Merry Christmas

This year for Christmas I decided to make gifts for every one, spent a few months sewing away.  The guys got camo boxes, that go in the car, tote bags and knitted scarfs and quilts for the rest of the group.  So I made every one pose for a picture, my camera didn't take that great of pictures. 

                                     Love the look on the babies face while opening her presents. 

Time with family is the best, it is hard to get every one together at one time, but enjoyed it when all my kids were together.

more Nome pictures

vacation

Had a week off from work, so off I go sailing with Capt Blythe, aka my mechanic, the weather was great, we had big plans of going around the point, some where I haven't been yet, but the closer we got to the big water, the bigger the waves got, now the boat can take it just fine, but when Capt asked did I want to do that for 6 more hours, my response was no, I wanted to enjoy the vacation, so we turned around and found calmer water.  I did get some fishing in we had 3 different kinds of poles on board, halibut, trolling, and casting.  I did catch 2 cod trolling, but didn't keep them.  Some folks gave us some bait since we didn't really plan on fishing, I used it all up, but just feed the fish, no barn door halibut for me.  Spent one night at the dock across the bay, I did get out and got some salmon berries.  Going to make a batch of jam with them.  Another night on the hook, found a really neat spot quiet, with the eagle flying around, the mornings were calm beautiful and not much beats being on a boat.  I told my mechanic, I never dreamed growing up in Montana that I would be sailing in Alaska. 

I always enjoy seeing the otters this one looked really big.

The boat got some new improvements, so it's easier to sail, was much more enjoyable sailing than the past things are working better, part is Capt is getting use to the boat, and the weather was great.

                                 

After the sailing trip, I drove to Anchorage, it was time for the yearly girls go out and see Alaska trip.  Nome Alaska was picked this year.  Plane tickets were purchased, hotel and rental car lined up.  Got up at 4am to catch the flight, got there so early had time for breakfast, sight seeing, grocery store for snacks, dinner out, granddaughter #1 said when it was time for bed, they had really long days there.  I laughed, told her it was because we got up so early the day was long.  The weather was nice while we were there, one of the travel tips I got was the best part about visiting Nome was getting out of Nome, and we saw why, the country side there is very pretty, there are vast valleys, and lots of hills, Nome has 300 miles of road so there are lots of things to see, we didn't see allot of wildlife, but I know that the wild animals do not stand by the road waiting for the tourist.  There are lots of berries, birds, and the ocean view is spectacular.

The last night there we drove out of town looking for the musk oxen and found them not to far from town, they are awesome to see.  We spent quite a while sharing the spy glasses and looking at them.  I so enjoy my time with family on these special trips.  I tell every nice person that we have a chit chat with in these towns visiting, how we feel that since we live in the most beautiful state, that people travel from around the world to visit we should get out and see it, so a different town is picked to spend a few day at.  A few year ago I asked the grand kid what town she wanted to visit next and she told me Chuck E Cheese, so she hasn't got to pick, but this year she said Juneau would be next years trip, being the Capital.  Well I have been to Juneau, so we will have to also go somewhere out side of Juneau that I haven't been to yet, maybe Glacier Bay would be a good side trip.  I'll have to start researching next years trip.

The town I live in (a short essay)

I do like where I live, most of the time.  Usually it is best to stay home and avoid the crowds.  This time of year is especially busy.  A friend brought his boat down here and left it, we have gone out fishing a few times with him on the busy river.  Combat fishing at it finest, we did catch fish and the weather was great.  Since it has been so warm out I like to take the dogs to the lake so they can swim and cool off.  Today thought I thought we would go to the ocean since we hadn't been for a long time.  Big mistake, the tide was out, there were hordes of people, I stopped to let the dogs out they only got muddy and some lady was hollering at her dog, so we just decided to leave.  Since they got the jeep all muddy I figured I had better stop at a lake and let them swim to get clean, well there is a sign on the side of the road that says lake public access, so we drive there, it is a 4-wheeler trail and when you get there the access is blocked.  So I try a different lake, it was funny when the dogs jumped in there was a trail of mud coming off them.  (My jeep is a mess).  But all that made me cranky and the heat didn't help, it said 92 on the porch.  I did try to get some yard work done, but with all the bugs one has to dress covered, not good in all that heat, so I gave up and went downstairs where it is 60 and quilted.  The dogs though still needed to get another swim so up to the closest lake we went, it has been very busy this summer with the heat, families fishing, picnics, swimming, but there is usually room for me to throw the ball in the water for the dogs.  Tonight there was a dad with his 2 kids there fishing, and those kids were bringing in the trout, I've never seen anyone catch fish there before.  Then here they come, several loud truck with young men and snow machines in the back of 2 trucks and a little boat in another truck.  They weren't loud and crazy, they just wanted to have some fun, I asked them if they were going to ride the snow machines on the water, they said yes, but they didn't want to bother the dad and sons fishing, so they asked the dad if they could ride and he didn't mind.  So off they unload the snow machines and head for the lake.  The first guy only got part way across the lake and he sunk, said the ski got caught in the water.  They spent about 1/2  hour trying to get the machine back out of the water, but the rope came off and they couldn't find the machine again. They were still looking for the machine when I left, the rider was sure he would find it and get it out.  So then the second guy got on his machine and rode across the lake and back again.  We all were cheering for him.  I got his picture it was awesome to watch.  Moral of this story is the people in my day that could have been the worse were actually the best. 

mystery solved

Did you ever wonder why,

There are TV shows that have people with a treasure they found in the dumpster and it was worth lots of money.  How did that treasure end up in the dumpster?  I know the answer, someone has been cleaning and sorting through a house of stuff that they don't want, need, or know what to do with, and after many loads to the dump, donation site, to much stuff brought to the place where they live, somethings that maybe should have been saved or donated end up in the last few boxes or bags, and not another trip anywhere will be made with the stuff, so in the dumpster it goes, valuable or not.

Hawaii

 We got to go on a little vacation.  Drove to the city after work on Sunday.  Caught a morning direct flight out on Monday to Maui.  Got a rental car, some lunch, and went to the condo.  Had to wait for the neighbor to bring the key over.  Unpacked got a shower and some dinner.  Not sure if it was the time difference or just being in Hawaii but I woke up before the sun every morning but one.  Just love the sound of the wind and birds.  It was so nice to walk out every morning and see the beautiful green land scape. 

 Didn't plan a lot of activities time is spent visiting and eating out, going to the beach every day.  One day we got a late start and there was no parking so did miss one day of getting in the water.  There were turtles at every beach we went to.  They liked the mechanic he doesn't look like a predator.  Me on the other hand look like just like a predator, large and white.  So they swam from me really fast.  Our 2 activities were the zip line, which was so-so.  The zip line was a 2 van ride up the hill.  One van ride from parking to the shack where we got our harness on.  Then another van ride higher up the mountain.  So the view was pretty cool, could see 3 other islands and lots of ocean.  There was a period where the clouds made the water dark, but the hole in the clouds made a sunny spot on the ocean, I was watching really close and saw an whale jump out of the water.  It was a sight I will always remember.  I never get tired of seeing the whales.  Our other adventure was to get up at 330am drive up Haleakala to watch the sun rise.  It would have been better if there were no clouds, but at least it wasn't completely clouded over.  It is a cold adventure but totally worth it.  Quite a popular event, the parking lot gets full.  It is the number one thing to do on Maui, according to the 101 things to do on Maui list.

 After the sun rise we drove back down the mountain, to the Haleakala Ranch and took a 2 hour horse ride.  I did enjoy that, the view was great and it didn't rain on us.  This picture below is from the Ranch parking lot, down to the sugar field were they were burning.

 The night were beautiful we don't usually go out at night, did go out one night to an arts festival which was a save the forest thing.  Some of the art was really well done, but it was a freak show of people.  Didn't last to long there, saw the art and got out. 

We flew home on Wednesday, I got one hour of sleep on the plane, landed at 930p, got the car and the mechanic drove home, I tried to sleep in the back, got about 2 hours of sleep, got home at 2am, got up at 6a to get ready for work.  Good thing there is lots of coffee at work. 

It had snowed 2 feet and was -14 below the day we left.  Only a little snow since we got back, but it has been cold.  Nice to get away and get a little sunshine.  We did do the tourist thing and stay on the beach to long and got sun burnt.

quilting

 January was a fun quilting month for me, I had a few projects that I had been working on for awhile, and needed to get done.  This one was is for a baby being born in April, I think it turned out really well, the baby's room is brown and green, so brown and green 9 patch, and turtle pattern for the squares.  Quilted with a large stipple and loops.  I am not a stipple fan, but with the loops it turned out nice.

 This one is for baby's momma, I just enjoy the jelly rolls and this is called worlds fastest quilt, a jelly roll is a round of strips, they get sewn end to end and wrapped around to make the quilt top,  this is a Moda fabric of batiks, wonderful fabric, quilted with a tree bark pattern.

 This quilt is for my me-moo, aka Kelsey who got married.  The fabric was another jelly roll of Moda fabric, the one has 2 additional borders to make a larger quilt, found the same fabric as the jelly roll for the borders, this one was quilted with every line different, was a challenge to think of something different for every row, but turned out great.  My quilting machine really like to work on good quality fabric.

 This one is another jelly roll but not as quality of fabric but the colors were bright.  This one was quilted with a zigzag pattern alternating sizes between the strips.  A nice contrast between lines.  This quilt was a donation.

This pattern was bought two summer ago with the grand baby in mind.  Bright pink and purple batiks, the pattern is called peek-a-boo.  So I quilted those words in the border.  When the baby was sat on the quilt she tried to hug the bear.  This one was quilted with different designs in the blocks.  The yellow block in the right upper corner was quilted to look like the sun. 

I hear other women talking about quilting and they say "I don't enjoy doing that" talking about one aspect of quilting,  Well I decided that I wanted to enjoy every step of the whole quilt.  From picking out a pattern, or creating one, the fabric choices, to sewing the quilt top, and putting on the quilt frame, and finally sewing on the binding by hand.  I looked today at a quilt that I had made about 18 years ago, a bit of the stitching is coming out, so need to fix that, but was noticing how much my quilting has changed.  I am not a master quilter by any means, but I have learned allot about the process and I think gotten a little bit better, with each new quilt.

I would like to thank my mechanic for holding up the quilts to get pictures of them, even though he does complain about having to do that.  I showed him a picture of a quilt today on the Internet, and said I hope the person holding this quilt doesn't complain about it as much as you do.  He said you mean other people have to do that I thought I was the only one being abused in this manner.  He really does think he's a funny guy.

yearly ride

 So once again it was a fun filled packed enjoyable day.  The yearly WOW ride fund raiser for cancer treatment.  The group this year decided to dress as Wizard of OZ, we had Dorthy, our cabana boy, the Scarecrow and Tin Man.

 Here is my mechanic and friend getting machines ready before the ride.

 That crazy costume is me as the lion.  I think it looked more like where the wild things are.  I used last years costume add mane, ears and tail.

 We were Team Denali, and you can see Denali there on the left.  Denali showed up in a few of the pictures they took for event that were show on the big screen TV after the ride.
Here we are on the trail taking a break.

catch up

My camera has been hanging out in the bag.  I forgot to take any pictures at Thanksgiving or Christmas.  So busy cooking for Thanksgiving didn't have time.  Was really busy during the holidays, shopping, baking, sewing, wrapping and enjoying family that once again didn't take any pictures.  For awhile it looked like we were not going to be together for Christmas.  As it turned out all my kids were together for the day.  My oldest granddaughter was not able to be with us until 5p on Christmas day so we decided to have dinner and open present after she showed up.  I think it's the first Christmas I have slept in for many years.  But I'll back up, the plan was to drive to Anchorage Monday morning, but Sunday after I got off work, there was a winter storm advisory, so we decided to pack up and head to town early.  Got the truck loaded and ready in one hour.  I forgot to load the presents good thing the mechanic found them.  I had to think of my ole KS co-workers we always wondered why the pilots needed a day off to get ready to go to SIM when they knew 6 months ahead when they were going.  People who travel allot are always ready to go.  Got to ANC unloaded the presents at my daughters house, got some dinner and checked into the Hotel, we had a nice room, there was a pool and comfortable breakfast area.  Got lots of things done while we were there, last minute shopping, business that need to be taken care of, the secret to ANC is be like an old person get out early and get done early, there is no line before 11a.  The mechanic cooked a prime rib for Christmas dinner, daughter made a salad and mashed potatoes it was a yummy meal, and lots of cookies and treats to eat.  Time with family is what makes the time so special.   Drove home Wednesday, back to the grind on Thursday, my mechanic left the same day for on a temp job.  My oldest son's bunch drove down for New Years, so had company for 3 days, they spent lots of time on the Elan snow machine and enjoyed a good outdoor fire every evening.