Two Times the Trouble!

And I WAS doing SO WELL at staying on the wagon!

But maybe that is only because I’ve been out of town without a car to get me into too much trouble!

And in nothing flat, just like that, I ended up with a case in each hand, heading for the van, putting them in my car and driving away ---

With a big fat smile on my face!

“Rescuing sewing machines is much like rescuing cats!”  I often tell people. 

How many sewing machines I *NEED* isn’t in question.

How many sewing machines I can restore, keep running,  and preserve is the goal!

One of these is in really rough shape, and I nearly left it behind…but the message  written in red crayon on the case tugged at my heart:

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Show & Share, Sault Ste Marie Style!

This is Tammy peeking over the top of her down-sized Easy Street!

She is in the process of quilting.  Don’t you love her colors??

Mysteries are very versatile – you can swap your colors around, and if you want a smaller size, just tell yourself you are going to make 1/4 the units called for – or 1/2 the units called for.

Then after the reveal you can play around and make the size you want!  You might find yourself having to make a few more of this unit, or that unit – or you might have a few extra you didn’t need – just work those into the back or the label or something.  This is your quilt, you can do it how YOU want!

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A bit of History in the Soo!

Friday Evening I was given a driving tour of Sault Ste Marie, MI and  I asked Lynn to please pull over ---

I spied the court house with the sun going down behind it, and it was just SO beautiful, I wanted to get some pictures!

According to Wiki which has the answers to nearly EVERYTHING:

The Chippewa County Courthouse is a three-story, cut stone, Second Empire built in 1877 using a design by Detroit architect William Scott. Additions in 1904 and c. 1930 maintain the same consistent Second Empire architectural style. The building is one of the oldest courthouses still in use in Michigan.

All I knew was that it was a lovely evening, and it was a great night for snapping some photos of a magical place I’d heard a lot of, but had never been before!

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Piecing up the Pineapple Blossoms!

A full room with 36 quilters is definitely more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

But we do like to monkey around and have a great time!

I had such a good time with these ladies, I feel like we have known each other and been friends for a very long time ---like I could just pop on over next week and join right in with whatever they are doing in their guild.

Quilters are like that…they just take you in and make you part of the whole.

And then they do unexpected things that make you cry because they have touched your heart beyond measure---

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Galaxy-Gram! Pineapples in The Soo!

Guess who was able to get wifi at our workshop location!

We are already well past lunch, but I am sending up these photos as quickly as I can so you can see what is going on here today!

36 ladies are sewing away making gorgeous quilts and enjoying a very sunny September Sunday afternoon.

After workshop I have plans to go for a boat ride, and see how maple syrup is made! I can hardly wait!

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Sister’s Choice, Sault Ste Marie, MI Style!

Sister’s Choice workshop with a wonderful group of ladies on a gorgeous Michigan September Saturday!  Whoowhooo!

Su picked me up at the hotel and drove us out the road about 20 minutes to where we gathered at Bruce Township Hall in Dafter, MI.  ((I guess up here some are dafter than others! Ha!))

we busily set up for the workshop as ladies came from all over to set up their machines and get their projects ready to SEW!

A pot luck lunch had been planned and it was nearly torture to smell all of the crock pots gently simmering with all of their yummy contents!

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Show & Share from Davison Evening Stars Workshop!

I know you were expecting a lunch time Galaxy-Gram from my phone today – but guess what??

Our workshop is so far out that there is no phone reception, and no wifi ---so all those lovely pics I took are waiting for tomorrow morning’s slide show to be posted!

Instead, I wanted to share with you the lovely quilts the ladies brought to my Tumelo Trail workshop in Davison.

I truly love and am so honored when you bring a quilt you made with my designs to share with me and everyone else.  It adds to the event – it inspires us all.  I really loved seeing Celtic Solstice brought out to play!  This one way has some of the alternate blocks turned “inside out” so you see stars inside some of the circles, and diamonds in the others.

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A Must Stop at Delphine’s Quilt Shop!

I love this photo!

I first met Delphine when I arrived on Mackinac Island last May for the Grand Hotel Needleart Seminar.

Her shop provided all of the attendees and other hotel guests with the “Best little quilt shop on the island!” Carrying everything we needed to enjoy our week of stitching in this beautiful old historic hotel.

I hope she will be back when I am back there in May of 2016.

Come to think of it I hope YOU will be there when I go back to teach in May of 2016!

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Driving North to the Soo!

Today was my long driving day from Davison up to Sault Ste Marie, also known as the Soo by Michiganders!

How do I know it is nearing October?

We followed a truck pulling loads of pumpkins….first seeing the bed of the pickup loaded with the beautiful orange orbs of autumn ---

And behind him, a longer trailer just LOADED! 

Where is he going with these beauties?

Where were they grown?

And don’t pumpkins just make you feel all homey and comfy, imagining the yummy smells of pumpkin-flavored-things baking and brewing in the kitchen?

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Davison Evening Stars & Tumelo Trail Workshop!

What do you get when you combine a bunch of 1.5” strips, 3.5” strips and an Easy Angle Ruler?

TUMELO TRAIL!

Asymmetrical blocks have long been a favorite of mine.  They have so many bells and whistles and there is so much you can do with them!

Our workshop was held at the Davison Senior Center –a fabulous facility with loads of lighting, ample plugs, great tables and room to move!

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Tumelo Trail All Day Long!

Nearly lunch time in Davison, Michigan!

We've been sewing 9-Patches all morning long and having a great time!

There is Y2K fabric on the house!  There are old florals, recycled shirts, child like novelties and everything out of the deep stash!

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Meeting the Evening Star Quilters!

It was a full house last night in Davison, Michigan for the September meeting of the Evening Star Quilters and friends who had come from far and wide!

We had a really great time, in spite of the mic giving out about half way through my lecture – thank heavens for fresh batteries being found!

It’s always fun to talk to a new group – things turn out just a bit different each time depending on which questions are answered and which tangents we head into.

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Good Afternoon, Flint!

Sadie Jane was NOT a happy camper when we left at zero-dark-thirty this morning!

It was only 5am, but it felt like 3am – and yes, very very dark!

 Hard to believe that just a couple of months ago I was out the door at 6am for my morning hikes while at the cabin, trying to avoid the summer heat and swelter, and just a couple of very short months later…it’s DARK at that time!

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More Show & Share from Amherst. NY!

I love museums!  Front in center in this museum is a “MODERN” kitchen from 1961 complete with pink oven, pink cabinets, aqua tv, mixer, telephone.

Pink, gray, aqua.  These are colors that are so in NOW.  As MODERN!  I loved seeing this, this was the era of my birth.  I came around in 1962---so the car you barely see off to the left in the photo was a year old at that time.

Close up of the kitchen stuff:

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Saying Goodbye to Ketchikan!

All my bags are packed for leaving for Davison and Sault Ste Marie, Michigan in the morning.

Bright and early in the morning ---

The kind of early morning departure that rings the alarm at 4am so that I can leave the house at 5am to get to the airport.

Airport.

It should be a 4 letter word, don’t you think? ARPT. 

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Showing and Sharing the Amherst Way!

We had AWESOME show and Share in class right after our lunch break!

This is Faye and her wonderful free wheeling layout of Scrappy Trips from the Free Patterns tab!

I love it when you bring quilts to share with us, be it something you made inspired by one of my designs, or from another pattern…BRING IT!

By the time lunch is over we’ve been working hard for 3 hours, our bellies are full, and we lumber back to our machines when we’d really be liking to curl off with these quilts for a nap about that time – so Show & Share gets us excited all over again.  We are inspired by the colors, the stories, the fabrics, the quilt patterns ---and then we are charged up and ready to hit our machines again.

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Melissa & the Story Time Stars Quilts!

Melissa has been busy making checkerboard sashings with her Leaders & Enders!

I just have to share her quilts with you because they are so cute….

She writes:

Bonnie,
After stalking your site and patterns for ages, and watching my friends make your patterns, I finally took the plunge. I cut up all my scraps smaller than 18 inches into the scrap users system.
 
My first pattern of yours I completed was a Trip Around The World which I sent you a picture of.

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Behind the Scenes at the Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village!

Some museums are just one building.

The Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village is just that – a  whole VILLAGE! 

There is a main museum, and then several buildings around the main museum on the grounds, old churches, homes and other historic dwellings and out buildings have been moved onto the property to preserve the history of this area that tied its livelihood and survival to the success of the Erie canal.

There are several guilds that call the museum home – they have a lace making guild as well as a thriving guild for quilters, and many groups use the facility to help promote and preserve the craft, keeping it available to us today.

On Thursday after our workshop was over, I was given a guided tour behind the scenes in the archives of the museum – the inner sanctum!

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Niagara Falls and Me!

I’ve never been to Niagara Falls before, so the only experience I have had with this natural wonder is through movies and school, Niagara Falls being touted as one of the “Seven Wonders” of the world.

They weren’t lying!

And it couldn’t have been a more beautiful day than yesterday for viewing the falls on the American side -----

The day was warm, mid 70s ---and jackets weren’t needed until you got down to the mist.  Not that the mist was cold, it was just dang wet!

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Blue Ridging to Beat the Band!

Chain those 4 patches in the same direction only!  Spin those seams in the same direction!  Trim those dog ears – ALWAYS!

Quilt Police?  NO—just some helpful “makes sense!” stream-lining for great results and less stress and much more quilty-pleasure!

Our last day of seminar in Amherst, NY with a great group of wonderful ladies ---many who had been with me all week long.  I have the powers-that-be to thank for putting our most relaxing class as last in the line up.  Many of us who were energinzed and raring to go on day 1 were dragging our tails by day 4---there was SO MUCH SEWING going on all through the week!

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Galaxy-Gram! Blue Ridge Beauty Buffalo Style!

It's our last workshop day in Amherst, New York!

These ladies are troopers, and many have taken up to as much as three workshops with me in the past 3 days!

Yesterday was a tough one with many segments rapid fire over the course of the day, today we are working at a slower more relaxed pace spending the morning four-patches, and this afternoon triangles using the Easy Angle ruler.

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Deep in Crumbville, NY!

Crumbs Crumbs Crumbs class is a fast paced, switch-it-up-every-45-minutes scrappy packed bundle of excitement!

Within the time frame given, quilters work on one unit until it’s time to switch gears, receive another demo, and move off into free form piecing the next unit!

We go from basic crumb block construction to Maverick Stars, to Wonky Hearts and an introduction to pieced letters ---and the  laughter and chatter is infectious as “Whoops! That didn’t quite work!” and “Hey, you got that backwards!” and “Wow, I really like that one!” are heard through out the room.

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Evening Edition: Free Kindle Book! Quilting Related!

I got a message from Dayle giving me the heads up that Thimble of Soil by Linda Hubalek is running free in the Amazon Kindle Store right now!

I just downloaded it, so it was free for me – but please check before purchasing that it is still free for you!

Book Description:

Thimble of Soil: A Woman's Quest for Land, Historical Letters 1854-1860
Trail of Thread Series, Book 2

Experience the terror of the fighting and the determination to endure as you stake a claim alongside the women caught in the bloody conflicts of Kansas in the 1850's.

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Galaxy-Gram! Lunch Break & Crumbs Class!

Yummy!

Our lunches have been catered by a local restaurant and has  been yummy from  the salads, to the main dish, to the homemade soups to the fruit trays and desserts!

We are so spoiled!

Crumb blocks are in the making and it is hilarious to see the boxes and bins and bags of "stuff" that have come out for our play day today!

Oh this wonderful old fabric---the stories it could tell!

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One Pineapple, Two Pineapple, Three Pineapple, Four!

We were in a pineapple kind of mood yesterday!

I am so impressed with the whole venue here in Amherst, NY.

This seminar has been going on for 40 years strong, and it is so well organized.  If you get a chance to come this direction in September – if you are close enough to make a road trip ---believe me, it’s worth it!

Being this far north in New York, my classes have been nearly equally Canadian as they are American ---fun!

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Galaxy-Gram! Pineapple Blossoms in Amherst!

Scrappy sewing and making new friends!

Lunch break time at the Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village in Amherst NY - We've been piecing away all morning and so much is coming together in just the 3 hours we have put in so far!

Thanks to the wifi code I fanagled,  we also have been singing and bopping to Pandora One and the Frankie Valli channel--fun fun fun, quilting to the oldies!

Doesn't it look like we are having a grand Ole time!

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Boxy Stars in Amherst, NY!

Happy, Happy Happy Stars!

This is my first time in Amherst, NY – the home of the Buffalo Niagra Heritage Museum, and the Amherst Quilters Guild!

Apparently this September event has been going on for nearly 40 years with quilters gathering from all over the area, and crossing the border from Canada, to come for 4 days of workshops and instruction and quilting, sewing/chatting, laughing, talking, eating, quilter-shipping good times.

The ladies came as soon as the doors were opened to start setting up machines, hauling in boxes and crates of prepared fabrics, greeting friends they hadn’t seen since last year’s event and bringing all the excited energy with them ---it’s a good thing!  At times during the day I felt like I myself was running on fumes alone, but they carried me along!

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Galaxy-Gram! Boxy Stars in Amherst NY,

Back on the quilt train after yesterday's arrival and day of catch up rest!

My gals are busy with their 2.5" strips and are well on their way with block quarters and should have full blocks to show shortly.

We are just breaking for a yummy catered lunch, some show and tell, some door prizes and will be back to our classes at the Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village where this week's events are taking place.

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Totems around Town, Ketchikan, AK!

You can’t go to Ketchikan and not see the totems!

The are an integral part of the history of the Tlingit people who first founded this area, living in a land “that has always been”.

Totem poles are monumental sculptures carved from large trees, mostly Western Red Cedar, by cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America.

You’d see them here, and there, and sometimes just rotting on the side of a parking lot – the lore goes, when totem pole has lived its life, it is allowed to be absorbed back into the earth.

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What Time is it, Really??

This was the view from the little knoll outside of the Ketchikan airport ---

After being dropped off and checked in, and finding my flight had been delayed an hour and a half – did I really want to go through security and stay inside looking out at this beautiful day?  NO!

There are some picnic tables out here where you can sit and enjoy the view of float plans coming in and going out from this dock -

I stayed out here for quite a while and read --too breezy for hexies, I didn't want pieces flying all over.

I did mention that the airport is on a separate island, didn’t I?  And that you get there by ferry?

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Galaxy-Gram! Redeye from Seattle!

There was a kerfuffle this afternoon on whether I would make my redeye flight from Seattle to Atlanta, my flight was late leaving Ketchikan!

I'm happy to report that I made it barely with only minutes to spare.

See this tired face?  Oh yes, it's the glamor life all right!

When I land in Atlanta I'll have just enough time to make it to my Buffalo flight so I'm sending this up to share with you what we got up to today!

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Scenes from Bugge’s Beach, Ketchikan AK

After our workshop on Saturday ---as evening quickly approached, I was hijacked ((willingly of course)) for a scenic drive  along the south side of Ketchikan, in search of eagles, bears, totems and scenery – LOTS Of scenery!

Hurry!  Must capture photos before the sun has gone down too far ----

Eagle nests were spotted….fish were seen jumping as those eagles flew overhead –not a bear in sight.

I’m okay with that!

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Pineapples Blossoming All Day Long!

My ladies worked so hard yesterday!  Many of them have taken two or more classes with me this week --- brave souls to have more than one Quiltville UFO going at once!

We really had a great time.

I love hearing the stories on where the fabric came from, who this quilt was for, or why these color choices were made.

One quilter was making memory quilts out of the stash of a friend who had passed a few years prior ---including her house dresses in the blocks along with her fabric.  Lots of memories there, happy, sad, sweet and poignant.

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Galaxy-Gram! Pineapple Blossom Abundance!

It's our last day of workshops in Ketchikan Alaska.   Have had such a great time this week with these ladies!

They are busy sewing up pineapple blossom blocks and energy levels are high!

Sure wish you were here sewing along with us, I'm sure you'd fit right in!

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Class Day in Ketchikan–Cathedral Stars!

SEW MUCH FUN!

It’s really nice to spend time long enough in one place that I get to know the ladies….even more than the fabric, the notions, the machines, the quilts ---it’s all about RELATIONSHIPS and I firmly believe the relationships we form with other quilters are the longest lasting and deepest meaning of all.

They “get” us!  Other quilters “understand” us!

They also ENABLE us!

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Galaxy-Gram! Ketchikan Workshop Day 2!

Stitching away on a sun-shiny September day!

My ladies have been uber productive in our Cathedral Stars workshop--alternate blocks are coming together!

We will be breaking for lunch shortly and back together for more fun with tri recs tools!

Doesn't it look like we are having quite the party?

Turn the Jimmy Buffet up loud!  We are singing along as we sew!

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My Blue Heaven, Ketchikan Style!

Super quilters, and a super sewing day at The Plaza in Ketchikan!

Oh, we had so much fun!

And the fabrics and projects are so varied, there is sure something to inspire in the photos I have to share.

Not only in Blue, but green and red and autumn tones ---batiks and prints and recycled fabrics to boot!

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Galaxy-Gram My Blue Heaven in Ketchikan!

Sunshine, blue skies and warm temperatures!  

What a perfect day in Ketchikan mid-September!

We've got a great group of gals sewing away in an empty store front in the local shopping mall. Great space, great lighting, and great visibility to passers-by who are interested in what we are up to.

Doesn't it look like we are having a great time? :-)

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Help Julie fight Childhood Cancer!

This photo is of me and my friend Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts when teaching in Portland Oregon  a couple of years ago at Quiltmaker Magazine’s Block Party!

Julie is an amazing designer and such a dear dear person with the kindest heart you’ll ever come across.

Her nephew, Elijah has been battling childhood cancer over the past several years, and Aunt Julie is on a mission --

To raise funds for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.

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Hiking Settlers Cove, Ketchikan, AK!

Yesterday was a day for resting up, to getting my body clock adjusted to a 4 hours earlier time zone, to getting out and exploring bits of Ketchikan that my short one day here last year didn’t provide –OFF the beaten path with some of the locals!

The plan was to drive out to Settlers Cove, to experience the nature and wonder of Ketchikan’s rainforest---aptly named and described as Ketchikan is noted to be the rainiest spot in all of Alaska.

This explains the moss going abundantly everywhere – and on everything!

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Art and the Ketchikan Public Library!

My delight on this trip to Ketchikan is to really spend time with the folks that live here – the people that call Ketchikan Alaska home, the locals ---whether they’ve only lived here a few years, or have been here 60 years –no one knows the beauty of Ketchikan like those who call Ketchikan home do.

One of the recent additions to the beauty of the city of Ketchikan is the new public library, built up on a rise, above the city center, away from the hustle and and sounds of cruise ships full of tourists, float planes, sight seeing helicopters and traffic noise.

I’ve always loved libraries, and when I was asked if I wanted to take a trip to see this one, the suggestion was met with a resounding YES!

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The Sky View to Ketchikan!

I love window seats.

I know some folks prefer the aisle so they can get up when they want to, but then they also have to get up any time someone ELSE wants to get up.

No.  For me..it’s window all the way, and I am always enraptured by what I can see out the window….even if it is just the wonder of “Hey, I’m in the clouds!”

It’s been that way all my life, from the first time I flew as a little girl.  I have a need to SEE EVERYTHING!  And from up above is a wonderful place to me.

As we flew from Greensboro to Detroit, this little island came into view.

Little did I know that this little island is actually the southern most part of CANADA!

I had poisted this photo to Instagram & Facebook and Norma sent me this reply:

...the "cool island" you saw is Pelee Island, Ontario, the southernmost land in Canada. If you look at the top of your  wonderful picture, you will see a stretch of land pointing down - that is Point Pelee which is the southernmost point of "contiguous" Canada.

It is one of our national parks - you can walk literally out to the end of the point into the water. It is best known for the monarch butterly and bird migration each fall. I grew up 70 miles east of Pelee.
 
All the best on your trip to Alaska and NY!
Norma in NY

LOVE it!  And love knowing you are traveling along with me and watching through my photos.
 

 

I spy downtown Detroit!  And a sun rise!

 

 

Breakfast in Detroit.  Oh yes, this is going to be a very long day!

 

One hour flight from Greensboro to Detroit, and then a 3 hour layover?  What’s a girl to do??

 

 

Hexie herself into oblivion!

 

 

Snow capped mountains outside of Seattle!

 

The only grumble about the Seattle flight was the guy in the center next to me….on his laptop…elbows out…..extending WAY beyond his half of the arm rest in both directions….he was encroaching on MY real-estate!  Tresapassing into my air space!  And technically half of that arm rest should have been mine…..but no…he didn’t care….just elbows out…crossing boundaries.  Grrrr!  I was up against an exit row wall, so that meant I had NO armrests at all.  Stay Calm and Hex On!

 

 

Descending into Ketchikan!

 

 

Hello, Mountains!  It’s green here!

 

The climate in Ketchikan falls firmly under the category of RAIN FOREST.  There is a reason the guild here calls themselves The Rainy Day Quilters –it rains 70% of the time here…but I love it. 

 

 

My home for the next several days!

 

 

I love Alaska!

 

After dinner I was SO tired..but I just could not let myself get to bed at 6:30pm.  I knew that I would then be UP at 2:30 am and that just wasn’t going to be a good thing.  I put my ear buds in, turned the music on and went for a little walk to stretch my legs after sitting on planes all day.  I came to where these boats were moored…Great evening light, and reflections in the water..and mountians!

 

 

Mirror image of the descending stairs in the water…

 

 

What a gorgeous evening!

 

 

Parked at a local restaurant – a 50’s Caddie!

 

 

Feeding my vintage car fetish!

 

((Love that GREEN!!))

 

 

Evening drawing closer ---

 

 

Peaceful, isn’t it?

 

 

Goodnight, Ketchikan!

 

I didn’t do too bad.  I slept until 5:18am. adjusting a body clock 4 hours backwards is a bit of a trick.  But I’m up and at it, suitcases are unpacked, I’ve made myself at home in my little room and I’m ready to go get some breakfast.

 

The plan for today is simple….if it isn’t raining cats and dogs, I’d like to do some hiking late this morning, followed by a late lunch, and set up for my lecture at 4pm. 

 

I am so looking forward to meeting the local gals!

 

Much love from Alaska ---

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