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!)