Busyness and Business

I have been so busy lately that I know that this blog is getting neglected!  I'm checking in today with pictures of what I have been up to and will not be able to check in again for another week, probably.  Some of our house guests have just left, my mother is still here visiting--hasn't been in this area for five years-- and I'm swamped with the final end of the year holiday apron orders for my wholesale buyer!  So here is a recap of my last week's activities:

Son, mother and hubby watching baseball 

Grandson, Indiana at bat

With Sister-in Laws at the Seattle Space Needle.     

 Visiting with family:

Daugher, granddaughter, daughter with mom and me

Now, I need to get to the sewing machine . . . . see ya next week!

Oregon Coast Visit

A blogger friend posted some pictures of the environs around her home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Lake Michigan, to be exact.  I love her pictures.  I gave me the idea to post a few more of my pictures from our vacation at the Oregon coast.  I hope you enjoy them. sorry you can't smell the sea air! 

Personally, I enjoy the little interlude from sewing! 

Vacation Memories

Recently we took a vacation to Sisters, Oregon for the Sisters Outdoor quilt show.  We visited the surrounding area, and then also took a week away at the beach.  I've been sharing quilt pictures here on Wednesdays.  Here's a couple of beach:

Anyway, my favorite team on Etsy, the Blogging Business Artisans,  has a monthly creative challenge.  This month's challenge: 

"We are into vacation season in July -- create something that brings back a favorite vacation memory, something that represents a place you've visited or one you'd like to visit, colors or scents associated with a special place . . . . Make it fun!!" 

I remember taking vacations as a girl with my dad and mom.  We almost always went to the mountains!  I still have a love of pines. So . . .sew . . . I decided to make a little pillow cover representing those memories. 

This was a fun project!  Please take some time to visit the Blogging Business Artisan blog to see what the other participants have come up with.  

Vacation Photos

Home for a day or two, in the middle of our vacation, sew . . . .I will just post a few pictures from our weekend, including the Sister's Oregon Outdoor Quilt show (will do an in depth post on it later--after vacation is over!).

Small roadside lake with  timber clear cut in the background

view from our lodgings-- two of the three Sisters peaks 

Relaxing evening on Clear Lake

Sahalis Falls with sunshine thru the mist

Sisters Oregon quilt show 

OK, now off again to the beach!  See ya later! 

Linking today with:

Create-with-Joy's Inspire Me Monday 

Vacation and Christmas in July

Today begins the Christmas in July sale on Etsy, and it is also the beginning of my vacation.  Sew. . . I have decided to hold the SALE in my Creations shop anyway, but I will not be able to ship orders until the 25th!

  Please stop by and take a look --you might find a gift at a GREAT Price!

Don't forget to use the coupon code provided -- even on the close-out section!

Bakersfield, my hometown

I recently spent nearly two weeks in my hometown.  It is so different than where I live now.  Some of my blog friends wanted to see pictures of the vacation, sew . . . here goes.  I will share some pictures of my hometown today and a few more pictures of the buildings later this week.

I am from the San Joaquin Valley in California, from the oil and agriculture belt of the southern valley. There is water that is piped in from the Kern River that feeds fields of cotton, grapes, orange trees and almond trees.  But most of the surrounding area is dry. My dad worked for a company that supported the oil industry, so although the oil wells are ugly, they were responsible for our support during my upbringing. The country side is not the most beautiful, and not many landscape plants like this area.

View from Panorama Drive Bluff Park

 

painting in the local airport


Palm trees are everywhere,  these tall ones were recently trimmed.  Other common flora in the area, that we don't have in the PNW, is Crepe Myrtle trees, as shown here in the foreground. In the background, over the top of the building, is a Eucalyptus tree, also common.   They love the dry warm weather. Most of the year is filled with these blue skies, little rain, and summer temps are normally triple digit range. (See why I am so happy to now live in the Pacific Northwest?!)

Several smaller palms were in bloom, as can be seen in the second picture 

Along many of the freeways, you will see Oleander shrubs that also thrive in the climate. They usually display in white, pink or magenta flowers.

dry dead blossoms cover the soil below the shrub

I haven't lived in my hometown for over 25 years!  

It was a nice visit!  How long since you have been home?

Cannon Beach Trip

Recently, hubby and I spent a few days at the beach on the Oregon coast.  We had the most awesome restful time taking loads of pictures and just relaxing.  One day we just leaned up against a big log for some recreational reading to the sound of the surf and the seagulls.

We sat on the beach and took in the sights and sounds on a crisp sunshiny day in January--an odd thing for January!  I thought you might like to enjoy the trip with us.  These are just a few pictures, as we took dozens and dozens of pictures!

Viewpoint in Ecola State Park

This guy was guarding his "catch"!

Sea foam

I'll leave you with the flavor and feel of our stroll down the beach . . . .

 . . . oops, sorry,  use your imagination as to the "flavor" and "feel" part!

Vacation Break

Taking a little break from blogging this week, at the beach!

See ya next week! 

Short interlude . . .

I'm on a little vacation, visitng my grandchildren in Seattle and waiting for our newest grandchild to be born. Will be back to blogging next week--I hope, if the baby gets here!

Vacation!

August Vacation!

For the entire month of August I will be on vacation from this blog!  I may put up a couple of blog posts to keep up with my favorite Etsy team, the Blogging Business Artisans (see our BBA blog here) , but for the most part, I will not be posting here.  Please watch for my return in September on this blog. 

In the meantime . . .

I do have another blog, and will be posting to it, as my vacation is actually a change in focus from handcrafting to writing and my other blog is a creative writing blog.  I will be taking this month to work on some writing projects, which I will share in my Abigal's Attic blog.  The new adventure starts here. See you over there!

Vacation!

Beginning today, I am taking a vacation from the computer!  Need some think time!  Need to develop some new routines!  For this type of thing, the beginning of the year is best for me.  I will probably spend some of the time going to Seattle to visit my grands, and maybe even a little trip to the beach for the rest of the down time!  So . . . .
 I will be back again on January 16th

Vacation OVER!

I'm back from vacation, and ready to start posting again! Although, I probably will not be consistent with this blog until later next week, at the start of September. I re-started my 'Jumping Off Places' linky party in my other blog.  (You can see that post here if you are interested in writing.)

So, while I wind down from vacation and get started posting again on this blog, I thought I would leave you with a few of our vacation pictures.





Hubby, my mom and my sister at Availa Beach




 DH hunting for sand dollars




One of my grands sleeping on the long ride home

The rest of the pictures were mostly poised pictures of family--not of much interest to you peeps!  But it was a good vacation!!!  How was your vacation?

Vacation!

Hi everyone!

It's time for a break! I've been blogging for nearly three years now.  While it has been fun and informative (for me, and I hope for you!) I will not be posting to this blog in the Month of August!  I am taking a much needed vacation!  See y'all in September (maybe late August!) with some new themes and fun tutorials for fall!

In the meantime, I have listed some of my favorite posts in the side bar, maybe you would enjoy reading one of those!  Also, leave your email  in the comments section if you would like to be notified when I return. Have a wonderful end to your summer, and see you in September!!!!!

Thanks to all my loyal followers!

Linda  

Seal Antics

As promised, here are the pictures of a seal at Yaquina Head State Park.  We visited the Lighthouse, then an old quarry where we found several seals lazily relaxing on the rocks just a stone's throw from the human viewing platform. This one seal was not sleeping like the rest of them, but seemed to relish the attention of all the onlookers.  I really don't know what he was doing, it looked like calisthenics and he just kept doing all these 'stretching exercises?'  I  just kept shooting to get these pictures. 

Sorry, the pictures are not more crisp and clear.  My photo program is not working well. Pooh! 

Anyway, enjoy the seal antics!