Christmas, 2009

After talking to our sons, daughters-in-law, Mom and other family members, we had a light lunch and then went on our Winter Wonderland Hike up the mountain. We drove to Government Camp, at the 4,000 feet level. Mt. Hood is over 11,000 feet but this was just enough for us. Of course there is lots of history there as it is part of the Oregon Trail so we stopped and visited a few of the historical markers telling us about the Trail.

I got to romp in the snow a bit. The sky was sunny and clear, temperature 23 degrees but the wind chill was a whole lot lower. Reminded us of Michigan for sure.

There were Belgium horse drawn carriage rides throughout the town and toward the ski resort area.

Mt. Hood is in the background and this was one of many places to ski.

On our way back down the mountain, we found a place where we could stop and take a pics of us in the snow.

This was 30 Road and there was a nice bridge that made the scenery just splendid for us. It was a whole lot warmer and less windy as well.

The little creek was flowing. When you get mountain runoff, it is usually extremely cold even in the summer. Many people think it is ok to take a dip in it but that can bring on hypothermia very quickly. Just best to enjoy it in pictures later on. One more picture of me in the snow.

Then I decided to blow the very fine snow at Phil. Got more of it on me. Burr - it was cold. But we really enjoyed our visit to the Mountain and have our snow fix for Christmas Day. Hope you had a great day as well.

INTRODUCING.......

Phil and I are going to be Grandparents!!!

As I was in MI for Greg's swearing in as a lawyer, Nick and Julie had their first ultrasound

scheduled and they asked me and Julie's Mom, Rita, to attend.

And we are happy to introduce you to................

CALEB MICHAEL LaVOY!!!!!

Oh, he is soooooo handsome!!! :-)

The imaging was so clear, we could see all of his greatest features.

He is about the size of a cantaloupe, weighing 12 ounces;

his little heart was beating 153 beats per minute;

we were able to see him wave to us ;

we saw him swallow,

and he accommodated the nurse when she needed him to move

a certain way for measurements of head, etc.

A wonderful day for a very excited family.

Greg's admission to the Bar

On December 14th, Greg was sworn in to the Michigan State bar by his boss, the Honorable Justice Robert Young of Michigan Supreme Court, where he is working as a judicial clerk. Finally an office instead of just a desk with school books on it. I surprised Greg by coming to MI for the ceremony.
Gram went with us and had to get her picture with Justice Young. As she said, "Once in a lifetime".

Just as we were about to go into the court, there was a bomb scare so we had to evacuate the building. A perfect opportunity to be treated to lunch at the Detroit Athletic Club with Justice Young, his clerks and secretary.

We returned back to the Cadillac Building and proceeded into the Courtroom where Chris Hammer presented Greg to the Judge for the swearing in. (maybe I can figure out how to load that in and send it out later). Aunt Mary Ann, Uncle Jerome and Nick were also there for Greg's special day.

Pictured here are his staff; Carolyn (secretary), Amber, Chris (judicial clerks), the honoree, Tammy (Judge's permanent clerk) and of course, Justice Young. We went back into the office area and had one final picture of Greg with Justice Young and Kermit the Frog. A great group of people and a wonderful experience for Greg.

Wow, I can't believe that it has been a month since I last posted here on our blog. So, I decided to share a few projects that I have been working on in the last month.

This is the Strata Star that I did recently at our Q-FAC Retreat. It will be a wall hanging above our bed. They are fun to make and easy to quilt. Love those kinds of projects.

These two photos are of the wool applique that I am now hooked on. The top is not quite done, I still have to finish the small penny mats and then trim the black wook and buttonhole stitch around the entire piece. It is a centerpiece candle mat for my dining room table.

This is my strawberry candle mat that will be my centerpiece for summertime. Makes me want to get some strawberries. I am also working on a wool flower and basket wall hanging, and something for our future grandchild. All that inbetween doing my Ikebana piece for EGA, some surprises for next year as well as other stuff. Ah, I love to keep busy with these kinds of projects.

First Clam Dig in 2009-2010 Season

This weekend was the first time we could go clamming. Even though the weather was predicted as being wintry and stormy, almost nothing can keep us off the beach to get our dig in. So we set out on Friday morning, meeting the Doels for breakfast in Woodland, WA. Then on to Clatskanie for a stop at the Quilt Garden. Finally our destination of Jack's to pick up licenses and a clam gun.
While we waited for the Johnsons to arrive and the trek to the clamming fields (aka "the Beach"), we set up our projects of wool applique. I was teaching Donna and Becky my technique of making a candle mat. The mittens are another project that Becky had to get ready as well - we were prepared in case the weather was too bad to go out. While we set up our table with our projects, Phil and Bill practiced on the Wii - archery, bowling, and frisbee.

Check out that form of archer Phil.

It was finally time to get ready to go out. We all wore rain gear not only for the obvious rain coming down but also so the waves wouldn't get into our boots. A fashion statement -- well, maybe not - after all, I didn't have on my pink/black/gray polka dot boots on yet. :-)

When we got to the beach area, there were hardly any people out (we found out the next day that they had actually closed clamming due to strong waves) and with the rain and wind, it was too hard to figure out what to do with the camera, so there were no pictures of the clamming itself. But we trekked out there, braving the weather to get some clams. Unfortunately, I got just a little too anxious so I waited in the car for them to finish. This next pic is the clams that we dug on Friday night.

Phil asked for part of his Christmas presents early and he purchased a lantern and a clam gun. Well, the mantle fell off about three times, somehow we found it twice, but it is still out in the ocean somewhere. Because of instability, Phil's lantern tipped over and so he had to get new socks to put in it and a new base so that, hopefully, it wouldn't fall over again. This is where duct tape came to the rescue. All three men taped their bases to the lantern. Worked well.

While the men were doing their projects in the garage, we were busy with our projects in the house.

Before we went out to clam on Saturday night, we had a seafood feast. We had oysters and shrimp cooked on the grill, cole slaw, clam fritters and rosemary flavored baked potatoes. Yummy!!!

The weather was more cooperative on Saturday night and the clamming was good. Well for some of us. I had a flash light that the battery was ok in the beginning but kept getting dimmer and dimmer. The waves came in occasionally and chased us back - they were still a bit scary but we could predict them a little better. Well, I moved out further toward the water and saw a clam squirting at me, just daring me to get him. Well, I did - just before the next wave came in. I am happy to report, he was my only one and is now minced meat!!! I also picked up a sand dollar (special project need) but that was it for me. However, as you can see the rest of them did well and we had about 60 clams between us.

We rinsed them and then placed them in water for cleaning on Sunday - it was 10:30 when we got back in so a little too late to begin that part of the process.

But we - well, Phil, Bill and Dan - cleaned up the gear and rinsed the sand and salt water from our boots, rain pants, etc., before going in to play a game of 10,000. Donna won - again!!!

This is the guys having a great time cleaning clams. Bill wanted me to help but I told him that Phil had already cleaned the clam with the "T" on it for me. :-)

Look at all the clam meat we got on the second dig. Oh that was hard work!!!

Thanks, Bill and Becky for having us up to your home for a great time. Thanks to Donna and Dan for sharing that weekend with us as well. Looking forward to another dig soon.

Next Project - Drapes for Living Room

We love the open feel of our living room area. You can sit on the couch or chair and look outside to the green area behind our deck and catch a glimpse of wildlife and the change in the weather. With the sun shining brightly in the summer and the windy rainy weather of the winter, we wanted to put up drapes to help keep the weather out when we wanted.
So, while Phil measured and figured out the height and width of the area, I was sewing the drapes. I had gotten heavy duty material from a quilter's garage sale and then purchased drapery backing to make them up. We then had a trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond (I think I mentioned that in my last blog of the Bark party) to pick up the rod and clips.

The rod is dark pewter and the ends are similar to our hanging light in the dining area.

This is the look of them open - before we hemmed them.

We then pulled them closed to measure for the hem. Problem ----- if you look closely, the pattern is off by about 1 1/2 inches. That is ok when opened but when shut - does not work at all. So off they came again and I took the tops apart and fixed so that they were the same.

Ta Da!!! They are done. They look great and gives you a nice cozy feel when the wind is blowing out there. Phil was a great help - especially when I had to hang them to measure and then take down - a number of times. Thanks, Honey. I appreciate all your help.

Our Bark Party

We have a sloped back yard and it was in need of something to hold the soil in place besides the weeds. So, we decided to go to "Boring Bark", pick out bark (aka wood chips) and have our own little bark party before the rain started. They had a colorful display as you entered the shop, and the leaves were just starting to turn - a great fall day to do our project.
After we paid for the 1 1/2 yards of bark, we went to load the trailer on to the Escape. There were only three there, but we took the best one.

Great engineering to hook it up to the vehicle.

There were many different kinds of bark to choose from. Some had dirt in them, some were colored dark, etc. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

So, we decided this kind would work and the man loaded us up. Three scoops made a yard and a half. We hope we only need two loads. Before pictures of the yard. This is the slope that actually goes to the neighbors and just before the wall begins.

A picture of the entire slope. Our work is cut out for us.

The day got better weather wise and the sun came out. Phil did the unloading into the wheel barrow and then took it to the hill.

I then spread it out two - three inches deep so that it will hold the soil in.

Getting in and around the ivy was not easy so I abandoned the rake and just moved it with my hands. Worked much better.

Three loads later, we are done. It looks so nice.

Those are our garden boxes in the background. The tomatoes were still up and trying to ripen. We have since taken them all out and prepared it for winter.

Team work got this job done in an a day. After cleaning up, we went to Old Chicago for dinner and then to Bed, Bath and Beyond for our next project. Blog to follow.