The yard is getting there......

They sprayed the parts of the lawn that they will be replacing with rock, and you can start to see what it will be in the end....

They have completely removed the tree/bush from the corner, too.  Woohoo!!!!

Ralph and I went kayaking yesterday - back up at Whiskeytown Lake.  This is the first time Ralph has gone kayaking since the 70's.....

Some of the scenery at the lake

I think we have a convert for kayaking.  It is so peaceful out there - of course, no one was out on the lake on a Tuesday morning in October.  I have a funny feeling that mid-summer is a bit different.

Ralph and I took the dogs for a walk yesterday morning - just as the sun was coming up.

Ralph and Jasper

I was so proud of Koori!  We had gotten down to the field area when Ralph realized he forgot his cane.  We went on into the field, and found Koppi waiting for us (Alsatian Shepherd - 125 pounds of puppy!)  I left the dogs playing together and Ralph chatting with Koppi's mom, and jogged back tot he house to get his cane.  Koori just wouldn't stay with Ralph - we'd taken their leads off, so....she came running after me.  She stayed on heel the entire time to the house and back - nice!

The first full day of vacation wasn't as productive as I would have liked, but.....I got the quilt block done for the Ooh Rah! quilt! I also went shopping with Alex, cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and various other chores around the house.  Here are the 4 blocks I've received so far:

The one on the bottom right is the one I made yesterday. The stars have inset seams, and this was the first time I've tried that.  The pattern doesn't have a lot of instructions - it assumes you know how to quilt - and I thought I was getting the hang of it.  I think it turned out okay - the points aren't as precise and I would have liked, but it is a busy quilt, so in the end, it won't be too obvious. Here's a picture of the completed quilt....you shouldn't notice that my points aren't exact.

The plan for today is a kayak trip with Ralph, shopping for camping tomorrow, and getting the house set up for a baby sitter for Allison while Ralph and I go camping.  One of the aides in Alli's class is staying overnight with her, and I need to stock up on snacks and an easy-to-fix dinner for them.  I also need to update my directions for taking care of Alli.  Somewhere in between, maybe a little more sewing or crocheting (and a baseball game to watch, scouts to go to, etc.)

Tomorrow, Ralph, Margene and I are heading up to Hat Creek camping.  Margene will be joining us in the afternoon, stay overnight and go fishing with Ralph (thank goodness- I hate to fish!!!)

Vacation has officially begun!  I spent most of Saturday helping Margene get ready for her birthday party (her 50th!!) and Sunday hanging around her place, helping clean up a bit.  Not a bad way to spend a weekend, but I neglected a lot of my chores, I'm afraid.  I did get the laundry done (except for the last load of towels waiting to be folded, but they don't count!)  

I also got all of the 'quilt stuff' that I have all cut out.  I got the next month of the Sampler quilt at quilt club on Saturday, the monthly shipment for the Ooh Rah! quilt a couple of weeks ago, and....a quilt kit that I ordered came in.  They are all cut out!  The Sampler quilt won't take much to put together - just 4 blocks,  I have one block of the Ooh Rah! quilt done, but the second block uses a technique I hadn't tried before - inset seams.  I made a sample up, just so I wouldn't ruin my 'good fabric'  and I think I am now ready to tackle the block.  

The quilt kit that I'm now working on is the Friendship Roses Quilt - in blues and yellows.  I really like fabrics used.  It doesn't seem to be very complicated to put together, either (lucky for me!)  Here's a photo of it:

And the link to the quilt pattern is here.

Since I'm on vacation, I, of course, have a long list of things I want to do/get done this week.  I think the list is longer than the time that I have though.  It usually is, but....I should get a few things crossed off.

I'm off on a new adventure!  Vacation!!!!  I started it right by taking Friday afternoon off and Alex and I wen kayaking at Whiskeytown.  Here's our new trailer with the kayaks.

The lake was beautiful yesterday afternoon - almost no one there when we got there

As we were leaving, I stopped to take a picture

And noticed some deer down at the edge of the lake.

And then they noticed me - Mama came straight for me....hmmmm....think someone's been feeding them?

I backed up as she approached, so she went on down the lakeshore toward the swimming beach, her two babies tagging along behind.

I took the afternoon off, not only because we were slow at work and I could, but because Alex had an appointment with the heart specialist at 2:00, and we didn't get out until after 3:00, and I hadn't had lunch yet.  I would have made it back to work at 4:00 anyway, on a Friday afternoon on a 3 day weekend?  Not happening!  The heart specialist is going to send Alex a heart monitor to wear for a few days, and then see what his heart is up to.  After the heart monitor will come a stress test, and then we'll see what he has to say.  Hopefully, it is something that he thinks he can fix!

It's started!  The landscaper came over on Monday and drew out where he is going to put in boarders and take out grass!  He walked around with a paint can and marked up the lawns.  Here is the front section by the door - river rock will be placed between the driveway and the orange lines.  (And yes, I had help taking pictures....)

He's going to build up around the trees - about a foot high, separating the lawn into 2 sections.

Here's the amount of lawn that will be left along the street....

The side front will have rock in a crescent shape along the side of the mailbox.

The same type of treatment in the back - bringing in the existing rock, reducing the grass.

This corner will have a fountain/pond -

We got a recycled table from Margene for the patio last weekend too....much prettier than my old round one.

Sunset on Tuesday night on the way to scouts.

My newest project:

It isn't put together yest, I just laid it out to see if it would work - I bought all the parts separately, and wasn't sure they would 'go' together.  I'm liking it!!

Alex and I took Mom's RV out for a test drive this last weekend, and went camping with the scouts.  I loved the RV - glamping is a lot more fun than camping! It will be even better next time, now that we know a bit more about the RV!  (I found the instruction book after we'd been set up for a while.)  One of the other scout leaders has a very similar RV, so he helped us get set up sans instructions.

The scouts clearing off their campsite prior to putting up tents.

We camped up at Cassel - a PG&E campground outside of Burney.  They had a canal that from what I heard is stocked frequently, and runs into Baum Lake, and then Hat Creek and on to Lake Britton.

One group of scouts spent as much time as they could fishing - though some of those were actually looking for crawdads rather than fish,,,,,

Some just hung out at the canal with us rather than at camp. AJ and I took a group of 4 fishing,

I had a visitor (blue jay) in the tree above us while we waited.

We took a short hike down to Baum Lake Sunday morning.

Baum Lake

A pelican out on the lake.