Fun and not so fun!

 Our camping weekend was good and bad. With the summer crowds, it was hard to get to the dog beach but we were able to get there for a bit, before the crowds came in. In some ways it is better than the main beach, since the waters are higher and no seaweed. It was nice to go for a swim and let Bean have some fun too.

One day we got a walk at the point. It goes along the ocean with areas to walk along, a rocky shore.

It also has a variety of birds along the bush side and I was lucky enough to spot a pair of Cedar Waxwings.

I was finally able to get out in the kayak and paddle in the inner coves. It was a nice day and nice to get out for some time to unwind and enjoy the local shore birds.

  The bad thing was, when I got back, I found out that Bill had locked himself out of the trailer and the keys were in the trailer and the spares in my purse, in the trailer. It seems it has happened to others. We had to get a locksmith who destroyed the lock by drilling it, so that cost. The good thing is, I was able to find the same lock with spare keys for less than 40.00. 

Today we picked up the boys and took them to the island for a swim. The tide was up  and the main beach was crowded, so we swam in the cove. The boys loved it and we all swam across to the land on the other side. I will definitely go back when it is not crowded. I spotted a lot of birds hiding on the other side, so I will bring my little boat and camera, next time.

I hope everyone had a nice week and can enjoy some fun time this weekend. We still have high heat, so I can only stay outside so long. 

Week in part!

 

This has been another whirlwind week. We have been camping and came home today. We also had the boys yesterday and all day today, so I have been going since early this morning and this is the first time I have sat without having to do anything, at least for now. 

The camping was with the RV and we had to take one day to get the new one, but not in time to use it this time. Bill forget quite a few things I had on the list, so we had to buy coffee at the shop and the oven wouldn't work, so that killed some dinner plans. It was windy and cooler, so no swimming or paddling. But, we got lots of walking in, so that was good to build up my legs. We enjoyed the quiet during the week and the sounds of birds in the marsh.

This is the view of our section of the camp, seen from the hill. We are hiding behind the two trees to the right.

I was able to spend time at the end of the beach on our after dinner walks. I found a lot of birds like that area to rest at night.

A Common Eider, resting after a day of fishing.

A large group of Common Plovers taking in, the last of the light.

A first for me, a lone Ruddy Turnstone was hanging out with the Plovers.

On a walk to a local fishing area, I spotted a Cedar Waxwing.

One walk was a long the rocks to the lighthouse. 

Our after dinner walks ended with the sunset. 

And sitting quietly at the trailer to enjoy the last of the rays and the beautiful color changes.

I never got a change to do any drawing, but lots of inspiration for future ideas. Even when things go wrong, there is always good in the day. This is one of my favorite photos that I took on the weekend before. It was on our walk at the lighthouse and this day, a lot of bees were busy collecting pollen. Nature never ceases to amaze me. I have more photos and will share some of my favorites on Friday.

Weekend Wanderings!

 

This week we have been busy, getting out and trying a few new places and some old. On Sunday we went to the bike path so I could try a ride. The ride runs along some inlets and end at a beach. It was a nice ride, but I think I need more strength before I do any long rides.

We stopped at another inlet before heading home and I caught a Snowy Egret and a Great Egret, wading for fish.

Yesterday we went to Newport and hiked at the Norman Bird Sanctuary. They have several trails and one took us uphill, along a rocky cliff. Great views and a deer we spotted in the gardens.

Today we went back to the sanctuary and tried a new path. It paralleled the other, but much higher. It came to a high point with a narrow rock, that dropped on both sides. No way was I going across that, so we need the path there. There are a lot of birds there, but most take off, the minute I go to take a shot.

After that, we headed to the next sanctuary. Sachuest Refuge is on a point, surrounded by the ocean. It was a nice walk with cool breezes.

Also a great place for birding. Most are high up or further into the bush, but a few sat still long enough for a shot.

A few more birds and a deer that was hiding in the bush, when I came around a corner. On the way out, we saw a man stop and start feeding this little bird. The bird started following him as he walked away, I wish they would come up to me like that, lol.

And a nice surprise this week. I spotted 3 babies, the House Wren had a good year. My whole yard sounds like a bird nursery, the babies make quite a racket. I hope everyone is having a good week. We have one more good day and then possible storms coming in. I am hoping they hold off till the afternoon so we can get out more. Tomorrow will be a paddle day, so we shall see where the day takes us. 

Friday Finish!

 

I finally finished my sailor quilt. The original piece was appliquéd by my friend Karen, who gifted it to me. I hand quilted it with white pearl cotton, with nautical designs. I had to make a template for the outer edges and hand draw the inner lines, so nothing is perfect. I decided to add an extra touch with ties on two and nautical buttons on the other two. I really do enjoy hand quilting, but it does take longer and I have some larger quilts, that will need to be machine quilted. The original quilt design is larger, in the book, Collections One, by Red Wagon.

We got out for a walk last weekend and I caught a few birds, as we walked along. A Cedar Waxwing, an Eastern Towhee, a Catbird and a Great Egret.

At home, the Cedar Waxwings are back, enjoying the mulberry tree. 

We have gotten to enjoy a few days at the beach. Not as much glass since the tides were higher, but always a beautiful place to walk and enjoy the local birds.

I never got around to making reservations for our Anniversary week. It will be 48 years on Wednesday. We have beautiful weather at home this week, so I rather stay home, then take the chance of bad weather or heavy smoke areas. Today we got a kayak trailer, so now we can go to the launches and not have to lift the kayaks onto the truck. It is also nice since the big launches only allow trailers in the parking spaces. 

So, I have plans to visit a new bird sanctuary, paddling and at the end of the week when the boys get out and it gets hotter, beach time. I hope everyone had a good week and were safe from the storms that swept through.

Weekend Wanderings!

 

This week I think I did so much over the weekend, that my body had enough, so I did a lot of resting. I also worked on finishing the quilting on my runner, which I did, but not in time to do the edging. I am doing a blanket stitch around the edge, then I think I will be finished.

We did get out over the weekend. We tried some places we had been before, but I wanted to get out and get photos and do some walking.

We went back to Savin lake to see if we could find some birds. Lots of birds, but they don't stay still, but I was able to get a few shots. I was surprised to see that I had gotten a variety of birds, once I enlarged them on the computer. 

My big surprise was getting Eastern Bluebirds, the first time I have gotten photos of them. I also found a lot of nests hidden in the area, so a good place to come back to.

I also spotted a young Cedar Waxwing.

And there were Mockingbirds in the area. I saw several others and found a hidden place hidden between two small ponds, with lots of activity, so now I know where to go for bird photos.

We enjoyed the foliage in the area and made a stop at a local cemetery so I could get a photo of a church I had seen before and wanted a close up for a future design idea. Then we stopped at Machimoodus and got a good hike in, although we took the wrong trail and did a few steep uphills to get back to the main trail.

More of the views from our hike and a couple we met along the way.

On Sunday we stopped back at Salmon River and walked along the covered bridge trail. It takes you up a hill with views of the river and the surrounding hills. The colors were coming out nicely in this area.

We took a new trail down a hill and found a spot along the river, wonderful place to relax and Bean loved playing in the water.

Afterwards we stopped by Machimoodus to check out the area by the boat launch. It was a beautiful area along the river with trails and grassy spots to park the RV, so a great spot to spend the day and bring the kayaks.

I hope you enjoyed traveling along with me. We had a bit of snow today, so I am not sure what tomorrow will bring. I know it will be cold, so maybe just an easy day to enjoy the sights and hopefully some new foliage.

Friday Finishes!

This week I was lazy and I am also working on a larger project, so I made up some lavender pillows to work on, while I watched tv. The designs came from my booklets and I had fun doing some of my old ones.

This one is from the booklet, Spring Flock. I used art markers and colored pencil, to give it some color.

This design is from the booklet, For the Birds. I do miss designing and hopefully I can find more time to work on some new ideas, that I have been thinking about.

I also have been enjoying our little adventures and getting to use my new zoom. On Saturday I wanted to stay close to home and not worry about hunting for eagles, but on the way to the store, a hawk flew by, so we stopped and backed up to where he landed.

I hope this doesn't offend you, but to catch a shot of a hawk with prey, is not something I Have been able to do, so I was thrilled to catch him in action. Even with the zoom, I am still not sharp, it is hard to keep it still, but great quality for a hand held shot. This is a red tailed hawk.

On Sunday we headed into Connecticut. I always look for new places to visit and this time we stopped at a park along the river, and enjoyed a quick, brisk walk along the boardwalk. I can't wait to go back in the spring, when the shore birds come back to nest. There was.a flock of Cedar Waxwings in the parking lot area, but they wouldn't stay still for.a clear shot. We also visited a new cemetery, with stone designs that I have not seen before, so more design ideas.

And since I didn't expect to see any eagles, what did we find? Eagles! While at the cemetery I started scanning the far banks and spotted an eagle, and when we stopped at Eagle landing, I scanned again and at the far side, across the river, I spotted one in a nest. Too far for good shots, but it was still a thrill to see them.

And this week, it seems the hawks are hunting more in my yard. I keep spotting them, but they tend to take off when I spot them. This guy was being harassed by the crows, so he sat still long enough for a shot. He or she, is a red shouldered hawk.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Weekend Camping!

Well, it seems it is becoming a bad habit, I get sick or hurt on camping trips, lol. This time I was sick. I know Alex had a fever the day before we took them out, so I assume I got something from him, since my son told me they were all sick this weekend with the flu, too.

But I had my med and it kept me moving, even if I crashed more often, I was able to have some fun and enjoy some rest. I tend to go and then come home and crash, I feel like I got hit by a truck, but it was worth it.

Today I did one more paddle which was what did me in, it was a little calmer, so I was able to paddle into the cove with my good camera and lucked out by spotting a female Belted Kingfisher.

I had my little kayak, harder to paddle but fun to putt around, in the coves. Bill was taking photos of me, I was checking out the areas around our site for clean spots. It was a lot more murky this time, but still swimmable.

Of course Bean did what Bean loves. He would stay in the water all day if we let him. We went for lots of walks too, fun to check out the other campers and sites, in the surrounding sections.

And the weather was perfect, sunny most of the time, with a nice breeze. The sunsets were beautiful over the pond.

And after it set, it was still beautiful with the colors in the clouds.

We enjoyed our time and sad that we didn't get to bring the boys, but with them being sick and with my energy level, it would have been too much for all of us. When we got home, I was treated to the new Cedar Waxwings that are visiting. This is the type of bird that I had found on the ground, so maybe one is him, there were a lot more today, so I assume it was a new family in the area.

I hope you all had a nice weekend and enjoyed seeing some of the beauty at Burlingame camp. It is a nice camp to visit, lots of nature and close to the oceans, as well.

Friday working on!

This week was catch up with cleaning and repacking the trailer for the next trip. We have three days at the state park, right on the pond, so I plan on swimming and paddling, as well as some biking, if it is not too hot.

Or course I need a project to work on, since there are no hook ups, I wanted something I can do in lower lighting. Hand quilting is perfect and I need a runner for the fall, so I am working on putting one together, so I can sit and stitch during my rest time.

I used what I had, most is from my friend Kelley's stash, love the older fabrics and it has a prim, but fun print on most of them. I think two more blocks will be enough, and I will add a black sashing around the blocks, which should pull it together nicely. Then I will add the black as a border row. I think it might look more like halloween, than fall, though.

I used my phone, so not the best photo. I buy yardage of black linen, great for borders.
The blocks are 15" and I think 1" sashing should be enough. It won't be perfect or all matched, but I want to use what I have and it also serves as a sleeping spot for Moki, so for now, fancy applique is out. I will use black pearl cotton to stitch with.

Here is a close up of the main fabrics, they show the colors better.

I also have been keeping an eye on the Keets, for some reason the other Guinea Hen is picking on the mom. They chase her away and she runs off and leaves the babies, who get all upset and run around chirping. She does come back, but no idea whey they pick on her and today they even picked on the babies, so I have been chasing them off.

While I was putting out seed for them, I found this little guy on the ground. It is a baby Cedar Waxwing. I assume it fell out of one of the pine trees and was stunned, so I bought it on the porch for a few hours and it took a nap, then I placed it high in on of the crooks, of a pine. The mom will come back and help feed it,  until it is ready to fly on it's own.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and remember to check your lawns before mowing. A lot of babies are leaving their nests and baby bunnies, as well.