Anyone Can Quilt

More photos of last weekend...

I took so many pictures of our camping trip last weekend.  I thought I'd share some more of my favorites!

Here's my 4 year old nephew.  You might remember him from here.  He's hilarious.  And very afraid of our puppy.  Whenever she runs up to him he screams and runs away, "NOOOO!"  It cracks us up.  So, when I saw him sit down next to her while she was sleeping, it was fun to watch him do his 4 year old experiments on her....

Touch her tail...

Smoosh her belly...

Lift her leg...

Put it back down...

Lift it higher...

Then put some rocks on her.... and then repeat.

This is my dad's camping truck, "Jr.".  He only uses it to pull his trailer to local camping spots.  Jr. has sure got some character I think.

We have a teeny little trailer.  Our bed is made up from the dinette, and the girls share the couch bed.   It's not fancy and new, but quite cozy when made up with handmade pillow cases and quilts.

I love leaving this window open and listening to the river at night.

When I'm inside cooking breakfast, I often get a little visiter.  "Hi Sar.." he says.  "Take a picture of my cracker." 

Then he decides to help me take some pictures of my coffee.  He adds just the right touch I think.

And then it's home, exhausted, and looking forward to the next trip.  x

A full weekend!

Our 4th of July weekend was spent at the old family property on the river.  Kids, Camping, swimming, fireworks, food and wine.  And unfortunately a bit of rain.  But the kids didn't care, they swam as much as we'd let them. 

I had a great time taking pictures of the kids swimming.  See the little gal on the left smiling at the camera?  That would be my oldest.  That girl will smile at any camera remotely pointed in her direction.  Here below is where she first noticed the camera...

Wow!  Look at that smile, she doesn't even notice her little friend drowning behind her...

He's OK!  And here, still smiling... notice the camera has the opposite effect on her little sister to the right there.  Let's take a look at what little sis does at the sight of the camera...

She notices the camera is lookin' right at her.

This makes the little beast angry.

Veeery angry.

Ugh oh...

Take THAT Mama!!

Here's the creepy 'Blair Witch Project' teepee the kids made.

The puppy had fun picking out little rocks to carry around.

Then my bro made us a teeny little dinner. 

Holy pork ribs!

I have more to share my friends but since this post is getting a bit long, I think I'll split it up and leave some for tomorrow!  Thanks for visiting.  I hope you all had a lovely weekend full of pork ribs family fun! x

Hello sunshine. And 12 years of happiness..

The sunshine is back today!  We went for a wonderful walk to one of our little parks.  I remember playing at this park when I would visit my grandparents when I was a little thing. 

Then it was back home.

Since it was so nice today I decided to do a little weeding.  I think this evening will be perfect to spend on our little front porch.  We had it rebuilt a couple of years ago because it was literally falling apart.  I love the new porch.  Our wonderful contractor added a couple of built-in benches for us.  I love sitting on them visiting with my man and sharing a glass of vino.  Sooooo relaxing!  It's so nice to spend time outside now that so many of my plants are flourishing.

 

It will be so nice to light this candle this evening and unwind.  But it's missing something.....

The vino of course!  And my dream boat husband.  Our 12th anniversary is on Sunday.  I've loved him since the day we met.  Since the early college days of cheap pizzas and spiking our slurpees with vodka.  Our wedding day was the happiest day of my life!  But I never dreamed just how happy I would be with this man.  When you get married you are so in love, but you don't really know how your love will grow over the years, or what kind of father he will be, how the two of you will get along through the stresses of life.  I am so thankful to say that we are happier today than we've ever been.  He is such a thoughtful and loving husband.  I also love that we crack each other up on a daily basis.  And when it comes to being a father, he just blows me away.  It brings tears to my eyes when I sit back and watch how he is with our girls.  He is so loving, patient, attentive and fun.  Ok, so he has an annoying ice chewing habit and can't pick up a sock.... he is a man after all... It's a small price to pay, we are perfect for each other.  x

Cottage Charm on my walk.

I adore old houses, especially cute little cottage-y houses.  I love to drive or walk around old neighborhoods admiring them.  I dream about what they look like on the inside, and how I would decorate them.  I live in a neighborhood where most of the houses were built in the 20's and 30's.  There are tiny doll house cottages and some big old honkin' houses too!  Some of them are just crying out for some fixing up, and others are being lovingly taken care of.  Here are some of my favorites in my 'hood.  Come walk with me.

























This next yellow house was my grandparents house when I was a very little girl.  I remember picking apples for pies in the backyard, and my grandma making us homemade play-dough in the kitchen.







I've also been enjoying all of the blooming rhododendrons on my walks.  They come in so many colors!















Thank you for sharing my walk. x

Making memories...

This weekend was unseasonably hot for us Oregonians.  It was in the 90's.  Now, my southern friends would laugh till their sides split over how my local peeps go on and on about how HOT it was.  Seriously.  Yes, it was a hot day, but without humidity.  And it was cool in the shade... and  I even wore jeans in the evening.  You'd think it was Africa hot the way people strip down to their blinding white torsos and legs when it gets warm here (my pasty legs included, ahem).  Now, if one of my Oregon peeps was transported to Florida in the middle of summer, then they would know what hot was.
Anyhoo, it was gorgeous and perfect for camping at the river.  My great-grandfather bought this property on our local river when my dad was a teenager.  We've been camping and swimming here ever since I can remember.  I have so many wonderful memories of swimming all day long as a little girl.  I love that my little girls and my nephews are making lasting memories of their own.

It's still a bit early to swim for me.  The water is cccccold!  But that didn't keep the crazy kids out.  The water will recede a bit more and warm up a bit in the next couple of months. It was painful to me to watch the big kids run and jump in the river!  But they had a blast.

Crazies.

The water is so clean and clear.

Rosie is a good camping dog!

And much entertainment for my weirdo father.... 

The kiddos made up lots of games and ran and ran.

This is my dad's favorite tree.  It was his grandfather's favorite tree too.

A dirty worn out puppy at the end of the day is a beautiful thing...

Evening Yahtzee with grandma...  look at the glare coming from my youngest little angel.  I think we were one photo away from me getting clocked on the head with the Yahtzee cup...

All in all, a lovely weekend.  And wonderful childhood memories in the making.

What could it be?

Last night while the girls played, my husband played his guitar, and the Mr. Precious and Rosie reenacted a WWF wrestling match in my living room, I got a little stitching done.  It's not perfect as I decided to just wing it.  I should have drawn it out on my fabric so I'd have a bit of a guideline, but of course, I did not.  I have to admit it's still looking pretty cute, wonky bits and all.  What is it you ask?  I'll reveal the finished project later in the day.  Hopefully....

I'm so happy that my tulips finally bloomed!  They showed their lovely faces last week on a sunny day.  Then I heard we were to have a bit of snow....hugh??  I don't know what's going on with the weather this year.  But, I decided to clip some of the lovelies to enjoy indoors.  I got the best pictures I could on my kitchen table on the dark no sunshine day.

It was a cold and rainy/snowy day, but the tulips inside made it a bit more cheerful.  It was a perfect day to catch up on some of my favorite blogs and do a bit of yummy desert baking.  See my laptop next to the stove?  That's mostly where I keep it.  I'm standing there at this very second.  I really like to look up wonderful recipes and have them right next to me on my laptop while I cook.  And of course the wine fridge is strategically right below......  Sorry about the ironing board, I had to iron my pretty vintage sheet table cloth!

This next picture is of the bridge that goes over the bay in Newport.  I love this bridge.  It's a great part of my little community.  I took these pictures the other day when I was driving home from the girls dance classes.  It is such a routine thing for me to drive over and under the bridge.  I don't always stop to think of how beautiful it is.  This post is turning into quite the hodge-podge!

And now, last but not least....I mentioned above about the chubby cat and the baby dog wrestling.  They are getting along now!  Almost too well at times.  They constantly wrestle.  I'm glad they're having fun but sometimes I have to separate the two so they don't get too carried away!

New friends...

And it starts...

Soon it will be a flurry of brown and black on the floor, giving me heart palpitations......Lord help me....

Barbeque at my Bro's...

All summer long we enjoy camping with the family.  My brother and his family along with my dad and step-mom, and my grandparents all go on local camping trips together.  My grandparents have some beautiful property along one of our local rivers that my family has used for camping since before I was born.  It is beautiful, and a perfect place for the kiddos to swim.  We are all itching to get camping, but thought we'd settle for an evening barbeque at my brother's house.  There's nothing like sitting around the fire on a cool Oregon evening.  The same river also runs behind my brother's house.  It's a bit of a treck to get down to it.  It's not quite ready for swimming just yet.  The river is still too high and swift.  As we get closer to summer, the river recedes and becomes calm and crystal clear.  I can't wait.  I promise to post lots of photos of our first camping trip of the season!  Here's some b-b-q pictures.  I wish all of my new blogging friends could visit around the fire with us!

Getting the fire started!  And as always, punks running in the background.  Now for some back yard views...sorry there are so many, I have a compulsive picture posting problem.  Stick with me.... just imagine you are breathing in that fresh pacific northwest air, eating yummy food, and having a nice cocktail that my sis in law made.  I think it was a mojito???  Is that how you spell that?  I don't know but it was y-u-m-m-y.

This next picture is of my brother and his sweet dog Roz.  She has been such a great companion over these past 14 years.  Now she has painful joints and has trouble getting around.  I don't think she'll get to go camping with us this year.  When the kids were smaller she used to watch them very carefully when they'd swim at the river.  She follows them and makes sure they don't go out too far.  She's been known to drag a child by his or her life jacket back to the shoreline!  One time she swam past my youngest and swam back and forth to make sure she wouldn't go out too far.  We love her.

My brother doesn't know his picture is here for all to see.  He doesn't even know I have a blog.  He he.  Let's see if I can find his first grade picture where he sported his favorite necklace, a cowboy riding a bucking bronco.  Oh yeah.  I'll have to get on that.

A little thrifting

I found a couple of treasures the other day!  The thrifting wasn't looking good for me, until.....

This little cup and saucer.  I love it.  It isn't a matching set but that's ok with me.  Then I found these little saucers.

I love them too!  I will add them to my 'kitchen wall plate extravaganza! '.  Also known as, 'the wall where I hang cute plates.'

Then I spotted this....

Yippee!  I never find nice old quilts.  I saw this one hanging on a coat rack with a jumbled bunch of rags.  It is lovely.

 

Not helpful....and get a load of that hangy belly.  We have been calling him 'Monsieur Hangy-Belly'.  And he has been quite good with the puppy, or so we thought.  This morning I about had a heart attack, he actually lashed out at her and gave her a gash above her eye!  She was bleeding quite a bit, we are all traumatized.  Poor baby.  I don't know what to do about this.  We have been trying to pay extra attention to the cat so he wouldn't be jealous.  I know it will take some time for him to get used to her, but I don't want her hurt in the process.  Have any of you dealt with this type of situation? 

That's one way to mend a hole I guess.....

And now for a Rosie update:  She is doing so great!  Except for the unfortunate incident from this morning of course.  This is now how my daughter does her schoolwork.

She feels like such a big girl on her walks!

Nye Beach....and a rug.

We had a sunny day!  So after lunch the girls and I  decided to pay Nye Beach a visit.  We live 7 miles from Newport, OR.  Which means we're 7 miles from the beach.  Nye Beach is fun because it's right down the road from cute little shops and great restaurants.  We frequent the Chowder Bowl, which has wonderful clam chowder.  And the Peerless Puffin is a great little gift shop where I spend too much on amazing bath and body products.  We also have a little tea place.  It has switched owners lately and it wasn't open when we visited.  Oh what I would give to have a real tea room.   

The tide was out so the water wasn't as close as it sometimes is.  And it was reeealy windy!

I also started to crochet my first rag rug.  This is so fun!  But is going to use a lot more fabric than I originally thought.  I used up 2 yards of 1 1/2 in. strips, and it is nowhere near big enough.  So it's off to more cutting!

Non Spring, thrifting loot, and fabric love!

So it snowed yesterday.  What the........ 

And today showed promise for some sun!  Until.............

The hail came.  But, we did get to visit these sweet babies at the feed store!

And I did get a little thrifting in.  Here's my loot:

That was fun, and now, for some fabric that will be made into a quilt in the near future.  It's called Shangri-la, by Moda.  I looooooooove this fabric!

And now I leave you, my dear people, with an example of what is not helpful, while I paint the sideboard..........

oh yes he did........