humming quietly to myself

"on the road again... can't wait to be on the road again..." (quiet humming due to inability to carry a tune!)  Leaving friday a.m. with Linda and her SIL, Denise, to go to their cabin on the Metolius River close to Sisters, OR.  There is a yearly huge and fabulous quilt show in Sisters, which was our original destination... then since we'd be so "close" (a relative term) to Burns, we decided to go over there on sunday to visit Teresa,  see her yarn shop (Skeins in John Day), and then spend the night with them on their cattle/sheep/alpaca ranch.  Back to the cabin on monday and drive home on tuesday!  whew!!  i'll be taking camera, Garmin, spinning wheel, knitting project(s), lots of grazing items and adult beverages!  doesn't get any better than this..... will come back with lots of photos, we won't get lost, i'll have some fiber zen, hope to get some quilting inspiration, and will definitely have a marvelous time!  hummmmmm ... more quiet humming.  it's become an ear worm... ack

morning in the garden...

when i went to the garden this morning to water the veggies, i took my camera along .. hoping i'd see yesterday's dragonfly and could get a photo of it.  that was without doubt the most awesome dragonfly i've seen!... its body was a luminescent mid-blue, with a head that was Mediterranean turquoise and transparent wings with a black dot on each, like WOW!   today i saw this beauty.  i wonder why they so often perch on sticks...

and then there is the Taboo rose, which is usually so dark it is almost black.  maybe all this sun is bleaching it?  anyway, it's one of my faves.
and since a temp of 93 or so is expected today, i'm just hanging out indoors sippin' tea and getting ready to do some knitting on an entrelac piece which could become the front of a vest... or maybe a wrap/shawl... at this point it is an unknown.

this lush and lovely hanging flower basket has become home for a new family.... much to my surprise!  as i was watering it, out flew a little bird, extremely ruffled (but not wet) and giving me chirpy holy hell!   so i tipped the basket just a tiny bit.. enough to see a cozy nest in amongst the foliage.  nice choice for a nest.... up away from predators, sheltered by geranium leaves, surrounded by a lovely view of flowers as "home" sways gently in the breeze.

if you look closely.. there is a little nest right in the middle of the photo!

another simple gift...

yummmmm

another of those simple gifts... warm and sweet in the early morning.

Lucy Chinchilla

this was my first up-close-and-personal encounter with a chinchilla.. and i was impressed!  a very sweet, friendly and unbelievably soft creature, being held by Donna Nelson

Donna was very welcoming to anyone who wanted to pet Lucy and learn about chinchillas.  she

seemed like a chinchilla ambassador.  there just might be one living with my grandchildren and their parents in the near future.  Kate was quite taken by this sweet little critter.

Black Sheep Gathering!!

it's that time of year again... the black sheep gathering in Eugene, OR and i think i've only missed maybe 1 or 2 of these events since about 1984.  the first couple of times i went, it was still being held in Cottage Grove, OR.... back in the day when it was really small.  and now it's so big that 3 large rooms of vendors isn't enough, so there are several outside on the lawn... and the fleece show and sale is in a separate building (which i stayed FAR away from as i knew i'd be tempted and be unable to resist coming home with wool and/or mohair fleeces).  Kate took amtrak to portland, i picked her up and we drove on down to eugene.  got there about 2pm, giving us plenty of time for the first cruise around the vendors booths and thru the animal barns.  we were on a mission to find the newborn angora kids we'd heard about and they were so adorable!!  and little!  not sure how i ever resisted adding angora goats to the farm when we had other fiber animals.  they have the sweetest faces ever... esp. the kids!  and i love to spin mohair locks.  after the initial quick tour thru the show and reconnecting with lots of friends, we went to the motel and had a little lie-down before meeting twisted sisters and So.Cal. friends for the traditional Sat. night chinese dinner at Ocean Sky (and yes, Rachael, we did have the fabulous garlic eggplant... and thought of you!)  damn... i do love traditions... after dinner we went back to the motel, went next door to Laurie, Jane and Crystal's room and had some spinning, wine and show-and-tell.  Kate and i weren't able to live up to our night-owl reputations, as she was really sleep-deprived and i was just getting over the cold from hell which turned into pneumonia followed by painful reaction to antibiotic.  by sunday morning, we were ready to go again and did some serious shopping.  i'll take some photos of the fiber purchases soon.

here's Janis Thompson... an incredibly creative person.. and one of my favorite people!

Peggy and Richard Lundquist of Black Sheep Newsletter.
vendors, shoppers and spinning circle.

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.

- Joseph Chilton Pearce

hoya blossom