SUNSETS

Our 25-year-old son Paul is an avid and amazing outdoorsman, going on great adventures in the wilderness  whenever he can.  We are so very proud of him and his many accomplishments and endeavors in the great outdoors.  We raised our kids to be comfortable in the outdoors, to rise to the challenges there, and to love the natural beauty that surrounds us every day.  Paul has surpassed our expectations in both his love of the outdoors and his achievements there.  

Paul on a climb... mustn't be up too high as I'm not seeing a helmet anywhere in this photo. 

So, it should not have been a surprise to me when he called a few weeks back and told me there was a great adventure coming up.  He told me rather off-handedly "We're driving to Banff" (he has a great group of like-minded friends).  I had to stop and think for a moment, as the only Banff I know is in Alberta, Canada, A STINKING LONG DRIVE.  So, I had to think "is there a Banff in the Smokey Mountains, or the Catskills?" I asked him "Canada?" He chuckled "yes."  Of course!  I told him that I applaud his spirit of adventure.  

And off they went and they are covering some serious miles, with their angels on their shoulders, I assume.  After hitting the road on May 12, today they are in Montana headed north into Canada.  There are 3 separate cars, all pointed in the same direction.  

Along the way they are hiking and climbing, hitting as many National and State Parks as they can.  They are all experienced outdoorsmen and women who enjoy a challenge.  I do not worry about them in the wilderness, as Paul and a few of the others are Wilderness First Responders... they are the individuals the Rangers would send out to rescue them if they needed to be rescued.  

They arrived in the BadLands National Park in South Dakota just at sunset.  As explained by Wikipedia, Badlands are "a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded by wind and water."  

And, this is what they look like at sunset:  

Absolutely fabulous!  I remember that one of the trips my dear dad dragged my mom on was to the Badlands and in the same trip Mount Rushmore.  He spent days photographing in the Badlands and was fascinated by the landscapes there.  I imagine he's smiling down on Paul and his friends.  

I've requested a "sunset a day" journal but haven't received any more (yet).  I imagine that getting to Montana and onto Canada has taken precedence over my request for sunsets.  Hopefully they'll slow down a bit and share a few more sights with us.  It's an amazing world we live in.  

A WEEKEND AT THE LAKE

This was the weekend to open the lake house and get those pesky indoor chores done before the outdoor season is upon us.  The house was empty, totally empty, and in need of a lot of paint.  

First order of business was to get a thing or two in there so at least Dave and I would have a place to sleep.  My sister and her husband Michael pulled an amazing act of kindness by going up to a condo we own in the mountains and grabbing a few pieces of furniture to start with.  So, when Dave and I arrived at the lake house on Friday, we were delighted to see a place to sit and to sleep.  

They had even gone so far as to set it up with our mugs and local maps, as if we were visiting an upscale lodge for the weekend.  And, brother in law Michael made sure that the setup was nap-worthy.  It is.  

Saturday morning the fun began.  And, I'm going to tell you that if you ever want to paint a place, my sister and her family are the ones to call.  Those dear ones have got it down to systems and science.  Here's our dear niece Caryl, who came for the day and worked like a pro.  With their help, 80% of the painting is done.  There's a small amount of horrid green left in the kitchen area.  I know it won't last long that way, though, as Christine is obsessed with how much she hates the color and when she's on a mission you'd best step aside.  

Last weekend Christine and I did accomplish the mission of dining room furniture and have a lovely shabby chic setup.  A great distressed old pedestal table with two big green chairs and four smaller white ones.  Christine made the runner on the table.  Also she left a small gift for me on the table, and I don't have it facing the right way for you to see it.  It is a tiny jar filled with old buttons, with some greenery and flowers stuck in and then a wired picture holder with a picture of me in 1959 at a spot in Maine where our family went every summer.  What a great touch.  

And here's what it's all about.

Soon we will tackle the job of figuring out how the dock system is assembled and then Dave will finish his NH boating license test.  We've got a boat and are ready to go.  

We will also have to figure out a dog containment system.  Silly us, we thought the dogs would just hang on the lawn by the lake if that's where we were.  Cassy is good, she has excellent obedience and comes when called every time.  No problem with her.  Bella has minimal obedience skills.... not because we've not tried, but because she is first of all pretty simple minded, partially blind, and is just too happy go lucky to worry about much.  So, she got herself tangled up in the woods adjacent to our property quite a bit and also headed down the dirt road to who knows where a few times.  

Little Misty surprised us the most.  We figured she'd just stay at my heels, as she usually does.  Nope.  First time we let her off leash, she attempted a journey to somewhere, very purposefully heading up our paved path from the lake up to the road, taking a left onto the road and with great intent, setting off on walk about. After she did this the first time, Dave watched her the next time and she did the same thing, and he followed her 5 feet behind, silently watching to see what the heck?  She has a journey in mind and we have no idea what it is.  My sister's lake house is down the road that way, does she want to go see Auntie Chris?  

At any rate, thank goodness we are the last house on the road, and there are no cars whatsoever coming by.  But, we will be making a way to keep them corralled and safe because we do not want to spend our time at the lake worrying about their well-being.  Our first idea is to place metal grates across strategic areas, because neither Bella or Misty will walk across a metal grate.  You know, like the grates they contain cows with.  Same idea.  Or, we may just say in for a penny in for a pound, and put up some fences between the lake and the road.  I just know I don't want to spend my summer yelling "Bella!" "Cassy!" "Misty!!!!!"  

This Thursday the beds, mattresses and couches will be delivered and we will be in business.  I continue to pick up a thing or two for the kitchen by grabbing extras from our home and buying items at my favorite thrift shop.  Next weekend Anna is visiting from California, and has reported she and a couple of girlfriends will like to spend the time at the lake.  

So much to look forward to.  

OH THE JOYS OF TRAVEL

On our last day here among the Giant Sequoias we were blessed with about 4" of snow.... So far.

When you travel in high wilderness areas, there are chain regulations for vehicles. Right now is a time when you must have a set of chains in your car when you enter the park.

We do have a set of chains in our rented large SUV. We have the chains for Anna's Ford Focus. We grabbed them from her to meet that "chains in the vehicle rule," never guessing that we'd need chains and the "chains in our vehicle" might not fit said vehicle. Tonight the National Park peeps instituted the "chains required ON TIRES" rule.

We aren't too concerned, as we are at the highest elevation of the park (8000 feet) and know that the snow will dissipate as we go "down the hill."  And, we have 4 WD.  We just have to hope that Mr. Ranger sir isn't between us and the end of the snow line.

From this report you'd probably not guess we are well-seasoned travelers. And as of tomorrow that will be 31 years of traveling together! We are celebrating this anniversary by taking the red eye from Long Beach to Boston. It just doesn't get much better than this I'll tell ya.

THE GLORY OF THE LORD

Years ago the Reverend George Tooze stood at my side watching the sun set at one of the fantastic lakes on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. And, he said to a 17 year old me "ANGIE! How can anyone witness such beauty and not believe in God? How?"

This is one of the many ways George brought God to the youth he led. And he did this well, as here I am 40 years later, at the base of the Giant Sequoias, and George's question lingers, his voice in my memory as if he asked this just yesterday. And now, as then, my answer is "ya know what Tooze? I don't know, I really don't know."

Now, though, my faith is 40 years stronger

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK

Need I say more? Yes, indescribable beauty.

LIFE'S A BEACH

Here in Orange County CA life is indeed a beach. The miles and miles of endless sand and surf are miind boggling, especially to those of us from rocky New England.

It's great to be here, the whole family in one place at one time. Life is good.

FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART, THANK YOU

Today is Walk MS day in Southern California, so our daughter Anna is out there pounding the pavement for those who cannot.  The money raised by these events is so important.  Unless you have MS, you may not realize how necessary the National MS Society is to those of us who live with MS.  Not only do they fund research, they take care of those with MS who cannot afford items that make their lives more comfortable.  They work at the top level of research and also down in the trenches for the people.  

Thank you to those who supported Anna's walk today, and to those who support any walker, anywhere.  Your support does make a difference.  

Anna and her roommate Neiko, ready to walk.  

Most of all, thank you, Anna, for your giving heart.  

THE VIEW AT THE LAKE

On Sunday Dave and I stopped by the lake house so we could remind ourselves that winter in New England will eventually come to a close, and that we do have a lake house to move into.  Here's the view on Sunday:

The ice is still over a foot thick, and ice fishing is still going on.  Once the ice is out, and before they raise the lake level for summer, (dam controlled) we hope to get at our swimming area to chuck rocks for an afternoon.  That'll be tricky timing, and if it doesn't get done, then I'm guessing we are going to swim anyway.  

A X STITCH FINISH

Yesterday was a rest day for me, after a very busy weekend.  I am actually learning that if I get up in the morning feeling like 100 miles on a dusty uphill road, then I need to have a rest day.  

Just like all good stitchers, though, I cannot just sit and watch TV.  I need to be knitting or stitching.  So, I took advantage of my day of sitting and finished Flutterby.   I love it!  It was great fun.  It will get framed and hung in the lake house, so I'll look for a shabby-chic kind of frame for it, maybe a rubbed light blue or pale pink paint.  

DESIGN WALL UPDATE

Poppy kitten had destroyed the fabric on my design wall, mistaking it for her personal climbing wall.  So, last week while out and about with my sister, I picked up a large piece of fleece to recover my wall.  The didn't have any neutral shade like I wanted, so I chose a light blue, close enough to the gray that I desired.  It came out perfect:

I'm looking forward to using it as I design a beachy quilt using 4 x 4 squares cut from men's striped shirts.  

As I was covering this design wall, climbing wall, Poppy kitten was at my side, as she usually is.  But, this time she had an ulterior motive, as she is bright enough to know exactly what was going on.  Her climbing wall was getting a new cover, having sat uncovered for far too many months.  

Here we go again.  

HOME MADE DISH CLOTHS

Last year I spotted a baby blanket that Barbara at Pinelands Treasures was working on.  I asked her about it and she told me it was knit from the same basic pattern that she uses to knit cotton dish cloths.  I was familiar with that pattern, but had never thought to use it for anything aside from a dish or face cloth.  So, I knit up a baby blanket using the same pattern:

It is such an easy pattern, and so is good to take along when traveling, and so that was last summer's traveling project.  

Recently they had the Lily Sugar and Cream 100% cotton yarn on sale and I bought a bunch to knit up some dish cloths:

These are so very simple to make, and are wonderful to use.  You'll never want another dish or face cloth.  This summer my supply of cotton yarn and set of needles will be my travel project.  

LOVE THESE!

Finally I have gotten a couple of fantastic items made by the amazing Barbara of PinelandsTreasures.  One of my favorite parts of blogging are the friends I have made, and Barbara is one I got to meet one fine day a couple of years back.  

I have gotten one of Barbara's Spirit Dolls watching over me now.  I have taken to carrying her to what ever room I may be in, and at night she watches me sleep.  There's just something about this Doll that makes me feel so good.  She is infused with great spirit and adorned with lovely charms and crystals.  She is the Happy Homemaker Spirit Doll:

I love her

Barbara is uniquely creative, and I'm not sure the words "recipe" "pattern" "rules" or "directions" ever apply to her life.  She has freed her mind to do as it may, and the results are so much fun.  I am fascinated with her felting, a knitting skill I have never tried but envy.  Here is my felted vessel from Barbara's needles.  I keep inspecting it ever so closely to understand how it works.  I will be giving this as a gift to someone very dear to me, and until then I am enjoying it myself. 

Top

Bottom

THE GREEN PAW

A while ago I started a quilt for me and Dave.  And, as usual, I challenged myself.  That challenge has turned out to be worthwhile, as you can see

Good grief is all I can say.  This quilt was a ridiculous amount of work.  It is mostly done.  Next my quilting teacher/mentor Rhonda will come in and square it up, I'll add a border of the solid green, and off it will go to be custom quilted.  I was thinking of doing the math to count the parts, but I'm too tired to do that.  

Seams, seams and more seams.  

I feel pretty certain that Rhonda is going to redesign my corner triangles, which are a bit lackluster and may be short on width also.  

A few people have contacted me over time, asking if I would share this pattern.  Since I made this using only a picture of a quilt I found online, Rhonda and I made a pattern as we went along.  Here it is:  

Also at one point a X-stitching blogger contacted me to see if I would make this quilt on commission.  Of course I will, for about a million dollars.  

My friend Sue hit the nail right on the head when she described this as a "once in a lifetime" quilt.  Sue and my sister Christine, along with teacher Rhonda, were my cheer leaders behind the scenes on this project.  However, I do believe every once in a while I heard a murmur of "she's mental you know."  

This all started when dear Dave told me he wanted a "Bear Paw" quilt for us.  And, of course, I could not do a plain old traditional bear paw.... of course not.  

Next in line is a lap quilt for a gift and after that it's onto a queen sized batik quilt for our son Paul.  It's always one quilt at a time.  That's about as much confusion as I can take.  

BABY HATS

Way back when, I worked in Boston, taking the commuter train in every day.  I rode with a bunch of girlfriends and instead of just gabbing our way in, we decided to have a knitting club.  Our project was to knit hats for babies in the NICUs in Boston hospitals.  I think we ended up contributing close to 500 hats over time.  

I also remember the nurses telling us that the size they need the most is one that just fits over a closed fist.  

Recently I finished another shawl, and needed some quick-finish knitting before tackling another large project.  So, I decided to return to those days, and so again have been knitting baby hats for preemies.  

These were finished in one week.  The dark blue one is a gift for a friend of a friend, expecting her first grandchild.  

This style makes the tiniest ones, slightly larger than my fist.  Every time I knit one, I recall
that our two children were born late and with full-sized noggins.  We have been so blessed.

This pattern is so easy, it's knit in the round, no messy seam to rub on the baby's head.  These, however, are a
bit too large for a preemie, so I'm now making this pattern with fingering yarn on a size 3 needle,
that'll make a tiny cap.  

FLUTTERBY

I am getting so close to a Cross-Stitch finish

Flutterby from Tam's Creations

I can't wait to finish this, because my next X stitch is a special piece for the new lake house.  

A LAKE HOUSE

Is now ours.  

I look forward to ice out and the return of the loons.  Until then, the house will sit encased and surrounded by snow. 

We are so blown away and this all seems unreal, it's something we've dreamed of, but were never sure we'd have.  

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED HERE

Greetings friends!  I got an iPhone a bit ago and am doing OK with it, techno-idiot that I am.  The only thing that I don't like about it is it doesn't comfortably live in my pocket like my other phones have.  It's kind of a brick.  People are always telling me to make sure I have my phone on me at all times in case I fall and can't get up, but how to keep a brick in my pocket, I don't know.  

One of the best things about the iPhone is the ease with which you can snap a photo and send it out, thereby boring your friends and family with pictures of ever moment of every day.  Since most of my days are pretty mundane, that makes for a lot of photo ops.  

Yesterday's photo op came at the end of a busy day, after David and I spent the day in NH closing on the house on the lake.  In our absence, the animals must have done something to Poppy, who was missing her front legs and was glowing.  I'm very proud of my iPhone photography skills, as who else could have captured a cat in such a state?  

I have no idea what I am doing with this phone and camera... if you hadn't already guessed that.  

WALK MS!!!

Every year, all over the country, there are crowds of people who walk for me.  Why?  They are walking for those of us who cannot.  They are raising valuable funds for The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, an organization that works diligently to improve the lives of those afflicted with MS.  They provide an endless variety of assistance to individuals and also provide valuable funds for research, so that some day there will be a world without MS.  

My daughter Anna will be taking part in the University of California in Irvine MS Walk this year, along with her co-workers from Clark Construction.  I am so proud of Anna's giving heart, and her compassion towards those with MS.  

On her personal page Anna states:  

My mother and my cousin both have MS.  I walk because I can - and it's something that many of us take for granted.  Every hour of every day, someone is diagnosed with MS.  That's why I registered for the Walk MS event.  Walk MS is a day that connects friends, families and co-workers.  Each step we take brings us closer to a world free of MS.  

If you haven't sponsored anyone yet for this year's MS walks, perhaps you can sponsor Anna.  Donations do not have to be grand, you know that every single dollar counts.  

You can visit Anna's personal page here.

DREAM OF A WORLD WITHOUT MS, 

I DO 

SUMMER DREAMS

Here we are with snow up to our butts, yet all Dave and I can think of is THIS

That's my sister Christine in the pink.  

Because THIS is a lake house that will be totally ours on March 5. 

100 feet of waterfront and a 24 foot dock.  The water level in the lake
is dropped for the winter, that's why it looks so high and dry right now.  

You see, my sister and her hubby bought a camp on this lake a bit ago, and if you visit her blog you can see what a wonderful place they got.  And, of course, in her blog you'll see what an amazing interior decorator she is with her special touches and quilts.  

David and I fell in love with this lake, and have always loved my sister and her family, so put the two together and start searching.  There aren't many homes on the lake, so we knew we'd need patience and it could take years.  

But, last Friday Chris and Mike were checking in on their camp when they spotted the realty signs for this house, just 2/10ths of a mile from their camp.  They called me and gave me my marching orders and we all went and saw the house last Saturday and by Monday night we were under agreement.  It was meant to be, all of it.  

It is a neat funky house, and is actually a mobile home with a home tastefully built around it.  It is a fantastic lot with a horseshoe pit and a nice lawn and just enough gardens.  

The home and land are handicapped accessible, including a paved path down to the dock, which is also handicapped accessible.  In the picture below, I am standing on that path and I intend to always stand on that path.  How would we ever find someone strong enough to push my oversized arse up that path in a wheelchair anyhow?  And, I know that now that we have all this handicapped access, I will never need it.  

 There are a lot of really funky interesting details in the house, like this loft, which was created on the top of the mobile home when they built the home around it.  My sister is so excited, saying yay her dear grandsons can have sleep overs at Auntie's house.  And, they can, we will welcome their love and joy with open arms.  And, Dave can get up early with them.  :)  

 The views!!!  This is the view from the dining area.  

This is where the constructed house meets the mobile home.  This picture is taken from the front family room and is looking into the dining area, which is within the mobile home portion.  

That red wall and green paint have got to go.   

How many ways can we count our blessings!

The ramp that I will never need.  

The mobile section of the house, with the loft up to the right, and through the kitchen to the back is our bedroom and bathroom.  The other bedroom is in the constructed part of the home.  

This is, indeed, a dream come true.