DA BOM Update

Okay, I'm finished with my twelve blocks of the month. I think I'm finally getting the hang of this!

I think this is my favorite block. It's pretty, and it was very tricky to sew. I would like to have a conversation with all the crazy ladies that came up with all the different designs. They are remarkably talented.

Now I'm on to the sashing, borders, and backing - my plan is to be finished by the end of the week. Wanna know the first step of the sashing process? Cut (192) 2" squares. Yes, that's right, one hundred ninety-two! I read the directions twice and called my quilt guru (Nicke) to confirm that the (192) wasn't a typo. I still can't believe it - 192, huh. Too bad Ben and Jake don't have thumbs; I would put them to work.

Cheer Camp

Covert video of Darin cheering with Jordie. :)

A Weekend's Work

Amongst all the other stuff going on, I was able to get three BOMs finished this weekend. I had to stop quilting because I sliced a nice little chunk off my finger with my rotary cutter. In one fail swoop, I did an absolutely fantastic job rendering my pointer finger completely useless. Woopsie!

I only have two more BOMs and then all sashing, borders, backing, quilting and binding. I'm hoping to have this quilt finished to enter it into a local fair or quilt show. Maybe the Chelan County Fair...maybe the Leavenworth Quilt Show...?

Sit = Treat

Ben and I have been through the obedience class series three times. (For Ben, not for me.) I know for sure that Ben knows basic obedience, he just is never inclined to use his skills without serious motivation. For the most part, I can only get Ben to sit if I give him a treat. Now, anytime Ben practices his sits, he considers it an event and thinks the effort deserves a reward. So when Darin was prepping some t-bones, Ben decided to practice sitting as close as he could to the counter, and the steaks, to see if it would payoff. It looks like he has his nose in the corner.

The steaks must just smell fantastic to him, and he's soooo close. If we would have left him alone, the steaks would have magically disappeared and without his knowledge, of course. What steaks?

What a good sit. He just can't sit any closer without jumping on the counter. T-bone steak worthy though? Not quite. Such a silly puppy!

Ingalls Creek

Since we'd never hiked Ingalls Creek, we thought we probably should. The river is so loud that it's not a great hike if you want to chat the whole time, but if you're okay saving the chatting for the ride there and back, well then you're set! It's a gorgeous hike with great scenery, tons of wildflowers, and a beautiful river, too. I give this hike an A+! No more chatting, it's time to hike!

Twin Peaks

Darin and I hiked to Twin Peaks on Sunday. It rained just a bit, and it was a beautiful day in the mountains.

We took Ben & Jake, and they had a fantastic time, of course. Ben was focused on finding any hikers in the vicinity, and he met a few new friends that we ran into during the hike.
I think we might leave them home the next time we hike to Twin Peaks. Jake's tongue isn't too big in the photo below, but Ben's is HUGE!

2010 Owl Prowl

This year brought sweet success from my three-year quest to get my hands on Owl Prowl tickets. This year I was in in to win it. My strategy began with a 6:45 a.m. alarm on Saturday morning, a quick drive to Leavenworth, and was followed by standing in line at the Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce with a bunch of bird nerds. About an hour later, I was on my way home with two carefully guarded tickets for a late-night hike outside of Leavenworth to view owls.

On a Friday evening, Darin and I met our Owl Prowl guides (and fellow prowlers) at the Leavenworth Ranger Station. We drove out to the middle of nowhere and started hiking through the woods (not on a trail, mind you). It was really dark and really fun. It was spooky too. I was really wishing that I wouldn't have watched that werewolf movie recently, because I swear I heard werewolves while we were out there.

After hiking only about a quarter of a mile, the owl biologist started hoot hooting for Barred Owls, and within 10 minutes or so, two Barred Owls flew into the trees above us. It was awesome. They made all sorts of calls that you wouldn't expect to come from an owl and flew around us to scare us out of their territory. After about 5 -10 minutes, they figured out we were a bunch of silly owl prowlers, and they flew off. It was too dark to get photos of the owls, but this is what we saw. I can't wait for Owl Prowl 2011!