Saint Francis of Assisi comes to the rescue again

Yep, I saved another bird yesterday with the help of my neighbor.
I was out in the back yard when I noticed the big black crow on the fence. Well, I thought it was a crow till it stretched out its neck. WOW ! ! ! What is that??

I ran in the house and grabbed my camera so I wouldn't lose the shot. I wanted it to turn and look at me so I made a little noise. It didn't move. I was able to get right up next to it and saw the huge web feet. NOT A CROW ! ! It looks like some sort of sea bird like a cormorant of sorts. I saw that it was in some distress and really out of its element so I decided to intervene. I was able to grab it gently around the body as was going to set it on the ground where web feet are more comfortable and it, not so gently nipped my arm with its very sharp long beak.  I will live. My neighbor brought out a small sheet that we were able to wrap around it and then I put it into a cage.

I called the local aquarium and they said they would take it but I would have to bring it to them and they would probably just release it into the beach area. So I decided and discussed with the person on the phone that I could just take it down to the docks by the park and release it myself since that was what they were going to do. It didn't look to have any injury just sort of tired and scared.
So we loaded it in to my car and off we went.
We got to the park and it was nice and quiet so we unloaded the cage and took it down to the waters edge and I took the top of the cage off and let it come out itself. I then sort of coaxed it to the water and it jumped in dove down and came up smiling sort of . heheh. It then began paddling around and dove again and came up with a little fish. I think it was happy to be back in its element, and I was happy to help save another of Gods Great Creatures.
I cleaned my arm real well and pour peroxide on it and it looks fine this morning. No redness at all just a 2" cut .
My Neighbor and I are going to head back to the park to see if its still hanging around and if it is okay.

Its a bit of a Rainy Fall day today

Well, it looks like we won't be doing much yard work to day. Awww... thats too bad... guess I will just have to work on my rug hooking that I am making for a friend. This is how it is coming along so far and I hope to have it completed by the end of this week.

 I think that this picture would make an awesome rug hooking. Oh no, I am doing it again. Thinking of more projects before I have complete the ones I am already working on. OMG, I think its a disease that so many crafters and artists get. I call it OCCD. Obsessive Compulsive Creators Disease.

I promise not to start this one until I complete at least two that I have going already. However, I want to have it done for Halloween. heheheheh.... knew I could find a way out of that promise, heheh.

What I want for my Birthday

Yep, in a few more days I  will be another year older and hopefully wiser  yes, \ maybe a few more gray hairs, but whats a few more when your hair is all gray anyway. Well that's life. I wasn't saying this to remind anyone, just that my husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told him a new shovel and a new rake as he broke the handle on my last shovel and the handle of my rake broke this summer too.

So at least I can say that I have been taking care of the garden.
I did make use of the broken tools though. I put the broken shovels in the corners of my flower beds so that when I am watering they prevent the hose from wiping out my flowers and I make my rake into a key and jacket or purse rack by the front door. I may have lost a rake but I gained a key rack.

Barlow and Piwacket are here to meet you

Barlow and Piwacket are both creations by Doreen at Vermont Harvest. I have had them for several years and they still hold a very special place next to me at my computer. She makes the most adorable bears and her burnt wax creations are just great. Piwacket still smells as sweet as he did when he arrived two years ago.

Piwacket has a sister named Tilly
She sleeps in the Acorn jar.

Yes I love whimsy, can you tell?

Phoebe had a great day

We had a great day yesterday. I feel like I accomplished a lot and still have time to have some fun. It was a hot day and it was time to pull out the swimming pool. Phoebe's swimming pool. She started out playing in the sprinkler but I decided that today would be a great day for a bath. So I filled up her pool and waited till the water had warmed up a bit then Phoebe had her first bath. Yes, she has played in the water and is really a clean dog but never had a real bath. We have a dinky bathroom with a dinky shower so there was no way I was going to bathe her in the house. So I made a game of it and she had a blast. Yes we were both soaked when it was all over but we had fun. I got in the pool with her and got her all wet. Then I took the Japanese way of bathing and applied all the shampoo outside of the pool. I then lathered her up and did a basic rinse outside of the pool then we both got in and splashed and I got her to lay down and really got all the shampoo off of her. She smelled like a sweet Strawberry. Her favorite treat. Frest Strawberries from the garden. She liked the way she smelled I think as she kept sniffing herself. Her legs and back and yes, of course her private parts too. She slept well last night after a long walk and her first bath she was a happy camper.

Early sign up for Ole World Christmas swap

I am going to host an Old World Santa exchange. They can be made up in any form you choose from a stitchery to a stuffed Santa to, well this is one I did one year.

Now I am sure you are saying, "it's a bit early don't cha think?" NO! I don't. This will give you time to do something spectacular and also expect to get the same from your exchange partner.
This is a little more then your usual ornie exchange it is a major creation exchange and something you will pack up each year and look forward to displaying it in the years to come.

Anything from a quilted wall hanging to a nice Christmas style sampler. Here is one I did a few years back.
So, I wanted to start this early so that there would be plenty of time to complete that one special project for your swap partner.
If there is enough interest and enough participants we will make the deadline to be December 1st so that there is plenty of time to be able to display your wonderful Old World Christmas swap gift.
The value is always a hard one to place on a handmade gift but look at it this way, how much would you be willing to pay for a nice once a year swap gift.
I am going to say that a $50 value be placed on your gift. That doesn't mean that you have to spend $50 to make it but that the value be that much.

Okay, Lets see how many interested participants we can involve in this great Ole World Christmas Swap.
Just leave a comment and let me know that you want to participate and be sure that I have a way to contact you to let you know its a go.
Sign up starts now and ends on the 15th of October.

Fall is in the air and I am Happy

I am so glad that the weather is changing and the smell and feel of ~Fall is in the air~

. I don't know how I ever dealt with the heat of Tombstone, AZ. I sure couldn't do it now. The high humidity and 90 degree temps. No thank you Arizona. I will take the rains of Oregon any day. I may complain toward the end of winter but You can always add more clothes, but you can only take so much off. hehe

I am staying busy with my needlework and other projects and my husband is so funny when he says what are you going to work on tonight.  I try to switch projects so that I don't get bored with one so I have a Swedish weave that I am working on along with my rug hooking. I worry about our health in our later years as we are no longer middle age unless we plan on living to 120 hehe.

Greg should be retiring soon, I hope but he has no hobbies. I wish I could get him interested in something besides Nascar. Oh well, he still has a few years to think about it.'

This is where my Swedish weaving is at the moment. I hope to have it finish for this winter and if I do I may give it as a gift or snuggle up under it.  I will decide that later.
This was the first one I made and I gave it to a friend during her chemo treatments.

YEA ! ! ! Its Fry day depending on where you are.

 Monastery Complex fire in Oregon/Washington

The weather has been so hot everywhere and we are fortunate enough to have a bit of an Ocean breeze being just 6 miles from the coast. We are naturally a bit warmer but still not suffering like so many of you in the desperately hot climates.

Mount hood fire near Sisters Oregon

We are only going to be in the high 60's here. I bet you are all saying, WHAT ! hot temps. Well, we never get too hot here in Toledo, Oregon and hot for us would be upper 80's. That's why I left Tombstone, AZ. Couldn't handle the hot temps and swap coolers are just that. Swampy, humidity. YUK! ! but it was better then nothing and cheaper the AC.
So now we are content to be right where we are. It rains too much in the winter but keeps things green and I love green. I am partial to green not BROWN ! !

 So, even though we have cooler temps in our area, in the Portland and eastern Oregon the fires continue to burn out of control in High Heat temps.
So to all of you in those devastating areas, be safe and stay clear until they the powers that be say it is safe to return. I will pray for your safety and your homes. Many have lost so much already but as one woman I saw on a broadcast who had just lost everything she owned said. I am so blessed and so lucky, none of my family was hurt and everyone is safe. I know how difficult it is to lose everything and my heart goes out to those that have.
Hugs and blessings to them all.
 What we need right now is a great Native American Rain dance. I am not saying that this is a rain dance but if all of us would just take a moment and go outside and say to heck with the neighbors, crank up your favorite  music and start dancing and maybe if enough of us do it Our God will hear and laugh and his tears of laughter will be showers of rain here on earth. So what are you waiting for?

Just Dance

I am dancin

It going to be a great weekend

Yes labor day weekend is here and we aren't going to labor at all. It is going to be a weekend of relaxation and enjoyment and Phoebe has already started with her swimming pool. She love to romp around and go snorkeling for her rubber balls and toys that go to the bottom. She just has the best time in there when the temps are hot outside and it is proving to be one of those weekends already and it is only 11:00.
Well, I will need to get busy and pick some more blackberries to save for the fall and winter months. Best get busy before it gets too hot.
Have a great weekend .

I am so Excited

This is an update on my newest WIP. I have now got it transferred onto the backing so I can begin as soon as I have all my wool.

I am so excited about my newest endeavor. I am going to do a rug hooking of my dear sweet William Wallace. I am sketching from a photo of him and I was going to use that as my pattern but now I am thinking that I may just take and have the original photo blown up and keep this as a picture to frame. Isn't he just the sweetest little guy?

I was worried that Phoebe may be bothered by this picture but I guess dogs don't see a photo like we do. I think their prospective is different. She looked at it but not like she recognized the picture but just as it being something that I was doing. To me is is just a great dose of therapy of letting go yet being able to hold on to his sweet face in my heart and soon on my wall. I hope that the rug hooking comes out as nice as his sketch. The hair may be a bit of a challenge. I may resort to using some wool yarn in some areas just to allow for the detail to come through. I think the wool strips might not be small enough to show the fine hairs.
We shall see. Will keep you updated.

Gosh I bet your saying "Now why don't she Write"

heheh....
I apologize for not having posted for so long. I guess that you really need to have something to share to post about.
The summer is coming to an end and I always look forward to fall. the last few days have been very muggy and hot and it always makes me long for those cool days of fall. Its funny how the passing of each season brings new rewards to you. I love the colors of fall and as a matter of fact, my house is constantly decorated in those colors all year long. I am trading my crows for a quilt and it is going to be made with my favorite colors. I can't wait to see it.
This is the photo I chose to depict my favorite colors.

Not sure where this is but doesn't it just scream Fall. It does to me. I have grown to love the Fall holidays like All Hallow Eve and Oktoberfest , Thanksgiving that takes you into the next season of Winter.

I just finished my Scarecrow challenge and am working on my newest plan of attack in the rug hooking realm.
I am planning a foot stool with the four seasons going around the outside and a celestial calendar of sorts on the top.  It is still in the planning mode though. I will update you when I have it sketched out.
Phoebe is finally starting to overcome the loss of Sweet William and seems to have taken on her new persona as an only child. I had planned on getting another dog but I think I will wait a bit on that. She still seems to reject other dogs coming around but not sure if it is out of fear as her fearless bother isn't there to protect her any longer and she immediately goes on the defensive. I just keep giving her lots of hugs and mega doses of love. So on that note I will close with a sweet shot of Sweet Phoebe my 100+lb lap puppy.

A Beautiful Weekend with dancing and food and great music

Oh what a wonderful weekend I had. I was invited to go the the 2011 Siletz Indian Pow Wow. It was wonderful and the location in Siletz, Oregon is beautiful in itself. It was a gorgeous sunny day and the feelings of all the warmth of the many different tribes gathered together just surrounded you. The youth of the many nations really show such respect of the elders and was so heart warming when I was down photographing some of the dancers and a young man came up to me and asked me if there was anything he could get for me. He didn't know me from Eve but it is obvious that I was of the elder age group and he was honoring me in asking. I was truly touched by this.

I took gobs of photos, 170 some to be exact but I have posted 124 of them on my Facebook page. You are all welcome to see them if you go there.

                             Just go toJan Mackay  on Facebook and and you can browse the photos I took. This is just a sampling.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.178701008866313.39628.100001792448640&type=1

I am contemplating a trade

I would love to live here as these are my year round colors but I know that this is a gorgeous setting and a fall one at that. But if anyone were to ask me what is my color scheme, THIS IS IT! ! ! I absolutely love every color in this photo and to me it just screams warmth and harmony. I am not sure where this is as it was on a  TripAdvisor. Anyways, back to my trade, I am going to try and work a trade for the two crows mounted on the conk for a quilt. I do hope that I can work this out as It would be a dream come true. I think I may have to do a rug hooking or punch needle of this picture.
Can't you just imagine living among  this beautiful setting? Well, I suppose that some of you do. I live on the Oregon coast and I get a lot of the green but not enough of the reds and golds. Ummmmm makes my mouth water. ehehe,  am I a little nutty. Yea. guess so. I was born and brought up on the wrong side of the country. I should have been born in the New England states.
My dream is to visit Vermont in the fall and if all goes right a dear friend of mine is moving to Vermont. Hummmm sounds like a nice little or big road trip. eheh

Just finished my new Crows.

Yes, after saving the crow on the back fence I now have two more in the living room. Ulysses and Aristotle. I used Pam Garcia's pattern from Soft in the Head. She is one awesome lady and going through a struggle with health problems. SO Pam, this creation is dedicated to you. Hugs my friend, and be well. Good luck on your endeavors.
Okay, now I need to see what other things I can get into. Still waiting for the wool to finish my rug but there are, Oh so many, more projects to get in trouble with. Well, maybe not trouble but a whole lot of fun.
Phoebe and I will be around today, some out in the garden picking her favorite strawberries and the rest of the time playing some Phoebe basket ball.
You all have a wonderful day and remember to smile at someone. It is catching.

Smile :0)

What Saint Francis of Assisi must have felt like

I had the most awesome encounter yesterday. I had just pulled in the driveway and was looking towards the back fence in the back yard where a huge flock of crows were just going bananas and screeching and squawking like crazy. A few of them flew up and then I saw it. One crow had gotten itself stuck in-between the slates on the fence. Its little head on one side and its body on the other. It was flapping its wings and trying to free itself while all the other crows where giving it moral support I guess or just didn't know what to do to help their little friend. I dropped everything and ran back to the fence and wrapped my arms around the body of the bird, folding its arms close to him. He seemed to know that I was there to help him as he just relaxed. I raised him up to free his head and held on to him for a bit to make sure he was okay. He turned around and looked at me as if to say, "thank you for saving my life" and  then I loosened my grip and he slowly flew away. Stopping at the roof top, he looked down and then flew off. I felt so good knowing that I had just save that little crows life. It must be what Saint Francis of Assisi must have felt like when  he cared for Gods creatures.  I wish I had time to take a photo but there was no time to spare. He would have broke his neck if I hadn't been there when I was.
Then I went and fed the neighbors 5 cats and other neighbor and friends 4 dogs and then my own dog. I guess you might say it was an animal day afternoon.
 Bless all Gods little Creatures.

Good Monday Morning

I am going to be working on getting my yard and house in order. I guess it would be called pre winter cleaning. I am still in the mists of  cats pooping in my flower beds. There just seems like it is a constant battle and I don't even own a cat. I have nothing against them just their poo. heheh so that is something that is an ongoing problem.
I need to mow today and it seems that it is getting less now as the fall is approaching. YEAH ! ! !

 My clematis is just about done but, BUT.... the one that I planted 3 years ago finally bloomed just this week. I am so excited.


Phoebe keeps out out for those nasty kitty cats.

The hydrangeas and almost done but this lily is almost ready to bloom. It is blooming a little late I think but better late the never and the holly hock came out of now where. I don't remember ever planting it. Must have been that little birdie dropping seeds.

This is a pretty little surprise. I almost pulled it out because I thought it was a weed. Pretty little weed, huh?

So after I finish out side I will be inside cleaning. Not too bad since there is just the two of us, well three counting PHOEBE and she is probably the messiest of us all. Spreads her toys everywhere. 

Okay, on a sad note, Please say a prayer for the families of all those fallen soldiers that died this weekend after being shot down in the helicopter they were riding in. 22 Seals lost their lives and each of them are survived by family members, fathers, mothers, wives, daughters, sons and siblings.

My heart and prayers go out to them and all their love ones.

God bless you all.