Summer Show and Tell :)

I love awakening in the night to see the moon through the branches and leaves of the trees around our home.  One night this past week the moon looked like a wondrous blossom decorating the sky while bending to bask the earth in its glow...until the sun took over lighting the cultivated and wild blossoms on earth during the day.

Saturday, my youngest daughter invited her aunt and cousin over for an intro to spinning fiber workshop.  We had a homemade drop spindle made from a dowel, cup hook, rubber grommet, and two CDs for them to try out, and my daughter's Ashford Elizabeth spinning wheel, also. My daughter had two different rovings for them to spin: some white Merino wool, and some Navajo-Churro wool from a zoo sheep named Titan :) 

Today my oldest daughter and her husband and their girls came in from walking around the ponds with a bucket with some of the first ripe blackberries of the 2013 season!  Woohoo!  So then I went out to follow in their footsteps, and while I was at it I went down to the brook and tried to record its sights and sounds for you to enjoy.  While I was sitting still I heard five or six different bird voices ... chirps, cackles, chortles, chuckles, but voices I was sad to realize that I could not identify as specific bird types.  I also heard jets, small planes and cars pass over and by.  Insects whined and buzzed by, two  garter snakes slithered by and two birds and two butterflies landed near me but fluttered away before I could take photos of them. We will see if I succeed in getting Blogger to broadcast the bubbling brook :)

Mmmmm, the blackberries are yummy!  What is ripe and yummy around you?

Gracie xx

Spinning Through July

With my oldest sister, Carolyn, my great niece, Katie, and family friends, Ralph, Rachel and their nearly two-year-old visiting this week, our household is really spinning!  

Carolyn and I had the great pleasure of visiting Teresa and Dayle on their beautiful farm.  Teresa had a lovely table set for us on their deck under the gazebo, and Dayle prepared yummy grilled salmon for us while we brought salad and some cherries to share. ...a beautiful, peaceful, setting with an interesting, creative, and delightful hostess and host :-)

I took Carolyn and Katie to Chariteas in Sandy, Oregon, for delicious rhubarb tea, and I met with a number of women and some of their off spring for several gatherings for church related  activities this week.

We had a bridal shower for our good young friend, Krista, and then enjoyed attending her wedding Saturday afternoon.

And in between all that I finished a crocheted yellow dishcloth.  Knit and tore out some rows on a blue dishcloth and spun a bit more of the wonderful hand painted fiber I purchased from Sosae.

Our weather has been great throughout the week and definitely added a WOW factor to all my activities.  Has the weather enhanced your enjoyment of your week?

xx,
Gracie

Hopping and Bobbing Through Spring

We are having a fabulous stretch of warm Spring weather....particularly so for around Portland, OR.  I am headed out to do some gardening as soon as I finish posting this, but I wanted to give you a glimpse of some of the glory around me.  I tromped around our ponds yesterday particularly to get a photo of a Trillium and I took at least three which along with a picture of my oldest daughter and her youngest daughter hugging her have disappeared....who knows what button I pressed to manage that!  The next to last photo is of my youngest daughter spinning, my oldest daughter watching, and Miss Maggie Rabbit-Saylor wearing a crocheted cap I made for her.  I was trying out a pattern for a preemie hat and tried it on MMRS then got carried away and added a ruffle to it. Then the last photo is after  I added more of a ruffle...I told you I got carried away :-)  I must have Spring Fever......do you?

xx,
Gracie

Dahlia Days

Saturday, on the way home from a wedding dress fitting, my daughters spotted a roadside stand selling Dahlias, so they bought several bouquets for us all to enjoy.  I wondered if the Dahlias came from the field across from Teresa's farm. Then Sunday afternoon we drove south to Canby, OR, to enjoy the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival at the fairgrounds.  I want to try to crochet some pumpkins and squash so I bought a couple of balls of yarn.  I was excited to find a drive band cord for my youngest daughter's spinning wheel, too!  I bumped into some friends from California there which was great fun!  And when I got home and checked my blog I found some comments from some new and some old blog friends!  Thanks so much for visiting!  On September 30, 2012,  I will be drawing a commenter's name in celebration of my first year of blogging; and in thanks for their visit and comments I will be sending them  a  gift.  Will you be the one who will receive a gift?  xxx from Gracie

Gracie's Flock of Sheep :)

Travelogue

Amazingly my photos have traveled from an iPhone 4S

to the iCloud

then to a MacBook Pro...

***WOW***

but learning how to pry them from the MacBook Pro

to share them with you on Blogger

is challenging me today...

...now how did I do it a few days ago =)

ahhhhhhh, yes.

Here are some photos from my trip south, from Portland, OR, to northern CA and back...

Viewing  the Umpqua River Lighthouse south of Florence

 is becoming a tradition for me when I drive the coastal route.

then stopping at the Veterans Memorial

and marveling at the huge sand dunes that are a part 

of the Oregon Dunes National Park area.

South of there I had to stop for road work and had time to

snap some photos of the placid blue Pacific Ocean.

I arrived in Crescent City, CA, just in time to have tea with these

lovely ladies, Windy Weavers =) who I enjoyed meeting

with nearly every Friday afternoon for 7 years while we chatted, and crafted various fiber arts projects.

I never tire of being near the sea and enjoyed this view especially.

The large rock island is called Castle Rock.

Many years ago a shepherd would herd his flock of sheep out into the

water at low tide and have them swim to the island in the spring to have

the flock graze there for the summer.

Sea lions laze on the lower rocks of the island and we could sometimes

hear their funny "orffing" conversations at night when we lay in bed with our window open.

In February thousands of Aleutian Geese land on the island to sleep at night, but every morning

for several weeks they take off in huge Vs across the sky and land in nearby pastures to feast

and store up enough energy so that they can eventually make it back to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.

North Beach

Crescent City Lighthouse

One of the redwood groves and some ferns in the Jedediah Smith

State Park

The weekend passed swiftly and we headed back north to  Portland, OR on Monday.

Then on Tuesday and Wednesday visited some of our favorite local spots...

Chanticleer Point at the Women's Forum along the Columbia river...

an artist's view 

and the following photos are of my journal pages from last week,

 Kate's Challenge

to track reasons we have found to be cheerful =)

How has  your week been?

Hugs from Gracie <3