Day Two Kenei Fjords National Park

While still at home, I read that you might need reservations to go out on one of the boats to the Keni Fjords National Park which is only reached by water unless you re an extremely good hiker. We checked the weather by google and saw that the last day without rain while we were to be in Seward was Sat. so we made reservations for a 9 hour trip to see one of the most remote glaciers and all the wildlife on the way. It was the trip of a lifetime considering all the amazing things we saw. We took almost 250 pictures so I'll try to pick the 10-15 best!

This was the boat we took, very nice and knowledgeable crew!

An adorable sea otter eating an octapus!

A pod of orcas

A home for Steller Sea Lions to raise their pups. They gather here so ,as a large group, the pups will be safe.

We were very lucky to spot fin whales. This is a fairly rare sight.

Harbor seals sitting on glacial ice.

The tail of a mighty humpback whale!!!!

The famous bird of Alaska, the puffin.

I can't remember the name of these birds, but they look like miniature penguins.

Our destination, the beautiful Northwest glacier seen only by 300,000 people! Not on our boat thank goodness, but in the history of the glacier.

We were lucky enought to see calving, it sounded like an elplosion!

These guys are sure cool!!!!

Here is the super blogging assistant to be known as the SBA in future blogs! He loads all my pictures!

Thanks to you folks that are following my trip!!!

Alaska!!!!

We arrived in Alaska on Fri. PM after a fairly short easy flight. It was a beautiful sunny day. We picked up our rental and headed down to Seward, our home for the next four days.I'm hoping to use this blog as a sort of diary of this trip. On the way we passed through Girdwood. Laurie spent some time here so we stopped for some photos.

I thought this was the perfect name for a grungy little coffee shop in Girdwood.

I love this coffee. When we go back this way, I'm going to look for a mug to match my " Wicked Wolf tee shirt.

Just a cute sign.

Another cute sign

Such beauty!!!!

This shows sailing on boards in Turnagain Arm.

Actually this place had great beer and good halibut sandwiches.

And OH, the pickles. You picked your own out of a barrel.

This really says Alaska !

The fireweed is awesome!!!!

We are not on this boat!!!!!!!(Moored in Seward)

Seward is quite the fishing capital for both halibut and salmon.

The next blog will show photos of our trip into Misty Fijords National Park.

The Garden

After a cool and cloudy spring and summer(so far but I'm not complaining) my garden has finally come to life. I think some of the plants have enjoyed the cool weather. We have had to water some in spite of the weather. Here in the NW, when it rains , we do not get the inches that you get in other parts of the country. It can be a bit deceptive , it's been cool and cloudy so you think the plants are fine, but they do need the water. My day lilies are so pretty even though for the last two years, the early blooming ones have a bug or disease of sorts. The result is some deformed flowers.I just pull them off.
In the cross stitch world, I finished "Jenny Bean's Creation Sampler." I stitched this on 36 count linen using one strand of floss. I decided that I prefer the way two threads look so I'll be back to my favorite 32 count antique ivory linen. I ordered the frame for Jenny Bean when Micheal's had the 60% off sale. I haven't taken any pictures yet. That will be on a later post.

A lovely Lilly.

These white delphiniums are just lovely. They are sort of past their prime.

These yellow daisies are very ruffly.

There is NO shortage of bees in this garden!!!!!

Lavender Festival

On Fri. , my dear husband agreed to accompany me to the Sequim Lavender Festival. This is held each year about the same time-mid July. Our never ending very cool spring and summer caused the lavender to be not as pretty as other years. Many varieties were just not fully blooming yet. However, we had a great time! There were about 5 farms available for touring and a huge lavender market in town. You could buy just about anything made of lavender! We each had a delicious strawberry shortcake that was made with local berries. We skipped the lavender ice cream! Enjoy the pictures!

As I said you could buy anything made of lavender! These were NOT GOOD!

This is typical of the music at the various farms. Jim enjoyed the music while I shopped!

There were many beautiful flowers besides the lavender.

There are several beautifully carved totems that we see on our way home from Sequim!

Berries, Berries, and more Berries

One of the many joys of living in the Pacific NW comes every summer. Even though we have had a cool, damp summer, the berries are still coming. We have lots of U-Pick farms. In fact, a wonderful raspberry farm is less than 5 minutes from my house. They are not quite ready yet, but we are getting berries from north and east of Seattle. I usually pick several pints and freeze them for the winter. I'm just finishing up last years harvest. I went to the market a few days ago and bought some real treasures.

Can't you just imagine these with short cake and whipped cream?

Have you ever seen golden raspberries?? They were so good!

Here is a photo of our blueberry bushes. They won't be ready for picking for awhile. The trick here is to get them before the birds. We put netting on them last year. The first year we grew them, we came home from a day trip and found them all gone from the bush!!! At first we suspected the neighborhood children!

In the stitching realm, I'm about to finish the "Jenny Bean Creation Sampler." With a big sale on frames at Micheal's, we ordered the frame today. My DH does all the actual framing so it was a good deal. Pictures to come.

Yummy Crab!

On Fri. afternoon some friends invited us to go out on their boat to check and pick up their crab pots. It was lots of fun. The day was cool and cloudy and I had never been in a fishing boat that offered some protection from the weather. This one did and it was very comfortable! We picked up 3 pots with a total of 12 dungeness crabs. Ten is the limit so we threw the smallest 2 back. Back at their home our friend cleaned the crabs and then cooked them. That was very interesting to watch. He has the process down to a science. Then to our delight, they sent us home with five crabs! That is worth a goodly sum of money! Last night we had crab with lemon butter-the best crab I have ever eaten!!!!! Tonight it will be crab sandwiches. I froze the rest as it took me two hours to clean the amount we have had so far and it only amounted to 2 of the crabs. Much to my dismay, we forgot our camera. Thanks to good friends for a wonderful afternoon and several great meals!!!!!
In the stitching world, I'm struggling with Adam and Eve's eyes doing the" Jenny Bean's Creation Sampler" from Shakespeare's Peddler. I'll get them down tonight!
Well, off to the yard for the rest of this afternoon.

A correction!

Well, I knew I was a bit tired when I posted last night and today I found a mistake. The LHN design is called "Liberty Belles." My Quaker design is call,"Sweet Land of Liberty." The design is done by Cherished Stitches. I changed a lot of this design by using NPI Inc. threads. I used colors 636(clove range), two shades of Atlantic blue range 923 and 925, and last ,gold 772 (sunflower gold range). I use those blue shades a lot. As I said, I used linen that I had on hand. I think the Quaker design was on 32ct. Antique ivory. This is a color and count that I use frequently.
Now I'm busily stitching "Jenny Bean's Creation Sampler" by Shakespeare's Peddler. I'm trying 36 ct. Edinburgh linen and the recommended floss. Photos to come later.
Well, summer made an exit today ! Cold , damp, and in the 60's! I'm not complaining as I talked to my sister in FL and she said that at ten last night, with the humidity it was like 90 degrees!!!

Warm Wednesday Night!

It's almost ten and I can still see light in the sky. Our cold wet spring and early summer has recently morphed into a lovely warm and sunny few days. The 4th was just beautiful!!! We had neighbors for dinner and enjoyed a super day. It started with a Doo-Dah Parade! Quite the event! There was even a decorated garbage can! The neighborhood children had lots of fun decorating their bikes.
I did a bit of patriotic stitching this year. It took me a while to decide what to do with the small ones. I decided to use frames I had and group them around my feather tree that I decorate for the season.





From left to right these are JBW "Of Thee I Sing", Birds of a Feather,"Land that I Love", and Little House Needleworks "Let Freedom Ring". I used any fabric I had on hand and I used the required floss on the Birds of a Feather and the LHN. I used colors I liked on the JBW. They were all fun and quick to stitch.
In the top picture, you get a peek at the feather tree. It is a very small Bethany Lowe and I have lots of fun with it.
My last venture was the Patriotic quaker. I really enjoyed stitching this one.




I will add the designer and floss colors tomorrow. I seem to have misplaced the pattern.
Last but not least, I will add pictures of my wonderful patriotic "Woolpets" designed by my very talented daughter!!

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Tulip Festival

As soon as I have time to sort my over 200 photos of the tulip festival, I'll be posting .

Will Spring Ever Come?

Wow! I'm not sure of the answer to my post question! We are just stuck in this 50's, rain every day. We manage a few breaks of sun then the rain is back. There was so much rain in the Cascades that the snow started to melt and then we had flood warnings. We are up nice and high so not a worry for us but definitely for others. I have watched other parts of the country and you poor guys are still getting snow! Well, on to a happier subject-my Easter decorating!



These are my boy and girl bunnies. I always wanted boy and girl bunnies. We got these a few years ago at a 50% off sale after Easter! The eggs are needle felted. The wool furnished by my dear daughter!


I stitched this two years ago. It is a Blackbird Designs pattern. I probably changed some of the color , as I usually do. I can't remember the details. I just love it and hang it every spring over my antique desk in the entrance to our home.



This shows the top of my desk. I have a feather tree, my blue bunny cross stitch, and my white bunny collection. For me, bunnies and eggs symbolize spring as well as Easter and rebirth.



This is my feather tree(new this year thanks to my DH) . It has some of the beautiful needle felted birds by my daughter(Woolpets) . She also made some of the needle felted eggs and some I got at Williams-Sonoma. Hope you enjoy the Easter tour of my home, at least part of the decorations.

A New Camera

Well, I'm learning to use our new camera. I changed my heading using a photo I took today. This is one of my daughter's adorable wool sculptures. She made it for me a few years ago. I just love it! We are still plagued with rain,rain,rain! I went out when we had what they call out here"a sun-break."
I think my recent cross stitches reflect my desire for spring. I finished "Daffodils " by Prairie Schooler. I changed some of the DMC colors as I went so I'm not sure what they were as I have put them all back in my thread bag.


I also stitched up a quick bunny. I love the small designs inside the large bunny. This was a JBW design. It was a very quick stitch that I enjoyed.
Tomorrow I'll post the little 4th of July stitch I did. I plan to do several ornament size projects to put in an antique wooden bowl that I have.

Well, it's time to watch the pickers, so I'll stop for tonight.

Still without a camera

Well as the title says , I'm still without a camera. We ordered a new battery for our old camera. It came but the problem was the charger did not work. So now we ordered a charger! Meanwhile, our dear Son-in-law, Kevin has offered to take our good camera to Seattle to try to get it fixed. I did finish "Daffodils" by Prairie Schooler today. It is very pretty. At least it will be up by March . I have done November, December, and July so we have a frame that fits them all. My DH, the framer ,will only have to stretch it. I'm going back to "Winter Wonderland" by Blackbird Designs to finish. Then on to some spring stitches.
The old weather has me quite concerned. We are suppose to have the coldest night in 30 years!!The big problem is, we have had such a mild winter that lots of plants have started to sprout. This year has been so weird with the bad Nov. freeze then mild temps and now another big freeze!
Yesterday was great! My dear daughter and son-in-law went to the big Seattle flower show with me. We had a great time. A ferry ride, a bus ride, then a bit of a walk and we were there! So lovely and spring -like inside. The lighting was not good and they wanted to take pictures. That was the only big problem.
Well, hopefully I will have a picture of "Daffodils" up soon. Have a great week-end!

Broken Camera

Well, the posts will be dull for a few days. My camera won't start. Our dear son-in-law is going to take a look and see if he can figure out what's wrong. The amazing Seattle flower show is in a few weeks and I sure hope the camera is working. It looks like my sweet daughter will be going with me! We have had several really rainy days , last night even thunder. For those who don't live in the Pacific NW, it never or hardly ever thunders here.
I'm busy working on Prairie Schooler's , " Daffodils." The tree was tedious but actually kind of fun-Lots of counting!!!!
Things are quiet here and that's about it!

A BREATH OF SPRING!

One of my passions,besides stitching, is gardening. We have had several days that are sunny and in the high 40's. I can't resist the primroses that are showing up in all the places they sell plants,even the Rite-Aid! I have looked at my dead window box for several weeks. Usually I plan a nice winter box, but with my DH having such knee problems, I guess I was distracted as no nice box got planted this fall. I decided it would be wonderful to look out and see flowers. Now as I stand at my sink, this is what I see:





These little beauties remind me that spring will be here before too long!

Not much to say about stitching. I'm busy doing "Daffodils" by Prairie Schooler. The alphabet part is a bit tricky. I guess that even in my stitching I'm thinking about flowers and spring!

MY NEW HEADER

I just fell in love with the little snowman that is my new header. I do need to explain that the new header isn't the work of my daughter. Her work ( all the wonderful birds) was my last header. I have an idea to use one of her "Woolpets" in my March header, so be looking for it. Anyway the cute little snowman is from Midnight Stitching. This pattern is called "Heartstruck Quakers" #016. I have purchased several of their charts because I think they are so cute. I'm anxious to do a patriotic one from a pattern called "Heartstruck" #003. I did change the colors on the header . I used DMC 355 for the red, DMC 922 for the carrot nose, and the rest I did according to the chart. It only took two night to do this. It was a quick valentine stitch.
We had another lovely day here. I wanted to be in the yard but it seems I have developed plantar facilitates (probably spelled wrong!!) but it sure hurts! I'm trying lots of stretches to correct it! Thanks to Mary, a follower, for asking questions.

Currant project

Well, just a short post today. I'm currently working on "Winter Wonderland " by Blackbird Designs. I think the house is one of the prettiest ones I have done.




I am doing it on 32ct.I am using the suggested threads but have changed the fabric. I'm using R and R reproduction,Creek Red Brown. It has a bit more red than the suggested Dark Chino. I got the fabric from J.J.'s Collectibles. The lady that deals with the phone orders was so helpful and she suggested this fabric change. I love the way it brings out the red in the house. Thank you J.J.'s. I am considering stopping work on this for just a bit and working on Prairie Schooler's "Daffodils."I have done Nov., Dec., and July of the series. "Daffodils "is really meant for March so if I want it done by March, I'd better get going.
Just got back from my 2 mile walk and can say that winter has returned to the Pacific NW. I guess our choice is warm and rain, or sun and cold! It will be nice to see the sun this week!
The header on my blog is the work of my daughter and son-in-law. They went to New York City to explore some new avenues for her work. They get home tomorrow. Hope they had a great trip!