Friends and Family

Just in case you think I only take pictures of where I am, here are some pictures of family and friends from my vacation.

In Milwaukee, the whole gang plus cousin Dave.

 Eating ice cream at the Berry Patch.  Sarah is eating "play dough" ice cream. yuk

 A picture of Neil taking a picture.

 Sarah and Tim on Brockway Mountain just before sunset.

Mary strangling Neil .. just so we can find out if his t-shirt was made in China (it was).

Wordless Wednesday

Collecting

So, whilst on vacation, we went to an art fair with lots of baskets and hand crafted goodies. I got a few stocking stuffers, but nothing exciting (I'm too cheap to buy much of anything).  However, across the street was a yard sale and I found this for $1 *for #21 on my list.  it's not much but another one to add to my collection.  I really like the glass insert.  I don't think it's very valuable or desirable, but I really like it.

 

Ruins and the Cliff Mine

One of the days on vacation, we went looking for ruins and old buildings that used to be the Cliff Mine.  The Cliff Mine is kind of on a cliff (hence the name) so our adventure was curtailed by the fact that I was carrying a camera and a berry getter (aka pitcher for gathering berries) and didn't have two hands to pull myself up the hill/cliff to see whatever else there was to see.  That and a big, unfriendly dog cut our exploration short.  Sometime, when I have more time, and the correct gear, I may do a little more exploring.  I'd like to.

and, alas, no berries.  I did, however, skin my knee -- fortunately without ripping a hole in my well-worn jeans, which are destined to become my next quilt.

here's a picture of the Cliff Mine, when it was a working mine .. a very, very long time ago (apparently they stopped mining there in 1878).

(Picture from here.)

Waterfalls

Our last day in Michigan, we hiked to several waterfalls.  The first was Morrison Falls or the Little Silver River Falls.  We hiked in about a quarter of a mile from the five-mile point road.

The second were the Eagle River Falls.

The final ones were the Montreal Falls.  This was about a one mile walk/hike to the mouth of the river.

And then we hiked another half mile to the upper falls.  My feet were so sore, I took my shoes off and put them in the water.  Apparently, in the spring, these falls are quite dramatic with the run off from the snow.

Lighthouses

I added another lighthouse to the list of lighthouses visited in Michigan's Keeweenaw Peninsula -- I think there are 10 in all (I need to check on that).  Last year, we tried to find this lighthouse and somehow missed it.  This is the Jacobsville lighthouse.  It is a B&B and would be a wonderful place to stay .. one day.

 

We were able to walk all the way up to the light (it's not an active lighthouse anymore).   Very cool.  Here's a picture from the top.

A picture of the stairs up to the light -- no handrail.  great for kids.  not so great for me.

 

Another view of the lighthouse.

 

 

Here's a picture of the Portage River entry light.  I took a bunch of pictures the last time we visited there (last year).  I didn't walk out to the light this year, but took the picture from the beach.

 

And here are some picture of the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse.  

 

 

note the hand rail on this one...

Wordless Wednesday

Vacation (Lakes, waterfalls, lighthouses, trees, etc.)

I've just returned from two weeks vacation in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  I didn't think I'd be up there this year, but as it turned out, I spent more consecutive days there than I have in about 35 years.  There was swimming, hiking, watching sunsets, eating out, eating in, eating Mackinac Island fudge (ice cream), a little berry picking and jam making.   

I took a couple hundred pictures and can't figure out which ones to post first -- or how to do it justice so that you could share the trip with me.

Wordless Wednesday

(I have no idea what this is .. but I ran across it in the woods yesterday.)

Milwaukee

So, last night I began my trek across country for my vacation with my sister (& kids) and my dad.  They are training it from Philadelphia and Washington DC to Milwaukee and I am flying from San Jose, CA to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  After we meet up in Milwaukee, we will drive to Eagle Harbor, Michigan.  Right now I am sitting in the airport waiting for them to arrive.

When I figure out what time they get in, I'll figure out how to find them.

When I get my act together, I'll take and post some pictures.

As I was sitting here, I was reminded of my goals from a couple of weeks ago .. here's how I did:

Liberty Quilt - DONE
Pencil cases - 8/14 (or earlier) - one done
Pencil Skirt - 8/8 - not even started
sewing kit(s) - 8/14 - not even started
bags - 8/14 (or earlier) - not even started
diaper cake or motorcycle - DONE

Ah well.  When I made those goals, I hadn't planned to come on this trip and thought I would get so much more done.  At least I'll get some of my knitting done.  maybe.

Pencil Pouch & Zips

My OD is going to school this fall and has begun buying the things she will need.  After purchasing tons of supplies, she asked me to make her some pencil pouches -- she figured I could use supplies that I had on hand and it would be more cost effective.  So we looked on line for a pattern and we found this one at Sew, Mama, Sew!  Really cute! We found some fabric in my so-called stash and I finally got down to sewing it tonight.

 

here is the lining -- I should have taken a picture so you could see what the lining fabric looks like -- it's pretty cute. 

Here is a picture of the fabric for the outside of the pouch, the zipper, and the circular pieces for the ends .. actually you can see two strips of the lining fabric next to the umbrella fabric.  I used the lining fabric for the piping also.

and ta da .. here is the finished pouch (about three hours later ...)

 

If you don't look too closely, it looks pretty good.  The zipper was horrible.  I need a tutorial on that.  I'll have to see what the internet has to offer for the next time.

 

and another angle .. I left it in my daughter's room for her to see when she gets home from work.  I have another one to make too, but that will have to wait a few weeks.  I'm going out of town and won't have access to my machine.

Here are some pencil pouches that I found at Target, for $1 each (the zipper in the one I made cost $2).  hmmm.  Probably should have gone with those and tried my hand a making the skirt that she wanted instead.  As it is, I'll have to mail the skirt, and the second pencil pouch (unless I decide to make something else instead).

Here's my little helper saying cheese!

Another finish!!

Finished the Liberty quilt!! Just in time for the baby shower.  My OD says it looks too much like Christmas .. but we'll just have to get over that.  There's lots of pink in it but the red and green do make it a little like a Christmas quilt .. ah well.

I used the Jungle Path pattern from the Moda Bake Shop.  Since the quilt is actually for Liberty's baby, I think I should rename it.  hmmm.

So, I've complete 6 quilts so far this year (#19 on the list).  My goal is nine so I've got five months to make three more.  Definitely doable.

Wordless Wednesday