Mercer Lake And Bob's Creek

We rented a boat and fished all day in brilliant sunshine.
Catch & release plan as we are staying one more night.

I want a fuscia 'tree'.
I think I need a place at the beach where fuscia's & geranium's thrive.

Mercer Lake Resort







Bob's Creek - just south of Strawberry Mtn.

One of the few places with sunshine. To get to some of the tide pools, you need to cross the creek. Happily, a 'bridge' was available and we carefully balanced our way to the other side.
A powerful wind blows down the mountain ravine dueling with the Pacific winds creating a swirling effect above us. I only lost my hat once.
The tide was coming in so we could not explore very much. Lots of giant 10" sea anemones--further out.
Photo below has some half dollar sized anemones.
Sea anemones are always fun to poke in the center and watch all the waving arms close up.










Bob's Creek Wayside
South of Yachats
More Photos

Haceta Head Lighthouse

Good thing it was sunny on Mercer Lake. Waldport never emerged from the white-out beach fog.
There were pockets of sunshine south of Yachats which we took advantage of near Strawberry Mtn. to look at tide pools.

Coastal weather can be blustery or calm, sunny or foggy, always temperate.

We declined to hike up to Haceta Head Lighthouse as it was very foggy and windy.

Mushywear's Shannon managed it a week ago.

Where's Waldport

I had planned to ride the ferry up to see my daughter in Ketchikan this weekend.

--plans change....

My hubby and I went to Waldport instead.
We picked out a b&b to stay online overlooking the Alsea River as it greets the Pacific.
Some wonderful views - hoping to see the resident grey whale pod just past the mouth of the Alsea.
Today we are going to rent a boat and go fishing on Tahkenitch Lake, just south of us.

Last night for dinner, we enjoyed seafood at the Drift Inn in Yachats.
Don't you love the upside down umbrellas and glass pendants?

Lookout Mountain Hike

My friend and I hiked up Lookout Mountain, again.
Such a nice, easy hike.
This is the Mother Lode  Mine.

A stunning 360-degree panaramic view awaits you at the top.
Notice those july dogtail widlflowers at the bottom of the photo.

There are several ways to get to the summit.
We circled up from the east of the mine buildings around to the west.
More info on the Mother Lode Mine is here.

Horses earlier in the spring.
Very dry this year. 
Parts of the western trail were very dusty.


Favorite Columbine.
More Wildflowers.

Trail meandering towards the summit amidst stunning sage.

We still don't know what these pods are.
They seem to be attached to the sedum (stonecrop).

Mama & Puppies were bouncing up & around, back & forth, & off-trail all the way up.
By the time we reached the summit, they were knackered.
Bella (mama) in front. Osso (brown) in middle and
Daisydoodle collapsed in the tiny bit of shade.

Scarlett Gilia (Skyrocket)


Puppies, Daisy & Osso

Lilies near the bottom of the trail - near mine buildings on west side.
Summit looking north.



A lovely jumble of widlflowers.

Auger near west trail.

Mushrooms growing from log.

Lovely woodland vista.


Mother Lode Mine Building near west trailhead.

South of the mine buildings, still heading down.

Western Monkshood.



Perry's Larkspur


Towards the summit - all sage and balsam.

Looking west. Three Sisters directly ahead and to the south. Mt. Jefferson to the right (north), Mt. Hood to the far north & Mt. Adams (washington state) even further north. Those dratted blues & greys. Can't make out the snowy mtns. from the camera.

No wildfires.
Yet.
Although while we were eating lunch, one sprang up near the Warm Springs reservation.

Indian Paintbrush

links:
Wildflowers:
Mother Lode Mine.
Lookout Mountain - East of Prineville - ochocos.

July Threads

 Basil loves to be trimmed. Unless you want flowers and 'bitter' basil.
I dry the leaves between two dishtowels out on my patio.
I weight the top towel down at the corners to keep the wind out.
I cover with the second towel to keep weird things out of my basil.
In a day or so of hot, sunny, summery weather, the leaves are dry enough to crumble into glass jars or ziploc snack bags.

When to switch threads? Or not?

I needed two hotpads to finish out a bridal shower gift (for an OSU alum) which did not coordinate with what I was sewing on the machine and on the serger.
After spending some time contemplating* whether I could get away with leaving the bobbin in white and just changing the turquoise out for black, I stepped up to the plate and changed both bobbin and thread to black.
No serging as I am using a woolly nylon thread in my upper looper and I got the tension on the rolled hem right on the first try on the floaty turquoise fabric. Not changing those threads - I may be this side of lazy but I am not stupid.

This is also when I realized a real need for the 2nd machine to get placed in the sewing room. I wouldn't have had to switch thread at all then.




*Contemplating Time is greater than Actual Sewing Time.

Sewing Advice

I've seen this a couple of times lately and stole it, mmph, "borrowed" it.
For your enjoyment, of course.

Precision Sewing

Getting back into sewing, I'm trying to push my comfort zone.
I saw this herringbone tutorial and was struck by the scrap combination separated by 1/4" white strips.





My new machine is up for the accuracy challenge.
The question is, Am I?



This could be called a mug rug or something - it's 11 1/2" square.
And dang it, it turned out square!



I thought to try out free motion quilting, but the design said no.
Instead, I used some thicker aurifil thread to stitch straight lines.
I didn't adjust the top tension (less) so I ended up with some tiny thread 'snafu's' on the back side but not enough to rip out.



All in all, a fun project.

Definitely, my colors of blues and greens.