Happy Feet

A happy face is a sure thing to cheer someone up...not that we needed any cheering...but Jordyn and i made ourselves some happy feet just the same! The weather has been perfect up here all week, and we have spent our last days of summer swimming in the river, playing in the garden, and enjoying the playhouse. Ive also been doing a lot of reading lately...

My summer reading list(well, at least the last half of summer)...

The Courtship of Princess Lea by Dave Wolverton

Home to Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani

Alice's Tulips by Sandra Dallas

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz (still reading)

Okay, so its not a long list, but i tend to fall asleep once i finally get the chance to sit down with my book. 2 year olds will do that to ya :)
Im also a magazine junkie...so if you count all of those...Artists Magazine, Watercolor Magazine, Corel Painter, and Taste of Home...then my reading list is really full!
On the craft side, i was just given a stack of quilting magazines from a very generous neighbor...those should keep me busy for a while! There were soooo many, in fact, that i decided to share in the wealth, and passed a few along to a friend. Ive also picked out my pattern for the ALQS swap, a paper-pieced design, so hopefull i wont go nuts ripping off the paper before its time to mail it out :) Im excited to try this pattern, so i may just have to make a second one for me. I cut out all the pieces to do one for myself last time, but havent pieced them together yet. I tend to let projects for me sit forever...thats why i like to participate in these swaps...a deadline and a trade allows me to create for others, as well as enjoy receiving too.
Happy Quilting!

Chainsaw Bears...

In a previous post, i mentioned my chainsaw bears, and Kate was curious as to what exactly that was. She guessed right, but i thought i would share a photo of them just the same. I buy one every year at our craft and quilt fair...after all...this is the Black Bear Cabin :)
So here it is Kate...mystery solved!

Another Beautiful Day ~

Thought i would share a few photos of our backyard and Jordyn's swimming hole. It was another fabulous day in the canyon, so we decided to go for a dip. The river is low at this time of year, which makes for gentle warm waters...perfect for a 2 year old. Hey, even daddy went in, and he NEVER goes in the river. When it comes to water, Justin is like a cat! Jordyn and i are the river rats :)

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

A Beautiful Summer Day!

Yesterday was a perfect day for playing in the pool...or at least Jordyn thought so! I have been playing catch up all week since Rogue Camp, so today was a great day to wander around outside and enjoy the afternoon. The end of Rogue Camp usually signals the end of summer...when things start to become quiet and slow down. We have less visitors, and the weather begins to cool off a bit with more days of rain. But yesterday was perfect! Not a cloud in the sky. I LOVE living up here, and as my favorite season approaches, i get excited with plans of crafting, quilting, and painting! And speaking of quilting...here are a few photos from this years local quilt and craft show. It was a beautiful exhibit, as always, and i enjoyed the rest of the goodies at the craft fair also. It was scheduled the same weekend of Rogue, but i found a little time to sneak away and check it out :) Besides, i had to buy my chainsaw bear for the house, i buy one every year to represent how many years ive lived up here, and they make a nice addition to the Black Bear Cabin! This years bear is holding a big red heart. Anyways, not too much in the quilting arena right now...im taking a bit of a break before i jump in to the next ALQS swap run by Kate. I rcvd my partners info, and ive picked out a pattern already...what fun! Stay tuned for teasers of my progress!

Rogue Camp 2008!!! arghhhhhhhh!

Rogue Camp was kicked off with our first guest, Cookie, arriving on Wednesday around 6pm. He showed up with steaks, so we fired up the grill and feasted on a wonderful meal (the first of many over Rogue weekend!). As the weekend arrived, thunderstorms rolled in, and we were concerned that our guest list would diminish. I underestimated our fabulous group of Rogue family and friends, and as the rain poured down, the vehicles pulled in, and at one point we had a five car pile up in the driveway. We had folks travel as far as Florida, Michigan, Idaho, and Utah! Justins grandma made a
gigantic pot of chili, so as they took turns helping set up each others tents in the rain, they also took turns devouring warm delicious chili. At dusk, we finally had a break in the weather, and folks suited up in fabulous costumes, and headed to the fire down on the island to play music and jam! And that kicked of the fun of Rogue camp!
We had wonderful meals all weekend...Holly celebrated her 30th birthday...Ali and Phinneus hosted a wonderful treasure hunt...there was a glow stick war in the treehouse on Saturday night...more wonderful food and drink...music...dancing...art...laughter...shenanigans of epic proportion...the potato gun made an appearance...there was fire twirling...flute playing...a pirates of the carribean movie marathon playing indoors for those who needed to get warm and dry...an excellent selection of beverages to chose from...did i mention the food...we had a shrimp boil...beans, bacon and cornbread...burgers...pot roast...chicken and rice...pasta salad...fruit...and more eggs than anyone could ever possibly eat! It was an absolute blast!!! We had a few folks chased away by the weather, but for the most part, it rates as one of my favorite Rogue Camps yet!

Every Rogue Camp, I am reminded of just how lucky i am to live in such a beautiful place, surrounded by such wonderful friends and family! We may not see each other much, but when Rogue rolls around, our hearts are filled with the joy that everyone brings. You are all a gift...and i had a blast! Hope you did too!
Cheers~
to enjoy more photos of this magical event, go here!
or here :)

feelin' groovy!

Its been kinda quiet up here lately...summer must be coming to a close :) Of course, we still have Rogue Camp this weekend, the last big hurrah of summer, so its not over yet! Jordyn was feeling crappy all weekend, sore throat, slight rash, irritability, fever...so just to be sure we took her in to be checked out. Sure enough, it was what i had guessed...hand, foot and mouth disease. doh! Jordyn, as well as most 2 year olds, puts just about everything in her mouth, so i wasnt surprised. The in-laws thought it might be strep, and with a party of about 50 coming to our house this weekend, we wanted to be sure...so in we went. She did rather well, but was not to happy about opening her mouth to say "ahhhhh". She was happy about her little prize from the doctor though...two little beanie bears, which she clutched in a death grip all the way home.
As you can see from todays photo, she seems to be feeling much better, and ate a meal that could choke a horse!
We played outside, splashed around in the ditch, picked cherries from the tree, and visited the neighbors. A wonderful day indeed!
Happy Monday!

Life is a Bowl of Cherries!

My trip to Denver, albeit HOT, was wonderful! We enjoyed playing in the sprinkler, visiting with family, and we even went to a car show...a fundraiser for cancer.
I was able to do some embroidery while i was there, and i finished these up when i got home. Im finished with round two of the crazy quilt swap on about.com, so i can relax a bit! :) At least until the second round of the ALQS swap run by Kate. I decided to give it another go, so that will be my next swap project. I dont plan on doing any other swaps for the rest of the year...i want to get started on my Christmas gifts, which probably seems early, but i know how slow i can be :)
Anyways, this first square is for Cris. She wanted pastel embellishments, and i was working with blues, so i thought the watch face would be a fun touch. Its a bit unusual, but goes with the colors and the theme nicely...i hope she likes it.

These are the two Christmas blocks with the hunter green/cranberry color choice for Randi (in Italy) and Rebecca. I liked the way the gold brightened them up, so i threw a lot of that in there. The cherubs were to cute not to put in there, and since one of them is going to Italy, i thought it should definitely have a cherub! :)

And lastly, here is a photo i took of myself out in the yard on Monday. Usually, between the deer, the bear, the squirrel and the birds, we hardly ever get any of the cherries off of our dwarf tree. This year, however, we scored a couple pounds of cherries! Yummy! Anyone have any good sour cherry recipes for me? I need to bake them up or store them in the freezer real soon, so please send soon ;)

104 degrees......ugh!

So im in Denver, with record breaking heat, and ive decided to park my butt on the couch...in this fabulous air conditioning, and crank away on the embroidery. I have three left to work on, so i might just finish them up this weekend! It was nice to work on the Christmas square after all of the B&W and C&W squares. A nice change of scenery, so to speak :)
The red does look gorgeous on the Black and White though!

Hope everyone keeps cool this weekend!