Elkless!

Elk season is now over, and

I am elkless:(

I had a prime opportunity opening day and blew it.

I couldn't get it in my scope in the couple of seconds I had

in which to act.

Instead, I got to hike, climb, and crawl many many miles.

But instead of whining like I would prefer,

I will show you some of the country we covered.

Opening day it was so windy, we had to brace ourselves

against the wind.

In my infinite wisdom, I told Hubby, "This is why you see

those witches stuck to telephone poles.  See we're in the mts.

so it's hunter stuck to tree."

Okay, so I'm warped. 

Above and below ~ opening day.

Then. . .

yep that's the snow-line. Yesterday, covered all this in a blanket of white.
We did see about 75 head in this draw, but all cows and branch bulls 
- no spikes.

An idea of how steep it can be.

It was exhausting, and I am still without elk in the freezer.
I'm a poor hunter.  It's not something I really enjoy.
I only do it for the opportunity of delicious free range meat.
I don't like waking up in the middle of the night to hike in the dark
to where we are going to watch the sun rise while freezing to death and
remaining 'out' until dark, then come home to cook dinner,
shower, and crash.
It's beautiful, but I'm a fair weather hiker.  

Well, as promised, I will soon be posting some fun ideas
centered around the holidays.

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches.

Miracles Happen

A couple posts back, I shared a bit about our area fires and evacuations.

One thing that is aggravating is that no motorized vehicles

are allowed in areas deemed as "wilderness areas" 

not even in emergency situations.

Due to the size and volume of some of these fires,
there is too much smoke to attack by air and 
they would be endangering the lives of firefighters to put them on it
without water truck back-up.
(The carbon footprint of our government)

Amongst the horror and sadness, God is still at work.
This account was told to us last week by a family friend
who grew up in the deserts of SE Oregon.  
If you are unfamiliar with the area,
it is high desert with a lot of sage brush and juniper trees in areas.
Two years ago, there was a fire from the Oregon side
that moved east toward the Idaho boarder.
Hundreds of thousands of acres burned
as well as livestock, wildlife, and feed.
The scene was morbid since there was an incredible number
of animals (both domestic and wild) that had to be
put out of their suffering.
This year, there is a fire from the Idaho side.
Our family friend called an older rancher he knew
to see how he was doing, where the fire line was, and if he needed any help.
The rancher is/was just getting his herd built back up from the last fire and
was now facing another from the other direction.
He told our friend he was getting ready to go saddle up and
see how many head (of cattle) he could gather before the fire got there.
Before he left the house,
he sat to pray,
telling God he didn't know if he could go through it again:
having to see what he saw and put cattle he had worked so hard for
out of their misery.
He asked the Lord to help him find and gather as many as possible.
(Maybe this is a good time to explain that out here,
cattle are turned out in the hills/mountains to feed for summer
so that lower pasture grounds can be hayed for winter feed.  
Usually, gathering is done in the fall.)
The Lord heard and answered this mans prayer.
As he walked out to saddle up, 
he saw cattle coming over the ridge.
He stood and watched as about 250 pair (cow + calf)
which was the bulk of his herd, trailed down toward the pastures.
There was an ugly ol' white mustang with no rider bringing them in.
Once they were all headed downhill, the mustang turned and
headed back up toward the hills.
The rancher still saddled up, got the cattle contained, 
and headed up to see if he could find the horse.
He didn't find the horse,
but thanks God his cattle are safe.
Our family friend quickly assured us this man is totally sane,
and if there was a rider, he would have seen it.
I have no doubt about his sanity.
My response I suppose, is a simple
Amen.

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

From Another Time

We went down and visited my brother

and his family.

They are living on the ranch that

my sister-in-law's great grandparents homesteaded.

There are other such places, 

but I am always in awe of the fact that

these buildings have lasted over a hundred years so far.

Of course the buildings are easy to notice,

but there are so many other things.

What caught my attention upon heading 

back out to a ranch was that

I didn't realize that we have mostly

mechanical latches today.

On the ranch, it's usually some form of wood or wire.

That got me to noticing other signs of a lost era.

And of course~

the necessary house. 

It's fully functional, stocked, and used at times.

There are signs of progress though.

I am still amazed how we can create an oasis 

in the middle of the high desert.

It was a nice visit, beautiful weather, & lots of laughs.

It does make me kinda homesick for the ranch though.

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

!!!!!!! High Waters !!!!!!!

Over the past couple days,

there has been flooding in the area.

Our lazy little river that flows at a meager 50ish cfs

in the summer was raging up over 4000.

Usually those large rocks are

several feet above the water.

 The cool part is that the waterfalls are running.

This is 'our' waterfall.

It actually belongs to the person who owns

the property across the road, 

but it faces us.

We are pretty fortunately situated

in that our house sits at a nice level

above flood stage.

Farther down river, there were folks who

were not so happily situated.

I don't know that there was any real damage

as far as homes go,

but fields, yards, and corals were all under water.

Livestock was moved to higher ground.

Today it dropped back down below flood stage for us,

but there are several tributaries that flow into it

as it flows on down so that things are still

pretty soggy down river.

I am very thankful it was no worse than it was.

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

* Hell's Canyon Oregon*

Hell's Canyon Oregon

Neither Hubby nor I had ever been to

the Hell's Canyon Damn so we decided to go.

If you appreciate rugged beauty or

if you like outdoor adventure,

this is a must. 

This is above the damn.

I think we were actually on the Idaho side for this one.

From below the damn 

looking back up at it.

Now back on the Oregon side.

In the summer, there are rafting tours

from about here all the way down to the

mouth of the Snake River.

We have been farther down river,

but had not been this far up.

This is right next to the damn - 

a visitors center.

I don't remember how deep it is,

but it is more impressive in real life

as the size of the rocks and the volume of water

are truly grand.

The picture doesn't give you a great perspective

of the scale.

The other thing I enjoyed

was the variety of rocks.

As we were driving, areas of the cliff sides

were green with copper,

or plum colored.

If you know what causes a plum color,

please let me know.

It was beautiful.

There was also metamorphic rock

that was all speckley.

(Another me word.)

It was a fabulous mini vacation -

the only vacation we've had in some time.

That evening, we went to a Gothard Sisters concert.

You might look them up on youtube if you like Celtic music.

It was all within a few hours of home.

Hope you enjoyed the mini-tour.

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

Ranch House Candles in Post, Oregeon

I recently received my new order from

Ranch House Candles.
These are excellent candles!  
Post, Oregon is right in the middle of Oregon.
The whole town consists of one building.
If you are a candle person, you might just take a peek.
The wicks are in the middle unlike so many.
Dawn does a fabulous job, is knowledgeable 
and shares that knowledge -  like the darker the candle,
the longer it burns, cool candles burn longer, etc.

She is pouring more candles each week,

and each week, I can't wait to smell what's next:)

Last week was Blackberry Sage Tea
This one should come with a spoon.


Her latest is Citrus-Basil (light green.)
It smells like summer.  I love it.

The Banana Nut Bread smells like the real thing.

If computer screens could be scratch-n-sniff,
you could smell for yourself.

You wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two pictures.
Mr. LB asked for either one ~ the burnable kind or the edible kind-
he got both:)

She keeps her Facebook page updated, and
I have created this link so you can just click
Ranch House Candles
to see a list of available scents.
She was pouring more today (Wed.)

or you can call &/or email:

ranchhousecandlesor@gmail.com

Phone: (541)408-4505

If you search for 'Ranch House Candles,' be sure you put Oregon
in the search or it will take you to Texas.

Stitches in Bloom Quilt Show

Returned home from Silverton last night.  We had the most wonderful time at the Stitches in Bloom Quilt Show.

As I said in my last post, I won this trip.  It included a nights stay at the Oregon Garden Resort, breakfast, lunch, a massage or pedicure for two, and entry to the quilt show of course.  

I told Mr. LB that I should get him a shirt to wear when he attends quilt shows with me - it would say, "I'd rather be fishing."  He's such a gem.

So, on with the pictures.

I had to vote for this one because I am me:)  She said it took her 16 years to complete it.

                                                                   

This one is simplistic, but I like it for that reason and the craftsmanship was great.  The flowers are needle turned.

                                                                                                                       This one just impressed me as an art quilt.  Those are little square pieces of fabric flying above the flames all quilted on in a geometric design. The quilting was all geometric on it - very interesting.                                              

And this one just had such nice quilting.

 This one might not look extremely impressive - a star quilt,

Oh but wait - Those are little 1/2 inch squares in the midst of all those stars and very nicely done too.

Though the colors are pretty bright, it was all needle-turned applique which I appreciate.  And the bright works for this one.  I love the top center square for some reason.                                                                         

Our room was beautiful complete with fireplace.  I like the garden gate head boards - very appropo for a garden resort.

Here is one shot of a portion of the garden.  We were at about the farthest point when it started to sprinkle.  By the time we made it back, we were drenched so needless to say we didn't take many pictures along the way.

I didn't take a picture of my toes, though they look so nice as I shove them into my woolly socks and warm shoes.  We have about 8 inches of snow to trudge through around here.

I am so thankful.  This was a wonderful quilt show and weekend.  I didn't even know about this show or this place before this trip.  The internet is an asset in as many ways as it can be a detriment. 

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

Northwest Quilting Expo

We are heading out tonight to the Northwest Quilting Expo in Portland, Oregon.  I went to the very first one (ahem) a couple years ago - okay, so this is their 12th year.  I can hardly wait - mental note "Remember camera, remember camera, remember camera."  I am considering participating next year rather than just attending, but I like to get a feel for what it's all about before entering a quilt in any show.  Am I weird or what?  This is the cover of the brochure, vendor list, class schedule and registration, etc.  On the cover are a couple of last years winners.  How cool! I can't believe I said that.  It's like I'm nineteen again.  Just a little giddy.  See you there!

Nimble Fingers & Even Stitches to you.