A room with a view...

For the next four days, this is my window on the world. From an old convent-turned-retreat center, I and 11 of my quilting friends will be sewing all day long, as many hours as we want. We will be housed, and fed, and supplied with coffee and snacks.



And we have a gorgeous windowed room to sew in, with a view of Puget Sound, Vashon Island, the ships heading in and out of the Port of Tacoma, even the Talequah ferry.

We will talk, and laugh, and share stories and tips and techniques. And at the end, I will know these ladies even better, and hopefully finish up a few of my quilting projects.

Foggy...

Today we took a chilly early morning walk on the Enumclaw rail trail before breakfast at Charlie's. The Mountain didn't make an appearance, but we still had a payoff: this beautiful dairy barn, just beginning to show the light from the rising sun.

January barn...

Last week I ditched my Tuesday sewing group, and drove the back roads with my camera, looking for light, and clouds, and barns. On a country road at the north end of Maple Valley, I found this beautiful old dairy barn for my collection.



Linking up today on Tom's Barn Collective.

Red...

A bottle of Cabernet Franc from the cellar, salmon from Alaska, lovely green beans cooked in garlic and dusted with Parmesan, and cheesecake from the freezer. The company of a good cat, and The Godfather on the television.

A good end to a quiet day.

Harry Potter in Ballard...

We traveled far today... from Harry Potter's Diagon Alley in Ballard, to the Fremont waterfront to watch boats coming in and out of the locks, to a walk through the Washington Park Arboretum, where rhododendroms and jasmine and witch hazel are in bloom. I wish it hadn't been so gloomy and dark; photographs were a challenge.

When I was at the University of Washington, I used to cut through the Arboretum, sort of a short cut to the I-90 floating bridge. And sometimes I'd stop and walk. It's the most beautiful place any time of year, and I feel the need to come back again soon, on a better day, with my long lens.

Rail trail...

This morning, early, we walked the rail trail in Enumclaw. The Mountain was hiding behind clouds, but the light was beautiful. And as we walked south, I found another barn to photograph. We'll come back in a week, the next nice day, and walk it again, and see what else we can find.

We're meeting an old friend for breakfast at Charlie's, one of our favorite spots on the outskirts of this small town. I'm looking forward to a couple of hours of talking and catching up, then we'll drop his truck at the mechanic, and drive him home. And in a few days, we'll do the whole thing again, in reverse.

Hooky...

Another warm day, so I played hooky. Instead of going to my weekly sewing group, I took my camera to Issaquah, then explored the back roads, looking for barns to photograph. It turned into a beautiful day, with gorgeous cloud formations, perfect for photography.



I caught up with my best friend via e-mail, and we headed down memory lane for a while, chatting about the years we spent sharing our passion for antique quilts, transferware, yard sales, and antique stores. Watching her daughters grow up. Sharing weekends at the lake, sitting on the beach by the fire, watching for satellites and meteors, talking until the wee hours.

It was so good, this talk. It reminded me how much I miss her now that she lives on the other side of the mountains, and reminded her how much she misses me in return. It's good to have friends like this.

A quiet day...

I got up before the alarm this morning, and watched the rising sun turn the sky pink and rose and gold. It's been a while, in this soggy cold January, since I saw a sunrise.

I made a mug of lemon herbal tea, and settled down with Madison to read my friends' blogs. It shocks me how quickly I fall behind. And how behind I am with writing my own. I've been spending more time sewing, trying to ignore that I've not felt the urge to go out with my camera. I miss that feeling, that I need to get outside ahead of the sun, no matter how early it might be. But it will come back... the next time the day dawns crisp and cold and beautiful, I will be out there.

Dave finally got up at 9:30, and suggested we find a cache in Burien, then have lunch at Sharp's Alehouse again. I love this place, all dark wood and glass and comfortable chairs. And the food is wonderful.

It hit 62 degrees today... it's a bit early for our false spring, but I'll take it. I spent the rest of the day thinking about the yard, and pruning that needs to be done, and all the work we plan to have done on the house and outbuildings this summer.

Fishy...

Madison slept underneath her new minky cat blanket all night, and we all woke up early to winter temperatures. There's a lot of ground fog, but it will burn off in a few hours. It was beautiful.



The canister filter for the fish tank quit working yesterday; we were glad to find one locally and not have to wait for one to be shipped. We picked it up this morning (and some new fish), and Dave happily spent the afternoon cleaning and testing water and fertilizing. I was equally happy working on a 2018 journal layout, so I can start catching up.

I heard some sad news today... one of our closest friends lost his mom to cancer. She lived eight years longer than the doctors predicted, and I'm so happy he had the extra years with her.

Torn...

It will be an interesting month, this first month of 2018. Two weeks into a brand new year, and already I feel like I'm being pulled in three directions.

DW and I are still on our geocaching streak, heading toward 1001 consecutive days of finding at least one cache a day. It gets us out of the house, rain or shine... a good thing. And we enjoy getting together with people we've met through this fun sport.


A Bug lost in the woods... in the Danville-Georgetown open space. 

The second pull (yank?) on my time is quilting. This is the year I decided to learn hand applique, and I really don't know what took me so long. I started by making blocks for a sampler quilt, and now have three applique quilts in work. All are applique and embroidery, another love of mine. It's been fun to have a basket of blocks to work on each evening, once we settle down after dinner to watch a movie.

And finally, the this is also the year I'm determined to get more proficient with my Nikon dSLR, and finally make the move to manual mode. To that end, I've signed up for a year-long online photography class.

I know that I will feel pulled in all directions this year, and hope to find the time to keep up with regular entries in Electric | Journal. It was hard last year to keep up (and I didn't). But however things work out in 2018, I will certainly not be bored