JELLY'S PORTRAIT

I've been taking Jelly's portrait on her birthday every year in the same place in Lincoln Park.

But, unfortunately, they've torn down the wall I would place her on.

So, we found a different place in the park.

Jelly - age 9

Also on our morning walk, we saw a Barred Owl - the crows pointed him out.

SWEATER DOG PILLOW CASE

 I finally got the Dog in Sweater pillow case put together. It' done.

Now I've got to get it to Hailey.

DOG IN SWEATER

 Dogs In Sweaters is a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman.  I'm making a pillow for Hailey and her family.  They had a black and tan dachshund, Duke, whom they lost recently.  So, when Hailey was her for a few days, during her spring break, I asked her to pick the colors. 

I cut and sewed it all together while she was out having a day with her Grandpa.  I worked on it today while attending a Groove Session on Brave Patch from 9am to 11am.  Then the Sew Modern Connection zoomed from 11am until about 3pm.  So, that was a long day of sewing, but I got both the top done and the dog's name pieced on one of the back parts.  That was a lot of sewing, I'm tired.

FISH MONDAY

I went to the pet store today to get a plecostomus.  Maybe he can help with the build-up of algae in my poor little fish's tank.

It was too hot today, didn't do much - watched this happen:

That was about it.

DOG COAT

Jelly had outgrown her little jacket.  So, I used her old one as a pattern and made one a little bigger.

I got some fleece and trimmings at Pacific Fabrics on Friday when it was all on sale.

It went together very well.

Jelly hates having her picture taken.

DOG DRAWING

Jelly

SOMEPLACE DIFFERENT

We decided to take our dog walk someplace different than the same ole' Lincoln Park.

The husband is busy all week teaching a woodworking class, so the dogs and I headed to Schmitz Park in the Admiral district.

I've been here before many times, but I don't think these dogs have been.

I let Jelly off the leash and she did very well, staying close and coming back when I called her.  

The weather was absolutely perfect.  It had rained last night so everything was wet and a little muddy.  But today the sky is blue and beautiful and the sun is shining.

I almost got the sign in the photo.

Jelly thinks I walk too slow.

Jax posing under the Admiral Way overpass.

Jax was very impressed with the graffitti all over the overpass.

We walked to the end of the park, it's all uphill with the last bit being very steep as you climb out of the ravine.  It comes out on a deadend street.  The only way back is by the same trail.  My fitbit said it was only .7 miles to that point.  We need to get at least 2 miles in, so we decided to take another trail on the way out.

The plan was to go up this side trail and find a geocache and then come back down and go out the way we come in.  The side trail turned out to be very steep, narrow and overgrown.  I was soaked through from all the wet bushes.  I was worried I'd slip and fall on the way back down so we kept going up until we exited the park to the street - great view.  Then we trekked down the street and re-entered the park and continued on our walk in the park.

View when we exited the park!  Wow.

 We came to a little creek that we had to cross - the doggos were not going for it.  

I showed them the rocks to walk across, but they were still hesitant.  

You want me to jump that six inches over water!?

Wait for me!

This is a cool feature of the fitbit - you can track your activity and share it if you want.  Here is our walk into, out of, and back into the park.

It was a nice adventure.

DOG FUN

For a while now, I've been trying to get the dogs to go up on this ramp at the dog park.  They wouldn't do it until I coerced them with treats.  Then it was easy.  

Jelly

Jax and Jelly

Jax

Jax

ONTO THE MACHINE

I spent most of the afternoon loading "Floral Trails" onto the machine.  It's bigger than I remembered.  The back is 95" wide by 105" long.  The quilt top is 87" wide by 102" long.  What was I thinking!?

It took a while to get it pinned onto the rollers - I ran out of pins and had to use my numbered flat flower pins.  I need to order some more tonight.

Then I struggled and fought with it trying to get the borders straight.  The inside of the quilt is made up of gazillions of 1-1/2" squares, then there's a 6" border around it.  I know I measured and cut the borders to the right length, but I think the squares are kind of drawing together.  I needed to stretch the insides, but not the borders.  It was interesting.  I've got the top pinned and basted.  Let's hope it's not this difficult the whole way down.  (Right).

Looks pretty straight!

I got out my new Lisa Calle's Circle Rulers.  Boy, they sure feel nice to the touch, I don't know why, but I'm thinking they are made from high quality acrylic.

I'm going to do a Baptist Fan in the center and Piano Keys in the borders. 

Here's a rare sight - the dogs sharing a bed:

Jax and Jelly

BINDING BY MACHINE

Mom had some leftover pink fabric.  It was just enough for me to make bias binding for the Pink Elephant quilt.  I put it on entirely by machine for the first time.  And it worked out great!

I sewed it down to the back first, then used my wooden seam presser to press it over.  I clipped it down with my wonder-clips.

Then I sewed it down on the front, being very careful to get it right over the sew-down line of stitching.

The fall colors have been stunning this fall.  We are seeing spectacular trees everywhere - and I don't remember it ever being so colorful.

Lincoln Park ridge trail

This is the grove of trees I've been taking pictures of all year and posting on Instagram.

They cut down one of my trees!  It's changed now.

Jelly and Jax have really been enjoying this weather, too.

Walk, walk, walk, walk, sniff, walk, walk.

I saw this Monkey Puzzle tree and was struck by the angles. 

NEW DOG BEING SHIPPED

I lost my mind again and decided to get a dog!


Working with California Russell Rescue again, I found a young JRT.  She started out being over a year old, when I said I wanted her.  Then they told me she was around a year old.  Then they told me her birthday was June 18th...quick calculation, she was just 7 months old.  I didn't want a puppy!


Then the guy that was fostering her tells me she's not housebroken.  But, it was too late, she was mine, and plans were being made to have her shipped up here.
 
I was allowed to follow her progress on her trip up I-5.  I was surprised at what a feat of cooperation it was.


She and other dogs are loaded into a volunteer's car in the Los Angeles area, then driven anywhere from 80 to 120 miles to the next volunteer, who takes the dogs and drives them on another leg.


They coordinate and keep in touch on FB Messenger.  I was also included in the group messages and followed her progress over two days as she was ferried up here.


From Salem Oregon northward, she was the only dog in the car.


Here are some of the pictures of the people involved (there were 18 legs!).


Thank you so much. 

Jelly in Menifee California at her foster home.

Jelly starting out on the first leg of journey.

Jelly and friend at the home where they spent Saturday night

Jelly with Gabby

Jelly with Lynn

Jelly with Shareen

The little sweetheart came from a breeder who had named her P'NutButter Jelly.  The volunteers have been calling her Jelly.  I've been calling her Jelly when I speak to them about her.

I thought we'd probably find her a better name, but I think Jelly is going to be it. 

Thank you,  CA Russell Rescue Organization!

PORTRAIT OF CHLOE

A friend at work asked if I would paint a portrait of his Great Dane, Chloe, who had just recently passed.  I don't do much of dogs (I find it very difficult for some reason) so I was hesitant, but he kept asking, so I relented.

I've been fiddling with it off and on for over a month now.  I really didn't like it at first, so that makes it difficult for me to work on it.  But the guilt outweighed the dislike, so I persevered. I'm not hating it.

Here it is, acrylic on canvas 9" x 12".

Chloe, Good Dog.

GREAT DAY!

Yesterday after I finished printing I loaded the dog and my bare necessities into the car and headed out. First stop was my parents house, where my sister, her husband, me and Lucy went to have lunch with Mom and Dad. Lucy got her first ride on a Washington State Ferry (I guess). She enjoyed watching the seagulls.

It was kind of a late Easter lunch with ham and everything. We had a nice visit, except for when Lucy was harrassing their poor cat, who was hiding out under the bed. We sat on the deck and were bombarded by tiny, flashy little hummingbirds. And then we dashed-off.

It was a case of eat-and-run, because my ultimate destination was Port Townsend, where my husband, Darrell was teaching a class at the Port Townsend School of Woodworking. I told him I'd meet him after his class ended for the day at 5:00pm. We arrived a little early and the class ran late, so Lucy and I walked down and then back up Water street, looking into all the shop windows.

The next morning, after a nice breakfast, I followed Darrell up to the school at Fort Warden (you may remember it as the place 'An Officer and Gentleman' with Richard Gere was filmed). After a short visit and look-see around the benchroom, Lucy and I left the men to their class and we went for a great walk up to the old bunkers.

If you've never been there, it's a must-see.

At one point, I let Lucy off the leash to take a picture of her, and I thought for a second that might be the last time I'd ever see her.

Although, she was a little overcome by all the beasty-scents, she did come back and hook back up to the leash.

We continued our adventure, wandering through the underground bunkers - pitch black! I made Lucy go first, just in case there was a drop-off! Hey, I would have pulled her back up with the leash. It was fun, scarey and exciting!

Here are a few pictures:

This is where the Big Guns where installed, they removed them unfortunately. There are lots of little deadend rooms where I guess the Big Shells (?) where stored. Lots of really great Big Iron Doors. Lots of stairs and tunnels and up on the top, a wonderful view of the ocean. I think I've heard you can see Canada.

And then Lucy and I left about 10:00am and headed home, Lucy in her little dog-seat. We had grocery shopping, laundry and housework to do yet before I have to head back to work tomorrow.

DAY TWO - AIR PRINT

I got the second color printed today!

I can't go too fast or I'll hurt my neck - running things through the press takes a lot of turns of the press's wheel. I'm going to do one color a day, giving them some time to dry and not pushing my muscles. I gotta tell you, I don't feel guilty not getting them in on time. So far, every exchange I've done with this group I've been on time, only to have to wait and extra month for the stragglers to get theirs in. This time, I'm a straggler. But I should have them in the mail by Monday, only 5 days late.


Here's a great shot of Lucy, busy watching the driveway. She looks so sweet! What a tough life. Lucky dog.