Ahoy in August!

Welcome to some views of the wonderful days my youngest daughter and her husband helped me enjoy at Tillamook Oregon State Beach while camping in their trailer with them.

The weather was the best I have ever experienced in the years that I have gone there and we always have a great time visiting with cousins, aunts, and uncles as well.

On my first time down to the beach, I found this pretty sand dollar shell peeking out of the sand. The other side is broken in the middle, but I still think the shell is beautiful.  I brought it home and have it nested in a little basket of pinecones on my bedside table.

Just one day we had some rain.  On that day we went into the town of Tillamook and visited the museum.

The cabin living room exhibit is one of my favorites because of all the crafts and crafting equipment that is displayed.

One little stitching project I completed in August was this thick crocheted rectangular hot mat.  When you follow a free diagonal potholder pattern available on Ravelry, instead of sewing the potholder edge together on the diagonal, you keep stitching around and around until you have the size rectangle you want and then join the edge.

On one hot sunny August afternoon, I stopped by to visit with dear blogging friends, Teresa, Dayle and their sweet little dog, Mocha at their farm. They generously sent me home with a gorgeous dozen fresh eggs with shells of many pretty colors from their happy flock of hens. Yum! Then I drove a little further east along the mighty Columbia River and stopped at the Women's Forum viewpoint to enjoy this view.

 Thanks to the vision and hard work of many who came before us this amazing view is more accessible for many.

Several years ago I made a new friend, MJ,  at church.  She and her husband have a collection of antique sewing machines and they sold me this Featherweight model Singer.  After I had accidentally clogged the threading mechanism they serviced the machine for me and last week MJ sat with me coaching me how to avoid clogging the mechanism again!

Beginning August with glorious days at the ocean, I end August by using this lovely acrylic yarn to start crocheting a baby blanket in a double crochet stitch pattern that reminds me of beautiful iridescent ocean waves.

While much of the foliage around me is at the height of lushness, I have noted some leaves on the tips of branches that are turning red or brown as the season shifts...the ebb and flow of seasons that both please me and cause me to feel nostalgic. Do seasonal shifts tug at your feelings as well, and does the beauty of nature inspire the design of your crafting?



Gracie ((hugs))  :-)


Let heaven and earth praise Him,
The seas and everything that moves in them.  Psalm 69:34 NKJV