As some of you may remember I started blogging around nine years ago when I discovered fiber arts blogs that I started to follow. After moving to Oregon I missed the crafters I met with weekly while living in northern California and it took me years to find a weekly crafting group to attend in Oregon, so some of the fiber arts bloggers I followed became dear to me. I never expected to meet any of the bloggers I followed, but I have!
Most recently I met with my local blogging friend,
Teresa, at the Crochet Guild of America Conference at a hotel near the Portland, Oregon, airport...and...with our very talented blogging friend,
Mrs. Macawber, alias Sue Perez! Joy! If you haven't discovered her blog, I hope you will. She very generously and expertly shares crochet patterns and tutorials. She also has patterns you may have noticed published in various crochet magazines. From time to time she also takes bike rides and shares on her blog gorgeous photos of the countryside and wildflowers near where she lives. I have been trying to convince her to publish a book, and am happy to report she is working on one! [No pressure, Sue, but I look forward to purchasing it! :) ]
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| Teresa, Sue, Gracie, and Gracie's sister, Margaret |
My sister, Margaret had just flown up from Burbank, California, a few days prior to the conference. She has done some beautiful stitching projects through the years, too. After visiting with Sue and Teresa for a bit, Margaret and I drove on to meet my youngest daughter and her husband at Cape Lookout State Park on the northern Oregon coast where they were RV camping with some of my son in law's side of the family. It was foggy when we arrived and foggy when we went to check out the ocean the next morning.
But on the way back to the campsite it was not too foggy to see this pretty thistle that reminded me of
Thistlebear another blog I enjoy following. So this is a photo especially for you, Jennifer :)
The next afternoon the fog rolled away long enough for folks, including my sister and daughter and me to go enjoy the beach and ocean in all its glory!
Those of you who have known me for a while know that admiring an ocean from the shore is one of my favorite past times! I knit a dishcloth in between long admiring surveys of the sand and waves and rocks.
While my sister visited we explored possible places I might move to once our house sells, and we also got to see Multnomah Falls on our way to visit with a friend on the other side of Mt. Hood.
This was the only peek of the peak I recorded on my phone camera, but Mt. Hood is amazing to me from any angle, and even if I only record just a bit of its beauty.
My sister went to my Wednesday knitting group with me, and she knit this sweet little preemie hat. The pattern is a simple rectangle starting with about 35 stitches on size 8 needles. She knit until she had about 12 inches in height, then our friend Sue stitched it up the side and closed the top. You could also gather the top to form a bit of a poof.
Just after my sister flew back to California, my youngest daughter gathered our first batch of apples and she and I made some yummy applesauce.
Yesterday I picked the last of our peaches which were flavorful but bruised. It has been particularly hot for a long stretch and I think I did not pick them soon enough.
The plums are still ripening and I am still wondering if we will get to enjoy eating them before we move. I suspect we will.
Our house has been officially on the market for a week and has been shown once to folks who like it enough to put it on their list of possible purchases, but they have not made an offer yet.
Meanwhile, I am grateful to be living here and am amazed it has been nearly nine years since my husband died and we moved into the house.
I am finally packed enough that I have some time to check in with those of you who blog to find out what is new on your blogs; and whether you blog or not, know that as you read this that I am asking the Lord to bless you. :)
Gracie xx
