6.18.2015

Season Passes

A nice thing about having season passes to the zoo is you can pack up and go, on the spur of the moment, whenever you want.
 
Leia and Leanne were both here on Tuesday, so we did just that, 
 
stopping behind a local craft store to grab some cardboard for the girls' favorite hill slide.
  
Normally we bring some from home, but forgot this time in the whole, spur-of-the-moment thing. 
 
They would both, happily, spend all day here,
 
as long as we kept them supplied with apple juice and snacks.
 
Other things they love doing - the wind tunnel, where Leia held tight to a scared Leanne the first time through. The second time though, Leanne had just as much fun as her big cousin -
 
feeding the goats and trying to feed the sheep; 
 
the goats are very pushy, so it becomes a game of distract and toss to get pellets to the sheepies -
 
and Leia putting on a singing, dancing stage show to her audience of one.
 
And of course we can't forget feeding the giraffes. Michael is the main attraction,
  
maintaining his star status
 
and keeping the ladies (Audrey, in this case) from sharing the bounty. 
 
We were told he would head-butt Audrey if she got in the way or if we attempted to feed her. 
 
Made me want to sneak her some lettuce, but I refrained. Next time though . . . .

6.17.2015

Quilt Run Traditions

In the three years we've been making the quilt run, Reyna and I have developed a few traditions. I always drive; she always plans our itinerary and navigates our 12 hour, 390 mile, 8 shop odyssey.
My Orcutt purchases. Love, love, LOVE the Martian print - "Greetings, Earthlings!"

Our first stop is always Old Town Quilts in Orcutt, one of our favorite non-local shops, where we usually always blow our budget. I knew I was in trouble this year when I spent 2/3's of my "budget" in this one shop. 
 My Run fabric purchases.

We always Run on Friday, the first day of the 3-day extravaganza. Except this year I had an non-negotiable obligation on Friday, so we headed north on Saturday instead, hopscotching our way from Orcutt to Santa Maria and Paso Robles before starting south again with the two shops in Atascadero. Traffic wasn't nearly as bad as I expected on the weekend - a pleasant surprise!
 
We always collect and display the colorful ribbons each shop hands out in the goody bags. After the run, my ribbons go to the little girls for hair ties or to play with.
 My non-fabric purchases.

We always save the three local shops for the day following our day-long trip. This year I persuaded hubby to go with me to Roxanne's in Carpinteria, my last stop, by promising him lunch on  the beach in Mussel Shoals.
 
Such a hardship for both of us!
 
And my favorite tradition of all - we always purchase something in each shop for our buddy who is forced (forced!) to work at our favorite local quilt shop during the Run. Debbie tells us what she'd like, gives us $$ to spend and a bag to bring home her treasures.
 
This year, she wanted colorful batiks, "like a stained glass window", with no blacks or browns.
 
Judging from her reaction, I think we nailed it.   


6.16.2015

Heidi Bears Elephant

Started this guy over Memorial Day weekend, when I taught a class on making Heidi's hexagon turtle, and finished him up this week.
 
I'm in love. Bodie's* such a sweetheart in all his rainbow finery.
 
Before this, Heidi's hippo pattern was my favorite. But her Elephant is just as easy to make and even cuter when finished. Those ears!!
 
The yarn is Cotton Classic Lite, leftover from making Rainbow Rabbit last year. I do love making things from leftover stash!
 
Heidi's pattern calls for plastic pellets, sewn into a bag and placed in Bodie's buttockal area, to help offset the weight of his trunk. Since I didn't have pellets, I sub'd 18 shiny pennies, sewn securely into a small cloth bag I made from quilt scraps. Works great!

 
I thought I was over the hexagon animals bug, but apparently not. Pretty sure Bodie needs a smaller buddy to keep him company.

* According to Leia and Addy, all elephants are named "Bodie" in honor of Denver Zoo's star performer and the girl's favorite pachyderm. You can read more about him here; scroll down, the story is worth it.

6.15.2015

Bowls!

I took a fabric bowl class Sunday at my fav quilt store, with my fav quilty cohort*.
 
I'm addicted.
 
The class and teacher were great - although I wish she'd had more than one bowl template since we all had to share it -
 
and best of all, I finished my project in class.

Then, came home and started another . . . . .
which I finished today. 
 These are fast, easy and fun. 
 
I'm planning to start experimenting with shapes once I'm sure I have the technique down pat. Maybe one more using this pattern, since hubby already has his fabric picked out.

* Quilty cohort's bowl, using pieces from her fabulous stash of batiks. Beautiful!

6.13.2015

Par For The Course

A little while ago, Pop and I snagged Leia as soon as she got out of school and headed for Ventura and golfing.
  
Ok, miniature golfing.
  
The weather was perfect and Leia was in rare form, strutting around the course, singing and laughing the whole time.
  
Such a great day.

 Already planning her next shot. 

And the best part?
 
Even with her "creative" score keeping - hit the ball 6 times and call it a "3"?? Yeah, "creative" - I still won!
  
Pretty sure that's a first for me!

6.12.2015

Hair Sparkles

Leanne has needed a trim for awhile, but refused to let her mom either cut her hair or take her to have it cut.
  
Enter grandma - and bribery.
 
I searched online for a kid's hair salon and found a local, highly rated place that promises glitter and fancy bows at no extra charge. 
 
Leanne was very pleased with her 3" off the back and extra sparkles. And I didn't even have to resort to the ultimate bribe - "strawberry frozen cream with frogs*".


*Strawberry frozen yogurt with large gummy frogs, Leanne's very favorite treat. 

6.11.2015

Food, Sleep and Princess Dresses

What happens when you get a far-flung family together over the course of several days? Especially when there are little girls involved?

You get silly girls; 

  
lots of sleepy girls;
On Daddy's shoulder.

After Disneyland.
 
In her food (almost).

On Grandma's lap.

princesses of all sizes;

 
and lots of family pics,
 
although not everyone will be in any one shot.
 
And while the pictures aren't perfect,
 
they are treasures to me!