Stunning Mornings

The mornings have been absolutely gorgeous here and I wanted to share a few pics. Yes, that is snow. But here in Sequim (or south of Sequim), it generally falls in inches--not feet. We LOVE the snow now!!

This view is from the room that will probably become my sewing studio. It will have a hide-a-bed couch and/or a Murphy bed in it for company, but will no longer be a dedicated sewing room.  More on that when/if it happens. This room looks out over the back of our house.  You can see the sun rising over the Olympics.

A couple showing our pond and the gazebo in back...the pond is starting to ice over.

I couldn't decide which one I liked better so you get them both. (I know, I know...they're practically identical)

The front while we were feeding this morning. This is our totem pole with the flag pole behind it. You can just barely see the color of the sun in the background.

Kate, enjoying her breakfast and wishing the sun would hurry up! A bit later, all the ponies were basking in the sun while they ate. 

Every day when I go outside I admire the Olympics and where we live and feel blessed to be here.

Thanks for looking. Sorry the pics aren't better quality, but I took them with my phone.

Yikes!!!

We have bees. This is right outside our bathroom window...

A shot for some perspective. Its a BIG nest...

 ...and its up really high.  YIKES!!!

A Short Break...

from our regularly scheduled program.

How was your 4th of July? While I didn't do anything terribly patriotic, I did full take advantage of a "day off." We started the morning watching the end of the Federer tennis match at Wimbledon while drinking our coffee. Then we loaded up the bikes and went for a ride on the Olympic Discovery Trail.

Rather than heading in the normal direction, we headed East. We started just to the west of the segment that covers Fir Road to Blyn, and road almost all the way to Blyn. It was a fun ride and more strenuous than heading west, many more hills to conquer and it was a beautiful day with brilliant sunshine. We finished our ride with breakfast at the local 101 Diner, a fave of ours.

A little later in the afternoon, we headed out again...this time on the motorcycle. We went exploring to places we hadn't been before. This shot was taken from the Marilyn Nelson County Park. (There was a huge container ship going through the Strait when I took this; you can't even see it in the photo!)

From there we headed around by the bay and admired the gorgeous homes and bay views, ending up at the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. We didn't take the five mile walk to the Lighthouse then, but we plan to in the near future.

We returned home late afternoon and were just lounging on the couch thinking of all the things we should be doing when the phone rang. Friends invited us over for a crab bake on the bay. A quick shower and we were on our way to the Sunset Marine Resort, good friends and good food.

All in all, a very successful 4th of July. Hope yours was splendid!!

Dory

A Beautiful Morning with Pony Kisses

Yesterday was so cloudy, our satellite didn't even work for awhile. It was literally as thick as pea soup, as the saying goes.  This morning, though, it is beautiful out.

This is the view from our living room of the Olympic Mountains...I never get tired of looking at them.

And, as promised...pony kisses from the girls: Kate on the left and Emma on the right.

Dory

Slow Trip, eh??

For those of you that have been wondering if we were actually taking a slow boat to Sequim rather than a car, the answer is ... "NO." However, once we arrived, we faced many challenges. Being connected to the Internet was a huge one.  Finally though, as of yesterday, we have contact!!  I'm back in blogging business; I'm sure you're all relieved <snort>!!

But, for the good stuff:

My step-daughters were in Quincy the Friday before we headed out. They were great as we enlisted their husband/significant other to help load. In fact, on Sunday, Rachel and Mike even came by to help us finish loading. They are great kids (I use that term relatively as they are all in their 30s!).

We arrived on that Monday to a house decorated with Christmas lights and our friends waiting for us with dinner. It was lovely! The next day more friends arrived to help us unload. Since then we've been unpacking and trying to organize. The kitchen here is so big that I have too much room, I keep losing things!!

A few days after our arrival, we joined SARC (Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center). Its incredible. They have TWO swimming pools (which would be even more fantastic if I swam), three rooms full of aerobic and weight equipment, a gym for large classes and a smaller classroom for other classes. Today is the second week of our new "get healthy" program.

Today another friend gave me a bike to use for when we ride the Discovery Trail. Equines are only allowed on portions, but bikes can do the whole thing. We're going to check it out by bike first, pony later.

The horses are doing great and we can see them from the house, which I love. We plan to start riding when we have our lives a bit more in order...hopefully not too long from now.

And today my longarm was set up in its temporary quarters...wait til I show you the new digs!! They'll be awesome!!

Thanks for hanging in there...pics of quilts coming soon.


Dory

Driving, driving, driving

Only 760 miles to go.............

Change is Good, Right??

Things are changing and hopefully, they will be good changes.

Dennis and I have been coming to Sequim, Washington, for the last three years visiting friends and hanging out in the cabin on Sequim Bay. During our last trip, we decided to try something more permanent.

This will be the new home for Crazy Horse Quilting...what do you think???

It won't exactly be the new home. Initially, I'll be quilting in the garage; but then another yurt will be set up that will be all mine. Dennis will have the upstairs office and one of the guest rooms for his business...at least the bits that aren't messy. He will NOT be screen-printing in the house!

I will even be providing my customers with mailers that are both tear- and water-proof for sending their tops and backings to me. Return mail will be on me in an insured Priority box. Seems fair, yes??

We will be up here for the winter beginning in December and then head back to Q-town in late March. At some point, we will have to make a permanent decision about residence, but for now we're a two-home family.

Dory 

On The Road Again...

Heading up to Washington again....hoping for more beautiful views like this one:

However, we probably won't be quite so lucky. Knowing Washington the way we do, I doubt we'll have the lovely sunshine that we had on our last trip up.

Dory

Ride & Tie in Washington

Don and Annie Betts are heavily involved in Ride and Tie. Until last year, Don was the President of the organization and Annie did the newsletter. He's enjoying his first year in many to not have the presidential duties.

This year he put on the Lost Mountain Ride and Tie.  It was a 30+ mile event where two people compete on one horse.  For more about Ride and Tie, click here. Dennis has a screen-printing business, along with is embroidery business, so he did the ride shirts for Don.  Rather than mail them up, we delivered them in person.  Much more fun that way!!

The shirts are Annie's design and I think they're adorable!

There were only three teams competing (not all that unusual for R&T) and they all finished in good time with sound horses.  Here are a few pics of the teams and their mounts.

This mare was incredible! She was a big girl and she used to compete in some kind of polo event.  And she was incredibly fast...witnessed in person when she saw a llama for the first time and did a 180; unfortunately, her rider didn't keep up.

Above and below are the medical team. The doc (above) is also a pilot and flew over from Seattle to ride. The doc below (an anesthesiologist) flew out commercial from Tennessee to compete.  He loves R&T...obviously!! (They were riding Cinder. She's an awesome mare that I got to ride on Sunday to help pull the ribbons from the ride. We went about 10 miles on some incredibly treacherous trail. It was sure fun!)

And these two were the third team.  I just love this horse, Pumpkin.  Of course, I'm a bit partial to chestnut ponies!!

Okay, enough with the pony stuff.  Next post is all about quilts and one of our reasons for going to WA!

Vacation

We left on September 9 for Washington and an almost two-week vacation.  Of course, we were supposed to leave early, but as usual, we got out late.  And the hard part for me? Look at how clean and neat and tidy the yurt is; it was so hard for me to leave.  Silly, yes, but true. (It didn't take all that long for me to get over it though).

We drove as far as Salem, OR, and spent the night. Friday morning we were up early and headed north again. We recently purchased a Tom-Tom and it was so helpful. Because I have a business and a resell license, I was able to go shopping at E.E. Schenk. They are a huge wholesale warehouse with lots of fabric, notions, patterns, supplies and tons of other really cute stuff.  An added benefit, Beth Durand rode her bike over to meet us.  I haven't seen her in two years and I almost didn't recognize her.  She has lost 85 lbs.!! She's been on WW and biking.  Her success has motivated me to start biking again.

Several hundred dollars poorer and with a slight overstuffed car, we continued on our way to Sequim and our friends' (Annie & Don Betts) cabin. We always stay in their cabin on Sequim Bay when we're up there. Eventually, we'll get our yurt up and won't have to mooch from them so often, but until we do, its the most lovely place to stay.  Our first time there I was so dismayed that it only had a tub and no shower.  Now I look forward to that--I'd forgotten how relaxing a bath can be!

This is the cabin...

And here are a couple pictures of the view.

Next up...pictures of the Lost Mountain Ride & Tie.  It was part of the reason for our trip.

Home at Last!!

More tomorrow, including pictures; we've been gone for over a week at Trout Lake, Washington.  We were camping at the Mt. Adams Horse Camp with Kate and Bailey and a bunch of really crazy, fun ride-and-tiers.  Don't know what a ride-and-tier is?  Click here to learn more.

Here's a little tidbit to keep you interest:  Horses chew through tie ropes, Dennis competed in the 36 mile event, and we loved, loved, loved the Trout Lake/White Salmon area.  Its beautiful!!!

Stay tuned....