Vastlands

Ahh, the feel of some heat last weekend while in Pasco was a pleasant alternative to the recently dank Puget Sound. Driving solo for four hours, listening to great music, and traveling through the gorgeous wide expanse of Eastern Washington was so meditative. I love the open treeless landscape, the rolling grasslands, and the regular patterns of sagebrush dotting terrain punctuated by deep gorges. I feel so at ease in that vast landscape where the sky is uninterrupted and clouds, in all their variety, are more dramatic. I've never been to Montana but I appreciate Big Sky Country. That transition from sageland to Ponderosa Pine forests, more noticeable on the way back, is so dramatic and compressed while climbing up to the Cascade range. The photo above was taken out the car window while driving upwards of the speed limit just outside of Pasco. I stopped in Prosser to visit The Sewing Basket, a tiny very old house that is packed from floor to ceiling, in room after room, with the greatest collection of quilting fabrics anywhere that I have seen in Washington. I wish I could stop in there all the time for my projects. Here's what I picked while in this sweet shop.

My Lovelies, Well Just a Couple

Tulip 'Marietta'

Syringa 'Maiden's Blush'

This baby opossum has been hanging out in our garden
for the past couple of days.
He's quite tiny.
No sign of his mother around anywhere.
I'm not happy about him taking up residence
since 'possums are not known to be friendly to bunnies.

New Dress

One meter of four different fabrics were brought back from Shanghai from the famed fabric market for me to do with what I wished. I would have loved to have seen the floor after floor of fabrics! The market is famous for silks, cashmeres and wools. This filmy embroidered cotton fabric was a lovely choice. Thank you dear! I squeezed a dress out of the meter and lined it with a plaid cotton to give it some body. I used an invisible zipper, which I didn't realize I was buying at the time, and don't think I will ever buy one again. It was much harder to install than a regular zipper. I haven't hemmed the dress yet, but I'm thinking I will have a two tiered hem, with the plaid lining showing a little bit below the embroidered fabric.

New

I'm feeling a kinship to this Polystichum munitum as it reveals new growth a little bit at a time. I too am feeling renewed with a rigorous exercise routine that seems to be chipping away little by little at my maladies. Yeay. I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel at last!
Such sweet goodness in my woodland border!