My home on the island...

Maggie, checking out her new hood.

I've had a few people ask me about my crazy decision to buy an RV. I thought this response seemed like a good one to share on my blog.

I've been single for about 5 years now. I've had a couple of relationships, some family issues and job challenges, that have taken me from Boise to Portland, back to Boise again, up to Anacortes, WA, and now I'm back in Portland once more.

Frankly, I'm tired of packing and moving and un packing, and so I've decided that since I can't seem to land in one place,... I'm going to live in a portable house.

I found a wonderful place to park my RV. It's on an island at the confluence of the two large rivers. Almost half the island is preserved bird and wildlife habitate. I'm a bird nerd, they just facinate me, so I feel lucky to be here for peak migration time, too. I'm going to be surrounded by birds. ^_^

The best part about my new little home is that now, if I need to be where my children and grandchildren are, I can go. If I want to move to another town, I can go. If I want to park everything for a few months to travel, I can go. If I don't like my neighbors,... they can go!

Flexibility - that's what it's all about, baby! ;o)

My little sweat shop....

Wednesdays and Thursdays are my usual days off. On my days off, I try to work in the yard, take Maggie for walks or hikes, and enjoy some relaxation time. But my sewing business seems to be going a little too well, so I'm spending my days off sewing like crazy. The problem is, it's been hovering around 100 degrees, and there is no A/C in Popeye's house.
*** Oops, I better back up for a minute!*** Let me explain something... Because of a blogging 'run in' with a wealthy person with a fitting name, I now change names on my blog. So,the nice man that is letting me stay at his house will now be called Popeye, because he fancies himself a sailor, but never seems to be on a boat. (Ever notice that about Popeye? He's always on land! What's up with that???)

OH! By the way - I did not have a stalker. I found out that - uh,.. I'll call him "Peter Richy" now -was the REAL thing. Silly me! I really did think he was some bored internet creep that was bugging me. But nope! He was the real thing.

Ok, back to sewing,... because there is no A/C in Popeye's house, and it's 100 degrees outside, and my sewing room is upstairs, facing due west, it's 100 degrees in my sewing room. But I have 4 jobs that need done, so escaping the heat is not an option. So I'm literally working in a sweat shop. But,... or should I say, BUTT, ... I turned on a fan, and I'm sewing in the BUFF!!!
EEEwwww! Just TRY to get that visual out of your head!!!

Bwaaa ha ha ha ha!!!!

At least I'm not including pics with this post! But there is that visual that your own mind will make, and it's probably far worse than photos!!! LMAO!!!

Anybody care to play darts?

Note to Peter and the public at large: This is not a picture of anyone in particular, it's just a random photo I found on the internet. I just needed something to use to practice my dart game, (big tournament coming up.). This photo looked as good as any other, and I'm sure if this person has done anything REALLY stupid in the past day or so, it's merely coincidence.

Actually, I could practice my accuracy by throwing tar balls at it,...yeahhh,...

UH OH.... Somebody's is pissed....

MONROE, Ohio – A six-story-tall statue of Jesus Christ with his arms raised was struck by lightning in a thunderstorm Monday night and burned to the ground, police said.


Man, that's scary, when Jesus is getting hit by lightening! That means NOBODY is safe!

Makes me wonder if Mother Nature just needed to send a little message saying... "I'm still the one calling the shots around here, and don't forget it!"

Why I changed my blog to 'private'....

For those that don’t know, I had a cyber stalker.
He's some guy from Massachusettes that is pretending to be Peter Richy, the rich guy I wrote about on the Sailing Quest blog. He had the big blue boat that ran into all the little boats during the night.

Well this guy started out just commenting on the Sailing Quest blog saying "This is Peter Richy, and I don't think you should use my name and my boat in your blog." Then he started emailing me. He acted real tough at first, like he was trying to scare me because I blogged about him. But when I didn't respond, he started trying to make friends, saying he's my most avid reader. Then I notice he’d started reading this Hooty Hoot blog. Then he started telling me he wants to be friends and pen pals. So I finally responded, telling him that I knew he was not Peter Richy, but just a bored guy from Lexington, Massachusettes. (I could tell from my site meters, and he was on my blogs ALOT!) He responded with "Good catch!" But I'm still not going away until that post goes away."

The final straw was when I got a call from Sid. He sent Sid a registered letter! Again saying he was Peter Richy and that he wanted his name removed from that particular post. He told Sid that the post could stay, but to just change the names and then we could be friends. Sid was not happy. I told him that I was sure it was not Peter Richy, but I also assured him that I would not only get rid of the post, but the whole blog. I then decided to make all my blogs by invite only.

Seriously, if a rich guy like Peter Richy was really upset about the blog, I would have gotten a letter from his attorney not him!

He would certainly not start with a comment on my blog, then,... send a nasty email, and when I don’t respond, send a nice email trying to be ‘friends’.

And why would a rich guy with 100 foot Italian yacht want to be my 'pen pal'? Yes, he said he wanted to be pen pals!

Just CREEEEPY!

privacy in blogging...

You know, in the past couple of days, I've had two great subjects to blog about. But it's funny, since I made my blog private, it's just no fun.

Part of the fun of blogging, is putting your thoughts 'out there' for the whole world to see. But with it made private, heck why not just send an email?

So with the beautiful beach art that is what I did, I just sent an email instead of blogging.
- yawn-

And the second subject, one that really gets my dander up:

Abby Sunderland -The 16 year old girl that was trying to sail solo around the world to break the "youngest solo circumnatigation" record.

I was really going to do some serious blogging about the whole fiasco of sending a little girl out on a 40 foot sailboat alone! For gosh sake, that is the size of Quest! That's a big boat, with huge sails. There is a lot of strength required to sail a vessel like that, even if everything on it is electric, it's still a lot for a little girl alone! Sid and I had our hands full a couple of times in some weird weather, and that was still a cake walk considering what was expected of Abby.

Oh and then there is the expense of her rescue, (and who will pay for it?). Will Daddy get the bill???

But the best part,...the fact that her father has stated that "the family will not be elaborating on the problems that lead to the emergency." Gee! REALLY??? That's a shocker! WHY???

1. Could it be because a little girl shouldn't be out there in the first place?

2. Or that she didn't have the strenth to cut away the sails from the broken mast, to keep it from pulling her over or pulling her down?

3. Or that she was out in one of the worst areas on the planet, at the worst time of year, because waiting for a better weather window would have made her miss the 'youngest' record?

4...

5....

6......

GRRRRR!!!

I could go on and on, but I'm not going to... because it's just no fun when I can't share my opions with the world.

It just isn't the same at all. Ol' 'Pete' has taken the fun outta blogging.

Maybe I'll wait a few weeks, give 'Peter' a chance to get bored... and then put it back to public view.... -yawn-

Maggie and Jeri

Maggie loves Bob's old chocolate lab, Jeri.
She wants to be wherever Jeri is.
Fortunately, Jeri is VERY patient with this obnoxious little squirt.

Hanging out with Aunt Jeri, in the back yard.

Playin' Tug o' War with Aunt Jeri!

(Look at the big brown eyeball pleading for help...)

Sewing Projects

I have been getting some great sewing jobs.

I am currently working on putting all new isinglass into a boat dodger. (Putting new plastic window material into the canvas windshield and sides.) It's a large job. It's a full enclosure with 4 large pieces that contain 7 'windows'.

This has been a very challenging project. But I'd really like to reach a point to where I can specialize in marine sewing, so this is a fantastic.

You can see the old window material is badly discolored, and also cracked and breaking apart. Removing the old material, while maintaining the correct size and shape of the canvas frame was the most difficult part of the entire project, but I figured out a great trick and it has worked beautifully.

This is the old windshield... you can really see the discoloration on the right side of the picture.

This is the new windshield. Much better!

Old...

New!

I'm not completely finished, but I will get it wrapped up on my day off this week. :o)

These are some cushions and a table cloth that I made for a lady that has an antique patio set which is painted pale blue. She said she also has red flower pots and accents in the area. She asked me to help pick out fabric that would look good, as well as do the sewing. Here's what we did!

She said she'd send me a photo of the cushions ON the set, but I haven't received that yet. (Too wet to put the cushions outside!)

After finishing the boat dodger, I'll be putting a backing on a quilt and making matching pillow shams.

We had a nice day today!

We had good weather today! It was still overcast, but it was not raining!
So Maggie and I went hiking along Dairy Creek.

We had a great time! It was sooo nice to get OUT! Maggie loved exploring under all the shrubs and through the buttercups, and over the logs. She stayed very close to me the whole time. She's not one to wander too far from safety. That's a good thing. Of course, that may change when she gets older.

When we were done with all of our errands, it was still nice, and we just weren't ready to go home, so we also went for a run in the park too!

What a great day!

I need my Vitamin K & D!

I am one of those people that needs sunshine. I don't care if I wrinkle up to look like a raisen, I want to get out in the sunshine.

Maggie and I were going to go out to do some hiking today, but it's not just raining, it is POURING. I was also supposed to go out this morning and fertilize and treat for weeds for a customer from the nursery, and that is going to have to wait, too. Curse this rain!!!

Time to put on my grass skirt, get out the incense and the body paint and do my sun dance!!!



But not all is lost,...
I do have this one little ray of sunshine still following me around.















Maggie is growing so fast. She is such fun! I just love her.
I'm thinking that I'm going to have to arm wrestle Bob for her when the time comes to move out. She kind of likes him. But you know ornery ol' Bob, he just hates puppy breath, puppy kisses and those beady little eyes! You can just see the grimace on his face, as he talks to her.

busy, busy...

Wow, I have so much to write about, and so little time to do it...

The time up in Victoria with my friend Dan, the photograher, was great. I learned a lot, far more than I expected. I'll get some photos up and talk about it soon. It rained the entire time, but it was still great.

It was wonderful to see my friends in Anacortes again. I stayed at Rob and Apryls house on the way up. It was so good to see Rob & Apryl. Apryl gave me a haircut and fixed the mess that other lady made of my hair. I miss Apryl. I saw Sid and Bo too. I wish I could have seen Bill and Gig and the Olsens too. But there just wasn't time. Maybe next time.

My custom sewing is doing well. I have 3 jobs sitting here waiting to be sewn. I'll take photos of those too. (for a portfolio if nothing else.)

Maggie is adorable and fun. I'll get some photos of her up too.

Oh my, now I'm off to work at the nursery. It's been the 2nd wettest May in Portland history. Oh lucky me!!! Looks like June is starting off pretty soggy too! SUNSHINE! I need SUNSHINE!!!

I have to say, I get tired of this one...

Because, for someone who 'refuses' to put his hand on his heart,
he certainly seems to do it alot.

There are lots more. Shall I post more?

I’m going on an Adventure!

My friend, Dan Danner, (New Zealand-Martin’s brother), is a wonderful photographer. I’ve told him I’d love to ‘follow’ him around on one of his photography expeditions some day.

Well, how cool is this?
He’s going to Victoria BC and invited me to tag along! So I’m driving up to Vancouver, BC on Tuesday night, where we will meet up to take the ferry over to Victoria early Wednesday morning. I only have two days off, so MY time up there will be short, with a couple of long drives on either end, but it will be so cool to watch this master at work!

He does such amazing things with angles and lighting and textures….

Here are a few of Dan’s photos…

These first two are along the Columbia River near Astoria, OR where Dan lives.




This is Port Townsend, WA

These next two are Yorktown, Virginia, where Dan lived before moving to Astoria last fall.

Note: The down side to this adventure is that Maggie doesn't get to go on this one, because it's 'international' and I don't have a pet passport for her yet. Guess I'm going to need to get her one. But dear sweet Bob, the one who hates puppy kisses, has agreed to take care of her for me. (She's going to be totally spoiled by the time I get back!)

"Dog is my co-pilot."

When you see that, you're either looking at the bumper sticker of a dyslexic agnostic,...

or,...

Someone just got a new puppy!!!

I made Maggie's little dog bed. Isn't it cute?
(Bob says she's gonna be spoiled. How foolish of him.)

Maggie is 10 weeks old now.

She slept like such a good girl last night. When I first put her in her little kennel, she whinned for about 1 minute, and then was quiet the rest of the night!

This morning, she is just FULL of energy. She has a squeaky fish toy that has quickly become a favorite. She is pouncing on it, shaking it, and really giving it 'what for'!

I LOVE HER!

She's getting those corgi ears!

The people who are owned by Maggie's momma, just sent me a new picture of Maggie. She is just getting cuter and cuter everyday!

Maggie 8 1/2 weeks.

I think corgis are the only creature on the planet that is actually cuter as an adult than as a baby. Don't get me wrong, corgis are cute babies, but they are even more adorable when they get those big ears, and cute chubby little legs and their funny personalities. Aaaahhhh, I love her!!!

Maggie 6 weeks.

Beautiful in Blue

Isn't she?

My sunshine...

OH BOY! Only 6 more days, and I get to see the most beautiful girl in the world!

Koby Kae Newhouse!

Does this look like trouble, or what??? LOL!

I love my Koby!

Every now and then...

My African Gray parrot, Gracie, gets the urge to 'nest'. She's never had a boyfriend, so apparently it's a strong instinct. (If she'd had a boyfriend, she'd loose the urge I'm sure!)

Anyway, when she gets in these moods, she wants to crawl into some small, dark place, shred things, and scoot stuff around with her feet. So I usually try to find a cardboard box for her entertainment.

Here are a few pics of Gracie's most recent 'nest'.


This is one of her more creative nests, as she has made this marvelous 'window' for sticking her head out.

Puppy!!!!!

This is my little Maggie.
I got to hold her today, and I didn't want to give her back. But she's too little to come home with me right now, so I have to wait until I get back from Boise, May 16th-ish.

I have wanted a dog for 4 years, but I kept waiting until I was more settled. But now I've decided that - like having children - if you wait until you can afford it, and until everything is perfect in your life, it will simply never happen. So now is the time!

After picking her out, I went shopping for 'puppy stuff'. I bought her a collar, leash, dishes, food, treats, and rubber chew toys. It was so fun!

Mom came up with her name. The process was kind of funny...

I've been having a terrible time coming up with a name. I always give my pets 'people' names. I was telling mom about some dumb dog names I heard, and I told her I knew a lady that had two poodles named Black Velvet and Apricot Brandy. (major eye roll!) Being funny, Mom said, "Well, today is Cinco de Mayo, so you should name her Margarita!" And I thought, "Oh my gosh, that's cute, Margarita for Cinco de Mayo, and I'll call her Maggie for short." We both liked it right away! So, Maggie it is!
Thanks Mom!

I am so excited! It will be so nice to have a snuggly little girl.