Friday finish!

  

This week I tried a new stuffed owl. It is a fun pattern and easy to do. I didn't like how the ears came out with the inset and the bottom piece, kept me from being able to keep the opening on the bottom. So, I redrew it a bit larger for a pillow size and changed it up a bit. Hopefully I can get another done next week.

Last week we took a drive around the ocean road and made a few stops, but it was too cold to be outside, too long. We stopped at the docks and watch the boats and birds in the channel.

The next day was slightly warmer, so we went to the island so Bean could enjoy some time out. It was foggy most of the time. Looking across to Newport.

Not too many birds lately, but I have seen a lot of Mallards. 

And of course, I couldn't resist picking up treasures on the beach. The large dark piece is green and I found a few glass hearts.

And at home, I have been seeing the Red-shouldered Hawk. This one was jumping down to the ground, trying to catch something. Not sure if he ever got anything.

I hope everyone had a good week and it seems like another week of cold weather. Hopefully spring will be here soon.

Friday Finish!

 

I finally finished a piece I started, made with one of my patterns, Catch of the Day. I made them for punch needle or rug hooking, but most work with stitchery too. I like to have simple things to do at night, while I watch tv and during the day I try to work in my room with the machines and prepping pieces. I really need to start pulling out all the old and unfinished projects, a few that I really want to finish for summer.

We are finally getting some nicer days. Bill had an early appointment this week, so he took the day off and we headed to the beach. The tide was lower, than usual and it was good for Bean to get out again.

At another beach, I walked along the length to the rocks. When the tide is super low, I can walk over the cliff area to another area, on the other side. Lots of rocks in this area, looking down to town. I wear heavy winter hiking boots, so it makes it easier to walk on the rocks.

I have been looking for glass and beach treasures, when we go out. Not as much with the strong tides, but here are a few things I have found, from a couple of trips. 

I hope everyone had a nice week and can enjoy some nicer weather. I do see that some of you are in the storm's paths for tornadoes, so my prayers are with you all.

Friday; Will be working on!

 I am still working on my hand quilting, but finally at the top design. Once that is done, then the border and putting it all together. The next quilt I want to do is one I made years ago and planned on doing fancy free motion on. 

The fabrics in this quilt were gifted to me by Barbara Brackman. I made it with a center design, thinking it would go on our bed, but it would need more edge, to do that. I will finish as is and it will be a summer, Americana quilt. I am going to have to decide on the quilting, maybe not too fancy, but it will be machine quilted. There is a darker red, solid border on it.

This weekend, we enjoyed time with the kids. We had a fun Easter egg hunt. 

I also got a croquet set and the boys enjoyed playing a few rounds with me. 

Over the weekend we were able to get out for a bit and enjoyed a ride around the beach areas. I got a surprise when I saw two birds, fighting in the sky. I was able to get a quick shot before they flew off. A juvenile Eagle was trying to get a fish from an Osprey.

We also found another Osprey couple, who made a home near the ocean road. The male had a nice catch and the female was upset that he was eating without her.

He finally flew up and gave her the rest.

Today we spent the afternoon on the island. I never get sick of the view from the cliffs.

And we found a bit of beach treasures today. I really need to start making things with all the treasures. I hope you all had a good week and get to enjoy the solar eclipse. I got some glasses so I can watch it this time. 

Friday Finish!

 

This week I wanted to make something new for Valentines. I had seen some ideas on Pinterest and I had wood pieces I could use, so I made a few hanging pieces. I just drew up some hearts and did more of a hit or miss with my scrap floss. 

These two are more my style with a prim look. 

These two are brighter. I messed up with the lettering. The first time I hand drew on the letters, from the back and punched them, then realized they were backwards, lol. So I had to redo them and forgot that the position would change too, so they are a bit wonky. This is a great way to use up excess floss and they work up quickly. You can get the wood pieces from the craft store, or use reclaimed wood pieces.

Last week we did our usual drive around the ocean areas. The bays were frozen and the beaches are still a mess. With each storm, they get more washed out and cluttered, so lots of cleaning, still going on.

This week all the ice has melted, the snow is gone and it has been raining again. We were able to get out this afternoon and found that the cove beach was littered with glass and pottery. It was freezing so I got as much as I could find. Lots of large pieces this time and a few nice colors. 

Tomorrow is the one day with no rain and Sunday is rain and snow, so hopefully we can enjoy more time out before it comes. I hope you all have a nice weekend and can get out to enjoy some time outside.

Friday working on!

 It seems I haven't had as much time to work on projects lately. I spend more time cleaning and reorganizing and figuring out what to get rid of, I have too much stuff. I work on hand quilting at night. This is an old quilt, I had sitting on the shelf. Now I wish I had used the machine, the quilt was made on an old machine and not the best quality, but I find hand quilting relaxing, so I do that for my more primitive quilts. I am just doing an outline stitch, and working a row at a time, so slow going.

We get out when we can, but with so many storms, the ocean areas are getting slammed with damage. A lot of the beach parking is closed as they clean them up and tonight we have another storm coming. Some areas are still under water and the river areas are just as bad. 

We are able to enjoy some birding in the pond areas, they move further in, in the winter. I was thrilled to spot a Merlin at the cove.

And a few of the birds, we say along the way. I even spotted a seal, but he went under before I could get a shot.

Today we had a nicer day and went to the island. One area was still undergoing clean up, but our favorite beach was a protected area, so we got to enjoy time on the beach without any people.

And I found a few treasures. The dark heart is green glass, I found a few pieces of dark green today. Even a dog tag, which I have an idea for. Hopefully I can get organized and start making some art pieces with my finds.

I hope you all have a nice weekend and the weather calms down, so much destruction in so many areas.

Working on Friday!

 

I am still working on my Christmas quilt. I am quilting it now and almost done, so I will definitely be finished by next week. I think for next year, I need to work all year to get all the other projects done. The colors are a bit off in this photo, so hopefully I can get a better one, when finished. I had to hand write the saying, and I think I made mine a bit larger than the original, but I like how well it stands out. 

We got out last weekend and spent some time at the ocean. It was warm enough to walk along the beach and enjoy watching the Sanderlings, running along the beach.

Today it warmed up a bit, so we got to spend some time at the beach. The marina has their own Christmas decoration. I bet it looks beautiful when lit up at night, the lights run down, along the crane.

And I found another odd object that got washed up with the tide.

And I found a bit of glass and some pottery. It was nice to be out again and tomorrow will be nice, as well, so some time at the seaport for some Christmas activity and maybe a hike on Sunday. I hope. you all have a nice weekend and able to get out and enjoy some of the holiday festivities.

Cooking and crafting

 

This week I have been working on my new project, but I still have a bit of stitching to do. I also had a few  birds hit my sliding glass doors, so I need something to put on the upper half. I found a fun site that has Halloween cut outs, so I made a few and taped them to the window. So far, no bird strikes, so hopefully that did the trick. 

The ghosts are really simple to do and would be great for kids too. For the witch, I cut out the design from the print out, since it was black ink. You can find the pattern and others here at Love Paper.

I also made some Chalupa. I still have some tweaking to do, to get mine right, but it is not hard to make and it tastes delicious. I use mine as a snack and add homemade blueberry or apple jelly in mine. I also used it to make an egg sandwich, so a great bread to make as a treat. You can find the recipe at Cooking Carnival.

I had a new visitor to my yard this week, an Eastern Phoebe, a first for me.

We were able to spend an afternoon at our favorite beach. Now that summer is over, we can park in the private area and we have the beach to ourselves. Bean was loving being off leash and playing in the water.

It is also nice for birding, I actually had a Belted Kingfisher, stop long enough to snap a shot. 

And a pair of Laughing Gulls. 

We also stopped at the park, and I spotted a group of Great Egrets, of course they flew off, the minute I pulled out the camera.

We found more glass at the private beach but Bill found a large piece of blue glass at the park, so that was a fun find. More colors this time, off season is always better for hunting. 

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. We have more rain tomorrow, so hopefully we can get out on Sunday and find some early foliage. 

Friday Finish!

 

This week I worked on finishing my wall hanging, so now it is ready for quilting and binding, so almost done. I received the new and last design from Kathy's stitch club, so I decided to make that for fun. She has shut down the club, so now I am thinking, maybe it is time for me to try my hand at making my own stitch designs, so we shall see what I can come up with. This one was fun and easy to do, I love using fun colors in these.

Last weekend we took a ride to pick up some fabric and stopped at one of the beaches. It was a bit too crowded for me, and the water is a bit rough.

We decided to head over to the pond for a swim at the launch area. The water was a bit too warm, but still nice to get a swim in and I tried out the new paddle board. This one blows up, so we can keep it in the truck, so convenient if we stop at a beach when we go out for drives. I was able to paddle a bit, standing up, but much easier, sitting down.

We have been getting to the beach on the island this week, always nice to walk and enjoy the views. The water is a bit cooler than the ponds, so it is refreshing, as well. One day we rode around and caught this sailboat, taking visitors on a tour.

Another day the waves were too rough and the air a bit cooler, so I just enjoyed walking along the beach and collecting glass.

On the way home, we stopped at the local pond to see the Lotus, in boom. 

And the pieces I found during our visits. I am getting more picky with what I take, I like the old pieces and colored pieces, but some I take for art projects.

I hope everyone had a good week and enjoy their weekend. Our weather is getting nicer, less rain and not too hot, so hopefully it stays that way, the rest of the summer.

Weekly Wanderings!

 

This week went by fast and we got out to enjoy some nice weather and a few rainy days. I have been working on my quilt and hopefully, it will be finished next week.

We got out to the island for a walk around the lighthouse after the rain stopped, so it was a nice way to get out and walk on the road and stay out of the wet grass. Always beautiful views and lots of birds.

We also went to the beach a few times, but the tide was always high, so not as much to find, just cool walks on the beach.

Even with high tide, walking along the edge, I find a few things that get thrown up. A large piece of pottery was a big find, it even has the rounded handle on it. I am thinking it was a bean pot.

At home, my feathered friends are alway a delight to see and the bunnies are out more this season.

And the local turkeys showed up and showing off their brood, quite a few this year.

And today we had the boys for the afternoon. We took them on our boats to a little island in the local cove. They loved being able to swim and a picnic on the beach. It was too windy to go to the point, but we were able to paddle a bit in the inner coves to show them the wildlife. Alex found out why you don't lean over in a boat, he and Bill went over, sure wish I had a photo of that, lol.

The kids came over for dinner and finished staining our porch, so now I can do the finish work and put it all back together. I hope you all had a nice week and enjoy the holiday weekend.