piece. I needed something for the holiday, for the front entry area and this was perfect. The design is by Cheri Payne and a fun one to do. 

Last week We went for a drive to see if we could find some fall foliage. Not as much yet, but we did find a few spots with splashes of color. The first stop was a reservoir with a dam, but with less rain, less water coming down. It was still beautiful though.

We took a walk along the path to the old bridge. 

Our next stop was Old furnace park, across the border in Connecticut. It is a bit of a climb up to the cliffs, but worth it for the view.

There are more trails that run along the side of the pond, so we took a walk part way to enjoy the views.

The next day we took the boys out. We took them to the bird sanctuary for a shorter walk on the pond side. They enjoyed walking along the paths.

And seeing all the critters along the way.

And we spotted two Praying Mantis along the paths. Love the look this one was giving me. It is always fun to explore with the boys and good to get them away from their electronics. 

This weekend we have a storm coming in and of course I seem to have gotten a flu from them, so taking it easy for a few days. I hope this finds everyone well and enjoying the cooler fall weather.

Working on!

 

This week I have been working on a Thanksgiving piece at night and I was able to finish the mittens and cut out the extra blocks. I almost had enough to finish, but was one short. I stuck another block in the center and then I can add a border with the same print, to blend them a bit. Not perfect, but I want to use what I have, so it will do.

Last week we took our walk around the lighthouse. We can get in 3 miles around the road and back path and lots of beautiful views and wildlife.

We are seeing more butterflies coming through.

Lots of Mockingbirds are coming back.

We also took a walk at the bird sanctuary. With the warm weather, the turtles are still out, sunning.

I also was able to spot a Flycatcher at the pond.

When we got to the point, I looked up and was lucky enough to spot a Gray Frog.

A Buckeye Butterfly along the path.

As we were leaving, a Merlin flew overhead, and landed in a tree. I was able to walk back to the spot and catch a photo of him.

As we headed home, we stopped at the marsh. Lots of Egrets and Blue Herons, are still coming through and taking a rest in the marsh.

Today we were heading to the island and noticed the traffic was backed up on the bridge, so we turned around and headed back to walk to the point. I was hoping to spot some seals, but they haven't  come back yet. The walk is nice, through woods and out to a point, with views of the bay.

And I spotted this guy, enjoying a very large fish. Very ugly Vulture that looks comical in the photo. I hope you all enjoyed your week and in areas with nice fall weather. We actually have warm weather coming in again, so we may do some paddling.