Weekend Wanderings and new Stitchery Club!

I wanted to share a new stitchery club being offered by Kathy Schmitz, called One Stitch at a Time. I received her email and you can read about it on her blog. For only 2.00 a month, you will receive a new monthly stitchery, in epattern form. They are smaller ones,  which makes them quick and fun and a great way to get started on your gift box. I think this is well worth the money and something fun to look forward to every month.

Here is the first one she is offering, starting in June. I can't wait to get mine, it will be the perfect project to make a few of, for gifts, when we go camping.

Saturday we were lucky enough to have perfect weather for hiking. Warm sun with a light breeze, so we headed to Stepping Stone Falls. This was a place that I went when I was young and we had picnics in the spring and fall, so it is one of those places that just lifts my spirit when we go there.

How can you not relax and just enjoy the moment, with a front row seat to the falls. Of course Bean was more interested in the people walking by.

There were a lot of trees down from the wind storms over the winter. Bill wanted me to get a picture of him under the tree, Bean wanted to go so he could meet more people.

On the way back we came up to where the old picnic area was. It used to be all cleared out and picnic tables and there is a path through the stone wall that took us to the falls. I don't know why they closed it, but they are cleaning it up now.

We stumbled on an old pump house, the sign said that the AMC is restoring it and fixing the old shelters, so that will be nice. It was nice to get out before the rains came.

Postcard Winner!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. We finally got some warmer weather and I was able to get out and enjoy the fresh spring air.

Yesterday was the best day, warm enough to hike but still cool enough to enjoy it. We went to my favorite place, Stepping Stone Falls. The rain storms have filled the rivers up nicely and the falls were roaring down the rocky steps, I love the sound, it is so soothing.

This is a spot that we usually like to sit and enjoy the falls, but in the spring the falls fill the entire rocky area.

And now for the giveaway winner.... The winner is Saundra of Woodland Junction! Congratulations to Saundra, please email me with your address so I can get your card out to you. 

My Happy Place!

Do you have a happy place? On days like today, having a place to go that centers you, is the only way to cope with this crazy world we live in. This is one of my happy places, Stepping Stone Falls. It is a place that brings memories of my sisters and brothers, of picnics and hikes along the paths.

I am not in great shape and hasn't been my best week, so I found a new parking spot that is closer to the falls so it was about a 2 mile hike.

We had a good rain storm that bought a lot of rain in a short amount of time, so I knew it was a good time to see the falls.

Even Bill relaxes when we go here. It is something that we enjoy together and energizes us for the week.

And, at home I do my part to help where I can. This poor old guy likes my porch, it is quiet and there aren't a bunch of dogs trying to bite his ears, so he spends most of his time here. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that he gets cans of food every day;)

Fabric and Fall Fun and Giveaway!

Last week I won some wonderful fabric from Corrie at Quilt Taffy. Corrie has a wonderful ebay store and a place I have gotten my special issues of Quiltmania from. She has wonderful sales, so worth keeping in your favorites and she is always having a giveaway, so make sure you visit and sign up for her blog.

I stole this photo from her site, since it has a better view of all the fabrics. I can't wait to use them, they have a wonderful vintage look to the shades and I am trying to decide what I can make with them. I would like to make something for my kids, they both work at jobs working with computers, so thinking if I can come up with something that would be good for a guy and a girl that they might be able to use at work or something fun at home. Give me some suggestions or links to free patterns that I could use them on and I will pick a name from all of the comments on tuesday night, for a free epattern.

The shades look lighter here, but they have a muted vintage look in person.

Today was a beautiful day and I got the bright idea to go for a trail walk, to the falls. We started from the middle area this time, for a shorter walk, which took us a long the old road and then onto the trail area.

My body was not being agreeable and my bones got really stiff, but I kept going, I am a glutton for punishment, lol. But it was worth it, to get to the falls and we took a break and had a snack and rested.

Great place to sit and this is the view of the area, from the opposite side.

We walked along this side to the bridge, which crosses back to the main trail. There are a lot of bridges crossing along the path, since there are a few small creeks that run down the hills, especially when it rains heavily. Coming back was a little easier, I guess I got my second wind finally. Tomorrow will be another hot and beautiful day, maybe a good day for an ocean walk.

And if you would like to go for short walk with us, here is a video I tried with my new pocket camera.

Those were the days! Giveaway week!

Well, I have been working on several projects that will be gifts, some I can show, some I cannot, until they are received.
I was going through my old files that I had stored and pulled out some oldies, but badies, haha.
My sister sent me a box of slides and I scanned them in, but most are damaged and full of lint.
Someday I plan on redoing the nice family ones, so I can send them to my sisters and brothers.

I have always loved riding and as you can see, I would ride anything. The older girl lived down the road and she would ride her burro to visit the kids in our neighborhood.



Then I grew up and rode the real thing, lol. I loved to ride and I was lucky enough to have friends with horses, who let me ride whenever I wanted.



And this one is a nice memory. I have shown you photos of our walks at the falls, and this is me and some of my brothers and sisters at the falls. At least I think it was, maybe it was camping. I see the twins have sweaters on and my other sister is wearing what looks to be a bathing suit. So, someone there is dressed for the wrong season, lol. So, the first person who can tell me, how many kids were in my family, wins a free epattern of their choice.

Sunday's Stroll

I decided I wanted to go for a hike, in Arcadia park area.
The park used to have a picnic area near the falls, that my family would go to when we were young, so it is a special place, full of memories for me. But, I wanted to do a little hike too, so we parked at the other end, so we could walk along the trails to the falls. Of course I didn't realized the distances on my little map, lol. The walk turned into a 7 mile hike down old dirt roads, rocky trails and wooded hills. All this on my broken toe and did I mention, I dropped a cutting board on the same foot, lol.

But, it was worth the sweat and a bit of pain. I got a good workout today and with rain coming this week, I can rest and sit on my butt for a few days;)

The sad thing is, the falls are down in the fall. We should have gone after the floods, I am sure it was cascading over the rocks in full force, then. It was still nice though and a great place to rest after the trek through the woods.



This is looking up at the main falls, I wonder where the fairies are hiding?



Bill wanted to get back on the main trail to head back, but I made him walk along the falls till I found the bridge. We have photos of my sisters and I at this bridge, so just had to get a picture of me on it. I may be walking funny and stiff as a board, but it was so worth it:)