Technology and me

I think every post needs a picture. This is an eagle that was sitting on the dock on the water. I took this picture by putting my digital camera up to the eye piece of our spotting scope on our deck.

I have been watching the eagle web cam from Sannich and watching the baby eagles grow from these tiny little balls of fluff to full sized birds and then take flight. It was quite amazing to watch them grow and fledge.

Maybe a lot of my blogging experience is like a baby eagle growing and fledging. It has been interesting to start blogging ( I became a blogger because of a chef named Hans ) I had no idea about blogging when I decided to start and then discovered all these wonderful quilters who were showing what they were doing with their quilting. Now I am trying to figure out more and more in the blogging world. I then heard about Bloglines ---- my goodness that took me most of one day - I thought I needed to know some kind of OMPL or was it OPML code -- I quickly contacted Eric ( the family computer expert) who reassured me that I should be able to do it ( although he wasn't really sure what IT was) without writing computer code. He was right, with some struggle I set up a bloglines account. Seems like a nifty idea.

Now - Cathy in Ireland decides to give instructions on how to post pictures down the side of the blog ( aka -- "sidebar" in computer talk) well I decided I should try to do that!! Completely beyond my comprehension apparently ---it looks so good on her blog, all the quilts lined up down the side of the blog. I really want to do it.

I will have to talk to Eric again.

Salsa's and Ceasars

The tomatoes are starting to ripen rapidly in bunches - so Jim made a very large Salsa today - like we need 2 litres of Salsa. He does make good salsa though, and with the fresh from the deck tomatoes and lots of peppers who can say no? I will probably end up taking a bunch with me to work. It is not the salsa that the problem it is those darn taco chips.

My sister brought a bottle of Russian vodka when she came down for the wedding - I was so busy I never got a chance to find out where she got the vodka or why she brought it. Then after the wedding she went back to work and I still haven't really found out much about the vodka - except I have had a few Ceasars since I got back from holiday and I am enjoying the great Russian vodka. Real Russian vodka with only Russian on the label - it is quite nice and very smooth.

So tonight the weather is much cooler and I sit out on the deck finishing the hand quilting on my fish quilt and enjoying a Ceasar as Jim is busy making buckets of salsa.

Back to work - and it's hot out here

Well -- first thing is the poor fish died. I was away for two weeks and he was fine when I left!! Poor Jim, he cleaned his water the day before I got back and the fish was fine for a few days and then Saturday morning he was dead. I am surprised he lived as long as he did really. Poor little guy. Not much of a life living in a Margarita jug on a dining room table. ( The fish was a table centre piece at a wedding last September -- that Andrew had to bring home, he said Anri had to have the fish -- Anri didn't want the fish and so it made it's home on the dining room table in a glass Margarita pitcher)


So -- This is a "before and after" picture of the bag of quilting I took on my road trip to Calgary. Never even took a stitch!! The weather was too nice to sit with a quilt. I must now get busy on the last little bit of the fish quilt and have it ready for the quilt show in September. Just the binding and a little quilting - so it shouldn't be a problem.



I did buy some fabric though - of course. I was at a little quilt shop in Cranbrook and I found this rack of pre-cut templates that come with a bunch of patteren that you can make with them. I had never seen them before - There were about 10 different sets. I bought a set that makes 45 degree diamonds (Set E) - it has 7 pieces in the set and patterns to make a bunch of 12" blocks. It will be nice for scrap quilts - using the "Bonnie Hunter" methods!! The templates are made by Marti Michell. I don't know why I have never seen them before.

Another project to put on my to do list.

The Calgary Stampede

I have returned from my travels. For the first time in my life I went to the Calgary Stampede. It was great fun. I don't know why I have never been before - sometimes living only a few miles away! We went there on "Seniors Day" and there were quite a few seniors in attendance. We saw the "Super Dogs" and "Bailey the Buffalo" I didn't go on any of the rides, but we did enjoy the a nice little beer joint in the middle of the miniature donkey stalls!! The was a very small quilt exhibit - only 30 - 40 quilts - so that was a bit disappointing. I didn't take any pictures of the quilts. Jessica - who lives in Calgary spent the day at the Stampede with us ( me and my sister and various in-laws of her's) and Jessica was interested in some of the quilts and lamenting that she doesn't have a sewing machine. Since I have extra's ( if you can imagine!) so I will tune up an old Singer that is a nice little machine and send it down for her. Maybe she will become a quilter!





My next stop -- was the "Old Timers Accordian Festival" in Kimberley B.C. That was great fun!! I had no idea - and the "Old Timers" take their accordian playing quite seriously - It is a ten day event and the chairs are set up in the Platzal and they dance on the street. I did not go there because I am an "old timer" but because my father's cousin from Yorkton, Sask was up enjoying the accordian festival. There was a 28 year old blind girl from Australia who has "fingers like the wings of a butterfly" so I am told! She was very good and she play a song with a young man from Seattle Washington that was sort of bluesy and he sang - which was quite good!

There is a nice little quilt shop in the Platzal and I bought a nice little package of jewel tone fat quarters. I will have to post my purchases in the next post.

Packing to go to Calgary

I am busy trying to pack up all of Jessica and Ben's wedding presents to take them to Calgary tomorrow morning....... so I am not very organized here. I will also take a bit of a drive back through the East Kootenays and the Okanagon -- pick up some fruit and maybe some wine.

I am going to take my Dresdan plate quilt to do a few stitches on - it is the quilt I like to drag around the countryside when I travel and then never take out and do anything with it. Maybe this time! I am making 20 blocks altogether - some are stitched on the background fabric. All of the Dresdan plates are together - just the rest need to be stitched onto the background fabric.

I am going to spend a week just relaxing at my parents house - so needed!! I am still tired from the wedding -- I know - complain, complain. I will enjoy the break though. I will check in the various blogs I love to read and keep up on the Saanich Eaglets. They are close to fledging.

My first swim -aka "float" of the year

I went out for a swim tonight. It was a lovely evening for a "float". Jim had already been out a few times since the hot weather came, but with the wedding and guests etc I never got out until tonight. These are pictures from the spring - but to show where we swim - we start at the little beach and swim along the shore - the tide can be a bit tricky and it can carry you out and then you have to swim back against it - or you swim hard against it going out and then it just carries you home quickly. We always try to hit the tides that carry you home! Much easier. Tonight we enjoyed the company of a seal. Right at the beginning of the swim this little seal popped up about 5 feet away from us, and it stayed right beside us - just popping up every few minutes for the entire time we were out there. It was a little unnerving at first, I was worried it might bite my feet or something, and it would just pop up all of a sudden quite close - a bit startling. It was a nice swim and I am out of shape and need to get more exercise.

I have registered this wall hanging - along with my sampler quilt for my quilt guild's quilt show in Sept. I now must finish quilting it. I decided to name the big sampler quilt - The Journey - talk about a difficult thing to decide - what to name a quilt. It was supposed to be registered by June 30th at the latest - I registered it June 29th - because I needed to name the darn thing. I hate naming quilts - but they wanted them named. So I thought "The Journey" was a good name for it. As the sampler quilt was the beginning of my quilt journey.
This quilt is from a workshop given by Pam Godderiss. "Newfangled" the fish is an actual fish printed on a shirt that was hanging unworn for years in my husbands closet. The name for this one is "Sebastes caurinus" Since my husband is a fish biologist - I think the fish is some kind of rock fish.