In the works!

 

This week I have been getting some pieces ready to finish for Christmas. I have a lot of unfinished projects, so for now, I am working on ones I really want to finish. Then I can decide what to do with other projects later. 

One project was a tree skirt. I made this years ago, all pieced by hand. I decided to sew it inside out with the batting and backing. My idea was to do ties in each hexagon, but not so sure now. I am wondering if it would look good if I quilted around the design elements from the outside in, then left the gold pieces, as is. Any suggestions are appreciated, but I am lazy, so simple is best, but I want it to look nice. I messed up the center, it's a bit wonky, but not noticeable when it is around the tree.

The second project is a large wall hanging. I have a rod hanger over our front entry, so this will be perfect to hang there, hopefully it will fit. I have the stockings and stars done, so next is sashing to piece those together. Next will be side pieces with trees and stars, then the top and bottom will have a saying. I realized I didn't have enough of the original black, so hoping to find the same type at the store this weekend.

I decided I wanted to have fun this halloween. We don't get kids anymore and live on a road, so no one stops by. So, we went to the kids and got to have fun with them. I changed my look a bit, went with an ugly witch look. The black spots on my face are spider stencils and I used the face paint to enhance my wrinkles. The kids live in a rural area, so the houses were more spaced in some areas. We took our truck and I got out with the kids and walked to houses when they were closer.

The funniest thing was, Alex would not go near me when I came, I guess I was a bit too creepy for him. Once he realized grandma hadn't turned into a real witch, he was fine.

Some of the neighbors had some cool displays and at one house, they had beer and pizza for the adults. It was fun to see the boys having fun and see the displays and other kids. This is one of the best displays we saw, they had a lot of other items in their yard and a fog machine.

I hope you all had a fun halloween and enjoy your weekend. 

Friday Finish!

 

This week I realized that my hoop idea wasn't going to work. The large hoop would go tight, so I had to come up with another idea. I looked online for ideas and found this one by The Old Tattered Flag. I have a larger frame, so I used the idea and on the part that I had punched, I laid a piece of batting on the frame, to keep the teeth from digging in. I was able to stretch the rest of the fabric on the teeth to hold it tight for punching. It will take me longer, but it works much better now and I will have more even loops.

Since I like to have something simple to work on at night, I made up a couple of stitcheries. These are from a larger design, by Kathy Schmitz,  that I have done and the smaller designs in it, work perfect for lavender sachets. The fabric is something I aged years ago.

This week has been hot and muggy, so not as much time outdoors. Last weekend we went for a ride around the beach areas and even though it was misting, went for a walk along the park path. The paths are dry and the views are always beautiful.

In the last photo you can see the marsh area. In the distance, an Osprey was eating his meal.  We like this area since we can go to several places along the route, to enjoy the views and the birds in the marsh. Lots of egrets this year and always fun to watch.

We tried a day at the beach on the island. The water is freezing, so I had no desire to go swimming. I walked up and down and enjoyed the cooler air. As you can see, we were the only ones left on the beach.

I hope you all had a good week and enjoy your weekend. We have rain tomorrow, so no outdoor fun till Sunday.

Friday Finish!

 

I was able to finish a piece this week. It seems I have so many plans for the week and it is gone before I get half of it done. I always love getting the new stitchery from Kathy Schmitz, something fun to look forward to each month.

This year she is doing a theme for the yearly contest, making sets of pillows or small quilts with the designs, so of course I am going with pillows. She offers wonderful prizes at the end of the year and this is the first time I can actually enter with what I make.

I added lavender to it, I think it makes nice gifts and I also plan on selling off a few things this year. I thought it looked off balance so I added the words, I do wish I had thought of it, before I put it together, then I could have done nicer lettering.

We had a nice day with the boys. I had gotten a raft for Alex, but hadn't found one for Nick. So we bought his over and they loved playing with them in the pool. Nick had to show me how well he is riding his new bike, he loves it and hopefully we can get to some bike paths and ride together.

We also got to spend some time at the beach, when Bill got home. The tide was coming in this week but I found some nice goodies for my collection. We also had some threatening storm clouds, roll in, but luckily they went in the other direction.

And glass is not the only thing you can find on the beach. This is a skate, some places use them in place of scallops by using a special cutter. Two had washed up with the waves, not sure why.

We also had a day with fog rolling in. I love how it looks as it moves across the bay.

At home I have been enjoying a few new young birds that are coming to visit the feeder. This is a young female Downy Woodpecker.

And a young female Cardinal. I also set up a jelly feeder and saw my first Oriole today's so hopefully I can get some photos of them, when more come.

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer weather and getting outside more. One more week and we take our Anniversary vacation. We are staying close to home since it is hard for Bill to drive long distances. I was lucky enough to find a cancellation for the state camp near the beach, so we will be spending the week there.

Anniversary Week!

This was not our best week to take off, it rained a lot of the time, so I was afraid to make any good plans, just to get washed out. If it was free, I might have, but for the cost of going to the island or Newport, I hated wasting money. Of course when we stay home, the sun comes out and when we go out, the rain comes, can't win.

We usually head north for the week, but with Moki on shots, I would have to pay more for our sitter or leave him with the vet, so for now, easier to stay close to home.

This year makes Forty Four years. It is funny to see how we looked then, Bill with his full head of hair, my dad told him he had to cut it, if he wanted to marry me, lol. That is short compared to the long mane, he had.

We spent most of our dry time, at the beach. The good thing was, we had the beach to ourselves, most of the time. Just being outside in the fresh air was a nice change.

Yesterday we got out late, after the rain stopped, but the fog was thick.

We did find some nice glass on Monday, we spent 5 hours that day, a bit of clouds and sun, so it was a nice day to hunt and enjoy the beach. We also walked the entire length of the beach, so I got some exercise too.

Yesterday we walked more, than hunted, but I did find some nice treasures. The blue piece is my favorite and Bill found a green heart shape. The oyster shell has two holes in it, not sure if it is natural or a piece of lost jewelry.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We finally have sun and heat coming in, but that also means, the crowds will be back.

Weekend wanderings!

We had another beautiful weekend, but Bill had to work on Saturday. Sunday was our day out and we made the most of being out, by going to Fort Getty where we just sat on the beach and enjoyed the views and Bean got to run and play, all he wanted.

I thought the bay would be rough, but the waters were pretty calm and lots of kayakers were out. I wish we had bought ours, someday I want to paddle over to Dutch Island, where you can see this lighthouse.

We had the beach to ourselves, but of course, people started coming in, so we went to the divers beach. Lots of people with dogs go there and I can usually let Bean play off leash, even with people. I was also getting hot, so I slipped my suit on in the car and was able to play in the water with Bean. The water was cool but full of chopped of seaweed and icky stuff, so I didn't go for a swim.

On the way back we saw a big ship, so I stopped to get a photo, this is the Regal Princess, I never realized how big the cruise ship was, till I saw it with all the other boats.

When we went to pull over, something big flew up past our car, so I had to go see what it was.

A turkey vulture, and while I was taking photos, I finally realized why there were there, when the smell hit me, a dead raccoon. 

Today Bill went to work and things were slow, so he decided to come home early so we could go to the beach and watch the sunset. Well, we left the house and headed for the bridge and a huge fog bank came rolling in and covering everything so that you couldn't even see the island. But, we just wanted to get out so we went to the lighthouse first and a good time to hide a few rocks. There were a few kids coming and going, so hopefully they found the fun rocks. As you can see, no sunset tonight, at least on the ocean.

Afterwards we went back to the beach at the forts and enjoyed a walk down the beach, and of course, adding a few more rocks to my collection. I hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Weekend Wierdness!

This weekend was another beautiful weekend, sunny skies, at least until we hit the ocean, and the views went as far as the shore, the ocean was blanketed in fog.

We decided to go to Fishermen's memorial and the lighthouse, since we enjoyed it so much when we were camping. The breakers were busy, everyone was out enjoying the waves and fishing, so we didn't stay long. We headed to the lighthouse beaches and enjoyed one beach by ourselves and collecting rocks. I wanted to take photos of the surfers, but I couldn't see them, lol.

Then we headed to the other side, it was even more fogged in, but still a beautiful place to sit and just enjoy the waves and fresh breezes. A few kayakers were going in and we did spy a group, further out when the fog lifted a bit.

What is this? Bill carrying a surfboard, maybe he is going to give it a try?

But no, I spied a board coming towards us and I said, where is the surfer, then his head popped up. The currents and waves were so strong, the board was flying by sideways and so was the surfer. Bill was trying to get the board, but the waves were crashing on the rocks and pulling the board down the shore and the surfer was trying to follow it, but he couldn't see it or where he was going. Bill finally got a chance to grab the board and yell to the surfer so he knew he had it and help him back to shore, just in time to avoid the rocky outcropping he was headed for.

Surfer and board, reunited. The bad thing was, it hit the shore a few times before Bill got it and it did get cracked, so he had to give up surfing for the day, I think that was a good idea. The next day we heard that five people got swept off the breakers at Fishermen's, and the storm isn't even close yet. It will be hitting us tomorrow, high winds and rain.

I was taking photos for fun and saw some ducks sitting on a bank, on the little pond. When I got home I noticed an object in the photo, so I blew it up and this is what I found. Real gun, toy gun, maybe a flare gun? I did send a photo to the local police, but no word, so maybe they don't care? Strange things wash up on the shores, especially during a storm surge, wonder what will be littering the beaches next weekend.

Sunday was another nice day and more fog, but it did lift on occasion. We went to Jamestown and had a nice spot at the divers beach. Most people were going out in boats and diving, so the end of the beach was the perfect place to relax and let Bean play.

A team from the Boston Museum was reeling in nets for the day, they were trying to catch fish to take back, but no luck. As you can see, the sun was out on the shore and the fog further out, in the next photo.

There was also a group of kids, who were on the cliff, with a Bungy cord and this is what they do for fun.

The kids wanted to get some pumpkins, so I told them to go to Holmsberg orchards. I guess they are glad they went, looks like they all had fun.

And Nick got to sit on a tractor, it may not move, but he sure had fun pretending he was driving.

I hope you all had a nice weekend. I am still working on a name for the Facebook group, I do like the idea of using a universal name, so anyone, anywhere can join in. I had SmileRI, but that is too local. I  Was also thinking of using the initials DS then mile after the end, in honor of my daughter and in her memory since she always hated seeing people sad and wanted everyone to be happy. So, if you can think of better names or ideas, I would love to hear them, so I can get that set and open up the group. I am going to keep it simple, rocks are one thing, but also small pillows and I have even found some simple ideas that anyone can do, so I will set up folders with ideas too.

Anniversary Camping!

Well, we made it back, the week seemed to go by too quickly, but it is nice being at home and having my modern conveniences again. I went tired, spent the week tiring myself out and been going non stop since we got home, so I am tired, lol.

Since we did a lot and I have lots of photos, I will be doing more blogs this week of our adventures. Today I will give you the low down on the camp. First we had a beautiful spot on the water with wonderful views. The bad thing was, it was so foggy the first few days that we couldn't enjoy the views and the fog was so thick, it was like rain and we were cold and everything was wet.

Of course Bean had no problem with that, the minute we got there and he saw the beach, he was ready to go, he loved playing and exploring. Another wonderful thing about Old Quarry is, he is a dog lover and Bean could go off leash anywhere he wanted, as long as he behaved. Of course Bean was thrilled to have the freedom and meet lots of new people and their dogs.

If you would like to see a video of our camp and the surrounding area, you can go to my YouTube Video. I have others, but need to put them up.

We had come here because it is a kayaking center, and there are islands all around to explore.  I was not sure I could handle a long paddle and the fog was not something I wanted to get lost in. But, lots of others were going out and enjoying the area, I do wish I had longer since I was feeling better by the end of the week.

The fog did lift and one morning we were up to see the lobster men, putting in their pots.

On our anniversary we had dinner on the dock and a wonderful view, as well as lobster fresh from the ocean.

And with the fog ending, we got to enjoy a beautiful sunset from the docks. Even with the fog, we were able to get out for walks and exploring, further inland. We also got to do a few things that we missed on previous trips, as well as find some fun new places, so I hope you will come back and follow along, as I post more this week.

I really enjoyed camping at Old Quarry, but it would be better in warmer weather, which is why they are always booked. The other down side was, the owner just had lung surgery and our camp fire goes straight to his bedroom, so no fires after 9pm. That is when we like to relax and just sit by the fire and with the cooler air, I really missed having one. It just wasn't worth having one while it was light out and then have to put it out. The other bad thing was, everything is far away, so we spent more time traveling than I would have liked. I hope everyone had a wonderful week!