Gifted x Two

Remember the two quilts that went in the mail earlier this month (here)? 

I sent them to Rachel, who passed them along to the recipients - 

Such a cutie

her BFF, Tanya, and Tanya’s granddaughter, Skyler. 

The star quilt has been in the works since March, when I was given the green leaf fabric and immediately headed to Roxanne’s for something to go with it.

 Competing for space in the design wall

I knew the pattern I wanted to make, 

 Quilted flowers and leaves

which should have made this a quick, easy project… 

 Binding and backing (on the right)

but then the sewing machine woes happened and it stalled for over a month. 

ABCDoggies, on the other hand, took me longer to decide on a design than it did to make the quilt. 

I was pretty happy with this when it went to the longarmer’s, but I was thrilled when it came back. Quilting really made it sparkle.

Bet you thought it would have dog bones, right? Nope! Quilted bunnies make everything better.

Added Skyler’s name in a couple of places for her to find (love that my new machine lets me do this), plus my new favorite curvy-stitch binding to finish it off. 

So happy these are in their new home - and hope they get a lot of use. 💕

Milky W. Caterpillar

 Hooray! Milky W. (Weed) Caterpillar didn’t hatch while we were on vacation. 

So we’re now on pupa/chrysalis watch, waiting for the color change that’s supposed to happen next. Also? Jaclyn is very dramatic. 🙄😂

“What!!!!!!!! my mind has exploded!!!!!!!!!!!”

Lighthouse Ahoy

We’ve wanted to tour the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse for years, 

but we were always in the area on the wrong day or they weren’t doing tours or whatever.  

 Waiting for our tour guide on a cliff where we could hear but not see elephant seals below.

But this trip, I found their website, made reservations ($35 for 5 of us) 

 Elephant seals bobbing in the water. So fun to watch.

and we joined the caravan from a (abandoned?) motel about a mile north of the lighthouse, 

Elephant seals on the beach

through the previously always locked entrance gate 

and finally! onto the property.  

  View from sea-ward

So cool.

The docent-led tour was about 30 minutes, then we were free to wander the property. 

Piedras Blancas (White Rock) Lighthouse was built in 1874, automated in 1975 and is still a fully functioning light station. 

The gift shop was well stocked to add to our stuffie collection

A strong earthquake in 1948 damaged the top 3 floors, which were removed in 1949 

and the Fresnel lens moved to Cambria, where it’s still on display. 

They are hoping to replace those 3 floors someday (when they find a spare $18 mil or so).

 

The walls at the base are about 5’ thick,

 there’s approx. 300,000 bricks in the tower 

and 100 stairs from the base to the top.

 Fuel oil bunker 

Fun fact: 

 Recently restored fog signal building

the entire property had been planted decades ago in non-native ice plant - nothing local will eat it and native plants can’t grow through it. 

After BLM took over in 2001, it was all removed by volunteers **BY HAND**. Native plant seeds were still there and have flourished. It’s beautiful.

Also, the Spanish named this area “Piedras Blancas” - White Rock - when they charted the coast in the 1600’s, so apparently that rock has been guano encrusted for a looooooonnggg time. 😂

A few wildflowers: 

Beach Day

This morning, we headed south to Cayucos

to visit the beach and check out the repaired pier. 

Cambria has some pretty beaches 

but none that are as accessible 

and kid-friendly as the one in Cayucos. 

The littles love searching for rocks and shells,

and all three like dipping their toes - and ankles and knees - in the ocean,

although Jac and Donovan spent more time running in front of the waves than in them. 

We had lunch at Duckies - calamari sandwiches, yummmmm - then walked the length of the newly restored pier. 

The very end is still closed from last year’s storm damage, but the rest looks great. 

Then a stop in Harmony - population 18! - 

for artisan ice cream from a small local creamery 

(some of the best I’ve ever had) 

before spending the rest of the day reading (me and Pop), cell phoning (Leo) and playdoughing.

Who needs a dining table, right?

Snake eggs 

Red is the remote control snake Donovan bought to scare his Sissy (shhhh, it’s a secret); pink is the rattlesnake Jac made to keep D’s snake company. 😜

I’m wondering if the parents would notice if we stayed for another week. So tempting. 

Jac spotted this shrub in Harmony and pointed out, in true Jaclyn fashion, “Grandma, that plant looks like a heart! … or a butt with no legs!”