Of Aspens and Quilt Shows

The aspens are changing colors in the mountains, and cooler nights have arrived.

Mr. SBQ's parents were in town last week and we did all the tourist things--Georgia O'Keefe museum, history museum, art museum, Indian art museum, Taos, Acoma pueblo, shopping on the plaza, eating at great restaurants, looking at scenery, and strolling along Canyon Road.   It was a busy 5 days LOL!

Canyon Road sculpture gallery

Yesterday was my day off and we actually had a proper overcast-and-rainy day in Santa Fe.  I ventured out to the Quilt Fiesta quilt show held by the local quilt guild.  It was a small show with about a dozen vendors (which is great because I'm on a no-buy at least until my trip to Michigan later this month.) Here are a few of the quilts that caught my eye from the show. 

It was great to do something "quilty" for a change.

And now I'm all inspired to work on a new project or two :)

And of course, no post is complete without a cat photo.  Stella was snuggled on the couch among the quilts. Such is the life.

Remy Stayed Home

Even though he was all packed up and ready to go (see previous post), Remy and the other three cats stayed home while S. and I went on vacation for a week.

Don't feel bad for the cats.  They had a great cat sitter, who spoils them rotten.  And face it, cats seem like they are on vacation all the time.

An obligatory beach-at-sunset photo.  My iPhone photo doesn't do justice to the amazing colors of the sky.


S.'s extended family rents a beach house every year in Corolla on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
The Outer Banks (often abbreviated as OBX) are small barrier islands off the coast of NC and is a popular tourist destination for this part of the country.  

Siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, nieces, & nephews drive from north and south to play on the beach, swim in the pool, and eat lots and lots of great food.

Beach houses 

We had a great time getting away for some relaxation and a break from work.  We walked the beach in the mornings and after dinner and stayed out of the mid-day sun and the heat. Took quite a few naps. Read books and magazines. Enjoyed porches and hammocks and lazy days.  I missed the cats and got text updates on their latest antics.

My favorite place to while away the afternoon is Island Bookstore in historic Corolla village.  There is nothing better than an indie bookstore, especially when there are no quilt shops anywhere nearby.  

Now it's back to the real world and the cats are the only ones taking naps.

TIme for some sewing too.

In a Tree; Not a Bird

Mid-afternoon on one of the first warm, sunny days this spring, S. and I were surprised to see a strange shape in a tree in the yard.  Although the shape resembled Edgar Poe in color and belly size, we knew it wasn't him.  









It was our resident raccoon sleeping soundly in the warm sunshine and tucked firmly into a crook in the tree.  In this photo, one of his/her back legs is hanging off. 


Through binoculars, you could really see his/her striped tail and dark mask.

We laughed and laughed as the raccoon slept ignoring birds chirping and flying near it.

He/she slept there all day and we kept checking to see if he/she left.  Day turned to dusk and we could no longer make out the shape of the raccoon in the shadows.  It was so great to experience this little bit of nature in our small town yard.

Wisteria

taken at Sweet Home Quilt Co. with my iPhone & Lightbox camera app

New Neighbor

I have a new resident in the neighborhood--a red tail hawk.
I was immensely surprised to see this hawk perched on the fence by my big oak tree in the back yard one evening when I got home from work.  He/she didn't even fly away when I pulled into the drive. After sitting on my back stoop watching the hawk just sitting there looking around, I went and got my camera to try to get a photo.

It was dusk and overcast so it's a dark photo but at least you get a sense of how close the hawk was to the house. It was there for at least a couple of hours.

Monday's Questions

Question 1:  How did I not post this weekend?  Beats me. I was all over blogland but didn't stop by my own blog.  I had a very productive weekend though. 

Went on a walk to enjoy the little bit of local autumnal-ness after a too hot and dry summer



Worked on my Groovy Girls homework (need to get a photo though oops!)  Yes that Bad Melisa gives us homework and bribes us with punches in our Groovy Girls punch card (she is so clever!)

Made two Seuss-ful pillowcases

 And finished up Bonnie Hunter's Christmas Lights mystery from July 2009. Just in time for her next mystery coming up all too soon. 
I am proud to say that I made this all from stash. 

Also did all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, yada yada yada boring stuff....

Question 2:  What was the most overheard saying at my house this weekend?
Edgar! Edgar! Edgar! Edgar! Edgar!

Question 3:  Who was a bad puddy cat and got into all kinds of trouble all weekend? 

See question 2. 

PS:  I know he looks sorry but he's really planning his next mischief.
PPS:  We just love those bad ol' puddy cats.

Full Moon Friday

How perfectly Halloween-y a full moon tonight!  Even more Halloween-y was last night's visit to the oak tree outside of my bedroom window. I had just dozed off and S. woke me up saying "listen... an owl."  And sure enough, we heard "hooo hooo hoo hooo" about a dozen times.  Not having an iPhone with a bird app (whoooo wants an iPhone? me!), I looked up owls and figured out we were visited by a barred owl. 

Photo courtesy of http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/owlp/

Living in town, it's rare to have owls visit.  One year at dusk, I did see two Eastern screech owls in the oak tree, which was amazingly cool.

I didn't see this owl but am overjoyed that we were honored with his/her vocal visit. I love owls!


Well I am taking a vacation day today and am off to sew. Don't forget to go to this post and enter my b-day giveaway before noon tomorrow (owls not included).

How Hot is it in Atlanta?

If I had a big pile of ice, this is what I would feel like...

Weekend Report

As I wrote in my last post, I spent the weekend at Snowbird Mountain Lodge in North Carolina. It was so nice to get away, especially because there are no TVs or cell phone service at the lodge and the laptop was left at home. That means getting away from all the bad news and economic mess and all. Wonderful. It also was nice and quiet and peaceful. Lots of time was spent in the lobby/library in front of the fire, reading a book, and looking at the great view of the mountains. In the afternoon, there was an unless carafe of Starbucks coffee and fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. A little piece of heaven that is! Meals are included with the room price and just to make everyone hungry, here is what I had for dinner one night:

Carrot and thyme soup

Hazelnut and blue cheese stuffed dates wrapped in bacon served on baby lettuce with blood orange vinaigrette

Beef rib eye served with a sour cherry reduction sauce, savory blue cheese and kale bread pudding and sauteed asparagus

Mixed berry cobbler with vanilla bean ice cream

And a sample breakfast:

Blueberry scones

Seasonal fruit salad

Homemade sausage

Lemon & ricotta pancakes with whipped blood orange cream cheese

Are you hungry yet? I am--let's go back!

After all that food, some hiking was required. We went to the Joyce Kilmer Forest, which is a mature hardwood forest that remarkably was never timbered.

Here is the dedication plaque

Here is a view of the trail

Here is how big the trees are!

It was so quiet in the forest, I actually heard a bird's wings as it was flying by (I think it was a cedar waxwing). The views in the forest were wonderful because the leaves aren't out yet and you can see for long distances.

Don't forget to look up.

The next hike was to the top of Huckleberry Knob. This was a hike from about 5,000 feet in elevation to over 5,500 feet, which is really high for the Great Smokey Mountains. The top of this mountain is "bald" and was used historically for grazing cattle. The U.S. Forest Service keeps it mowed to show its past use.

The Smokey Mountains always have a blue haze over them, hence the name, however in more recent years, a lot of the haze is smog. Not good.

Well now I am back to harsh reality but a little more rested and a little more relaxed and really grateful that there are National Parks and National Forests to escape to. Oh yeah and for lodges that serve coffee and cookies in the afternoon.

Quoth the Raven

What I'm reading: I am finishing up a fascinating book called The Mind of the Raven by Bernd Heinrich.

I am a nature-lovin' girl at heart and I have been fascinated by studies of animal behavior since I was a kid reading Born Free and Never Cry Wolf and every other possible living-out-in-the-wilderness-studying-animals book I could find. Ravens and crows have always fascinated me and I happened to come across this book at Borders and picked it up to read on my trip. If you are interested in these kind of science/nature books, run out and get a copy of The Mind of the Raven. Bernd Heinrich is a great scientist and a wonderful writer and I found myself getting as excited about his behavioral experiments and observations with ravens as he was. Ravens are really amazing birds--very intelligent, playful, and great at solving complex puzzles. For general info about ravens or other birds, check out the really cool website by Cornell University here.

During my recent trip to Washington State, I was able to see and photograph some ravens. This one was looking fluffy and sassy in a tree on Whidbey Island.

And this one was walking around and hanging out at the ferry from Victoria back to the U.S.

I'm thinking there's a raven quilt somewhere in my future. Maybe a looooong time in the future, but it's something to ponder and doodle.

Quinault

Am staying at the Lake Quinault Lodge for a couple of days. The lodge was built in 1926 and Franklin D. Roosevelt stayed here.

Look blue skies and warmer weather. First, an awesome breakfast of sweet potato pancakes and coffee and then a 5-mile hike in the Quinault area. Is is possible to have this many shades of green?

I wish I could express how amazing it is out here. Everything is so green and the air is so crisp and clear and I have no allergies--I can breathe for a change --hooray! Trees that are so tall and are hundreds of years old, make you feel very small.

For all my friends in the ATL who are sweltering, here are some cooling photos for you

So this is the forest, minus the banana slugs (I saw two! They are huge!!!!) and the skunk cabbage (yes it smells like a skunk).

This is the view from my blogging spot. I don't think I want to leave!!!!

North by Northwest

Hello from chilly Washington State! Everyone I've talked to has said this is the worst spring/worst weather they have had in a long time. I don't mind it though because I am out of hot, humid Atlanta!! After having coffee and the best doughnuts in the world, traveled north from Seattle to Whidbey Island.
Look at all the shades of gray in the landscape. The mountains in the background are the Cascade Mountains, which got snow the past couple of days (good thing I'm not headed that way as I didn't bring snow gear!!)

I love lighthouses so went to see this lighthouse at Fort Casey State Park

Also saw native Pacific Northwest wildlife:

All together now: awwwwwwwww

lots and lots of birds on the island. I have no idea what kind of bird this is but it has great colors

All is not just fun and bunnies though, I have been getting daily updates from my vet about Gomez. Gomez was really doing badly yesterday and the vet was really worried about him which made me worry about Gomez even more. But today the vet called and said he thought Gomez has turned the corner and is on 3 different medicines and no catheter and seems to be doing better. I am so relieved. It was so hard to leave to go on this trip with Gomez sick and the price of gas and the instability of everything. But I had planned this for a long time and had all the tickets/reservations/money saved, etc. so here I am having fun, getting rest, enjoying the rain, and drinking lots of coffee in spite of everything. More from the next WiFi place.