A Favorite Walking Trail plus a little cross stitch!

We live about 10 minutes from the largest commercial area in North Kitsap Co. WA. One would think there would be just stores and more stores! Someone (I have no idea who) preserved a wonderful piece of land. It is called the Clear Creek Trail System. One trail takes you by an inlet of Puget sound. The one I'm showing today was probably once farm land. Much of it is a wet-land. They built(volunteers) this great board-walk. You can walk a couple of miles on this trail and then go on to more if you have the energy. We walk this trail several times a week!

Here's a great example of the board-walk.

I love the deep blue sky with those wonderful pines and cedars at the skyline.

There are several of these signs telling you about the area. At the bottom of each sign is a pattern that comes from the Suquamish, a tribe that has been in this area for hundreds of years. These patterns were used in their basket making. The city Seattle was named after a Suquamish chief.

A lovely yellow dogwood.

This is an old farm that they are trying to preserve.

When you approach this part of the trail, it feels like a tunnel. On a warm summer day it is quite welcome.

This is a wild rose bush. there are lots of them on the trail. In June, they are covered with pretty pink roses and in the fall , the pretty hips.

Here's progress on mitten number 2. I found a great frame at Eastside Moldings. I plan to order it on Mon. (Should have the mitten done).
Thanks a lot for joining me!

Storms and Cross stitch!

Well, we did get our Pacific storm last night. They had predicted high winds but they weren't too bad. Fortunately because we often loose power with bad storms. We did get enough wind to take down lots of leaves. This morning the deck was fairly covered. The mountains got LOTS of snow. I'll try to get a picture of them in the next few days. It looks so pretty to see them with snow again! Hope everyone is having a good week. I need to get busy with Thanksgiving stuff as I'm having a group of 8!

Oh, I keep forgetting to take my little witch down!!

This tree was still full of leaves a few days ago. Looks like I forgot Mr. Pumpkin too!! Maybe I'm just trying to make Halloween last a bit longer!

The front yard.

My wonderful paper -bark maple is almost bare by the looks of the ground.

The first red mitten is done.

Plus, Quaker Thanksgiving is finally framed and looks good on the desk. The pilgrim kids had to go.

Thanks for having a look!

A Cross Stitch Catch Up

Well, as I've said for a few days, I 'm doing a cross stitch catch up. We had a beautiful day here in he Pacific NW. Lots of sun. Tomorrow a big Pacific storm is suppose to blow in so it was super to be out and enjoy today-even if it was errands and getting 12 staples out! I have been doing quite a bit of cross stitch with all the sitting I have been doing. My big problem is getting thread for a new sampler. I need to go to Issaquah or Portland to get the thread, mainly because I haven't used the colors I want to use in this new sampler. So I've kept busy with little stuff, using fabric , thread, and patterns that I have in my stash.

Here's the Quaker Thanksgiving all done but yet to be framed. Great fall colors! It was done on 32 ct. parchment with recommended floss. It's a Bent Creek design.

Since I had to make do with what I had, I found this mitten pattern. I had great silk floss left over from another project. I decided to stitch them side by side on one piece of fabric. I like the fact that they aren't too Christmasy. I can leave them up all winter. I love the way the little designs emerge as you stitch. The design is on 32ct Belfast linen antique ivory. The color is NPI silk Clove Range color 636. I have used this red in many projects. This is a JBW design.

Here's my start. Sorry for the wrinkles.

This is my next project. I'm doing this one for my daughter. She raises sheep. Because my daughter is NOT a pink sort of young lady, I'm doing the design on a burlap colored fabric and the sheep will be white-just like her sheep both in fact and fiction. She has a great little blog called Hazel, Basil , Pudding Pie. that's the fictional Hazel . As I do this, I'll put some pictures of the living Hazel on my blog!

Thanks for joining me.

My Quirks

One of my favorite blogs for well over a year is Octoberfarm. JAZ over at this blog has passed me the baton to list 7 of my quirks. So here goes:


1. I actually like to clean house!! My adult kids find this especially puzzling.

2. Most retired people move where it is sunny and warm, I moved where is it cool and rainy!!! The beautiful Pacific NW.

3. I decorate the house for every holiday!!!( Maybe it's all those years of doing seasonal bulletin boards)

4. I never met a witch I didn't like-living or otherwise.

5. I love to have sauer-kraut with my turkey on Thanksgiving.

6.I adore my crock collection and I don't mean the shoes.

7.I have a vast collection of pinecones! I had quite a collection before we moved and the SBA(Super Blog Assistant-my husband) refused to move them. I have since began anew!! I even risk arrest for taking them from the ground in places that say "Do not remove anything from this area).

Well, that's the best I can do with advice from the SBA , my daughter, and my very witty son-in-law!
I was recently asked about the SBA. Well my husband got that title because he often loads my pictures, especially when I'm busy. He was a huge help on our trip last summer to Alaska. That's when I gave him the title SBA. Thanks for asking. Cross stitch coming tomorrow. Thanks for looking!

Fall on the Deck!

After 9 days, I'm finally feeling like I can return to the human race. Never believe it if they tell you umbilical hernia repair is a piece of cake!!!!!! The SBA has been very sweet but has recently become quite bored with so much time at home(his choice). This morning he decided to entertain himself by washing windows!! Now this man is a window washing machine. Last year while he was awaiting knee replacement surgery, window washing became a challenge. I suggested we make it simple and hire someone to do the job. But NO WAY! Even though he could not climb a ladder, he figured out a way. He just hung out the windows to do the outsides-wish I could show you photos of that adventure!! Anyway , I was delegated to hold the ladder while he climbed almost three stories to get the windows done. I took the camera out and enjoyed seeing how my yard had changed in the 9 days I have been hibernating.

We put a mirror in the back or our potting bench. It had wood shaped like a window. It reflects our lovely woods. I liked the way this maple leaf jut fell onto the bench. If you notice the raw wood, on the panes, that was done by a wood-pecker who thought he was looking at a rival.

We've had two stormy sort of days so the deck is now covered with leaves.

Remember my beautiful grape vine, all gone for this year.

This is the yard below the deck. A new chore for the SBA when things dry out.

We planted some pretty huchera in with this evergreen. We will see it all winter from our kitchen french doors.

We experimented with the window box this year and planted all heaths and heathers. I'm excited to see how they do in the box. The colors are very pretty. I see this box every time I'm at the kitchen sink.

From left to right

Center

This lovely hardy fushia is still blooming. It dies down to the ground each winter and comes back to 3 or 4 feet and is covered with beautiful flowers each summer.

I tried several vines for my garden entrance. I settled on an annual cup and saucer vine that is great and covers the arbor each year. Thanks to the advice of Terri at Valley Nursery,(one of my favorite places on earth).

Until I had moved to the Pacific NW, I had never seen a big leaf maple. They aren't very pretty colors, just this rusty gold. But the leaves are huge and the trees are wonderful!!

When my daughter had her day-care ,the kids loved to play with these leaves. they make great fans,etc.
Tomorrow's blog will be a cross stitch catch up. Thanks for taking a look. I really appreciate it.