Progress

I planned to cut the pieces for Naia’s quilt today and start sewing tomorrow, 

but the cutting went so fast, with only one major oopsie - which is why I always buy extra fabric; learned that lesson the hard way! - 

that I was able to get the top finished tonight, except for the borders. Those will go on tomorrow (fingers crossed), then another day to make the “fancy” back and this will be ready for long-arm quilting. Whoohoo!

First Haircut

Donovan got his first haircut yesterday.

He wasn’t thrilled at first

but having Mom close by calmed him right down.

Isn’t he handsome??

And yes, I might be a touch biased. ;-)

40 Bags, Day 2

Pop took the doors off the hall cupboard - 

he’s remaking them to match the adjacent cabinet - 

so cleaning this became project #2.

One bag of trash, one to donate, and two more - full of twin sheets - to Marie’s house. Since I was on a roll, I also cleared off a table in my craft room (1 bag of trash; lots of fabric put away) and sorted through the manuals/warranties junk drawer (another bag of trash). I’ve never made it through all 40 days of the challenge - and I probably won’t this year either - but it sure feels good getting any amount of crap stuff out of the house. 

Naia’s Quilt

For her birthday, we offered to buy Naia something for her brand new Switch (game system) or I could make her a quilt. She chose the quilt! (I’m so happy!)

She likes blues and asked for something with dolphins, so I pulled this gorgeous fabric panel out of my stash, where it’s been waiting a couple of years for the right project,

and searched Etsy and Pinterest until I found the perfect pattern.

 I bought extra of that gray jellyfish fabric for meeeeeeeeeee!

A quick fun trip to a favorite quilt shop, where My Pal Reyna helped me pick fabrics,

and I’m all ready to start cutting and sewing. Hopefully this will come together quickly, with no major hassles. ~crosses fingers ~

40 Bags Challenge

It’s that time of year again and, this time around, it’s crafting clutter that’s in my sights. I’ve done the “40 bags in 40 days” challenge a couple of times before. The idea is that one bag (you decide what size) of crap stuff gets trashed, donated or given away each day for 40 days. 

I get overwhelmed thinking about cleaning out an entire room, so nothing gets done. But I can do one bag - one small area - each day. Small steps, same end goal.

Today I cleared out the weaving yarns and books I had packed away in this cabinet. I sold my 4-harness loom earlier this year and don’t feel the need to buy another. I’m keeping my rigid heddle looms in case I get the weaving bug or the girls want to make something. I kept the books that might be useful for that - and the overshot weaving books I love - but that’s it. 

Everything else - a big trash bag of coned yarns and a box each of weaving books and magazines - is outta here! Hopefully someone at the next spinning and weaving guild meeting will want most of this. The rest gets donated or trashed. 

Belated Birthday

We celebrated Naia’s 18th (!!!) birthday tonight with dinner at Wood Ranch in Burbank

on our way to see Cats at the Hollywood Pantages.

Since we were over an hour a bit early (you can never predict LA traffic, so early is always better)

we walked a block up to the Pie Hole for ice cream (Leia), 

deeeeeelicious fudge pie (Naia, with a bite - ok, 3 bites - for me) and apple crumble for Pop.

Pop and I saw Cats (at the Pantages) when it first come out and I remember it as odd but enjoyable.

It’s definitely still odd (it’s about cats; of course it’s odd).

The girls’ reaction at intermission summed it up pretty well. Naia, “I’m so lost.” Leia, “What the heck is going on???” At the end of the night, they both agreed they had a good time but that seeing Cats once was plenty. (“Memory” is as wonderful as I remember and the woman who performed it tonight was AMAZING. Goosebumps amazing and worth the price of admission all by itself.)

Sister Fun

I was having too much fun during Teena’s four day visit to blog everything, so here’s a quick roundup.

Thursday we took Jac to the zoo, just the three of us. 

 Can you spot all 3 Fennec Foxes?

The day was chilly and overcast, which was perfect. 

There were very few people, plus the animals were more active/closer to the viewing windows.

Chadwick the Lion was Jac’s favorite, grumbling (vocalizing) as he climbed the rocks to window level, just feet from where we were standing. Jac was thrilled!

We were able to hit most of the exhibits - 

including this super laid-back gorilla - 

before it started sprinkling and Jackie-No-Nap decided she’d had enough.

 

Late lunch at Ventura Harbor, including a trip to the pottery guild’s store (so many pretty things!)

and we were still home in time for pizza dinner with the family. 

Friday was whale and shark watching, which left Saturday for visits with cousins and grands.

Isaac, 2 1/2 years, and Donovan, 10 months

Leanne and Travis, both 8 this year

The visit was so much fun and went by way too fast! We need to do this more often.

Whale and Shark Watching

My sister is visiting from Oregon so today we went whale watching.

It’s gray whale migration time, so we hoped we’d see a few whales

and some of the dolphins and porpoises we see on almost every cruise.

With cloudy skies and heavy rain predicted this weekend,

I was afraid the tour might be canceled due to rough seas

but the water was smooth as glass with very little wind. 

Perfect!

Our first non-bird sighting was a basking shark lazily swimming a short distance from our boat. The captain said it’s very unusual to see these in our area.

Then we found blue shark #1 - 

swimming with his bright white mouth open - 

and a short time later, blue shark #2.

We spotted several gangs of sea lions sunning themselves 

but didn’t see a single dolphin. Apparently they don’t hang around when sharks are in the area. 

The highlight of the day was definitely the two pods of gray whales we found. 

We followed the first group for awhile, waiting for them to resurface after dives, but they remained mostly out of (iPhone) camera range. 

The second group was also uncooperative as we followed along, until just before we had to start back for the harbor. Then all three whales 

suddenly breached high out of the water,

one after another.

It was spectacular!!

And the perfect end to a great day.