Saturday, February 28, 2009

A little clarification on that rain thing....

A friend of mine who just moved here from Arizona emailed me and said that, in all our conversations and emails about Oregon, I never mentioned that it rained "until the 4th of July"! I realized, even before getting her email, that I think I made it sound like it rained, consistently, until the 4th. That's not what I meant!!! We get lots of beautiful weather before that....and it gets warm, seemingly all of a sudden (!!), before that.... but the weather in Oregon is unsettled until about then, generally. The 4th of July can go either way. Generally not too cold, though.. but it can be rainy and 70 or clear and 100. So, just watch the weather report.... or consult your Runes or Tarot cards or whatever it is you do to figure out what tomorrow might bring...before you plan your BBQ's! And, make sure the inside of your house is clean, too, just in case all your guests end up inside! But, rest assured, it'll break 80 degrees before the 4th of July! :)

Monday, February 23, 2009

Just some "this 'n that"......

Oh, my goodness.... how is it that nearly a month has gone by since I last posted? Well, okay, not a month.... a mere twenty days. But, how does this happen? Excuse me, but wasn't it just Christmas?!?! How is it nearly March?? I have to say, as far as the weather goes, I'm glad it's nearly March. But, us Western Oregonians are so easily lured into a false sense of security when it comes to "Spring". Being from California... at least this is what I remember, but it may not be the reality at all.... I do remember, growing up, that it always rained on the first day of Spring. But, it was *always* sunny and warm on my birthday (June 10th). So, once daffodils started popping up and showing off, the weather became increasingly nicer and nicer. ("Increasingly nicer"... is that a redundant phrase?? Should it be "increasingly nice"?) Anyway, it was more like a gauge that you could see going up, steadily, until in June, it was just plain ol' nice. I don't ever recall the 4th of July being "iffy" as to whether it might rain during the fireworks down on the beach in Capitola! It just didn't happen! Now, there are parts of California that are also all dried up by June... and, well, not a pretty sigh in my humble opinion. But, this was the central California coast.... where the moisture from the ocean (and the fog) kept things pretty green... and it generally didn't get very hot. Vegetation grew with "wild abandon", as they say.... much like here, in the beautiful Willamette Valley!!

I hear it from lots of people.... a few days of warmer weather and the popping up of croccus' and daffodils and budding of camelias and they start talking like it'll only get better.....like Summer's coming!! Ha! No, Spring is coming and it can be the longest of seasons in this area. I don't want to rain on their parade, but it's likely to get worse before it gets better, folks. This winter, in particular, we've had little rain... so I fear it's going to all come crashing down (as in "cats and dogs") in the next few months. I almost wrote "several months", but I'm not even going to put that out into the Universe. I start getting cranky when it's still cold and rainy after July 4th. I always say that summer in these parts starts on July 5th. It can be rainy on the 4th and shatter all your best-laid barbeque plans, and, then voila! .... the 5th is graced with gorgeous blue skies and temperatures in the 80's! What's that all about?! I don't get it, but it's the way it is.

I'm looking forward to changing the look of my blog, to something more Springy! But, I want to be able to take a picture of my blooming daffodils and pansies when I do that... and, well, I'm still having a camera problem. I need to take it (or send it??) to be fixed, but I'm dragging my feet on that. I'm afraid it's going to cost an arm and a leg to fix it. But, now, it won't charge at all... so it's useless, basically. Even after changing the battery.... no lights come on when I hook it up to the charger/printer dock. ~huge sigh~ If anyone has any ideas, please share them!!!

Oh, I can hear the rain on the skylight! It's been a long time since I've heard it rain that hard! Don't get me wrong... I enjoy the rain and all the beauty it gives us (believe me, I've come a long way since moving here in 1981!!)....it's just when it goes on and on and on and on....then, I get tired of it. And, well, after all the snow we had this year and how cold it has been, fairly consistently, I'm ready for warmer weather. I'd be okay if it weren't for these teases that we get. That's when we start thinking that change is imminent. It's coming, but it's probably not imminent. Be patient.

I think that's all the rambling I need to do right now. Thanks for listening!
I hope you're enjoying "Spring", no matter where you are! (as long as you're in the northern hemisphere, obviously!)

Teri

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Revisiting fabrics for pillows


Hi, again!

So, here are the fabrics that I ended up with, for the couch pillows. I love them, but now that they are home and I could put them right up next to that blue couch, the dark blue on the bigger flowers isn't anything like my blue couch! It has way more green in it. But, oh, well.... if I was trying to match it perfectly, I would've bought an 1/8th of a yard and taken it home to check because I know that it's very difficult to match colors up just from your mind!! Well, for me, I think it's impossible. Maybe some people can do it successfully, but I'm not one of those people. :)

My oldest, Kyla, saw these fabrics, though, and said, "I hope those are for a quilt for me. I love those!!" So, that was nice. They would make a nice quilt. By the way, the top two, in the upper photo, are Moda, of course, called Tranquility, by Sandy Gervais. All the others are called Kashmir III, by Sentimental Studios, also Moda. I say, "Moda, of course" because I'm always drawn to the Moda fabrics. I'm like a Homing Pigeon with them! I often don't realize that they're Moda... I just like the look....and I check and sure enough...Moda! And, now I'm learning to write down the name, designer, etc....!! I'm just a slow learner, I guess.


I keep saying, "Today I can get started on those pillows!!" But, no-o-o-o-o! Other things keep coming up. Today is a totally full day, starting with gymnastics for Quinn at 10:30, eat lunch afterwards, leave for Sheila and Andre's at 1:45, to drop Quinn off there; be in Salem at 3:00
for a consulation with the surgeon who will remove half of my thyroid. Oh, and maybe stop by to get some flowers and go see a friend who just had pins and plates put in her leg because her dog and his doggie-playmate knocked her over and caused her to break her leg!! She was in surgery when I stopped by yesterday so I'm going to try again today. Then, home for dinner and off to Sheila and Andre's, again, for music practice! Oh, Cornerstone went well, over-all. It was fun. My voice had a couple of weird moments when I was singing solo (just great), but other than that, it was fun and good! A good crowd at the beginning, although they weren't all there for us.... they just happened to be in there, playing Scrabble! But, they clapped so they were paying attention, somewhat. :) Our thanks to our friends who did show up, though!! Kymm and Matt came all the way down from Vancouver, (Washington), about an hour and a half drive; that was much appreciated!!

OK... time to get Quinn up and ready for gymnastics!

Ciao!

Phil saw his shadow. :(

Oh, boy..... bad news. Phil saw his own shadow yesterday! (Punxsutawny Phil, for anyone that doesn't know. You can get all the info you might ever need about him and his legacy at http://www.groundhog.org/) We've actually had nearly a week of gorgeous blue skies (with some fog here and there) and it did get up to 58 degrees yesterday, but I'd just like it a bit warmer so I can get out to do some work in my flower garden that I totally dropped the ball on when it came time to trim up and clean up last Fall! And, well, I'm a garden-whimp. I'm sorry, but I don't have a lot....well, any, really, outer clothing that's good for temps in the 30's or low-40's, which is what it has been. I serioulsy thought about getting out there, yesterday, when I saw that it was 58 and I had already noticed that the polar-fleece was too much to have on in the car! Yes!! But, in the shade, it was cold... and where I'd be working was in the shade at that point, so, nah.... I'll wait.

Cloudless-blue, gorgeous skies today..... but tomorrow we're supposed to get you-know-what-flurries! When you say (ssshhhh!).........I'm not going to say it, I'm only going to spell it....s-n-o-w around here now, people kind of tense up. You can see it. Everyone envisions their perennials and winter vegetables (and gnomes) being buried in 2' of snow again; trying to drive on roads that aren't being properly cared for, or being stuck at home, and losing power from all the limbs that came crashing down! C'mon, people... it's not real likely to break a 40 year record twice in one season, is it? I loved it, by the way! Every part of it. But, we didn't lose any power, which would've meant our heat; I don't have to worry about getting to work and Wayne just didn't work! So, we are grateful for all of that. I wish we'd get that every year, to be honest! Maybe the city would buy some snow-plows then!! :)

How are those Gratitude journals coming along? I have a confession to make. I've been bad. Very, very bad, when it comes to my Gratitude journal. :( I hope you're all doing better than I am at it!!!

Enjoy the day!