the most of the coast

I have just a few more photos of our trip to the beach. 

I always take a lot of pictures of the surf, even though a lot of them look similar. I can't help it.  There's always some new angle that appeals to me in a different way than the picture before.

Same holds true for moss...

Fog...

And beautiful light.

Okay, Pacific coast...see you next year!

west coast creature feature

Happy New Year!  We're finally done with our holiday traveling and getting back into the swing of things again.  Besides seeing friends and family, it's always nice to hike in a different place.  Especially if that different place happens to be by the Pacific Ocean. 

We saw quite a lot of wildlife on this trip.  Hiking along Cape Meares in Oregon, we startled a pair of black Oystercatchers as they poked around for food along the rocky beach:

We saw lots of herons around the coast...

...even captaining a boat!

I love seeing Sandpipers.  They're master foragers, spending most of their time at the water's edge, probing for food.

They move en masse...and they are fast!

We saw more than birds.  These clear blobs...

...are moon jellyfish!  They aren't strong swimmers, which is why you see them washed up on beaches so much.

Even though a moon jellyfish sting is on the less painful side of the spectrum, it still hurts to get stung.  Don't try to urinate on your sting, though...just rinse off in the ocean and apply a little baking soda/water paste mixture to the sting site if it still smarts.

Someone was here and gone before we crossed the trail.

Deer and elk scat are similar, but elk scat has trademark dimpling.  Elks are often seen around Cape Meares...I wish we would've seen a herd while we were out!

Of course, we did see one of the most common sea creatures of all, Canis familiaris.

Everyone brings their dogs to the beach.

I loved watching them frolic in the surf.  Interestingly, most of the dogs were off-leash, which is legal at many Oregon beaches.  

We enjoyed a little beach frolic ourselves!

Triple-dressed against the cold, as usual!

Of course, our canine was back in Indiana.  She made the most of her reunion time with "Dad," including cuddling up during one of his jet-lag naps.

Puppy love!

Have a great week!

Rainy Walk and Quilty Talk

We've just come home from our week away in Portland.  One of the highlights of the trip for me is always our trip to the coast.  I've spent about 15 summers on the west coast so for me it's always a little like going home.

I have my little favorites on the Washington and California coasts, but a definite Oregon favorite for me is Cape Meares.  The walk to the beach is just stunning.  It reminds me of some wild areas I've seen in Scotland.

We always see so much wildlife here!

 

It was in the low 40s and raining, and we basically had the place to ourselves!  We quadruple-dressed for warmth...

...and hiked over the scrubby grasses to the beach.

Except for this massive clump of bull kelp, we were completely alone.

So much rain had saturated the ground that a mudslide happened, right on the main road.

Thankfully we made it back with no difficulties!

It's back to work for me, but I took a few hours last night to tackle paper piecing.  It's a different method of quilting in which you sew on the back of a pre-printed sheet of foundation paper (thinner than printer paper)...not where the design shows, but where the piece will eventually be.  It's a little difficult to wrap your head around at first, but here is an amazing tutorial! 

I printed off my sheet...

...and got to work.  Each time you stitch 2 pieces of fabric together on the back of the sheet, you iron them into place and move on.  You then affix the next pieces and carefully stitch on the lines that you see in the photo above.  It makes incredibly sharp and accurate points.  Here is my finished star!

My stitching was actually nearly perfect, but when it came to stitching together the finished pieces, I was still off a bit.

See?  Irritating, but I just need to be more careful.  Sewing the whole thing together, I'd say I was off by about 1/4" on 2 sides.  A *huge* improvement over my last effort...and look at those straight lines!

Overall, I'm really pleased, although I'm still looking for the right pattern and fabric combination.  I'll keep practicing.

Have a great week! 

a wee bit o' Scotland

Todd and I were recently in Oregon for the Christmas holidays, and we were able to squeeze in one of my favorite things...a trip to the coast.  It doesn't matter if it's cold (it always is), or raining (it always is).  I spent my summers in Seattle growing up, and have developed a real love of the Pacific Northwest coastline. 

I much prefer it to the smooth, tame beaches of the east coast. 

Here is Haystack Rock, a famous landmark:

But there are lots of smaller rock formations, just as nice.

No matter what the weather, people bring their dogs to play fetch in the surf.

I get such a kick out of watching them play.

When the tide goes out, beautiful sand formations are left behind:

Of course, some are man-made.   Beam me up, Scotty!

The Pacific Northwest coastline has lots of beautiful rock formations in lovely deep colors.

Sea caves, carved out by the surf:

Barnacles and mussels grow on every available surface:

I joked to Todd that these long white things were "Neptune's fingers", but they are really gooseneck barnacles.

As much as I love the popular coastline...

...Todd introduced me to a new place several years ago that seems almost magical to me.  It's Cape Meares, an estuary on the northern coast (an estuary is a place where salt water and fresh water merge).  It reminds me so much of Scotland:

Lots of boggy ground covered with thick tufts of grass...

...that lay flat after the tide goes out.

All sorts of little birds gather here, and deer, too, I see:

If you take the long road, a nice 1 1/2 mile walk, to the coast, you'll pass these boggy lands on your right.  You'll eventually come to a forested path...

...which leads up a steep hill, through thick sea grasses...

...to a lovely beach.

It's almost always completely deserted, because I think most people drive past this to get to the Cape Meares lighthouse.  But we aren't interested in lighthouses.  We'd rather take a long walk at the water's edge. 

We're always cold and wet after our day at the coast, but it's part of the whole experience for us.  We're already looking forward to our next coastal trip. 

Have a great week!