STITCH quilts at the library

We hung our annual art quilt show at the Gig Harbor Library over the weekend, so come on out and take a look! The show will hang at least through the end of June and maybe longer -- the library staff never wants us to take it down. We hung 40-some quilts by the eight members of my art quilt group, STITCH.

Included in the show is the "This Is Me" challenge, in which we each created a small quilt to represent something about ourselves. Here are a few:

Carol's, above, is called "Falling Apart At the Seams." Judy's, below, is "Organized Chaos." Do you detect similarities?

Linda's, below, is a delightful combination of things she loves -- flowers, quilts, her golf husband, books, chandeliers.

This bird quilt isn't in the library, but I'm showing it anyway because one of my parakeets escaped to the bedroom over the weekend and perched on my "Thirty Birds" quilt. I got him off before he had time to do any business on it.

Have a colorful day

On the road with the Feet & Forks

Kandi and Joyce on a rest stop walk.

The Feet & Forks hit the road this past week to hike, eat and generally have fun in the Bend/Sunriver, Oregon, area. This first post will be about our encounters on the road.

Our first little walk was at this scenic rest stop off of I-5 somewhere between Tacoma and Portland.

From top: Joyce, me, Kandi.
Nancy couldn't make the trip.

Hours later and over the river and through the woods, we pulled into the Crescent Moon Alpaca Ranch in Madras, Oregon. The alpacas seemed to be enjoying the day, grazing, nursing and snoozing in the sun.

By then, I was starving. We fortified ourselves at the Mazatlan Mexican restaurant a little way down the road in Redmond.

Taco salads and quesadillas.

We got someone to take our picture in the restaurant's lobby. Love those cheery yellow walls!

THEN WE SPENT MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING HIKING AND EATING. I'LL BLOG ABOUT THAT IN THE NEXT POST.

These next few photos are from the drive home. We had some spectacular skies and mist in the mountains as we headed back on 26 through the high desert and down through the mountains on the west side.

At the bottom of the mountain, we slid into Sandy, Oregon, and right into the parking lot of Joe's Donut Shop. Fabulous, fresh donuts! I ate a marionberry jelly donut there and brought home two maple bars for the friend who told me about Joe's and two custard filled chocolate iced donuts for myself. Yum! Joe's was started in 1974 by a guy named ... Joe.

Traffic through the Portland area is always backed up, and yesterday was no exception. But we entertained ourselves with music and talk. It's amazing how we can fill a six-hour drive with talk about everything from new restaurants to computer shortcuts.

Now that my car is back home in the garage, I realize how dirty it got on some of those unpaved roads. I almost hate to wash away the memories.

More tomorrow.

Have a colorful day

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day 

to my beautiful mom,

RoseMarie!

She's always smiling.

 She loves her flowers ...

her sweets ...

and calls from her four kids

and three grandkids.

She loves Bunners

(but who doesn't).

And the big love of her life is my dad. Here they are last week after he got home from a night at the hospital without her after suffering a small stroke. This is the night he got home, goofing around with his sweetie while fixing dinner.

Love you, Mom!

Strength within you ...

Sometimes the strength within you

is not a big fiery flame

for all to see,

it is just a tiny spark that whispers

ever so softly,

"You got this. 

"Keep going."

That was today's yoga wisdom from Jillian,

quilts by me,

and flowers from my yard.

Have a colorful day

Talk about your joys

The joy I'm talking about today is my weekend visit with my daughter in Spokane and snuggling all of her bunnies, including the five babies that her rescue rabbits just had.

Twelve-year-old Bunners.

That's Bunners sleeping on my lap. She's  been loved by our family for almost 13 years. She's a little old lady now and so sweet. She sleeps most of the day.

Juniper, the new dad.

Now about those rescue rabbits. Her friend found two domestic rabbits huddled under a car and called Julia to help rescue them. It turns out they were dumped by a neighbor. Julia brought them home, cleaned them up, and three days later the mom had five babies.

The big white rabbit that I'm holding is the proud papa. She named him Juniper because that's what he smelled like when she found him.

Julia with Ebony, the mama.

The black bunny being snuggled by Julia is Ebony, the mom. She looks an awful lot like Bunners but is a little bigger.

Here is the pile of babies after about eight days ... two spotted ones, two black ones, and a giant grey one. Since this picture was taken they've opened their eyes!

Julia will have the parents neutered, but she can't afford to have all of the babies fixed. When she adopts them out she will ask the new owners to neuter them in order to stop the cycle. She will keep them all until the babies are weaned.

Dilly, the spotted one, and Charlie are bonded.

These last two photos show her own three bunnies, Charlie, Dilly and Bunners. They hit the jackpot getting her for their mom!

Julia with Charlie and Bunners.

 Have a colorful day

Miracles in a simple bouquet

Sunshine and flowers -- what could be more uplifting? I often treat myself to an inexpensive grocery store or farmers market bouquet, and that simple indulgence gives me such a lift. If the bouquet is sparse, I fill it in with baby's breath, which I love for its sweet innocence and airiness.

The other day I was sitting in the kitchen and suddenly the path of the sun shifted and illuminated the flowers on the counter. Before the sun had a chance to shift again and cast the flowers into evening shadows, I grabbed my camera and began capturing the miracle.

Lady Bird Johnson was so right when she said,

"Where flowers bloom

so does hope."

And Buddha said, 

"If we could see the miracle 

of a single flower clearly,

our whole life would change."

As I delved deeper into the bouquet,

I discovered dozens of miracles.

And when I'm feeling down,

I remember this quote by Robert Leighton:

"The flower that follows the sun

does so even on a cloudy day."

Have a colorful day