Travels | Crazy for Fiber

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Archive for the ‘Travels’ Category

Happy Day

Monday, August 6th, 2007

We are settled in for the night at a motel in Forks, WA. We arrived in the Olympic National Park today. We had lots of traffic — much like Judy on her trip this week.

When I wasn’t driving, I worked on this:

The wild flowers were blooming with abandon along the road side as in this drive by view of Lake Quinault.

We spent the afternoon at the beautiful Hoh Rainforest and did a hike of a little over 2 miles. We saw moss up the whazoo, even on the telephone booth.

And other beautiful sites:

Signs like this made our hike a little faster:

This little cafe sign made me laugh — the Hard Rain Cafe:

Here is where we had dinner — The Kalaloch Lodge, right by the ocean.

Yjr wifi here is slower than molasses so it is way past my bed time. Signing off from a beautiful day. You can see all my photos from the day on my Flickr site.

Posted in photography, Travels | 4 Comments »

We live in the Eastmoreland Neighborhood, but are adjacent to the Woodstock neighborhood, where we do a lot of our shopping. Today was the annual Woodstock Festival, complete with parade, entertainment, food and street fair.

Maggie and I walked up the hill to the Woodstock neighborhood while Mr C worked in the yard. I arrived just in time for the beginning of the parade. It was the total small town/neighborhood parade. Lots of kids, a couple of bands, some dogs, antique cars, bikes and dedicated neighborhood souls. Here are a few pics. You can see more on my Flickr set.

Steve worked on planting the area outside my studio. This is the view from my studio, through the sliding glass doors.

It is still a little barren, but at least we have a good start. Here is how it looks from above, taken from the deck — yellow bird bath and Japanese Maple.

Here are close-ups of my new lacy Hydrangea and a gorgeous Begonia. Clickable to see larger.

Mr C and I have been spending the last couple of days planning a driving trip in August. We are driving to the Olympic Peninsula and staying one night, with a day and a half to explore. Then we stay in Port Orchard and catch the ferry to Victoria the next day. We will stay there for two nights. Then we are driving to Seattle for an overnight stay so that we can take in the new sculpture park and art museum renovation. I am really looking forward to this. I love to hit the road with Mr C!

Posted in Flowers and plants, House and home stuff, Landscaping, Travels | 4 Comments »

Pale Ale and a Fruit Loop

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007

We are diverting from the discharged fabric for a bit. Lisa is here visiting, and we are on the go. She had never been out to the Columbia gorge, so yesterday, we drove out to Hood River and had lunch at the Full Sail Brewery. I had a half pint of Pale Ale – 2 Weight Watcher points – and a wonderful salad with grilled Salmon. Lisa and Steve had a bit more.

After a walking tour of windy Hood River, we decided to drive the Fruit Loop. The Hood River area is known for its fruits and wineries. We made several stops along the way and purchased some cherries and veggies to cook at home. I was able to take some wonderful photographs of our drive. Lisa wanted to buy some lavender in bulk so we stopped at two lavender farms, but they did not sell in bulk.

Look what I found to use in my surface design — with soy wax, paint and discharge paste. Three antique mashers. The guy who sold them to me was very amused when I told him their purpose.

Here is a sampling of our trip. The full set of photos can be seen on my Flickr site.

We made the requisite stop at Multnomah Falls on the trip home. Today, Lisa and I are tootling around town to various places. Tonight or tomorrow, I will post the final reveal on the last batch of discharged fabrics. I had some very exciting results.

Posted in Family, My Brilliant Daughters, photography, Travels | 4 Comments »

A Beautiful Day at the Beach

Saturday, April 28th, 2007

It was a gorgeous day in Oceanside today. Not too warm, but sunny and bright. We were happy to have Linda show up today to spend the remainder of the week-end with us. We took a walk on the beach, and I got some great beachy photos. Here is a sampling. To see the full set of my beach art, go to my flickr set.

I brought lots of projects and lots of good intentions for getting work done here, but having fun with friends has taken precedence. I haven’t laughed so hard, so often, in a long time. We have shared silly and serious stories as we have spent time getting to know each other. Terry and Beth are wonderful story tellers. Terry can do great imitations of annoying and endearing people who have inhabited her life. So, so what if I didn’t get a lot of work done.

I did get the center of Viola’s garden quilted. I just did simple diagonal lines of quilting with some stitching in the ditch to hold things together. I am going to quilt some butterflies, dragonflies, flowers and leaves in the borders.

Terry offered to teach us how to make the fabric house from the pattern that she designed, but I really needed to get the quilting finished today. So I observed the process as she taught Beth.

Here is Terry’s finished house:

And here is Beth’s front. Look at the cool stone fabric that she used.

I would like to try Terry’s pattern and then attempt a more modern house design.

Tomorrow morning we will pack up and head back over the coastal range to the Willamette valley and home to Portland. The back of Beth’s SUV will be roomier because several bottles of wine, decadent snacks and nutritious breakfast food has been consumed by us. But, we will take with us a stronger bond of friendship and memories of our retreat on the Oregon coast.

Posted in Inspiration, My creations, Travels | 4 Comments »

Retreating With Friends

Friday, April 27th, 2007

There are only five of us here in Oceanside, retreating in a beautiful home high up on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We arrived yesterday afternoon, after lunch in Tillamook and a tour of the Tillamook Cheese factory and the requisite Tillamook Ice Cream Cone. This area is a quirky combination of bucolic farm land and beautiful seaside homes.

We got some work done yesterday, but spent some time going out to dinner. We worked a bit this morning and then decided to go back to Tillamook for a trip to the quilt store and the Latimer Textile Museum and more ice cream at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We also hit the Blue Heron for some french cheese and a visit with the farm animals. Sorry, I forgot my camera – no photos. Ellen Ann Eddy has a retrospective of her work at the Latimer. We also saw rug hookers and weavers in action.

Here are some photos of our walk this morning:

Here is a view of our house from the road above us.

Here are Terry and Beth relaxing in their jammies last night.

Here are scenes of my friends peacefully working today.

Terry:

Beth:

Reva:

Gale, who is also with us has not been feeling well and has been taking some long naps. Linda has not made it over the mountains yet as she was not feeling well, either.

The rest of us are indulging in stuff like this – the scene at our table after dinner tonight.