Once in a Blue Moon

The full moon on New Years sets in the Western Sky outside my window.

Could this be a good luck charm for a new year?

A Tale of Two Fabrics…err Two Stores?…err Two Fabric Cutters?

A few really interesting things happened last night that I’m dying to share with you all.  First is my most amazing fabric purchasing experience at Hobby Lobby.

I wanted to stop into Hobby Lobby to get some Christmassy Fabric to go around the base of our tree.  For some reason we are on a wild hare to actually try and decorate the biggest, baddest tree we can find and now that the beast is taking over our living room my inadequate little tree skirt just ain’t cutting it!  So I figured 4 yards of fabric ought to be enough to wrap around the base and cover everything.

We pick out this cute red with white snowflakes.  It’s marked down 50% off and I go to the cutting counter and ask for 4 yards.  The lady behind the counter chit-chats with me and after I tell her what it’s for and I look over the 4 yard length, agree that that ought to be enough.  Then she does the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.  She pulls on the bolt…

one….long….arms….width…at…a….time

over….

and over….

and…over…again!

Holy crap, I’m thinking “is she really measuring now or is she just pulling out more fabric to measure??”.

Nope.  She puts the scissors right at the end and cuts it off.  I’m thinking there has to be about 6 yards she’s giving me.  She smiles and says “that’s a good 4 yards for you.  I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!”.  She writes me up and Jim and I are on our way to the check-out.

“Do you think we’ll get busted at the check-out?” I say to Jim.

“What do you mean?” Jim asks.

“Didn’t you see how she measured?”

“No, why?”

“Well I think she just pulled out arms lengths and started counting, there’s got to be a generous amount here over 4 yards”

“aagh…she was in a good mood”

And we check-out and that was that.  This morning I measured just to see and sure enough she gave me 5 and 1/2 yards!  Whoo Hoo Merry Christmas!!!

So this morning I’m working on cutting out some neutrals for the Carolina Christmas Mystery quilt and I square off another piece of fabric I bought at Jo-Ann’s last week.  Pretty funny.  The square off about reduced this piece down to nothing.

Jo-Ann’s would have called this fair because my total square footage of yardage (ok… square inchage of yardage) was 1/2 yard regardless of grain.

Being a former Jo-Ann’s store manager (from the dawn of time…many, many, many years ago) I just find this whole illustration on stinginess hilarious.  HO, HO, HO!  I know exactly what goes on in those training sessions so it is just doubly humorous.  And to think Hobby Lobby closes on Sundays for worship and family…even more hilarious.

Well…to make this story end and to let you all know I wanted a sign to relieve my guilt for getting so much, when driving home we spotted the most amazing sight.

“Jim, is that an apparition?” I pull the car over to look.

“Yea…looks like an Angel!”

“No way!”

“OMG”

What do you think you all?  Did we see an Angel?

This is what we saw last night, it was on our church near our home.

The spotlight is shooting through the snow and created this image.

I feel blessed now.  And it just so happened that I got a really good nights sleep last night!

Merry, Merry Christmas!

“Get on your boots…baby…we are going to town!”

“How many more do I have of these” I said to myself after taking number 5 off of the machine.

I turn the little television set on to give me some noise.  A smart local newscaster announces that the band U2 is in town to start their North American leg of their 360 tour.  I listen more than I watch.  A flash of Bono and the Edge are seen being shuttled through a concrete canyon to a vehicle, surrounded by a crew of body guards, publicists and whomsoever else knows.  A shout about the Olympic bid…I drift off to apron number 6.

I’m not interested,  I’ll catch it on video someday I remind myself.

The band returns to the rear recesses of many happy memories.  I’ve long ago put out any thoughts of actually getting to see them again.  I’m not one to spend so much money anymore.  Earlier this year when the tickets went on sale I came to the conclusion that the asking price was just too much.  And I certainly wasn’t going to get trapped into a membership just in order to buy tickets.  Some four and five letter words were exchanged with my computer monitor at the time and I just let it be.  Wasn’t going to happen.  What ever happened to the $10 and $25 concerts of yesterday that all you needed to do was call or show up at a box office?

Snippets of a tune sneak their way in and I hum. 

..Uno, dos, tres…

...hello, hello..

Somewhere there is an end to this job I am doing for friends of ours that are getting married the last day in October.  Tie Dye and Halloween.  Only I could have friends that would wrap this combination together.  Apron number 9 and 10 now.

Somewhere the number 17 is finding its way into my day.

Seventeen aprons, a song in my head, an image of a newscast and waking up to my 17th wedding anniversary today.  ‘It’s a beautiful day…’

Trying to make a game plan for sweetness on the rest of the day and looking at my watch, I bide my time between the aprons being embroidered.  Fidgeting, I call across the hall to the next bedroom we use as an office. “honey…what time do you want to go to the beer festival tasting at Dobby’s?”

“I think it starts somewhere around two o’clock” Jim says to me.

“Okay then…let me check on the times of the movie before we go”.  I am starting to think we may not get in a beer tasting, dinner and a movie all in the same night without either a later movie or a later dinner, neither of which I’m never too fond of.  Being an early riser that I am, I’m usually falling asleep too easily after a certain hour.  I’m probably the only person on earth that would attend a 6:00am theatrical event, if ever there was that option, and be content with a coffee, hot dog and popcorn for breakfast during the show.  Sick.

As we leave the house Jim says to grab a jacket because the temperature is supposed to drop a lot tonight.  Oh I know he’s right, we could be out and about at the mall, or even the movie theater could have air conditioning capable of blasting us into a deep freeze.  Instead a blast of hot air hits us as we open the car door.

“Are you sure about this drop in temperature” I ask seeing that the gauge is nearing 87 degrees.

“Oh yeah, oh yeah.”  Jim reassures me.  I think no more of it, he’s an Eagle Scout I remind myself.  Always prepared.  It’s best to just take the advice.  Lessons of poison ivy have cured me from ever doubting my better half on matters of nature.

The beer is going down with much delight.  I am surrounded mostly by men at a table.  A beautiful twenty something in a jersey halter dress and 2 inch black sling-backs is sharing the virtues of hops and water purity.  I don’t think the men are actually listening.  Her sales are doing quite well I must say though.  Her table appears to be one of the busiest.  I like the ‘Dogtoberfest’..only for the name.  I somehow am able to get my arm, which is holding a sipping cup, into the melee and she graciously pours me a fraction of an ounce.  I taste.  I wince.  Pumpkin and vanilla flavors just have no business in beer and the Oatmeal Stout should have just remained on the truck.  I watch the men surround her.  Table 5 has the best beer of any I’m sure of it.

I really should make a new career studying social behavior.  I’m amused.

“Hey, there’s *Sharon!” Jim points out to me and we both look over the stacked cases to see the top of her head.  And for sure that means *Josh is here too.  Oh good.  This is going to be fun and now I know at least another female here.

With much of the sampling already tasted and now Josh and Sharon sharing pleasant conversation with us (we are still hovering near table 5 btw…not sure…but I just know the flawless skin on the backless dress has something to do with it.  I don’t mind.  She is beautiful).

I don’t know who asked who for what and how I ended up sharing that it was our 17th wedding anniversary and we were just planning to spend the day together doing whatever, it wasn’t long before Jim asked if it would be okay if we got something quick to eat and then try and make the earlier show.

I shared with him my concern also that I didn’t think we’d have time to do both.  For some reason I was just taking this day as it came.  It just didn’t matter to me.  I just wanted to spend time with Jim.  Whatever was just cool with me.  We can eat at Vittorio’s any other day…their butternut squash ravioli will still be there.  No worries babe.

“Well, what I mean is…” Jim reaches into his shirt pocket and hands me a ticket.  I look at the Ticketmaster Logo and think “Oh how sweet we are going to see a play”.  I look.

I look again.

“C’mon.  You’re kidding me.  How…how..” I can’t get the words out.  I’m in a state of slight euphoria.  Pinch me.  Can this be real?  Is my husband standing near table 5 handing me tickets to go see a concert for a band I’d long ago resigned to the fact that I’d just never be able to see live again?  Is this real?

“Get on your boots…baby..we are going to town!”

I look over and Sharon is taking a picture of my stunned amazement.  What a great surprise.  I need to go buy a lottery ticket.  The luck of Irish has kissed it’s way into my little corner of the world.

The show was great.

As the night winds down I promise to rejuvenate my 22 year old 4 x 6 foot poster of a silhouetted Larry Mullen Jr and hang it somewhere in my house.  I’ll subtitle it ‘Table No. 5′

…*knowing the internet, some names have been changed to protect the innocent…

Just a quick update on MTD

Just a quick update on MTD.  I received the blood and urine reports this past Monday and talked to Dr. Schwartz.  All digits look good and there hasn’t been much change in the numbers since February so the best belief is an infection.

We are on now a 14 day treatment.  Poor guy is walking around like he’s straddling a soccer ball under his belly.

He got a little testy with me yesterday when I tried to help but at least he slept last night.

Now if only I could figure out a way to get this pill inside a piece of bacon fat…

Fall Weather is closing in

When I walked the dog this morning there was a decisive chill in the air that comes this time of year.  I needed to wear a fleece jacket to fend it off.  A flock of Canadian Geese squawed above me as I rounded the park corner towards home and steam was rising on the manmade lake across the street.

I’ve walked this path a thousand times with my dog.  Every morning for the last 11 years we would get up before sunrise and venture out to either see (me) or smell (him) what the night left and just enjoy the sounds of the neighborhood coming to life.

MTD (as I call him, his name is Mike The Dog) is getting on in years and the walks have become shorter in distance but the time outside probably still has remained the same.  He can hardly walk anymore due the stiffness in his back legs.  It takes him awhile and sometimes he’ll tend to move both of those legs at once.

This past week was a little tough around the house.  MTD wasn’t doing too good and had forgotten more than a few times the house rules on where to go to relieve himself.  At one moment I ignored his urgent pantings and nose nudgings and within seconds he had let go involuntarily.

I made an appointment for Saturday to see Dr. Schwartz.  After an exam, x-rays, blood and urine extractions, and the confirmation MTD’s legs were indeed built up with bone from arthritis the belief was that he might be suffering from an infection.  I’ll know today what the lab reports say.

Sunday was an all out ordeal.  I couldn’t go an hour without the poor fur making machine conduct his circling maneuver.  At the very sound of tap..tap..tap..pause..tap..tap..tap…pant I’d run over and shuttle the beast to the door.

My eyes feel heavy from too much coffee and not enough sleep.  I have to go to work in a few minutes and I can only hope MTD will make it through the day without an accident.

“Be sure to give him some rice and chicken” the doc says to me on Saturday.

I make rice this morning and layer on some leftover chicken breast.  The cat takes interest in the chicken too but this time I’m just watching to make sure something gets down the hatch of the old dog.

MTD stands.  Eyes heavy.  A wobble.

The endings are never easy.

Cerulean Blue

Crater Lake, Oregon.

The water of Crater Lake is intensely blue, a cerulean blue.  I first heard the word cerulean while in college to describe a specific color.  I honestly thought my art professor just liked saying it.  Go ahead, say it.  My professor was right, it is fun.

Cerulean

Cerulean

Seeeeeuuuhhhruuuulllliiiiiiaahhn

See?  It just roles off the tongue.  Now that you know what the color is you’re going to impress the heck out of your friends.  Make sure you insert it into a party conversation sometime.

After looking over more and more of my photos from Crater Lake and just gasping at how blue this lake was I just couldn’t help but think of the classic scene from Devil Wears Prada about the cerulean sweater.

Click on Andrea's cerulean sweater to watch the clip

“[To Andrea] This… stuff? Oh… okay. I see, you think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select out — oh, I don’t know — that lumpy blue sweater, for instance, because you’re trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don’t know is that that sweater is not just blue, it’s not turquoise, it’s not lapis, it’s actually cerulean. You’re also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002 Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves St Laurent, wasn’t it, who showed cerulean military jackets? (I think we need a jacket here). And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. Then it filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and it’s sort of comical how you think that you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you’re wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room. From a pile of stuff.”

Miranda may have taken it from Oscar De La Renta but if I were to be inspired to include this color it would come from nature for sure.  No need to ogle a fashion show.  Just look out a window.

Waterfall Chasing

I had no idea Oregon had so many waterfalls.  Seriously.  I’m completely mesmerized now.

During my family’s reunion I found a book on a shelf inside the rented house with things to do in the area.  Featured were many outdoor activities including hikes along the many back road trails.  I didn’t have the needed clothes or shoes to do a serious hike so I decided to look for places that could be seen from a short walk or from the road.

I was not disappointed.

In search of a waterfall lead us past Sisters to State Road 126 and the McKenzie River.  A pullout and a short hike down we began to hear the sound of thundering water.  We could smell the mist and then the Sahalie Falls caught us open mouthed.  It is a rush to just see the mountains of water coming over the falls.

We continued on down the path towards the bottom  where once again we followed the rushing waters towards  Koosah Falls.  Guidebooks say Koosah Falls is popular in advertising.  I’ll let you know if I come across it in something.  For now, if it can sell fabric for me that would be great.

Once below Koosah Falls the path comes out at a reservoir then we had to make a choice.  Do we go across the reservoir and up the other side of the falls or go back the way we came.

We went on.  The guidebook said look for an outhouse to find the trail.  A little ways down the path there was the outhouse and then we could see the path that went back up.  It was a little scary as there wasn’t a big crowd on this side of the falls.  We were pretty much all alone.

About half way up all of a sudden 15 mountain bike riders came flying through!  Un-ba-lieve-able!  This was seriously very treacherous terrain they were navigating and one false move could have sent them over the edge.  My mouth gaped twice over the falls and then again over the bike riders!

Here is Koosah Falls again, this time from the other side.

The sun peeked out and for a short time a rainbow appeared over the churning base.

Here is Sahalie Falls as seen from the other side.

More rainbows over the base waters and from this angle we can see the offshoot more clearly.

We completed our hike and on the day we left (Monday) we visited Crater Lake National Park.  Vidae Falls could be seen from the roadside.  We got out to take some pictures.  The one on the left shows the Falls as they look from the road.  The photo on the left is how the Falls look if you get out of your car and crawl up the rock face, lay the camera down and click.

After Crater Lake we headed South and West towards Medford.

Just after the turn on 62 we drove next to Union Creek and stopped at the rest area.  The short walk revealed the gorge and more water falls…they just keep coming and coming!

Jim is in the upper right of this photo to give a sense of scale.

While walking back to the car and taking more and more photos (can’t get enough…plus I kept second guessing myself on exposure) Jim pointed out to me to look up quick.  I grabbed the camera again because I didn’t want to miss this fleeting moment.  Darn it!  I hate when the camera won’t come on!  Steady, steady…got it…sort of.  Here is the gorge again this time a deer at the top should give another sense of scale.

Do you see her?

Well off on the road again still heading towards Medford.  We followed 62 towards Shady Cove.  We looked in another guidebook (one I just so happened to have picked up at the Crater Lake gift shop on waterfalls) and found that nearby was another one.  By now I am really beginning to feel like a professional chaser!  The exercise was great!

Mill Creek Falls was close by but there weren’t any signs.  In fact it appeared to be an area that was abandoned.  The sun was beginning to go down and we only had about 45 minutes left of daylight…in woods when we pulled over into a parking lot.  There was a sign board with directions on how to get to the over look.  Looking back I realize I should have taken a few photos of the sign and the trail but we were so rushed that I just didn’t.  We essentially ran down the ravine until we hear water.

Fallen trees were all over the place and a sign warned of possible flooding from the damn could occur without notice.  Yikes!  Where is this waterfall?  And could we get back out of the woods in time.  My pulse was quickening!

I think I remember the sign listing this as Butte Falls but I’m not so sure.  Actually, I think I’m just going to call it Mill Creek Falls.  It was the last of them.  And we made it out alive.

You can see the sun is going down over the falls here.  It was getting dark for sure.  The trails kept going and we most likely could have gone all the way down to the creek and shot from below but it will just have to wait for another time.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get back but what an adventure.

I can see why Oregon has so many outlets for outdoor fabrics now.  I’m going to need to make me a few outdoor garments now.  I’ve been inspired!