A Look at Saturday

While the doggies...

and the kitty...
I was...

and John was...

Later I...

Then we had...

and...

while we watched...

Skunked

Oh, look at that poor doggy! He found a skunk and now no one wants to pet him. Even Daisy is keeping her distance.

Saturday night, just before bed, John took Tony out to use the trees. A few minutes later he runs back into the house, bringing a pungent skunk ordor with him. So out he went again to the garage while I looked up the best way to get rid of it. We gave him 2 baths of a peroxide, baking soda and dish soap mixture. It got rid of most of the smell immediately, although there is still a lingering residue. Of course our bedroom smells lovely now when I get home everyday from work now, all because somebody won't keep his nose out of the fridge!

What a dog!

Phantom

We went to Phantom last night!

It was John's first and my third experience. (Although the times I saw it were during jr high school, so I'm not sure they count.) It was a great performance, much more visual than I remembered. Phantom and Christine were played by understudies but still gave commanding performances. The sets and pyrotechnics were really great. This is the final tour in the US of Phantom, ending in LA in November. I'm so glad we got to see it. Thanks Aunt Carol for making it possible!

A Few New Things

I've been doing some sewing since we got back from Montana, of clothes that is. Now, this is a big deal! I'm great at quilting, nice flat surfaces and straight lines, but clothes...HA! I just could not figure out the whole 3D thing. When we were in Montana, Mom and I went to JoAnn's (yay!) and she helped me pick out a few basic patterns to start with. I love going to the fabric store with Mom, I've been going with her for as long as I can remember and it's so fun. Mostly I like sitting at the pattern books and dreaming about all the combinations of fabrics and colors that you could make, or that Mom could make for me!

John's Hawai'ian Shirts

McCall's 2149

This one is a bit big for John. Unfortunately, the pattern only comes with one size in the envelope, so I cut down the next shirt by the seam allowance printed on the pattern. It fits much better.

John really like Hawai'ian shirts, except he doesn't wear them much in Ohio because someone always comments on them. I think they don't realize that we westerners actually do wear them. It's not just something from Magnum, PI that you secretly want to wear but would never actually do. They're so missing out!

Amanda's Dress

McCall's M6123

This dress was hard on me! The only real problem I had with it was the ruffles at the waist and trim lines. They are gathered so tightly that I broke the threads at least 6 times. I think I cried that time and put it away for about a week, thinking I would never get it done. But I came back with a vengeance on that ruffle and it was tamed. It turned out cute and it fits well, too.

One thing I've certainly learned is not to take the pattern sizing literally. When I've done that the garment never fits and I'm mad about wasting my time, money, and fabric. John gave me a dress form for Christmas which has really helped me figure out sizing and how the end result will look. Thanks, hun!

Freezer Jam

This canning thing has been bugging me. I really ought to know how to do it, but don't have the time and probably shouldn't take on another "hobby".

Then John came home with 7 1/2 lbs of plums. After a plum pie, plum cake and eating 2 plums a day we still had about half of them left. So I started really thinking about and researching canning. I had heard about Freezer Jam, but I didn't give it much thought as it seemed to be the lazy way out. But my plums were getting really ripe and I had to do something.

So I caved and took the easy way out. It really was easy and, boy, am I glad I did it. It is sooooooo gooood! I also had blueberries and strawberries that I needed to use so I made two kinds of jam. Blueberry/Strawberry and Plum. It's a toss up for which is better. I still have blueberries left so this weekend I will be making Blueberry Spice jam.

Wanna come over for breakfast?

Photos of Montana

Filling up to leave Ohio

Are we there yet?

Sunrise over North Dakota, about 5:00 am.

Silliness with Uncle John

Sailing on Canyon Ferry Lake:

John and his Dad setting up

Amanda holding the boat

Lewis and Clark Caverns:

The hike up.

Inside

Camping at Dad's place:

Daisy

Tony and Amanda

Dandelion Bella

View up the creek

Learning to sew

The way back:

Castle Rock

An Oregon Trail wagon

Laziness...or something

Hello everyone. Once again, I have been neglecting all of you through the blog...sorry.

We had a wonderful time in Montana with our families. We drove straight through from Cleveland to Billings and back again, 29 hours with only stops for gas and potty breaks. What a haul, but so worth it! It's amazing to see how big this country truly is. I think I had "America the Beautiful" in my head the entire drive.

We were there 2 full weeks seeing my family and John's. We visited our favorite restaurants in Billings and Manhattan, celebrated the 4th of July, went boating, camping, hiking, had a tea party, and generally visited. It was so fun to be with my nieces, they are growing up so fast. They really bonded with John (mostly bouncing on the trampoline) which was so great to see. They love their Uncle John!

Since we've been home, it's been a bit of a whirlwind. Two weeks back and John was off to Salamanca, Spain. He left Saturday and will be home Sunday. I really hate being alone but it is getting easier. I should probably get used to it, as hopefully he will be traveling for interviews this spring. That's something you all can pray for! I have been sewing and crocheting to keep myself occupied while he's gone. I made a shirt for John, a dress and am crocheting a cardigan for myself. Cleveland Orchestra Chorus rehearsals begin in about 3 weeks and we already have some of the music. I was asked to be part of the smaller Chamber Ensemble, which is great but means more music and rehearsals. We are doing Brahms German Requiem, one of Bach's Missas, and a Vaughn Williams women only piece this fall. We have 10 Christmas concerts scheduled, as well.

That's all for now. See you here again soon!