Awesome and not so Awesome

I have posted all the pictures from Alaska.  I just want to say Alaska is awesome but there are things that are not awesome.  I enjoyed my trip immensely.  Alaska has absolutely gorgeous scenery, I loved the food, and I loved seeing the wild animals.  What is not so awesome is a lot of trash lying around.  The towns were getting ready for "tourists."  They call all the fishing people that come there "tourists."  Kenai is known for the fishing - salmon.  They were cleaning the towns up spic and span.  They looked very nice, but if you get out of the towns, people just have a lot of trash.  Very unattractive.  I know you have to duck a wandering bear and grass munching moose now and then, but a big dog is a good alarm system.  I saw some yards that really looked super.  I would guess they have a system.  This ends my saga on Alaska.  I don't know if I will ever get back but I have been looking at a quilting cruise.  Sounds like so much fun for next year.  We will see.  To read about my trip and to see pictures check out the previous postings. 

March

I have been working on blocks for my bee.  I am finished.  This is the last of them.  We made one block for each month for 19 months. 

April

February

July










                                                                                                                                                                                                I have to show you my kitty-kats.  As most of you know I had back surgery, this is my brace with JAC.  JAC likes to get into any box and I guess the brace qualifies.......

Smokey, is very much like a dog.  He follows me around.  He likes to get up on the back of this chair when I am sitting in it (my office).  Then he plays with my hair. 

Hope all is well on your end.

JAC (Just a Cat)



Smokey



At The Cabin..........

At the cabin.........what a view..........


At the Cabin



At the Cabin

We stayed in a cabin on a lake.  The cabin was nice for the time of year that we were there.  Beth and Jim stayed in it during the winter.   They had problems trying to keep the cabin warm.  The cabin was roomy with 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, kitchen/dining area, and a large living room.  Across the back of the house it was almost all glass.  There was also a game room, garage, and a mud room.  The view here changed from the time that we arrived until we left.  When we arrived none of the birch trees had leafed out, but by time we left they had.  Early in the morning the lake would be still, there wasn't a ripple on it.  The reflection in the water was gorgeous. 

Beaver

We were visited by a beaver.  He was building a house within about 10 feet of the back porch.  He would swim around, find a stick (sometimes big sticks) bring them back, hop up on the pier, cut them up and add to his house. 



Duck at the Cabin

 We had many ducks on the lake.  I was amazed at how beautiful they were.  They were black and white.  Ducks I had never seen before.






Sarah's Quilt










I have been working on quilts for my grandchildren, they live in Washington State.  Now there is another lovely place to visit.  They live on Whidbey Island.  This is the first one I finished and I quilted it myself on "George" (George is an APQS sit down long arm).   It will not win any awards, but it was actually easier to do then what I thought it would be.  I need practice.  The stitches are a long way from being the same size.

My Alaska story will be continued for another week or two.  If you would like to see what has already been written check the previous posts.  To make the pictures larger, click on them.

Russian Church and etc.



Russian Orthodox Church at Kenai, AK



In Kenai there is a Russian Orthodox Church built in 1893.  It was very pretty and well kept.  We were there in May, so many of the trees were not leafed out as yet and the day I took this picture it was rather gloomy.  The plaque in front of the church tells the story of the church.  We could not go in, it was closed. 

Thread from Anchorage, AK

My friend Ina, lives at Eagle River.  It is about 15 miles or so from Anchorage.  The day that we flew back we went to the airport early so that Ina could meet us there.  I hopped into her car and she took me to 4 quilt shops in a very short period of time.  I wish I had pictures but I don't - they were - Quilt Zone, Seams Like Home, The Quilt Tree, and the Quilted Raven.  I did buy a little fabric, but I had purchased a lot of fabric before ever getting to Anchorage, so I thought I would leave it to another trip.  And I would like to do another trip.  Alaska is such a huge state, just being on the penninsula, I am sure I missed a lot.  In one of the shops they had yarn.  This was the end of my yarn purchases.  I could not pass this one up.  It reminded me of batiks.  That is the extent of my thread purchases and shall be the end until I get all of them made into something.

Its All Greek to Me

This is a quilt that I have just finished and I sent it to my brother-in-law, Gary.  I thought it made into a nice man's quilt. 

I still have more to tell you about my trip to Alaska, so it will be continued, and if you wish to read more, read the previous posts.

Eeeek!!! It's a Bear

Swanson River at Captain Cook State Recreation Area

When going to Alaska the first thing you have to know is they have moose and brown/grizzly bears that roam free. The difference between Alaska and Louisiana is that if in Louisiana you see either a bear or a moose immediately (if not sooner) you would call the police and scream "there is a bear walking down the street."  In Alaska you only report a bear walking down the street, if it attacks someone.  Thankfully, although we saw a lot of moose, we did not see any bears.  We didn't see them, but they were there.  My friends, wanted to collect rocks off a beach at Captain Cook State Recreation Area.  When we got there several people were there on four wheelers.  We parked at the top of a bluff and my friends walked down to the beach.  I stayed in the pickup - there was no way I could do the walk.  While on the beach one of the guys on a four wheeler with a large gun tied to the front, came up to them and advised them that they were in brown bear country.  That ended the rock hunt.  And thankfully I did not have a visitor while sitting in the pickup.  That would not have been good. 

I am sure that all of you are dying to know the price of gas in Alaska.  It is high, very high. 

We visited a museum at Kenai.  It was very interesting.  This is a picture of a quilt made in 1991 for the Kenai Bicentennial. 

Quilt - at the museum Kenai, AK

Yarn, bought at the Kenai Fabric Shop in Kenai.  This is a large shop with many, many bolts of fabric.  Along with fabric they have a nice selection of yarn.  I dropped a few dollars there.  They had an unbelievable selection of batiks.  I think we made three trips to this store.  Each time I added to the batiks previously purchased and then we discovered yarn.  I could have bought more, but if I am in my right mind I will not have a stash of yarn.

For more on Alaska, see the previous postings.  To be continued......

Spectacular Alaska and a Yarn Trip

Alaska

Yarn from Soldotna

From Kenai we went to Soldotna.  In Soldotna there is a lovely yarn shop.  The lady there was so helpful.  Beth crochets and she wanted to visit this shop.  When I was young, like about 20 or so, a wonderful lady taught me to crochet.  I crocheted for many years until into the 1980's.  Then I went on to something else.  I was looking through a crochet magazine and found a jacket that I just had to have.  Well in order to have it, I had to make it.  So, I bought yarn. 



Yarn shop at Soldotna





I am surprised at how much I remembered.  I started off just as if I had never quit.  The problem that I had was I crocheted tight and I wanted it looser.  I bought another needle that was a size larger and with practice I loosened the stitches up a bit.  I have more yarn to show you but that will be in another post. 

These are pictures that were taken at Homer.  In the last posting we had eaten at the Land's End.  Land's End is at the end of a spit that is at least a couple of miles long into the water.  Behind the restaurant I took pictures.  The scenery here is spectacular.   These pictures were taken on a cloudy day, can you imagine what they would be if the sun had been shining.  Look close at picture #2, you can see in the background the snow covered mountains.  What a sight this was.  You can click on the pictures to make them larger. 

More from Alaska - to be continued.  

What is Meaner Then a Junk Yard Dog?



Moose #1 in town



Moose #2 at cabin

What is meaner then a junk yard dog?  A moose....

 During my trip to Alaska we saw at least one everyday we were there.  They are munching on new grass.  It was a long winter for them.  Alaska set a record for snowfall this year at about 315 inches of snow.  That is a lot of snow.  I understand that the moose would walk up on top of the piles of snow (from cleaning roadways, drives, and etc) and munch on the trees,  so the grass must taste good.  Nearly every moose I saw was eating grass like there was no tomorrow.   As you drive down the roadways you can see where the trees have been eaten away.  These animals are large, very large, and what I have been told very mean, they will kill you.  In other words you cannot give them a hug.  The first picture I took of one was walking around the town of Kenai.  This girl had to be a young one.  It was pretty small.  Even being small I would not have wanted to run into her in a dark alley.  Moose #2 came to visit at the cabin.  He was thirsty and drank a lot from the lake.



Moose #3 at cabin

Moose #3 was big.  I took her picture from inside the cabin.  She was much too close to go outside to do it.  I went from room to room taking her picture.  She was a hungary girl.  She just kept munching on grass as she went. 

I have many pictures of moose.  If I can figure out how to do a "flicker" I will add it to the bottom of my blog.

Alaska Batik Fabric
Alaska/Nebraska quilt

Fabric
Alaska/Nebraska Quilt

During my visits to the quilt shops I picked up enough pieces of fabric mostly 1/2 yards to make an Alaska quilt.  I thought it would be nice to make a quilt only from fabric that I had purchased in Alaska and to note it on my label.  These are all batiks.  They had a few that had been made for Alaska.  As you can see from the prints they have, bears, wolves, moose, puffins  fish and etc.  The fabrics are lovely. 

For more on Alaska check the previous posting and this will be continued............

I'm Back

I am back from my trip to Alaska.  I flew out on May 18th and returned May 28th.  I have a quilting friend, Beth, whose husband is working at Nikiski.  She was going to Alaska to see him so I tagged along.  We flew out of Lake Charles to Houston, picked up a straight-through flight to Anchorage and then a short flight on ERA to Kenai.  It was long, very long.  My stay in Alaska made up for the inconvenience of the plane trip.  I am posting a map which will make it easier for those of you who would like to know the relationship of the places that I will talk about.  I am going to break this down into several posts.  I have too many pictures and too much chatter to do it all in one post. 

Not only did we take in all the beautiful scenery but we visited several quilt shops.  Since Alaska has a very long and cold winter they quilt.  I also noticed that some of the quilt shops have yarn and the supplies to go with it. 

The first quilt shop that we went to was at Homer, AK.  Homer is at the end of the Kenai Peninsula, that is at the end of where you can drive. 

Beth at The Sewciable Quilt - Homer, AK

This is a lovely shop.  I left a few dollars there.  We also found a great great gift shop in Homer.  I told Beth, that she could buy half and I would buy the other half.  They had lovely things.  I would have liked to picked it up and dropped it in Lake Charles.  I did buy a picture frame (restrictions of suitcase space). 

Lands End, Homer, AK

We had lunch at the Lands End.  This again is as far as you can drive.  The scenery here was beyond fabulous.  I will post pictures of it in the next blog.  The food that we had in Alaska was very good.  They serve a lot of it, but it is expensive.  I would say roughly double or close to what it would cost in Lake Charles. 

To be continued.................

Kenai, Alaska

There is not a lot exciting going on in my world except.............

Kenai, Alaska

I have a trip planned to go to Kenai, Alaska next month.  I am excited.  I have always wanted to go to Alaska and thought I would probably never make it. 

I just happen to have a quilting friend whose husband is working in Alaska.  She is planning a trip up there in May.  We are going to go together.  It will be nice actually for both of us since it gives us someone to travel with.  It should be a very good time of the year to go. 

I also have a friend living at Eagle River.  She is going to be in Kenai with her husband and relatives to fish at the same time that we are going to be there.  She is also a quilter.  We should have a great time since I understand that Kenai has a quilt shop with about 19,000 bolts of fabric.  We actually don't plan on spending all of our time at the quilt shop.  Who in their right mind would go to Alaska and not try to get in as much of the scenery as possible.

Remember me saying that I really needed a new camera.  Guess what?????  I ordered one yesterday.  I just could not go to Alaska and not take beautiful pictures.  So thus, maybe my quilt pictures will be better.  I bought a Nikon L810,  not the fanciest camera but I think it will do the job. 

I am still working on my Judy N. quilt.  It is slowly coming together.  Next week, I will post a picture.

Hope all is well on your end.