she’ll be comin’ around the mountain
On the drive back to the house after dinner last night, fantastic lightning storms were raging in the sky over Pagosa Springs. Just as I grabbed my camera off the kitchen counter to go outside on the deck, it began to rain, then sleet, then hail like nobody’s business! It was too much even for me. Before MIL and I went back to work in the quilt room, I watched Jeremy and his brother playing some game on the Wii. If you think it is fun to play, it is equally hilarious to watch as two 6-foot tall, thirty-something, skinny guys punch the air while shouting, “No way!” or “How did you do that?!” or “Come on!!!”
When I stepped out onto the deck this morning, there was some snow on the ground. Woooohoooo! Even though Pagosa is further south than Ned, we usually get less snow than my ILs do. Still, we’ll gladly take less if it is enough to ski. Winter is coming.
from the deck
I managed a few minutes for snappies this morning of MIL’s awesome quilt room in between quilting and brekkie. You can get a glimpse of the baby quilt I was working on for a friend.
sewing corner
this isn’t even a tenth of the stash
almost done
In their old house, MIL had a tiny storage room filled to the hilt with fabric. Most of that has been in boxes or bins until the addition to the new house was finished. She still has a ton to unpack, but began sorting some of it into her walk-in storage closet. Everywhere I turned was a bin full of scraps or a cute Amish cabinet filled with fat quarters. They say she who dies with the most fabric wins. MIL doesn’t have to die – she wins! I had a bunch of lovely batiks picked out, but she let me raid her batik scraps bin (she has a bin JUST for batik scraps?!) to chuck some orange into the mix. Awesome. We had such fun and I love watching her creative genius at work. Our minds function very differently in that regard, so it was a fascinating learning experience for me.
Kaweah *loves* to visit her grandparents because she gets to run around like a nut and kill all of Buffle’s toys. Buffle couldn’t care less, he just wants to chew her head and try to hump her. Bumpy is thrilled that someone else is Buffle’s chew toy for a few days. You’d not know it from the pictures, but Bumpy is only 6 years old and our Special K is nearly 10.
bumpy and kaweah
Kaweah and Bumpy are related, believe it or not. Smudge was the family’s old black lab. She was an awesome dog. Kaweah and Bumpy are both descendants of Smudge. Bumpy comes from the same breeder, Kaweah from a different breeder. [Kaweah was an anniversary gift to us from MIL and FIL.] All of the dogs have the sweetest disposition and a fair bit of goofiness.
Buffle is not related to them. You can tell. He is a pill. He’s still quite young (just 3 years) and he acts like a pesky 2-year old. Mine mine mine! He thinks he is the boss of everyone. I had to give him the smackdown about 20 times a day, as did Jeremy. Buffle doesn’t like getting the smackdown. After he gets in trouble, he slinks away, then sneaks back and paws at your leg and high-tails it out of reach like the chicken he is. He loves Kaweah and they play well together because they are essentially Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber. Kaweah slept well on the car ride home, so I think she got plenty of exercise this weekend.
herd of dogs
i’m the boss of you…
Driving back to Northern Colorado, we saw there was still color holding out in some aspen patches while others lay bare. Despite the drop in temperature, the sun was out and the day was beautiful. Such a contrast from Saturday’s tumultuous weather.
a side trip on the way out of pagosa
a little red
fresh snow and lingering aspen colors
We pulled into the house after nightfall, but I’m happy to report there was a little snow on the ground and I can’t wait for more!
October 12th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Your pictures are always delightful! I really like your sewing corner! You live in such a stunning place where the landscapes are incredibly beautiful…
Cheers and have a nice week,
Rosa
October 12th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Awesome shots as always, and those quilts! That fabric! What a wonderful, inspiring workspace for a talented woman.
I love Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber. Isn’t it Kaweah on the left in that shot of the two of them? A little more grizzle on the muzzle …
October 13th, 2008 at 12:05 am
Gosh, even with the strange weather, that weekend sounds like American perfection.
CUTE DOGS! I mean, come on! By the way, I totally believe that Bumpy and Kaweah are related. I’d even have a hard time telling them apart if I hadn’t gotten so accustomed to Kaweah’s face already!
Quilting! I love the geometric pattern of the sample you photographed. That is awesome.
Nature pics! Everything looks beautiful and serene!
it is equally hilarious to watch as two 6-foot tall, thirty-something, skinny guys punch the air while shouting, βNo way!”
I knew there was an upside to being short and goofy. Ha ha ha! I can get away with so much more!
October 13th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Oh my! Your MIL’s stashed is just…. just impressive! she is the winner, no doubts! And it is so nice of you to be quilting for your friend!
Ahhhh love the photos and the pups are truly adorable! And with all that snow coming, skiing is soon possible!! take care ya? xxoo
October 13th, 2008 at 2:04 am
Holy cow, that is a lot of fabric!!!! I can’t even sew on a button.
October 13th, 2008 at 5:46 am
I love black dogs! We have a black/brown lab mix from the county pound and she’s so great. Life with dogs is much sweeter.
October 13th, 2008 at 5:56 am
I can’t sew on a button either.
Do you use a filter to get those stream shots? I can’t use such long shutter speeds without overexposing the whole scene. They’re so cool though, I’d love to be able to do that.
October 13th, 2008 at 6:44 am
I feel as if I was along for the visit. The way that you tell a story is intoxicating. I’m always looking for more…more story, more photos. Always, MORE! I am a greedy little thing, ain’t I?
;)
October 13th, 2008 at 7:17 am
Love all the pics! That quilt and quilt room are amazing. And puppies! Love the puppies. K looks fabulous for her age – something about the women in your family. :) Glad you’re home.
October 13th, 2008 at 8:49 am
As always your pictures leave me awe struck. Beautiful!
Wow, that quilting room is beyond gorgeous!! I’ve always wanted to learn to quilt and wish I had someone to teach me. I was drooling over all that fabric..mercy! The dogs are too cute!
October 13th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Oh, the lighting in the quilt room is gorgeous. And all that wood makes such a warm glow. I’m feeling wintry-warm just looking at all your pics. Nice.
October 13th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Wow, that quilt room (and that quilt) is amazing. I love seeing the spaces that people use to create art. And, of course the pups are amazing as well (wouldn’t want to leave them out!)
October 13th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
MIL has an amazing quilting room! I have been starting to quilt. I have one being sown at present. One being cut and 50 million pattern ideas in my head. Just not enough time. I so love the batik colors there! A blue and purple or a blue and green are my favorite combos. The orange looks amazing.
October 13th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
that is a sweet quilting room!! It’s so cute that kaweah knows to look at you when you’re taking photos :)
October 13th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Funny sweet doggies. Yours is the prettiest.
Vanilla bean alert over on Figs! We had fun with quince on Saturday.
October 13th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Rosa – I like the sewing corner too, it’s my mother-in-law’s sewing corner though!
Kitt – she is brilliant. Nope, Kaweah is the one on the right :) Despite being ten, she looks like she’s 6 months old. Unfortunately, Bumpy is only 6 and she looks older :(
Mark – Yeah, we all kept mistaking Kaweah for Bumpy and vice versa. I was getting really annoyed when I’d call to Kaweah and she’d just stare at me (b/c it was Bumpy!)
Mrs E – thanks, hon!
Peabody – I consider myself lucky if I can sew a straight line and look at all that fabric! She’s a domestic goddess…
Susy – totally agree!
Bridget – nope, just tripod! Should work for ya!
Margie – ;)
Mollie – I guess she IS in my family ;) but it’s funny that Kaweah and I are so similar considering… ha ha!
April – I’ve been putting it off for 16 years and FINALLY said, “okay, teach me to quilt!” MIL was so happy and so was I. We had a lot of fun quilting and she’s awesome.
Nate – Isn’t it a cool room? I love it!
Robin – I never thought of it that way, how neat! thanks :)
Lori – I like blue and green too, but I thought it was too drab without something to kick it up, so MIL let me raid her batik stash for some orange. I think it works!
Tony – oh hon, it takes a LOT OF WORK to get Kaweah to look at me when I take a picture. She hates the camera!
Cindy – oooh, I’m coming over!
October 14th, 2008 at 1:35 am
I’m in love with that quilting room! And so neat, too!
October 14th, 2008 at 3:42 am
Such beautiful houses!
Dogs are fantastic. It’s nice to see yours all getting along.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
I love the batik fabrics there — I’ve been wanting to get into quilting (sometime) too. What kind of pattern is that? I’ve been looking online but can only find more fussy patterns… I love the square pattern you have there.
Oh, and those noodles are making me hungry and it’s after midnight… they are now on my list.
October 15th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Manisha – isn’t is awesome?
Graeme – thanks love!
Ashley – it’s a really basic pattern from a baby quilting book (called PS I love you or something).