Catching up,

Sorry, I have been remiss in updating the blog. Actually I've been very busy taking workshops at the "Stitch'in Post". I've been working on a long term project - a kaleidoscope quilt (I posted a pic on my Facebook page if you want to see what it looks like. I've also taken three other workshops that included making a purse (called the Mina Bag) and a table runner.

The bag is lined in a green and brown complementary print. When I get the runner finished, I will put up a picture so you can see it as well.

It is beautiful here at this time of year - the aspens are golden and our red maple is a blaze of reds and burnt sienna. Last week Frank and I stopped at the Woodburn Outlets and enjoyed the fantastic display of huge pumpkins - they came in all colors and spectacular shapes. Check out the photo below!

Luke just sent me a photo of Elizabeth and Leilani. They were participants in Leilani's cousin's wedding this month. Aren't they both beautiful!

Frank and I are doing very well. He has been working at organizing his man cave, and I've officially opened my Xmas workshop - I am hoping to make most of my gifts this year! Next week I start training for volunteer work at the "Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store". I am looking forward to the new experience. We've made lots of wonderful new friends and count ourselves as extremely blessed!

Sunday - back home

Before leaving Diamond lake we took one last bike ride along the lake. I loved this picture of some fishermen out on the placid waters.

The trip home was relatively short - only about 2 and a half hours. There was a tremendous amount of smoke in the air as we approached Bend due to the fires at Warm Springs.

When we arrived home a brief thunderstorm helped to clear the air.

Tonight we are sitting in Poppie's garden (a restaurant) listening to members of the Eugene opera. Sipping wine and munching on a platter of antipasta. Who said retirement was boring!

Diamond Lake

Frank and I are enjoying our camping stay at Diamond Lake. Today we joined our friends, the Thodes, for an eleven mile ride around the lake. Brad took this picture of Frank and me standing lakeside when we stopped to admire Mt Thielsen in the background. Lovely day!

Visiting the Southern California Beavers

We had a ball visiting the kids and spending some quality time with Lizzie. She is walking everywhere and loves to climb everything! Lei has her hands full just keeping tabs on Lizzie whereabouts. First thing up from her nap - and she will bring you her shoes - she likes to be on the go.

Lizzie and Grandpa got on famously - can you tell he is smitten? You should see Lizzie dance to music - she loves to shake her head and turn circles.

Dad and Luke worked on some shelves for the front room. Now at last they are able to get all the pottery up off the floor and safely out of Lizzie's reach. They also managed to get in a round of golf in celebration of Luke's b-day. This is picture of Lizzie at lunch - what you can't see is all the food she is throwing on the ground. Bogie, however, loved to sit beneath her chair as he scored some really nice chicken morsels.

Elizabeth's Baptism

Family and friends gathered at St. Kilian Church for Elizabeth's Baptism. Lizzie was one of about six other children being baptized (oddly enough - all but one were girls!). The priest did a very nice job and stressed the importance of celebrating this most important day in the spiritual life of our children. Just a few photos are included below. This one is my favorite!

Lizzie - under the pew!

San Juan Capistrano

We arrived at Santiago Catholic Event and Retreat Center in the late afternoon on Friday. This center is hidden away in the Silverado Canyon area just east of Mission Viejo. We are comfortably perched on the canyon hillside above the campgrounds below. They are holding vacation bible camp for kids during the week on the lower canyon site. In the middle canyon they are hosting a catholic Vietnamese young adult group and they seem to be having a great time. I am enjoying the sound of their exuberant cheers and singing. The RV area is located on the top level amidst eucalyptus trees and dry shrub. Hard to believe Luke and Lei are only 12 miles away.

Yesterday morning we went to a fabulous breakfast brunch in San Juan Capistrano, then off to tour the mission. Hard to believe that Father Junipero Sera established the mission in 1776! The grounds were beautiful! Here are some shots to enjoy.

Day One - trip to mission viejo

We left about 8:45am yesterday morning and enjoyed an uneventful trip to Redding. We took 97 out of Bend and hit several delays due to roadwork starting just after Klamath. We stopped to get gas at Castle Craig State park and I took this picture of the Crags. Looks like a neat place to stay and camp.

I had hoped to go biking once we got into Redding, but it was in the mid 90s and all I wanted to do was sit in the trailer with the AC running! After we arrived at the RV park, Frank discovered that the left rear trailer tire had unevenly worn down on the outside - on the inside the steel belts were exposed. So this morning we paid a visit to Les Schwab and the gang!

Happy to say we are on the road again - headed for Fresno. Taking 99 through Chico. Stay tuned!

Yellowstone Grizzly

We left our RV site early Sunday morning to drive up to Mammoth Hot Springs in the northern area of the park. Soon after passing the Norris Junction we saw several cars ahead had stopped and folks were standing on the roadside. At the same time, Frank spotted a grizzly to our left down an embankment. The bear was about 30-35 yards away and he was walking slowly in a direction parallel to the road - stopping to paw the ground for grubs. I jumped out of the truck with my telephoto and got some great shots. (I carefully calculated the distance to the safety of the truck, the distance and interest of the bear, and the number of other spectators on the road - I always like to think there is safety in numbers).This is my favorite picture - he had just lost interest in the grubs and had started moving in a direction toward the road, so I prudently retreated back to the safety of the truck. I also included a screenshot from my National Geographic Park Maps ( a fantastic app for the iPad. It allows you to place pins on the maps for notations - then pull them up for later viewing.)

Patterns, textures, and color

Yellowstone National Park is rich in stunning landscapes, colorful wildlife, thunderous waterfalls, and boiling cauldrons. On average, I am shooting about 200 pictures a day. As I walk the boardwalks viewing the geysers, mud pots, and sulfur springs, I am especfially fascinated with the colors, textures, and patterns. My telephoto lens allows me to shoot some nice detail - but at a safe distance. I can't wait to print some of these when I get home.

Yesterday and today, Frank and I have been on a mission to see the buffalo. We drove up La Mar Valley today in hopes of getting some good pictures. We really lucked out as there was a group of buffalo fairly near the road. I got some great pictures! Buffalo seem to be particularly difficult to shoot - their heads are the darkest parts and it is a challenge to capture their faces in any amount of detail. Also, they tended to keep their heads down as they nibbled the grass - and their heads were often in the shade. They certainly are magnificent animals - I especially liked the shaggy look as they were in the processing of shedding their winter fur.

Two of the bulls actually came up onto the road and got into a brief altercation. I tried to shoot it, but unfortunately they had their backsides toward me. They created so much dust, I was unable to get a clear shot. But you get the idea - and boy can they move fast when they want to!

Family!

Right after the Ruperts left, Zeke, Eli and Brynn arrived from Chicago and were able to stay for a 10 day visit. Brynn and I did a lot of bread making - I think her personal favorite was the cinnamon cranberry sourdough bread. Eli enjoyed watching and eating our creations - boy can he eat!

Other activities included sewing (Brynn made two pillow cases) as well as gardening, piano playing, swimming, and singing.
We also took several day trips and enjoyed taking the kids to the High Dessert Museum where saw a baby porcupine. Other highlights were the Tumalo Waterfalls and a trip to the Petersen Rock Garden in Redmond.

After a wonderful visit the kids headed back for Chicago (that was last Tuesday morning). Here is a great shot at the airport with Eli and Brynn.

We left Wednesday morning for Yellowstone (that's right -the following day). I've got some great shots and will hopefully get them posted tomorrow.

Visitors!

It's been a wild and busy three weeks. Friends from Hawaii, Phil and Janice, came to visit and we had lots of fun showing them around Sisters. During their 3-day stay, we took them sightseeing, and Jan and Phil showed us a great backroad that they had discovered (thanks to their GPS) on their drive into Sisters. We stopped to take some pictures - a very picturesque area. Next time they visit, Janice and I decided we are going to hike along the river of Smith Rock Park in Terrebonne. The boys can sit at the picnic tables up top and we will meet them there for lunch. We ended our day of exploration at the train Depot in Terrebonne - my mojito was ONO!

Gardening

The weather has finally improved, and Frank and I spent most of this week working in the garden pulling weeds and planting new flowers. We purchased three rather spectacular trees that we have placed in the garden. My personal favorite is the Weeping Cedar. It grows in a very bizarre "curvy" sort of fashion and has blue/green needles.

It stands about five feet tall and we planted it near our deck so that we can enjoy it during the summer and fall when we spend a great deal of time outside.

Frank's personal favorite is the "Weeping Juniper". This tree can get quite large but right now it is only about nine feet tall and a bit on the spindly side. The needles are silver/gray and are in stark contrast with the deep green spruce which grows behind it. We planted it ( or rather Frank did) at the entrance of the drive and the long weeping branches sway gently in the wind.

The last of our new trees is a "Weeping Spruce" - do you think we have a theme going here? It is a very slow growing spruce that is narrow in width and the limbs droop and twist. I don't know if you can see the cones at the the top of the tree - believe it or not they are a bright red. It is certainly a whimsical looking spruce!

We also had 5 cubic yards of bark chips delivered so that we could mulch everything, and slowly (very slowly) I am shoveling it around the yard! We bought the bark at "Best of the West" in Redmond, and while we were there I spotted some beautiful irises growing around their office. Apparently they came from a woman in Redmond who gives them away free. They gave me the ladies address and we found her home. The lot adjacent to her house was a field of irises (blue, lavender, purple, white and yellow}. I knocked on the door and introduced myself saying that I'd heard that she shared her irises with interested people. She was very nice and took my phone number saying that in August she will be digging them up to separate them and will give me a call.

Also - another good thing happened this week. A fellow resident of tollgate noticed that I was gardening and called me to say that she had lots of catmint, salvia, echinacea, and blue pokey grass to give away. All very good - but it means I have a lot more work to do!

The Sun Came Out!

When we woke this morning, the sky was blue, birds were singing, and there was not a cloud in the sky. Believe it or not, we have had hail and rain this past week - a fact that has greatly thwarted my attempts to get a jump start on Sister's relatively short growing season. Today, however, was marvelous and both Frank and I hustled outside to pull weeds, trim limbs, and plant a variety of flowers. When I stepped off the porch, I was excited to see that one of my poppies had bloomed - the very first one of the season!

I purchased a variety of colors from a local nursery - the poppies are a fancy variety and will come back each spring. While I was planting and pulling weeds, Frank was busy cutting back the evergreen shrubs - a task that will require several trips to the dump tomorrow.

While Frank was busy sawing and cutting - I was planting some colorful petunias for the planter box on our deck.

Check out the delphinium - supposedly this plant will attract butterflies and humming birds! So beautiful ...

We finally called it quits around 6:00 pm and ended the day with a long soak in the hot tub. Life certainly is good!

Howland Hill Road and Stout Grove

Stout Grove, 44 acres of huge Redwoods, was a gift from the owner of a logging company. In order to see the trees, we had to venture 12 miles down a rugged dirt road (Howland Hill Road) to arrive at the grove which borders the Smith River. I learned today that the redwood trees grow best at elevations below 2000 feet and thrive on the continuous rainfall and moderate temperatures of the coastline.

The looped trail was an easy 1.5 mile stroll through towering trees. The day was perfect - the sun was shining brightly through the forest.

The patterns and swirls in the redwood stumps were beautiful. Apparently redwood trees are quite resistant to disease and rot, and are able to bounce back even after being burned. Some of the trees along the coast are over 2000 years old.

Jedediah Smith Park

Yesterday we walked Tan Oak Drive (a road that goes down to the Smith River) with our friends, the Thodes, and our dogs. This area was something straight out of a Walt Disney movie. The forest floor was covered in ferns and the trees - a mixture of redwoods and deciduous trees created a wonderland that, in my case, called forth images of fairies and elves. Frank, however, was imagining the great T-Rex!











Many of the redwoods were covered in fungi, moss, vines and a variety of other life forms that in some cases resembled scary creatures! As we neared the river we could hear the rapids.

The edge of the river bottom was covered in rocks and blooming wildflowers. Take a look at the lupen!

Location:Redwoods

Rest and Relaxation on the Rogue!

What a delightful surprise! Frank looked at a map and picked a halfway point for our trip to the Redwoods and landed on Shady Cove - a small town on the Rogue River. To quote Frank, the town is "very funky - and all about the river". We pulled into our site in the early afternoon, so we had time to sit by the river and enjoy the sun. Here is screen shot of our trailer park on Google Earth.

They've really made an effort to fix up the park with plantings, lawn, and chairs. Bogie and I went for a walk along the river's edge and we met several other campers enjoying their afternoon. Bogie even met "Rockie", a standard size Aussie.
The owner was really into Aussies (she owns several) and told me that Bogie had a very nice muzzle and good confirmation - she said that many of the mini-aussies have a shortened snout. Although she complemented his bearing, she did add that she thought he was a bit heavy!!!! Oh well!

Check out the putting green next to the barbecue pit.

Tonight Frank, Bogie and I went for an evening walk. The fish were leaping on the far side of the river, and a big heron flew gracefully over the water! All very awesome.