A Trip Around The Peninsula!

July 1, 2020 Sewtropolis1 Comment

Years ago I lived in Seattle for about a year or so… In fact, Seattle was where I joined the Air Force from. At the time I was working for TGI Fridays and just ‘surviving’ as the saying goes. I wanted to go to school, but couldn’t afford school and rent, so I decided to join the Air Force. I remember telling the recruiter that I wanted to leave as soon as possible because I didn’t want to think about it and worry that I had done the wrong thing. Committing myself for four years was such a huge commitment back then.

The weekend before I left I decided to take a drive around the Washington Peninsula. I left early enough, but got side-tracked with all the sights to see along the way and before I knew it I wasn’t even half way around when I realized it was 8p.m. I didn’t plan on making it a overnight trip – and there was no way I could afford to extend my drive to two days – back then I didn’t have the money, and I think I had to work the next day anyways. So, I high-tailed it back to Seattle as fast as I could, catching the very last ferry from Kingston into Edmonds.

During one of my stops I got out and walked the rocky beaches just as the sun was setting and thought about what it was I was about to embark on. I’m not going to lie, I was scared, but I knew that joining the Air Force was my ticket out of having to struggle all my life. On that rocky beach I prayed to God I was making the right decision… I even asked him/her to give me a sign that I was doing the right thing, and when I looked down the beach I saw a couple of twinkly things. I had no idea what it was – but I knew it was my sign and so I walked down the beach to see what was twinkling, and when I got there I realized it was a rock…. just like all the other rocks on the beach. It wasn’t even twinkling by the time I go to it – so I knew that God had given me a sign that I was doing the right thing and that I was going to be okay. I kept that rock for YEARS – and I always remembered that drive as being one of my favorite.

Flash forward to today – and I decided I really needed to get out of the house! So, I made some camping reservations, packed my tent, some snacks and my dogs and off we went to drive around the Washington Peninsula! This time I gave myself plenty of time, 3 days – but decided that two was plenty given that most everything was closed. The first day I made it to Ocean City State Park and pitched my tent. I took the dogs to the beach and we pretty much had it all to ourselves. I lit a campfire, read a book, worked on a crocheted blanket, and relaxed!

The next morning we got up, took down the tent, visited the beach again and then were on our way. I drove up the coastline for the most part, until the roads closed and I was diverted back to the 101. I really wanted to see Cape Flattery, but it sits on the Neah Bay Indian Reservation which was closed to outsiders. So, I turned around and headed home, catching the ferry while it was still day light.

The trip was exactly what I needed. It felt good to get out of the house for longer than an hour at a time. You can check out some of the photos I took here. I’m in the process of making greeting cards with them. But more to come on that later.

Hives, Sharks and Athena’s New Look

September 16, 2016September 16, 2016 SewtropolisLeave a comment

I spent most of my weekend painting Athena (more on that later), Saturday was absolutely beautiful out! Not too hot, not too cold – it was just Goldilocks – except there was something in the air that caused me to constantly sneeze and made sweet Grace break out in hives! I was in and out of the trailer all day and each time I came inside I would find her scratching at one part of her body or the other. Poor girl was just miserable. After I saw the bumps on her face I gave her a 1/2 a Claritin and hoped it wouldn’t kill her. It didn’t. In fact, she started to feel better within the hour! After that she was good and there’s been no sign of the hives since – Tis the season!

So remember those shark slippers I made? Here’s a picture of the recipient wearing them! LOL I love the smile on her face! Made all the frogging (rip-it, rip-it … get it?) worth while!

Okay, now onto Athena! Here is the before picture!

And here is the after!

I’m not quite done, I still have to do the hitch, tank, bumper and a few minor details, (which I am doing in orange) but I can’t believe what a difference painting makes! It’s like I have a whole new trailer!

The hardest part was getting up on the roof – I have a slight fear of heights, plus I had a hard time trusting that the roof wouldn’t collapse. Once I realized it was going to hold I actually did okay. That big box is my A/C & unit – the one that kept me cool on those hot-ass summer days! One of these days I’ll get it replaced with a new one which are half the size and twice as quiet!

I first put on a clear coat of Kilz to seal it, then used this enable paint from Home Depot.

I had the colors picked out since I bought the trailer 3 years ago! I’m so glad I hung onto those paint chips – if I hadn’t it would have taken me another week to decide on colors. (I can make a decision – I just like to take my time doing so) As it was it took me all day Saturday to put the Kilz on – then all day Sunday to paint just the top half. I worked on the bottom half on Sunday and have been coming home after work each day to do the trim.

It’s supposed to rain this coming weekend so I may not get the chance to finish painting everything. What I don’t finish can wait till we have a stretch of sunny days again – even if that isn’t till Spring. Plus, it’s not like I don’t have a host of other projects I can work on.

Nikol

Projects

Falling into September

September 2, 2016September 2, 2016 SewtropolisLeave a comment

I can’t believe it’s September already! I see all these ‘first day of school’ photos on my Facebook feed and it makes me miss my boys! When we moved into our house in Minneapolis I would take a picture of them in the back yard on the first day of school! I look back at those pictures now and can’t believe how little they were! Time flies by so fast!

So other than looking at all the back to school photo’s on Facebook I have been sewing up a storm! (BTW – did you know September is National Sewing Month?) However, I haven’t finished anything! I suppose if I were working on just one project I might have – but this week had three going: a bra, a shower curtain, and the fusion quilt. I had to order the bra fixings on-line so I didn’t get started on that till Tuesday night – I cut out the pieces and have the cups sewn together. I can tell already that I ordered the wrong lining fabric, but I’m not worried about it. I am expecting to make lots of mistakes on this one – if it actually fits it will be a bonus. I’m counting on the next one to be perfect.

Before the bra I had been working on my shower curtain I had all the rows sewn, just had to join them. But I got so excited when the bra fixings came in that I set aside the shower curtain. I finally picked it up again tonight and got it all sewn together. All I need is to add grommets and hem it and then I’ll be done. As for the fusion quilt I’ve crocheted edges to all of the squares and have started to join them – which amazingly is going pretty fast.

My hope is that by this time next week I’ll be wearing a new bra, have a pretty shower curtain and a new lap quilt to take me into Fall!

Speaking of Fall, nothing like Pumpkin scones to transition from Summer to Fall! I made these one day last week when it was cool enough to turn on my oven! I thought I would be clever and try and make chocolate pumpkin scones , but I didn’t add enough chocolate powder so they ended up looking like dirt. But they tasted SO good! Just ask the guys I work with! Scones tend to be on the dry side which is why I added the glaze on top. So, so good!

Until next week!

Athena · Projects · RV Living

Showers and Sharks

August 19, 2016August 19, 2016 Sewtropolis1 Comment

The temps last weekend reached into the 90s – which is hot by Seattle standards, so I planned on staying out of the heat as much as possible! In fact, that was my plan all along after being on the go for the last few weeks, but it was nice that the weather cooperated with my plan.

Athena has a A/C unit which is 35+ years old – but still works! Once it awhile it would trip the circuit so I’d have to go to the back and flip the switch. Honestly thought I was counting my blessing that I was flipping a switch in my 35+ year old trailer than going without A/C in my “high efficiency” apartment!

This past weekend I also put sealant on the cracks in my tub so that I can take a shower in my trailer and not worry about water seeping down to the sub-floor. (Not something you want at all)

The shower is a little small, but it works and beats hiking over to the KOA showers! I have one of those shower heads where you can switch the water on or off. My water heater does not hold a lot of hot water – so being able to switch it off is important if I want hot water for the full shower! On my list of upgrades is to replace it with a tankless water heater. Then I can shower without turning the water on & off OR going outside to light the water heater! Ahhhh the luxuries!

So now that the shower is up and running I started working on a shower curtain to match the rest of the curtains in the trailer – and was promptly side tracked with starting a Fusion quilt! This is just the first block – I only have 48 moe to go.

I had seen these on Pinterest and thought they were so pretty. Then, when I was out in Minneapolis my friends mom mentioned she had started one – and really that’s all it took to get me motivated. The fact that I just so happened to be cutting 5″ squares for the curtain also helped.
I have been on a roll with crocheting lately – that super secret project I mentioned here, are these Shark Slippers!

I get a kick out of these things!

I have to admit there was a lot of frustration in making these – mainly because I am not a proficient crocheter. I have to look up the abbreviations over and over, but I got it and if they fit my hella big foot they are sure to fit the recipients size 7 foot! The pattern is from Penelope vt on Ravelry. If you make them follow the directions no matter how crazy they seem and save yourself a lot of frustration at the end!

Till next week!

Leo & Grace

Sweet Grace

November 13, 2015November 4, 2015 SewtropolisLeave a comment

A few months before I left Minnesota my sweet, sweet girl, Skilos passed away. I still can’t talk about her without crying – so this post is not about her. What is worse, my Fat Cat also passed away a couple of weeks before she did. I miss him too and still can’t talk about him without talking about Skilos (I got them as babies 2 weeks apart and they passed 2 weeks apart) But this post isn’t about him either.

This post is about my new dog, Grace!

After Leo and I moved into our apartment I started to feel really bad for him! He went from a house with 2 dogs, 2 boys, 1 cat and a big yard – to just him and I. I didn’t feel so bad while I wasn’t working – but once I started working he was all by himself in our apartment.

We walk everyday and on the weekends we go to the dog parks or hiking… but I still felt pretty bad for him. So I searched Craig’s List and found this sweet girl whose family felt she deserved a better life than what they could provide.

I met her and her dad at a dog park and it was love at first sight for me! She had never been to a dog park before so there was lots of barking and clinging to her dad. But I could tell she was a sweet heart and definitely deserved to have some fun in her life. She’s part Black Lab and Part ?? – but I think I see some Boston Terrier in her. She’s not as big as Leo – coming in at 49lbs, versus his 69lbs, but she’s the same age and I think makes a great companion for him.

The night I bought Grace home Leo was not happy! The only thing he liked about her was all her toys (which he set out to destroy one by one). But, he’s slowly coming around. This morning I caught him playing with her…. and tonight on our walk he fought off a small dog when it looked like Grace would need some help fending it off. (PSA: please put your dog on a leash if you can’t control them with voice commands).

Every day Grace’s little personality comes out. She is definitely a lover – LOVES to snuggle on my lap, if she can’t have the lap, she’ll snuggle up right next to me. She loves to give kisses and even though she’s not exactly thrilled with it… She appreciates my crochet skills!

Happy Dog

Projects

Keeping Busy

October 5, 2015 Sewtropolis2 Comments

I am not one to sit around and do nothing… some people call it relaxing, I call it a huge waste of time. When I sit down and watch TV I usually have a project in hand that I’m working on – and currently I have about 4 projects in various stages of completion.

When I arrived in Washington I was staying at the local KOA. Not a whole lot to do in the KOA! During the day I would head to the library and search for jobs, but in the evenings I would break out my crochet hook or knitting needles and create.

I crochet this net baby blanket and basketball hat for a cousin who is expecting a little boy any day now.

I also finished these socks that seemed to be taking forever. The socks are probably my favorite socks so far! They are wool and silk so nice and warm – yet not itchy at all. I have been wearing these socks when I go hiking since they are nice and thick too!

crochet washcloths — crochet wash cloths

I also made about half a dozen of these crochet dish cloths. I always seem to collect the cotton yarn used to make these, but never get around to actually making anything. It felt good to whip these things out and at the same time clear some room in my yarn bin. I ended up giving most of these to my brother since, after house sitting for him one day, I noticed he didn’t have ANY! Whaaatt? (How could I let that happen?)

These are just a few of the things I finished while camping at the KOA! No sitting idle for me!