Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Happiness Is....

Healthy dogs. Snoopy would agree I'm sure.
Stella, smiling for the camera with two good matching and working eyes.



 And brother Robin, now bored with the whole camera affair.


Happiness is also having wildlife AND camera available at the same time. The camera person really needs to practice holding steady with the zoom.



Monday morning Mr. Grey Fox strolled through to snatch up some sunflower seeds the birds had scattered. He was obviously on a mission, in constant motion and I was wishing like all get out he would hold still for just a few moments.




 It was hard to time the shots exactly with the digital delay and the constant movement.



And then I got my wish! Not quite the great wildlife action shots I was hoping for, but, action shots none the less! I'll take it and am not in the least offended. And where else are you going to get a chance to see a pooping wild fox I ask? ;) Hmmmmm.



 He is refreshing areas of his territory. I often see fox scat on prominent rocks around the property. And there is one place in the woods that everyone seems to use.  It all means he's here for the long haul and hopefully when he is gone it will have been passed onto another family member.

Happiness is, solving a poor cutting job as regards to pattern matching.



 I just didn't allow enough fabric for good matching of this large print and should have cut each piece in a single layer.



Sometimes, mistakes lead to pretty good creative solutions.  I consider this one of them.
Dark brown linen leftovers to the rescue.



Still needs hemming but this duster (Indygo Junction Retro Raglan), will see a lot of wear this fall. The others I've made are in constant rotation except in the hottest of weather.

Valerie had asked in the comment section of a recent posts if I was riding. I was, but then the extreme heat hit and now the choking drift smoke. This is what our afternoons have been looking like.



 The smoke is enough to make you cough outside and provide a little sting at times for the eyes and nose making it awful and dangerous to ride especially for the one doing most of the work, the horse. I feel bad enough that I can't get them out of the smoke for some relief to eyes, noses and lungs.



 The good news is the wind direction should be changing and clearing us out, the bad news, thunderstorms are again in our forecast area. For those that might  be stopping by for fire updates, the incident reports are available on the web here. This shows resources on the fire, size, percent contained etc. of all fires in Oregon. Those that are closer to these fires in SW Oregon and the Douglas Complex are in our thoughts, daily. Our little volunteer fire department is keeping abreast with all the activity.

Stupidity is....going into a smokey wilderness area, after passing numerous signs and postings stating NO FIRES OF ANY KIND, likely hearing on the radio and TV about extreme dry conditions and out of control fires, and then.....building a campfire. That is exactly what one asshat did yesterday in the rough terrain behind Howard Prairie Lake. What are these people thinking?

Parting shot: Happiness is, old friends. Miss Bea is sporting her usual bad summer haircut, so looks a bit thinner than you may remember. She's holding her own though for right now.

9 comments:

prttynpnk said...

Just a beautiful post as always- I feel inspired and at peace when I see your pics everytime!

Anonymous said...

Love Stella's bright eyes and cheery smile, she is such a ham! Miss Bea looks contented napping with Roger. Think the wild life potty break shot is pretty cool, what a beautiful animal.

LA said...

Stella looks beautiful! What does your pack of pups think about the fox scent? (You're so lucky to get those great shots of your fox...I haven't seen one in years!) Hopefully the fire season will soon be over. So glad to see a picture of Miss Bea....lovely as always.

Anna H said...

Glad to hear the pets are better, and yes, this smoke is no fun. Can't even open my windows at night for some cool air....Anna

Cindie said...

The duster looks great, I would have never known there was a pattern matching issue.

Tired of the smoke and fires just to the west of you and who knows when it will improve. Cars covered with ash and burnt up pine needles. I don't sleep well with air conditioning running but there is no opening of windows and only plan to leave the house today is to walk bailey wearing a mask.

Mary said...

Stella is hamming it up for the camera-she could teach me some poses. Thanks for the great infor on the fires, and I hope Mr. Asshat got a giant ticket for starting a campfire. Love the duster-what pattern matching problem? I see no problem at all :-)

joannely said...

Have you seen the webcam of the pass this morning? Total grey out, with zero visibility it seems...yuck...so much like the Biscuit fire 11 years ago...if only we could have some good rain and not just the promise of thunder!

joannely said...

Oops...forgot to mention that I love your new duster...that brown just revs it up to designer level!

Laura said...

There was a thread amongst friends on Facebook about the naming conventions for fires. Rather than name them for their locations, we thought they should be named for the waste of dna that started them, like your asshat. You could have "Asshat started campfire 2013" instead of whatever they've called it. Certainly the people who were responsible would know who they are... And if they know who it was, name it for them - they might just live in infamy...