That being said ... I'm headed for a quilt retreat tomorrow and after next weekend R and I are going on our Fall Grand Tour. So when I do post - it will either be a quick one on stolen time OR it will be in a couple of weeks with lots of news and pictures.
This weekend the guild here is having a retreat and I'm really excited - of course, I just hope it lives up to Gretna standards! 48 of the coast quilters go to the Gorge area - on the Columbia River outside of Portland. 3 hours away And the Portland shop retreats come to the coast!! To a town 20 miles away from us!!! I'm making a note of where they stay- just in case the retreat center we're going to isn't great. Half of us are going up in a bus so we're going to be taking alot less than I'm used to! I'm already starting to panic! After all, I'm used to a choice of 'too many projects' to choose from. We don't have to take bedding and towels, etc - but that never did take up more than one bed roll!
So I narrowed projects down to my son's wedding quilt - still piecing, machine quilting a baby panel for Mr M who will be ONE in November! AND a checkerboard red/white lap quilt my small group of non-quilters is making for a gal with cancer - I think I can pin the blocks together and get the center of the top done and ready for the group to piece the border blocks together next week. The retreat starts Sunday afternoon at dinner and ends Wednesday noon! I'm used to long weekend retreats but I guess most members here are retired and when you live at the coast you have alot of weekend company! But it seems so strange!
It's hard to tell when the fall leaves are going to be good. Last fall we hit the road at just the right time. This year the weather has been crazy - it was actually 88 degrees HERE at Newport just two weeks ago. I talked to G that evening and said we had Nebraska weather today - 88 and humid. She said, "No you didn't, it was beautiful and 70s here today!" Thanks, G for rubbing that in! But that weather has gone and the East Cascades are getting snow!! Who knows what the trees will do!
Our grand tour starts out going down the coast an hour to turn up the McKenzie River Road and follow it all the way to the Sisters and Bend area. After a couple of nights there we'll swing down thru the Crater Lake Park and down the Rogue River Valley. That's a great road with scenic stops in the forest where the river is especially gorgeous! On to Ashland where we will see one of R's golfing buds who moved there this summer. Oh, and of course, A & J2. THEN since we're so close ... on to Brookings thru the Redwoods (one of my favorite parts). We're staying at the condo we used to rent on vacation. By the time we get back (seven days on the road) we'll be longing to see Miss P and Mr M. And since L&J's 5th anniversary will be upon us, we'll have an excuse to head up to Portland! It'll be fun, fun, fun!
Whales were around alot in September - I saw spouts everyday from the beach or from our dining room table or even as a reward for doing dishes. It was so much fun - I love seeing them. Then we heard that they were feeding off of Rocky Creek Viewpoint so we went on a day trip. Yep, they were there! 5 of them and close enough to hear them spout. (That sound always gives me goosebumps!) We haven't gotten the trick of catching the spouts on camera but you can see the ghost of the spout in the middle of this picture. The rock-looking hump there is the whale back as he heads back down for more food. It was a gorgeous day. The waves were huge and the "splooshes" were awesome against the rocks. I could stand or sit forever and watch them but we were getting hungry so back to the car and we drove on to eat pizza and then hike on Cascade Head. We did stop on the way back home and communed some more with the whales.
Then Miss P was here for 3 days. We're potty trained now but we expect M&Ms afterwards. She talked to mommy and daddy on the phone and mentioned that she had gone potty but there were no M&Ms. Daddy assured her she'd get them when she got back home. We do cake when she's here so there was no lack of sugar - in case you were worried. When we took her back home, Mr M was all smiles - he knew something was missing and was glad to find her again!
I cheated this fall with my fall post cards. I used preprinted panels that I'd had forever and hadn't used. They turned out great. G sent me Halloween buttons last year and I put them to good use.
Happy Fall Everyone!
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