October skies

There are so many reasons that October is my favorite month of the year.  Perhaps top of the list is the sky.  From sunrise to sunset, day after day, the sky puts on the most spectacular display.

Late Fall in Harrington

I have been invited to write occasional blog posts for the Harrington Area Chamber of Commerce website.  You will see these posts here, as they post this link from their website.  I've been thinking about this for about six months.  My posts will be focused on Harrington area businesses and happenings.  I think it's going to be lots of fun!

One of the neat things about living in Eastern Washington is four distinct seasons.  Fall happens to be my favorite.  I love the progression that begins around mid-September running through the end of November.  October is by far my favorite month of the year.

Late fall in our little community of Harrington is particularly beautiful.  Today I wandered around town, taking a few images of fall foliage that remained on some trees, leaves that have fallen, and homes that are decorated for the season. 

There are so many pretty views of the Harrington Golf Course.  This is the one I see every time I drive in to town! 

Studio 1 on South 3rd is a new business in town.  They sell machine embroidery items and hand crafted wood products such as pens, pepper mills, cutting boards and more.  Paula loves to decorate the front of the store to reflect the seasons. 

Even the school gets involved with decorating for fall!  Check out the retro vintage bicycle in the background!

This tree across from the school is gorgeous year after year.

I have loved this house since I was a little kid.  So happy that the current occupants are taking such good care of the house and yard and adding fun decorations for others to enjoy!

Doesn't this make you smile?

A pretty tree and some colorful pumpkins.....

and, flying the Cougar flag, hoping for another win this weekend!

A cozy porch chair to have a cup of coffee and enjoy the season.

More decorating in anticipation of Trick or Treat kiddos on Halloween evening.   

And another house ready for Halloween!

The city park is a great place to go in the fall to rake up leaves in to a pile and jump!

Another view of the park.  

The cemetery is so beautiful each and every season.  

This may be my favorite place in all of Harrington.

The beauty of the grounds, combined with the history of those have done much to create our town legacy brings comfort and a great deal of appreciation to me.  

Remodeling

Saturday was a beautiful fall day and I took advantage of the warm weather and spent some time cleaning up in the yard and also decided to take on a remodeling project that I have been thinking about all summer.  One of my flower beds has quite a slope to it and when I water with the drip irrigation, the water runs off and down the ditch by the lane, instead of soaking in to the ground where the plants can use it.

So, I decided to do add some rock retaining walls to help level out the slope a little.  Terracing the slope.  I thought I would have enough rock, but I don't, so in the spring I will have to gather a few more to complete my vision.

It's a little hard to see how much slope there is to this bed, but it's quite significant.

I put these rocks in but still need to fill in the soil to level the bed.

Another shot of the rocks and the area that needs to be filled in.

I also moved a retaining wall that has been in place for several years.  The sprinkler control box was covered with soil, in fact, I forgot it was there until I was trying to dig out some phlox that had overgrown and overstayed it's welcome.  So, I moved the wall, moved some soil, moved the phlox and now I think we will all be happier!

There's not much change here, I just moved the rocks a little then filled in behind them, with the soil.  Oh, and I moved this little White Fringe tree in to the space where the phlox was growing.  It has been struggling for the last few years in the previous spot.  I'm hoping it will like this spot better.  

Apple Picking

Last week we gathered up a few friends and did some apple picking.  We went to an orchard that had been commercially picked and gleaned the trees that were left un-picked.  The Rome Beauty apples are pollinators for the "good" apples.  They are not a desirable apple for market but I think they make the best pies and sauce so for me and a few others, they are highly prized!  It's so hard not to get greedy and over pick, which is exactly what we did!

This fruit is just beautiful and a shame to waste.

Crayton's pickup before it was full.  We also gleaned some carrots and onions!

Gary's pickup before it was full!

It's good to have young people along to help.  John carried two five gallon buckets and the belly picker, full, each time he made a trip to the pickup!

Here's our picking crew.  Me, John and Jessica, Gary and Lynn, Beth and Crayton and Reynald.  

The youngest member of our crew is baby Aubrey, who supervised all the activity.  Good to start kiddos off young!  Aubrey is John and Jessica's daughter and an absolute doll.

Crayton's pick up full of apples.  Gary's was just as full!!!

Fall Quilt Retreat

This past weekend the Stitchin' Chicks gathered in the barn for our fall retreat.  It's always so much fun to catch up with each other and get a little sewing done on the side!

A few images of our weekend......

Sisters Sarah and Emily are the youngest members of our gathering.  Next to them are Cheryl and JoAnn.

Cross court from my station is Nina, Kathy, Claudia and Brenda.  Stacy is getting some advice from Claudia.

Sitting next to me this retreat is my cousin, Margaret, concentrating really hard on her project.  She had a goal when she walked in the barn, and she met that goal because of that concentration!

I had a great time, but a disaster in the sewing department, or rather, the color department.  The quilt that I intended to get a good start on this past weekend was a completely wrong, beyond help.  So sad, but there were lots of people to console me!

Kathy is new to our group.  She sat next to Beth to get some sewing lessons, as she hasn't sewn a single stitch since she was 12 years old!  She learned a lot and said she would be back in the spring!

Cheryl and JoAnn spent time figuring out a new quilt pattern that they are both working on.  

Nina has such a beautiful smile and she spins the most divine wool.  

Cheryl spent the weekend making Christmas gifts for friends and family.

Claudia is paper piecing half square triangles here.  

Brenda inspires us with her embroidery and cross stitch.  This piece that she is working on is made of scraps from a previous quilt.  She designed the quilt around the scraps and it's going to be so cool!

Mom and Stacy deep in conversation. 

This is apron number two that my cousin Therese worked on and finished!

Sisters Sarah and Emily!

And the only boy we allowed at retreat this weekend!  Baby Boy Miller is due to arrive in February.

Beth has made a Christmas quilt for each grandchild.  This is for Sarah and Brian's son, Bennett.  

Margaret made this wonder 30's reproduction fabric quilt.  It's her first attempt at piecing a quilt and you would NEVER know it was her first!  It is beautiful!

Beth and I both have winter handwork projects ahead of us.  This is her crazy quilt.  Pieced together but now she will do fancy stitches on all the seams.  

And this is my wool woman quilt.  I will hand stitch all the seams on this as well.  We both have our work cut out for us this winter!

Nina made this darling chicken themed wall hanging.  

Kathy completed several unfinished projects this weekend.  She was on a mission!

Beth offering Therese a little apron advice.  Therese took two finished aprons home with her!

Even Aunt Esther had a good time this weekend.