This is the project I've been working on! I will probably still add and tweak it. I've been tweaking it all week! I want something (to add) and hope to find it in Seattle this week. Frosty and Tedi have passed on and I added their tags since I had them with their remains. I got the idea from a quilt I saw in Sisters.
It's a pretty big canvas. I had the photo* printed on nice cardstock at Print Fast here in Ashland.

*photo originally taken by Diane Wittenberg

SOLUTIONS in action #1.........According to "Grandmother's Critter Ridder"*, Chapter 20 if you take a well worn piece of clothing and soak it in ammonia and leave it where a skunk has been STALKING you the skunk will find the smell more offensive than it's own smell and will not return. We do have a skunk that likes to walk around our house and leave it's sent. I went into action this morning and left my nicely soaked items in 3 spots that I know he will stroll by. I wanted to do this while I was gone so that poor Bob doesn't have to deal with a "skunked" dog.


#2.......This morning at 10am while I was placing my ammonia ridden items around the house there was a yelping coyote not very far from the house. Take 1 Marksman and a 22, bye-bye coyote. This time Pete could see it and I heard it hit. So sorry animal lovers, I have to protect my dog.

*Many thanks to Linda Foster for such a great book!

Life in the country..........so peaceful, so quiet...........quiet, did I say quiet? At 3:20 a.m. Pete, Shadow and I woke up to such a ruckus!!!!! There was a coyote in the backyard! Yipping away. We immediately closed our side light door in our bedroom scared that Shadow would break through the screen and go after it. I ran to the kitchen window and was yelling at it and knocking at the window sill, it wouldn't budge! Pete finally snuck out the back door with his 22 and shot away - bye, bye coyote. No, he didn't kill it but scared it away so that we could get some sleep! (this was Saturday night)
Also, when I got home Saturday night (after a day of scrapbooking) Pete was in his bed and Shadow was in his bed (luckily on Pete's side). I went to pet Shadow and lo and behold he was skunked, yes skunked, not that bad but nonetheless a little stinky. I asked Pete why didn't you bathe him. Response "he wasn't that bad and it was already dark". So what do you think that meant? Yes, it meant momma had to do it. I did add "you will help me, right"? Oh, yes and he did. We found a natural remedy on-line. He is fluffy clean now BUT his face is still a little skunky so I'm running to the store after work to buy more peroxide and when I get home we will concentrate only on the face. Of course Pete asked Shadow "did you have your face up the skunk's butt"?
Okay, those are 2 con's about the Country and here is #3. We are leaving on our trip to the Seattle area on Wednesday evening. Pete opened the camper (pop-up) to clean out and re-stock. When he tried to close it there was a problem. We had this problem last year when we were on the road but found out about it when we were actually at the campsite and we were trying to set up to eat dinner and go to bed, but that's another story.
Mice got up the bottom of the camper and nested (under the camper floor and bottom of camper). The materials they used for nesting bound itself around the cables to lift the pop-up up and down! Well, we spent most of the trip last year trying to find someone to fix the problem. It was fixed for the rest of the trip and when we got home Pete made the fix permanent so that it wouldn't happen again, well guess what, they're back! Pete said the momma and babies fell out when he opened up the hole. Needless to say Pete spent a few hours repairing the problem.
Ahhh, yes, life in the country..............

This is the (I think) future winery down the road from home. It looks like the entry is pretty much done but they have not opened the bridge. The did a really nice job with the posts and I can't wait to see if there will be a "tasting room". I would think they're planning something to go to the expense of building a bridge!
Going on right now at the Festival until Sunday is "The Festival Latino" with all types of going-on's. They are trying to make it easier for the spanish speaking community to come and experience the theatre. If you know of anyone, they are selling tickets cheap to certain shows that will be open-captioned. There will also be an extra green show at 12:30 on Saturday and Sunday and the Phoenix Taco truck will be parked here (Wed.-Sun) starting at noon until 8:30pm selling their food!

Happy Birthday Dear Sweet Stefanie!

When I moved to Nevada back in 1982, my DF Marie was pregnant with Stef. Marie was not happy that Pete was taking me away from her, especially while pregnant. In October Stefanie took a giant leap and moved to Los Angeles to be with her boyfriend (same thing I did) and to follow her passion, fashion. I'm happy to report that things are going extremely well for her in the short time that she's been there. She's on her second job but it was an advancement and she went to train in New York (back home). She works for a designer that opened a store in Beverly Hills named Steve Alan (not sure on the spelling). She's hoping to become a stylist. She's a sweetheart and I feel like she's the niece I never had. Have a great day!

Check out the slide show of MY quilts.

(Heath Ledger portrayed a great psychopath)
Great weekend, lots of fun! On Saturday I started working on a project that I hope to finish this week and when I'm done I will post a picture. No hints, so you'll just have to wait to see "my creation", no it's not a quilt.

On Sunday, I joined Laura, Mom Phyllis and Anita to see "Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner", here at the Shakespeare Festival in the New Theatre. It was a fun, new production. Before I got to the matinee I ran over to the Ashland Street Cinemas to pick up tickets for "The Dark Knight" (new Batman movie). After I left the matinee I met Pete and Rocky at the movie theatre to see the 5pm showing. It was great! It is definitely not for kids, it is more of an adult Batman, actually these new Batman movies with Christian Bale are nothing like the TV show (remember that) or the past movies. If you haven't seen either one because you thought "holy kazam batman" then you should start, of course you have to like that genre too. After running from theatre to theatre it was home to see what leftovers were lurking in the fridge since it was 8pm by the time we got home. Hope Pete is making something good tonight!

There are actual sequins on her bottom.
For Laura.................


The Sisters...................

I had completely forgotten that df Eileen said that she would be carting my birthday present with her. She gives me a Brighton bag and I said "what's this?", OMG I forgot. I know she did it because she wanted to see the reaction on my face. It's absolutely gorgeous and I wore it all weekend and got so many compliments from shop keepers, people on the street, etc. It's a real show stopper. The glass beads are hand crafted by Kazuri artisans in Kenya. Brighton is donating a portion of the proceeds to non-profit organizations to build fresh water wells for Kenyan hospitals. Can you believe it? Of course I wore it to work this week too.

The Sisters Coffeehouse

More Quilts!

Suttle Lake
Laura, you probably will like this one!
Tiny squares = picture
the crowds (they close the main drag)
More quilts

I don't how many pictures I can upload but I will put you on my list to send you all the quilt photos just shoot me an email. All I can say is that there were some awesome quilts. First, The Lodge at Suttle Lake is fabulous! Pricey, but at the time all we could get, it was only 7 miles from town. Close to the Metolius and Camp Sherman. It was 1st class all the way! These 2 are a couple of my favs. The first one was someone's favorite clothing from her child's first year, clever-huh. The second was a group of women that got together and each made a block with the same dress template (that one of them created) but their version. I have a couple of close-up shots because there are embellishments. This group made this quilt for a friend that had breast cancer and presented it to her at a lunch they had invited her to.

We were bone tired by 5pm but driving to Bend you're sitting so no problem. Drove to Bend, found Trader Joe's in a big new shopping center, kept driving until we hit a TJMaxx. Shopped a little and decided to find the quilt store. Stitchin Post had given us a list of local shops. It was close to 7:30pm so we thought we would find it so we could shop on Sunday, guess what they were still open! They weren't closing until 8pm. Smart of them to stay open and get all that overflow from the show. Most of the people were staying in Bend anyway.

On Sunday, we went back to Bend and hit a big Fair downtown. They had food, wine tasting, and lots of booths. We also found the other quilt store and they were closed (the nerve)! I guess they probably had enough of us quilters. As if we didn't have enough we stopped at 2 stores on the way home and of course Eileen said we couldn't go home until we stopped at Craft Warehouse. She just loves the "no tax" thing and takes full advantage of it, believe me! We got home around 6pm. Lots of fun!

My dear loyal readers so sorry I had a very busy day here at work and I am just putting my pics in right now (151).

All I can say is we had a great time, stayed at a fabu place and the weekend ended on a bittersweet note. Poor Eileen's dad Bill died in Chicago this morning while we were sitting on the porch enjoying our breakfast. Eileen's flight back to Vegas was at 11:45a.m. Pete and Rocky had an appointment at the Dermatologist and Pete took her to the airport. She was a wreck, pretty hard to even think about your weekend when one of your parents has passed away. Her mom passed away last year and now her dad has followed. May he rest in peace.

I bought this tree last year in hopes that it would look great on my porch. I talked to a very knowledgable guy at Ray's. He recommended I keep it away from the wind and sun. My porch is very deep and he said it should do fine. What I didn't expect was all the new growth this year. This picture doesn't do it justice. The tree has grown at least a foot in one year! I love it and my cheap container I bought at the Collector's Market in Medford. I love that place for vintage and unusual items. Got your little birthday gifts there Eileen and Bert!

Sisters, Oregon

As you are reading this I am on the way to pick up GF Eileen Koutsulis at the airport and after stopping at the Human Bean (have all the Vegas babes addicted) we will be driving to Sisters. Eileen is bringing her GPS so it should be smooth sailing for us. We will be staying at The Lodge at Suttle Lake. Needless to say I'll be taking lots of pictures with my new camera. Did I tell you I bought a new camera? Lots of walking and speaking of walking. I haven't said anything but I always knew that I was out of whack and since last weekend I've practically been in tears with pain in my lower back and leg, of course the leg has been always. Well, the accupunture helped with the knee but not the leg and of course, back. I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and she recommended Michael Thomas, DO. Out of desperation I took whatever appointment I could get. Went to him yesterday at 3 and guess what? Yes, I was not even, after a ton of manipulation, I'm even and it feels weird to walk normal! I have to get used to it. In 10 days I have another appointment and we'll see if I'm staying in place and how my leg is doing because he's not sure that is the cause of my leg pain. We'll see.........Eileen will be very happy to hear that I will be able to keep up with her (she's only 40)!

On the way back on Sunday we will go through Bend for a little shopping, etc. They have a Trader Joe's there now. We will eventually wander in Sunday evening.

Well after much deliberation and I mean much I finally did it, I bought a new camera. I had never even considered this camera until I read the reviews by people that had purchased it. I was totally convinced I would buy the Canon S5 but didn't want to just buy it without seeing my options. Got a great deal on Amazon but without a card so I will be running out to get an SD card asap. Played with it a little; it's got a ton of bells and whistles. I can't wait to take scenic shots since it has a wide angle lens and 18x ZOOM!
I'm taking it on my trip to Sisters this weekend for the quilt show, can't wait.

Just wanted to give a shout out for www.Karenscreation.blogspot.com. Karen is creating her own line of scrapbooking products and has a ton of product to give away. Check out her blog.

Okay, I was driving home from work the other evening and I had to stop because right in front of our house out front by my blue spruce trees!) were these 2 cows. At least they had enough sense to take off when they heard the car and saw me. They have been hanging around our property for a few days. The owner knows about it because Pete golfs with him. Somehow they made it through the fencing and ventured over to our side. I think they are gone now because I have not seen hide nor hair of them for about a week now.

The day before the parade everyone starts securing their spots. Used to be the night before but now it's before noon.

Rocky looks interested doesn't he, well he did want to go. We went into town around 8:45 a.m. and someone was standing right in front of the gate to get into the Elks parking lot! He was waiting for his friends so that he could open the gate for them. He didn't look too happy that I was going in and there were only a couple of spots left. I gave him the ole stare down and he moved aside. Too bad buddy, I pay my dues just like you! We parked and headed up the hill to Dragonfly. They have great breakfast too but a little slow. We made it to our chairs with time to spare, the parade was due to start at 10:15 and that's when the jets actually flew above. I have to say it was probably the best parade since we've been going. The floats were even professional looking. The batteries in my camera died before I could take pictures of the OSF people. Karen and I made their banner and I really wanted a picture of it. I will try to get a picture from someone here and post it later. The same thing happened last year, my batteries died during the parade!
After the parade we went home to relax a while and then went to the movies to see "Hancock" with Will Smith which was really entertaining. After the movie, home james! We just wanted bbq and down time.

A very nice and relaxing 4th! Hope yours was great.

Let's take a moment to thank our lucky stars that we live in the greatest country on the planet and let us not take it for granted. Often times people don't think about how lucky we are compared to others that live in different countries. How much we take little things for granted like food, running water, heating and cooling. Let's also take a moment to pray that our troops are safe and that they will be able to come home soon. Happy 4th everyone!

Farewell Tomi Douglas and good luck in Seattle! We will miss you but I will be sure to stop by the Experience Music Project when I'm in Seattle.
On Friday after work we all gathered at Martino's, a couple of steps from our office, literally! We gathered our glasses in a toast to Tomi who was here at the Festival for just about a year and a half and touched our hearts. She was a great fit for Marketing and Communications. I work part-time for M& C and part-time for Devo so I get to work with a bunch of great people. There were quite a few of us wearing black and white on Friday so a few of us gathered together for photos. (Thank you Marylee for the photos.) We'll miss you Tomi and hope that sometime in the future you make your way back to Ashland with Barrett and Steve (woof). I will probably be retired but like I told you I'm coming back to work the cart and maybe the Lounge. Take care, keep in touch and remember we'll still have "google talk"!

I am in the processing of packing a box to send off to my dear sweet nephew Brandon and family. I have been wanting to make this frame for him for a long time and finally did it. I took my favorite pictures of him as a baby and toddler and made copies. You'll notice my grandfather in the bottom picture holding him. I love the way it came out and hope he does to. I know when he sees it he will be blown away. Jennifer if you are reading my blog don't tell Brandon, I'm almost done with the box and will mail this week. I've put in a few goodies for all the kids. I mod podge over the pictures about 4 times and then painted black lines to separate the pics since they didn't all go down the way I wanted them to. I used a plain wooden frame I bought at the craft store (a long time ago) and painted the back and sides black. Hope you like what I did!

I was hoping to upload a photo but they were all to big! Saturday night we went to see "The Comedy of Errors" at the Elizabethan with Mike and Mary and their gang. If you haven't seen a play this year at the Festival and you like a good musical, see this one! It's a western a la Shakespeare, beautiful costumes and very funny. A definite must see!