Etsy Treasuries

Currently, my Etsy shop is stocked with sets of cotton washcloths in a variety of colors. I hope to branch out again later in the fall, but right now I'm working to fulfill a large custom order... and then I want to get some new colors worked up and listed. I'm still enjoying the community at Etsy, and I love it when other Etsians feature my products in their treasuries. Here are some treasuries that have featured my washcloths recently.

The Color of Snow

 Into the Woods

 Summer Getaway

 Olive Dream

 Old Friends are Best - My Dad's Favorite Blue

 Go Green with Bioteam!

 Are you goin' to Scarborough Fair?

 Simply Sage

 Green After the Rain

 Peachy Keen, Jelly Bean

 Simple Joys

Independence Day Festivities

We enjoyed a full day of family, friends, and fun. It was a very traditional, all-American 4th of July.

The kids were in the Coeur d'Alene parade, marching with the Spirit of '45 organization which honors local World War II veterans.

 It's been years since we had been to a parade on Independence Day. I love watching a parade, but don't usually enjoy fighting the crowd.

My parents are visiting this week from Arkansas, so that added to the fun. Dad has a nice camera. He took lots of pictures so the kids could see some of the other entries in the parade (since they were in it).

 Afterwards, the kids were invited to hang out at a friend's house for the afternoon. They enjoyed horse-back riding (a rare treat for them) in addition to other activities.

 They came home worn out and sun-burned, but ready for a barbecue supper...

 ...and fireworks!

I was ready to head for bed long before they were.

God bless America!

(My friend, Farrah, posted more pictures of our day on her blog, Light in the Sphere.)

Falling Water

Happy Independence Day!

It's 7:00a.m.-ish and the temperature is currently 44 degrees. My parents arrived for a visit yesterday. They live in Arkansas where it has been oh-so-much hotter and drier. This morning when we got up my dad told me that our air conditioner works good. Ha. The only air conditioner we have is a small window unit that's not even currently hooked up. I love living where we can have the windows open all summer long. I do feel for those of you who live in other parts of the country where the weather is at the opposite extreme. We have had so much more than our share of rain this year. I would gladly send some your way if I could.

On Sunday we took a day trip to visit some more water falls in the area. (We had visited Copper Falls the week before while we were camping.) Some of the rivers are at flood stage, so the falls are pretty dramatic this year. 

Our main destination was Kootenai Falls which we have visited several times before. The river was so high that the falls were almost hidden. That's an awful lot of water.

The other one we visited was a new one for us. Lyle had referred to hisWaterfall Lover's Guide for directions to Snow Creek Falls.

We found Snow Creek but couldn't figure out where the trail was, according to the book. Finally, we had given up and were headed back to the main highway when I had the idea we should check to see if there were any geocaches in the area. Turns out there was a micro-cache on the trail to the falls, so by following the directions on Geocaching.com we finally did find the trail-head. The directions in the book were simply out-dated.

It was quite a hike to get to the viewing points for the Lower and Upper Falls. Not only that, but it was a damp day and kept trying to rain. The tree coverage was pretty heavy so we didn't get soaked, but it was definitely an adventure. We never did find the cache. I'm not sure why anyone would bother with a micro-cache that deep in the forest. There are a gazillion places it could have been, and the satellite signal wasn't much help with so many trees.

My camera battery had died so Laura was the one taking pictures. She snapped one of Lyle and me standing in front of the falls.

After she took it, she realized that her dad's face was too shadowed by his cap, so she asked him to adjust it so she could take more. And she did, but I still liked this one best. 

I usually don't like pictures of myself. (Do any of us?) I thought the picture I had been using for my Facebook profile was just a little too posed. This one was much more natural. I decided to crop my face out to use for my profile. I used Photoshop to lighten it up a little. I was surprised at how many comments I got after I posted it. One friend even said she liked my hair. Which made me laugh because I had done absolutely nothing to it that day. I had washed it that morning, ran a comb through it, and let it air dry. By the time the picture was taken it had been scrunched and wind-blown, and I had just shoved my sunglasses up on my head. I guess I'm just a natural kinda girl.

Now we're off to celebrate our independence with lots of festivities. Talk to you later.

The Junkyard

Anywhere he goes, I'm happy to tag along. And sometimes we end up in the most interesting places. This morning he agreed to take me garage-saling... but he also "invited" me to go to Pull'n'Save with him afterwards. [Pull'n'Save is like a morgue for cars and trucks who have died but still have useful organs that can be transplanted. Just where I always wanted to spend a hot summer afternoon.]

To my disappointment we didn't find much at the garage sales. That's just the way it goes sometimes. As we headed to the junkyard I asked him, "Are you sure they'll let me go back there with you, since I have on a skirt and sandals?"

"Well, they might look at you funny," he told me. Yeah. That's what I wanted to hear. "What'd you wear sandals for, anyway?"

"Um. Because it's summer?" Seriously? He had to ask? I always wear sandals in the summer. That is, when I'm not going barefoot. But I don't go barefoot to "town."

"So... back them looking at me funny... should I wait out in the car for you?"

"Well, I might need you to hold something for me. And I don't care if they look at you funny," was his reply.

All righty then.

A few months ago he had taken our daughter along, and they carded her to make sure she was over 18 before they would let her go back in the salvage yard. She didn't have her driver's license along, so they quizzed her as to what year she was born... and finally, reluctantly, took her word for it that she was actually 19. Funny they didn't card me today. I'm sure I don't look a day over 16.

 As we headed out across the lot, I whipped out my handy phone camera and starting snapping pictures.

"What are you taking pictures for?" he wanted to know.

"Because I'm a blogger, of course," I reminded him.

He just rolled his eyes.

He tried to show me the kind of mirror he was looking for.

"Kinda like this. But not," he explains. "It needs a little slidey bar across the top here."

 So I toddled along looking at mirrors on trucks. This guy's mirrors are already gone... but doesn't he look like quite a character? 'Mater's cousin, maybe. I like him.

 This is what an engine looks like that caught on fire. I wonder if there really is something salvageable there. Must be, or they wouldn't keep it there, I guess.

 I like this little old lady, too. I bet she could tell some stories of when her kids were young and she shuttled 'em around to school and soccer practice and scouts. Her kids are probably about my age or older now, since she's a 1970 model. These long ol' station wagons were what moms drove in the era before mini vans.

It was a lot of fun, visiting the junkyard. Not something I would want to do every day. Or even every week. Still, hanging out with my guy is always fun. Like a date. Only better, 'cause I get to go home with him, too.

But we didn't find the mirror he was looking for. Too bad.

Camping on the Border

This past weekend we went camping
up in the very tip-top of the Idaho panhandle,
just 1 mile from the Canadian border.
The weather was iffy all weekend.

Our campsite was right on the Moyie River,
which was pretty full... and cold!

What's this?
A flirting bench?
Why, I believe it is!
I think that handsome man is
just waiting for me to sit down and flirt with him!

The sun was out on Saturday morning when we got up.
We cooked our breakfast over the fire.

We had planned to go for a hike after breakfast,
but it started pouring down rain,
so Lyle took a nap under the awning instead.
Notice that the sun is still shining
even as water streams off the awning.
That's the way it was all weekend...
alternating between rain and sunshine.

So we decided to go for a drive up the mountain.
We went as far as we could before we got turned back by snow.
Here's the gang tromping through the snow
to see how deep the snow is around the next corner.

So then we came back down the mountain.
And the sun came out.

The wild roses are budding.
It's still early spring in the mountains.

Since it wasn't raining
when we got back down to the trail head,
we decided to hike in to see Copper Falls.

Beautiful!