Happy Friday to you!  I've been out and walked 4 miles already; when I started it was cool, but by the time my friend and I got back it was heating up.  After my friend left, I chatted with another neighbor and now just having an iced coffee. I'm waiting for my daughter to arrive to drop off her dog for the weekend. I love having family that you can trade dog sitting with-makes life so much easier. Both families are camping together this weekend; we were supposed to have two other dogs as well, but with Copper being so young yet and not being able to take her to the lake near the campground for the day tomorrow, Carrie decided to board their two.  I really didn't like that idea, but  there could be times when we aren't here and they need to board the dogs.  We don't have plans for today, but tomorrow will go hang out with the family.  Today I will spend at the sewing machine putting squares together with the second quilt I started in Sister's.  My wall hanging is all pinned and ready for quilting; I want to get the second quilt done and pinned as well.  Once football starts I love having a quilt to work on.
I also have Christmas presents I will need to begin.
I hope you have a great day and weekend.
Joy to you!
Noreen

Calling All Hand Quilters

Greetings to you friends!  I hope the week has flown by for those working and been relaxing for those  who aren't.  In my post yesterday, I showed the wall hanging I made from my Sister's class; I have been pondering what type of hand quilting to do on it.  Thankfully, I have a friend whose mom quilted for most of her life and when she passed, my friend inherited her stencils. On Tuesday, I went over to see what she had and what a bonanza!  I found eight possibilities, out of 30+ and came home with them.  I had already picked my favorites, but wanted to really look at them closely.  Well, yesterday I traced the three I choose and am happy with the designs.  For the big snowball block-mostly white, I choose a Dahlia for the center; it's the perfect size for the square.  For the small center of the red square, I choose a small round pattern, with lots of stitching.  The border was easy-a feather pattern.  During our travels, I found that quilt stores just aren't carrying stencils for hand quilters anymore; they say there isn't the demand there once was.  I was so disappointed.  I have a fair number of stencils, but always looking for more.  So for you hand quilters, do you have a source where you get your stencils?

On another subject-the Soberances fire in northern California:  I talked to my girlfriend last night and although they've faced wildfires before, this one is scary.  She has spent two days working with neighbors to cut down undergrowth around the road.  She said that from her back deck all she could see was a wall of flames two ridges over.  "Maybe a mile by how the crow flies".  I can't believe they haven't yet been evacuated, at least last night.  They've had four helicopters flying over the area dropping water, circling continually; I would want to be down the mountain by now.  I had hoped to find a photo of the area of her deck, but can't seem to locate one.  They've done all they can possibly do to protect their home, now it's up to the fire fighters. Here is a pic from Aletha's deck last night, taken by her son.  The flames are behind the far ridge-looks a bit away, but still.....

Noreen

It's outdoor Wednesday and I will be going on a bike ride shortly. I wanted to update you all on the Carmel Valley fire~although I haven't talked to my friend today, as of late last night they were still on call about when they needed, if they needed to evacuate. Although they've lived in the mountains for 20+ years, one never gets used to the threat of wildfires. It was two ridges over from her home-which seems like a lot, but fires can jump ridges in no time. Their forecast is hot and humid, with wind, until Sunday. I'll be calling her soon to check in. I would either be wanting to stay at home or have my car loaded with everything, including the dogs if I needed to run into town. This reminds me to continue to pray for those being impacted by wildfires and for those brave men and women fighting them.

 So on to a different subject~I wanted to share some of the stores we went to in the Bend area. Of course, the first one is a well known store in Sisters, The Stitchin Post. We visited it 16 years ago when we were there; it is just as fun as I remember.

Next is BJ's Quilt Basket; it is a wonderful store that has so much fabric.  We took our first class there; they have a delightful staff and facility.  Loved it.

The Quilter's Attic was a cute, little store. It is for sale and all the fabric was very inexpensive.

Sew Many Quilts was in a warehouse and huge!!! It was two buildings; I got a book there and a panel.  Could have spent hours shopping, but we had the hubby's along and mine was getting antsy.

We enjoyed the upstairs of Quiltworks, where they had a gallery.  So fun to see the different quilts before I got overwhelmed by so many in Sisters.

Well, I haven't yet trimmed the border but here is my first project-I've got to trim it up today and then draw in the patterns I will be quilting. It isn't perfect, but I love it and think it will make a great Christmas wall hanging.  I have a new saying-Perfection is over rated.  I don't want my quilts to look like they were manufactured overseas on a machine.  I strive to do my best, but I have gotten to the point where I'm not going to hide my projects because they aren't award winners.

I hope you have a great day, filled with contentment. If you live near an area that is besieged with fires, please be safe. Hugs,
Noreen

California Wildfires

It is late Tuesday afternoon and I had a different post in mind~that is until I got a text that said there is a wildfire in Carmel Valley.  All the fires in California have me concerned, but this one imparticularly-because my best friend since high school lives in the mountains above Carmel Valley and they are always on the lookout.  I texted her immediately and while the fire is a couple of ridges over, she was being evacuated at the moment.  The hills are covered with shrub oak, dry grasses and dry trees and the fire is too close to them.  How does one evacuate on a moments notice?  Hopefully, for those that live in the mountains, surrounded by trees, you have things ready to be packed in the cars quickly.  I've seen reality shows where they do a fire drill to see just how long it takes to get things loaded and get out.  When we lived in northern Ca. we backed up to open space, we had wildfires that were just too close for comfort.  My heart goes out to all those who are facing this, whether in California or Colorado or another state.  Bless the firefighters and crews working in such dangerous conditions.  May those who have lost their homes be comforted by others.  My angels assist those fighting the blazes and keep them safe.

Noreen

Good Morning Friends~it is hard to believe that this is the last Monday of July. Where or where did the month go?  Where or where has the summer gone?  Most kids go back to school by mid-August and that's just a couple of weeks away. This summer has been so hot and I know many of you are having extreme heat waves.  We've been in the 90's and low 100's for the last week; this week we have a mix of 90's and high 80's.  Not sure what I'm up to today, but it will definitely include a bike ride.  It's been a long time since we've ridden on a regular basis; hubby is just too busy.
I hope you have a great day and stay cool!
Sending love your way.
Noreen

Family Birthday Time

Happy Friday to you! I hope your week has been productive and some of your days have been filled with doing what makes your heart sing! Last Sunday, Grandson 'Mr. B' and hubby had birthdays~Mr. B turned 13 (we now have two teenage boys in the family)and hubby turned 64. We had previously celebrated hubby's birthday, so had a lunch to celebrate Mr. B's. Here is he after a wonderful lunch with his strawberry sundae.

Flowers that some of the girls planted.

More flowers that other girls in the family planted.

Below the kiddos are playing.

I

I love Copper's expressions!

I love this pic of the girls-look at the joy they elude.

Behind the sunflower and to the left you can see one of the girls on the zipline.  The kids love it.

Yes the kiddos have to climb up a platform anchored to the telephone pole.  None have a fear of heights-thankfully. Of course, the 3 yr olds need help grabbing onto the handle.

Well I'm off to power walk this morning-it's been several weeks and I just hope I get my rhythm back.
I've already got laundry going and will be doing some chores when I get back.  
Have a great day!
Noreen

A Dog's Life

It's Thankful Thursday and today I am so very thankful for the dogs that make up part of our family. To me a house isn't a home, without a dog living there. I have a sign in my sewing room that says "Life without a dog, I don't think so" and that sums up my heart on the matter. So we had Lily over last weekend and Hunter just loves her. They are so much alike and get along so well.

Of course, Copper has stolen our hearts as well. She has the sweetest temperament of any dog I've ever known, besides Hunter of course. She is so intelligent and loves to please.

The two other dogs I love to pieces belong to Kim's family. Sampson, now around 13 yrs old, is a huge Newfie mix weighing in at 120 lbs. He is one incredible dog and has saved the family and little ones from many snakes. While he does shed, he is worth his weight in gold. It's going to be a sad day when Sampson is no longer around. The smallest pup in Kim's household is Petrol~a miniature Schnauzer who is more the size of a toy. She is smart and loyal and fits in perfectly.
I'm off walking this morning and then will meet the girls and grands at the pool, for water play and lunch.  I hope you have a fantastic, blessed Thursday.
Joy to you!
Noreen

Smith Rock State Park

Happy Wednesday to you. Today I'm meeting a friend so that we can walk and catch up. On the last day of our stay in Redmond, Oregon we ventured to a State Park called Smith Rock. It was beautiful! Besides having a lovely hike, we spotted some climbers. Of course, I was drawn to them immediately.

Forgive the size of the next three photos, but I wanted you to see what we saw.  This is a new addition to rock climbing(or at least new to me)called Slack lining.  It reminded me of a high wire act or tight rope act at a circus.  It was fascinating to watch.

The person fell, but thankfully was harnessed in.

Then he/she had to work to get back up on the line.  We watched for a half an hour-riveting.

This was such a wonderful place to hike. I could have spent all day there.  I loved the blue sky and clouds in the last photo.
A girlfriend's son has a slack line rigged up at her house.  I'd be interested in it if I was younger.
I hope you have a day filled with joy!
Noreen

Natural Balance Salmon Jerky Review

Hunter loves it when the Fed Ex man brings a package to the door. He knows that it means he gets to try another sample from Mr. Chewy.  As a #Chewy Influencer, I love it too.  It is a great way to find products your dog will love; if not, you've saved yourself some money.  I do buy all our treats each month from Chewy and love everything about the company~the incredible customer service, the variety of treats and food as well as the prices.  Hunter loves Salmon, in any form and these were a great hit with him.  You can tell by his dancing.   They are a great size and I break them in thirds to add to his kibble.  Sometimes, he gets one on a special occasion.

Here is what Natural Balance says about their product:

Helps support a healthy immune system! Made with more than 80% of the high quality protein dogs love, Natural Balance L.I.T. Limited Ingredient Treats Immunity Support Jerky is formulated with antioxidant vitamins C and E to help support a healthy immune system. Your dog not only gets an amazingly tasty jerky treat, but you'll be happy knowing that you're helping to keep your dog healthy at the same time.

Key Benefits

• Grain-free, limited ingredient treat
• Made with salmon
• No corn or wheat
• No artificial flavors or colors
• With antioxidant vitamins C & E
• Great for puppies and adults
• Made in the USA!

You've got to love any product made in the USA.  

Thank you to all the staff at Chewy for providing us with such an excellent program. These treats were provided to us for our honest review; we didn't receive any compensation other than the treats themselves.  These are winners and we will definitely be ordering some. Make sure you go buy and check out all their items.  You can find them here: https://www.chewy.com

Noreen and Hunter

Eye Candy

Happy Monday to you all. I hope you had an enjoyable weekend and got to do some things that feeds your spirit. I still have one more day of sharing Oregon with you, but wanted to share a few more quilts and miscellaneous items with you. As you know, Sisters had a big quilt show and the town was decked out in full array the entire week. The towns nearby~Bend, Redmond and smaller towns were also doing their best to draw quilters in and provide classes as well as sales for them. One store in Bend actually had a gallery filled with quilts~this is where I saw these dog quilts.
 This is the pattern for the small wall hanging I'm making, except mine is in red and white for Christmas.

I was missing our Hunter, so when I saw a group of dog  quilts I had to take photos of them.

This horse quilt was beautiful and so detailed, with shading etc. In fact, on a wall next to it was a quilt with elephants on it-it was spectacular, but now photos were allowed.

Found this sign in Sisters and it looks perfect hanging above our fireplace, it says it all.

Barb had a welcome basket for me-she made the basket herself(she's so talented), filled it with books whose story line was quilting, two fat quarters, some notions and three Row by Row patterns.

Another dog quilt. I've  always loved Border Collies and this quilt was so pretty.

Some of the patterns from quilt stores on the way to Bend that Barb picked up for me.

Loved this patriotic quilt.

I spent a bit of time on Saturday and  yesterday downstairs working on my wall hanging.  I've got my other quilt pinned on the wall, but want to finish the Christmas one first.  We also celebrated two birthdays yesterday-our second grandson Mr. B turned 13 and hubby has one year before he can get Medicare. You know you're getting older when social securing and medicare are things you look forward to.  The family had already thrown a bd party for hubby at the end of June, so we had lunch with the family, which is always such fun and then I took hubby out for dinner.  He has always been a person who doesn't like a lot of attention over his birthday and doesn't want presents.  Recently he lost his Hydroflax insulated water bottle, so I got him a new one and also a gc to our favorite restaurant.  WE were still so full from lunch that we only had Starters for dinner-we shared a Caesar salad and he had lobster stuffed shrimp while I had mussels. It was the perfect size; he also got a free dessert for his birthday.
Today I'm thinking about walking and riding~I've got to get back in the routine. I walked this weekend but seemed more tired afterwards.  Amazing how that can happen so quickly.  I'm still trying to get into my routine and trying to get around to everyone's blog to catch up.
I hope you have a great day.
Noreen

2016 Sisters Quilt Show

Happy Friday Friends! Here are most of our photos from Sisters Oregon. I will say that they aren't in order, but I know you'll enjoy them just the same. The weather was pleasant and not too hot-which would have made it a much shorter day. The Quilters Affair which organizes the show and all the classes has a whopping 1300 quilts on display, throughout the town and in the stores. I've been to some big shows, but not for years and this one was phenomenal! I can tell you that by the end of the day, I was pretty wiped out and the quilts were starting to look alike to me.

This old Model A truck had the bed filled with flowers.  It was in such good shape.

Flowers abounded everywhere, not only in Sisters but also in Bend and Redmond.

Loved this barn.

I posted the pic below on FB and someone asked if we were really in the paper-the answer is no, it was a prop.

This shot of Main Street doesn't show how crowded it really was.

The week was so jam packed that there was little down time.  Now back at home, my days are a bit slower, but still filled. I've got one quilt up on the wall so I can begin sewing the blocks together.  The other red and white wall hanging is where I put it-still want to work on that this weekend.
I hope you've enjoyed this; I've got more pics for next week.  I hope that what ever your creative outlet is, you'll find time to enjoy it this weekend.
Joy to you~
Noreen