Empty Spools 2014

Today I start classes at Asilomar in Pacific Grove.

Class this year is with Vikki Pignatelli; she does beautiful artistic work. You can look HERE for some examples of her style.  (This was Cindy's year to choose; she always goes for the artsy teachers, I go for more structure). This will be outside my comfort level, but I'm hoping to come home with something fun! This is the picture that was on the Empty Spools Brochure:

One of the best parts is that every morning, I'm up and out by 6 and going for a walk here. It will just barely be getting light; but it will still be beautiful!

More pics when I'm back!

Dory

Travel Day

Dennis and I have an agreement: Any trips to Quincy must be done during Guild week so that I can attend our meeting. We decided last week to go down on Monday (day before yesterday) to pick up our tractor, meet up with my sister and go shopping for a love seat to match our couch, and then head back north before his kayak class on the 23d.  Then the rain came; then the snow came...and here we are, still in Sequim.

We decided to put the trip off for a day, but then we saw the picture from the weather cam at the summit of the Siskiyous. It was snowing so hard you could barely see any vehicles. Now we're leaving two days later than planned, but I'll still make our guild meeting.  Luckily, the summit looks like this today, so we should make it over without an issue.

Of course, we had planned to be leaving Sequim by 7 this morning...its nearly 9 now. Best laid plans and all...

Dory

Rumors of my demise....

Have been greatly exaggerated! But yes, in case you haven't noticed, I've been away for a bit.

After the quilt show, I was off to Phoenix to watch my "grand" niece graduate. Is that what you call your niece's daughter?? Christy, the niece, was born when I was 12 and people used to always mistake her for my daughter. Our baby pictures are very similar, too--except hers are all in color. Breanna is the grand-niece that graduated from a school with 600 students. Boy was that exciting--not. However, getting to see everyone was fun and it was so warm there. The day I flew home in the early morning it was in the 80s; I landed in Reno in the afternoon and it was 39!

From Reno, we headed to Walnut Creek to help my oldest step-daughter move to a very cute place just outside of Sebastopol and only about 5 minutes from where one of my brother's lives. Hannah found a very cute little place on 20 acres. There is a main house; then both the rentals are below the main house and actually share the same deck.  At one point, they were a house and garage, now they're both houses. Hannah is in what used to be the garage. Its a lovely location and exactly what she wanted. Now she can be a "country mouse" again and have a garden.

More posts and quilts to follow....

Vacation...aka Kate's Initiation

We left for Washington on Tuesday, the 15th at 8:30 a.m.--a mere 3 hours later than we'd planned.  We drove up through the back roads, going very close to the town where I went to high school. I was hoping someone else would pull in for fuel while we were there that I knew, but no one did.  I did, however, wave to a classmate's parents as we drove past Roberts Reservoir on our way toward Tulelake; not that they had any clue. *shrug*

Between the road construction and stopping to give the horses a rest, we didn't get to WA until just before dark.  As we drove along Highway 14 headed for White Salmon and the turn off to Trout Lake, I noticed some really hairy cows along the highway.  A closer look revealed that they weren't cows at all!  We took the wrong road out of White Salmon and ended up going up a steep grade through town with sharp curves in the dark in a really huge rig; it was a bit nerve wracking.  We finally arrived at the campground around 10 p.m.

We just pulled off the main road, flipped out the high ties, got food and water and blankets for the horses, and fell into bed.  Poor Kate...a 12 hour trailer ride and then left to hang on the side of the trailer with Bailey, whom she immediately kicked. I think she was letting us know her initial opinion of the situation.

The next day we moved camp, got set up, and drove to Portland to get the etched wineglasses commemorating the ride. Thursday the fun started.  We took Kate and Bailey out for one of the 12 mile loops that the Ride & Tiers would be doing on Saturday.  The trail at the Trout Lake Horse Camp is phenomenal: mostly single track with excellent footing, rolling hills and gorgeous views of Mt. Adams.  A little over halfway though the ride, Kate stopped.  Apparently, she just wasn't seeing the point of the whole thing.  After a little attitude adjustment (read: 'finding a stick to use as a crop'), she decided that continuing on was better than being tapped on the butt constantly.

Our camping spot...(told you it was beautiful!)

Friday, Dennis was talked into actually competing in the event.  Our original plan had been to help with the ride while riding our horses all week long.  Instead, Dennis participated--36 miles of running and riding! Below is proof: Their finish picture with the official time clock (which almost every horse spooked at).  They weren't even last, but that might have had something to do with the fact that the last team lost their horse twice (once he managed to untie himself and went to their nearby home!).

Instead of Kate going out every day and getting used to being ridden constantly, she learned what it was like to be left at the trailer while her buddy horse leaves.  She was not happy and let the whole camp know.  During the event, every time Bailey would come in for a vet check, I had to go get Kate to stand by so that his heart rate would be at criteria.  The vets became accustomed to seeing us hanging around.

Sunday we did manage another ride out, only 5 miles this time on a different trail.  Kate was really doing great, until her giant spook on the way back into camp.  Luckily, she calmed down almost immediately and I managed to stay on--always better than the alternative.

Monday morning we headed for home.  We got out of bed to find that Kate had chewed through her lead rope and was standing next to Bailey grazing.  Apparently, she'd run out of hay and needed something to do!  I know horses eat trees and fences...but lead ropes.  I thought only dogs chewed through their leashes!!

It was lovely to be away from home and camping with our horses and friends.  We had such a great time.  Below are some pictures...enjoy.

Mt. Adams (with SNOW in JUNE!)

Just some scenery...

Can you tell which dog loves horses and which dog was bored???

Another shot of Chloe enjoying her favorite pasttime! (Isn't she pretty?  She had a bath for the trip) She was at the finish line with me waiting for her horse.  Then she jumped all around him, biting his tail, on the way to the trailer, much to everyone's amusement.

And a final shot of George, Dennis' partner, and Bailey coming into the vet check.

Successful Reno Shopping

We headed for Reno and Christmas shopping last Friday.  The roads were relatively clear, the sun was out and the snow was glistening from the mountains.  We'd attempted this same trip on "Black Friday," but got about 20 miles from home before turning back...for the second time.  We left town later than expected, got about 10 miles from town when it started to snow those really, big beautiful flakes.  We knew it would only get worse the farther east we travelled, so we turned around and headed back to town.  As we got closer to Quincy, the weather cleared and the sun came out and we started second-guessing ourselves.  Really...how bad can it be???  We turned around and started off again.  About 20 miles from town we got behind a group of cars going 35!  The roads had snow on them but really...35!!  So we opted to go another day.

That day came and this is the weather we had on the way over...it was really pretty.

While in Reno we bought Christmas gifts for the family and did a little shopping for us.  It was actually fun to Christmas shop since it had started to snow lightly, made it feel like Christmas. We made a trip to R.C. Willey to look at their couches.  We'd decided on a leather couch, with a sleeper for company, since fabric just doesn't work.  Our dogs are often on the couch with us and fabric just doesn't stay clean.  So we bought this one...on sale!!!

The trip home was a bit more challenging.  We had left home late again because we opted to put the horses in before we left rather than when we got back.  This is what we drove through...  Red Rock is about 10 miles north of Reno, before CA and our cut off to Highway 70.

This picture is of the truck we followed through Sierra Valley.  The roads were actually a bit better by the time we left Portola and were headed for Quincy. 

It was a successul day despite the weather.

Does anyone really buy food with Per Diem?

As you know, I'm in Sacramento for training.  I couldn't let a trip to Sac go by without visiting a new quilt shop and, of course, buying fabric.  I found Bearpaws and Hollyhocks only about 15 minutes from my hotel.  Its in a smaller strip mall on El Camino.  Its a great shop with tons of fabric displayed so you can actually see it.  I dealt mostly with Elaine, who was a huge help in picking out fabric, and with Lindy, the owner, whose opinion we kept checking.  This is the fabric I ended up with--I'll be using it to make the Pioneer Sampler by Quilt-in-a-Day. 

Since I've been in Sac, I finished putting the blocks together from my retreat quilt.  The colors aren't true at all in this picture, its purple with yellows/orange.  It looks much better in person.  When I went to square the blocks before assembling the top, I realized I hadn't brought a ruler that was large enough.  No matter though, now I'm working on a red/white/black Turning 20! 

And in case you were worried, I am learning things at my training.  Today I learned how to interrogate people and better yet, I learned the tell-tale signs that broadcast when someone isn't telling the truth. 

So, back to the original question...Does anyone really use their per diem money to buy food?  I bought some food, but buying fabric is way more fun!  I can eat when I get home.....

Training Week or Piecing Week?

Thanksgiving is over; we spent the day with great friends and good food.  Today, I drove to Sacramento for a week-long training for my day job.  Got to the hotel where I'm staying and realized that the furniture arrangement wasn't working for me.  This is what I found when I got here:

This is what it looks like now.  Better, eh??

Now when I get back from class at 5, I can piece all evening while watching television, checking e-mail, etc.  The only good thing about being here for a week is the freedom to work on my stuff without any guilt.  Its not like I could bring my longarm with me!!!  The bad part...I'm already homesick!