Sunshine!

 The Cambria forecast last week said rain, rain, rain 

so we are celebrating the sunshine.

Today we visited the Piedras Blancas lighthouse -

ok, the lighthouse gate, which is as close as we’ve ever been. 

Some day we may actually get closer, but we’ve been saying that for yearrrrrs.

A short way down the road is the elephant seal rookery, 

which the kids were excited to see again. 

Lots of seals and a few pups were lined up on the sand,

within easy viewing distance of the boardwalk. 

It’s always fun to watch these giants snooze and grunt and throw sand on each other. 

Flowers along the path and at our rental house - 

Vacay

We’re taking a little trip with the grandkids while they are out of school for President’s Week. 

First stop - Solvang for strudel apple bread and cookies 

View from the upper deck 

then on to Cambria where we’ve rented a house (Sea and Sand) til Friday.

 Upper balcony

This is Donovan’s first extended trip with us and I was kinda worried how he’d do away from mom and home.

 Upstairs living area

So far … he’s doing great! He’s enjoying the adventure and both he and his BFF Jac are having a blast. 

 Downstairs bedroom

Of course it helps that half the van was packed with their favorite toys. 🙄

 Downstairs living room

The weather forecast is unpredictable, to say the least, and seems to change hourly. We thought the drive north today would be in heavy rain, but we had blue skies all the way. 

 Kitchen

The afternoon forecast said clear skies for the next few days and tonight it’s pouring. 

 Dining room

But Leo has her phone, Jac and Donovan have their toys (and iPads) and hubby and I have books (and iPads), so come rain or shine, we’ll be fine. 

 Upstairs bedroom

Now if Donovan would quit worrying about tsunamis …….

Rainy Day Fun

Quilt forts,

and rainbow lights 

by a fire on a rainy day.

Making memories.

Binding Chicken

 When it comes to playing binding chicken*, you win some 

Leftovers - a little too close for comfort

and you lose some. 

Short by less than 3”, dang it!

This is the first time I’ve had to make franken-binding - sewing scraps together to make big enough piece to finish a project.

But it worked!

* Binding chicken = will there be enough binding to make it all the way around the quilt??

Ziggy Quilt

Ziggy, aka the “this thing is never going to be done” quilt, is finally finished. 

The idea was to use up the remaining fabric from Spike Strip (here)

and get more practice making different types of half rectangle triangles (HRTs).

“B” HRTs

HRTs are different from half square triangles (HSTs) in that HSTs are all made the same way and can be rotated into whatever position your design needs. 

Adding “A” HRTs

HRTs are either right-leaning or left-leaning, no rotating one into the other, and you need to plan which one you need where. 

And why was this ‘never ending’? It was supposed to be a quick, short quilt, just a practice drill and on to other things. 

But I didn’t like the half-row arrowhead-y things ⬆️ …

and then it was too skinny and out of proportion (38x61” is not pretty) …

and I might as well use up allllll the remaining fabric …

45x61”

Yeah. It’s finally done - there are exactly two 4x8” pieces of fabric left. Hooray! - and hubby and I both love it. (It’s still going to charity unless someone I know wants it . . . Speak up if that’s you!)

Things to remember for next time: fabric pieces must be 2:1 ratio- don’t try to fudge it. 

When sewing triangles together, leave a 3/4 to 1” “dog ear” on either end rather than the usual 1/4”. 

To trim up, place ruler and cut slight amount off top and one side; flip entire block and slide ruler to correct size, then trim remaining 2 sides. 

Good BlocLok HRT videos here. 

Grand Girls Rule

 Clear the roads! 

Leia got her driving permit today, passing the written test on her first try. Whoo!

How can she be fifteen-and-a-half already?? Seems like she was a toddler just yesterday …

Jac performed in her first school play today, Grammar Rocks. 

She said she was nervous about being on stage but you couldn’t tell. She was rockin’ it and having a blast. 

First in line afterward for cupcakes and grapes

This was at least our third time watching a grandkid in this play. I’m a tiny bit sad it’ll probably be our last time, since Donovan goes to a different school. All the littles are growing up too fast.

Jac and her best buddies

Bits and Pieces

One of the last pieces of the bathroom remodel went in this week.

Everybody should have their own kraken, right?? And mermaid and pirate ship! Everyone loves it except Donovan, who hasn’t made up his mind yet. (Love the curved shower rod too.)

Leo and Jac, waiting for tutoring to start. I love Tutorific. We’ve been going here for over 2 years and I’m still impressed that every kid I’ve seen is happy when they go in and happy when they come out. 💕

Donovan, 5, drew, colored and cut this out for me today, then taped it to the fridge so I would find it later. Hand drawn, not traced. The boy has talent!

I’m converting another of hubby’s family’s 70+ year old albums into a book so we can all have a copy, and treated myself to a toy essential equipment to make it easier. 

Using my phone to photograph the pages is soooooo much faster than scanning, and with better quality. The ‘brick’ - an extendable selfie stick - has LED fill lights on both sides by the phone and the arm rotates 360° and extends up to over 3’. Definitely worth the $. (Plus, I love toys.)

I think our total rainfall last week was 5.5”… and we’re due for more next week (or so they say.) We may still float away.