Sunny Maine

 

Gray, wet, and chilly all day in Texas, but blue, sunny and warm in Maine in June of 2015.

I can still hear the pounding surf and feel the salt spray.

Still stuck in Texas,

Louise and Duane

Trying It Out

 

After a morning of chores, we rewarded ourselves with a spin on the Eagle.

This was also a trial run for future bike rides; we wanted to see if anything about riding on the bike would mess with my shoulder.  We tooled down the road,

used Hawkins Lake as a turnaround,

and arrived home in good shape an hour later.  I was able to get on and off the bike with only a slight ache, and no problems from the vibrations or bumps from the road.

Ready for the road,

Louise and Duane

Excitement

 No pickleball today meant that Duane went walking with me today.  We had some excitement along the way.  A bull calf found its way through the fence and was running along the road, crisscrossing from side to side, oblivious of traffic.  We helped the neighbors keep it off the road until the owner came to open the gate.  Of course, neither one of us thought to take any pictures!

The weather was hot--90 d. and humid, but the wind was strong and kept us from completely melting. 

As usual, we admired the continually blooming wildflowers along the way.

Counting the days,

Louise and Duane

In And Out

 

With one month left before we take off on our 6 month trip, Duane has been busy cleaning up his work shop, getting rid of stuff he's not using and planning how to pack all of his new leather working equipment.  (The black wall is our tailgate, and that white strip is dirt from loading and unloading the bike when we travel.)  The back was packed full of stuff accumulated during the last year, and now he has only what he wants to take with us.

Meanwhile I have been busy making my space messy.  With my table runners almost finished, I have started going through my fabric looking for interesting patterns to make into  a quilt for a Christmas present.  If I'm still undecided when we leave, I can simply stash my "stash" under the table. 

To each his/her own.

Louise and Duane

I Knew It!

 

Yesterday I knew I was too tired to do anything else on my sewing project, but I just had to do one more simple little thing:  I made sandwiches.  I put one fabric right side up, stiffener, then the other fabric right side down.  Today I pinned one of them all the way around three sides, then realized that the pattern was wrong.

Unpin, put both pieces of fabric right sides together, then the stiffener on top.  Pin, sew on 3 sides,  sew, then turn right side out and sew along all 4 sides.

Ta Da!  

One Christmas/winter dinner table runner.

Finally!

We can only keep trying.

Louise and Duane

Sandwiches

Today's project progress:  I sewed each 3 matching fabric pieces into one long piece.  Then I sandwiched one piece of Pellon (stiffener) between two long pieces of fabric.  The sewing didn't take long, but the details take time.  Each end had to be matched for the best effect, I had to correct two mistakes I made yesterday, I had to set up my machine, etc. After 2 hours I was ready to quit.

Meanwhile, Duane had hit an impasse in his leather projects, and made a trip to Mesquite (1 hour) for some shopping at Tandy Leather.  Back with his purchases (including a lot more leather than pictured), he is ready to finish a couple of projects and make some new stuff.

 Not today, though.  He had to go play pickleball all evening!

Slow but steady,

Louise and Duane

A Decent Start

When I laid out my fabric for my next sewing project last Monday, I was expecting to get started the next day.  Unfortunately, that's when I got the infection in my jaw.  When I had my cracked tooth pulled on Thursday, I expected to be ready to sew on Friday.  Nope.  Apparently it's taking me quite a while to recover from the infection.  

I had some energy today and managed to get the fabric and interfacing (stiffener) cut to size.  

Then I took a nap.

Tired of me being tired,

Louise and Duane 

Rainy Day Time Travel

 

Threat of rain kept us indoors physically, but we were able to travel back to 2007 to revisit Big Bend National Park (TX).

We explored the park with friends Bob and Sharon.

Water runoff carved this big basin.

The Rio Grand with Mexico on the left and the US on the right.

Another large basin

Getting revved up for travel,

Louise and Duane

Feeling Puny

Today was supposed to be a fun day.  The plan was to drive to Shreveport, LA (100 miles, 11/2-2 hours), confer with our financial guy, catch some lunch at Firehouse Subs (a favorite of ours), do some shopping at Tandy Leather, stop by our son's house in Kilgore for the mail and a birthday box for me, drive home.

Most of our day was far from fun.  We made it to Shreveport and met with our financial guy.  Then we received a call from the dentist.  I was scheduled to have a cracked tooth removed on May 1, but they could fit me into a cancelled appointment slot at 2 today.  Ok, change of plan.  No lunch or shopping.  Drive to son's house, pick up mail and birthday box, eat fast food lunch in the truck, stop by the house to drop off mail and box, and for me to clean my teeth.  Duane--spend 2 1/2 hours waiting in the truck, me spend 1 hour getting prepped--three molds of my teeth made and local anesthetic injected, 1 hour of torture getting my tooth pulled and the teeth on either side shaved down to hold the bridge, and 12 hour getting the temporary bridge made and fitted.  I guess I should have asked for nitrous oxide, but I really didn't think I would need it.  I was very wrong!

Back home to relax and wait for my mouth to return to normal.  The strenuous day took its toll on both of us.  I gave in and fiddled with Sudoku puzzles.  Duane tried to finish his pickleball cover, but had no energy for it. 

The good news is that the hard part is over.  Now we wait for the permanent bridge to be made.  Since I had this done early, we are sure to be able to leave for our trip on time.

Getting older is a challenge!

Louise and Duane 

Hard At It

 

It doesn't take Duane long to decide on a new leather pounding project.  After a long afternoon at an emergency dentist appointment (mine), we spent the afternoon doing more enjoyable stuff.  I finished a "special birthday" present for the latest grandchild turning 13 this year, and Duane pounded out another pickleball paddle cover.

Always something.

Louise and Duane

Maybe Not Enough Yet

Yesterday I was determined to start my new sewing project today.  Today, however, had other plans for me, including finishing all of the pencil puzzles that Duane had downloaded from the net, taking a nap, and making a fresh batch of cookies, since we finished the birthday cake last night.

For this batch I used the basic oatmeal cookie recipe but tweaked it by adding cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice to the cinnamon.  I also added dark chocolate chips and butterscotch chips, and traded the raisins for tart dried cherries.  

Meantime, Duane was not content with replacing the sheath for the deer antler knife that he made with a new sheath that he made.

Yesterday and today he replaced the sheath for the knife he made for me with a new sheath that he made for me too.

For our next projects I know what I'm doing, but Duane is, as of now, undecided.

Maybe we'll both get started on something tomorrow.

Louise and Duane 

Enough Already!

 

Ok, I've goofed off enough.  Time to get another sewing project started.

Four new projects, actually.

Louise (and Duane)

A Little Rain

Two inches of rain in one day raised the creek levels from this

to this,

from this 

to this.

Kind of impressive, really.

Louise and Duane

 

Party Time!

Today John and Mark, two pickleball players threw themselves a birthday party. 

There was plenty of good food in addition to the cakes--German chocolate

and carrot.

Most of the guests were pickleball players, with a few spouses and friends.

After eating, most people opted to sit and chat, 

but some people were ready to dance.

When in Texas we two-step

and line dance.  John just likes to dance.

A fun group and a great party.

Thanks, guys!

Louise and Duane