View from Above

I climbed the hill behind the lighthouse for an alternate point of view.

Shoreline

 

Rocky Oregon Coast

Rock Island

I edited a few more photos from our trip to the Oregon coast. I'll share some over the next few days.

Puzzle Season - 06

The last puzzle of 2025 is all about Sparkle and Glitter

I put this small 350 piece puzzle together by myself. These color-rich puzzles aren't Dale's style. I can't seem to get enough of them.

This is my favorite kind of glitter ... the kind that doesn't shed all over my Studio worktable ...

or get stuck in the creamy middle of an Oreo cookie.

Puzzle Season - 05

Dale and I spent Boxing Day constructing this snowy Christmassy puzzle.

Merry Christmas Shoppe is a nice-quality puzzle by Ravensburger manufactured in 2020. It had a number of tricky bits, but never so difficult as to stop us from progressing.

The details in this artwork from Janet Kruskamp have a dreamy old-timey feel:

I admit that we were happy to be warm inside, watching old episodes of The West Wing, eating BBQ chicken wings, and putting a puzzle together. It's awfully nice that we don't have to deal with snow-covered driveways and slick roads anymore.

Puzzle Season - 04

I've got 3 or 4 puzzles in this Harry Potter series. 

This one is Christmas at Hogwarts.

Harry, Fred and George are popping crackers.

Dumbledore

Hagrid and McGonagall

The story on the back of the puzzle box

This puzzle ended up being harder than I expected it to be. It could be because it's fairly dark. I like the illustration a lot.

Puzzle Season - 03

Dale and I returned to one of our favorite artists

Charles Wysocki

We enjoy these illustrations for the bright colors and detailed vignettes.

Plus, the thickness and weight of the individual puzzles pieces feels good in the hand and all the pieces hold together well so that sections can be easily moved into place.

25 Goals in 2025 - The Results

So ... how did I do?

Goals Reached

1. Reorganized my fat quarters and fabric scraps by color and/or holiday into identically-sized zipped bags
   
   
2. Altered a white oval tablecloth into a circle tablecloth. I learned to sew a narrow hem.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Made a travel pouch for my reusable drinking straws to put in my purse
   
   
4. Gave my grandmother's yoyo quilts to daughter Julie to fix and display
   
   
5. Made a white maternity dress for Jodie
   
   
6. Made a pink print maternity dress for Jodie
   
   
7. Made 35 additional craft/sewing projects (goal of 25)
   
   
   
   
8. Made crafts primarily from my stash rather than purchasing new supplies 
   
   
9. Baked cookies once a month and shared them
   
   
10. Whitened my teeth once a month
    
    
11. Went on an Artist Date once a month. (Ornaments made on my crafting retreat).
    
    
    
    
    
12. Gave purposeful, simple love gestures to Dale once a month
    
    
13. Touched base with my two older kids twice a week (for 8 months)
    
    
14. Visited 30 new-to-me parks (goal of 25)
    
    
    
    
    
15. Found 41 geocaches (goal of 25)
    
    
16. Read / listened to 30 books (goal of  25) A whole lot more if you count all the books I read to granddaughter Abby!
    
    
    
    
    
    
17. Filled patio planters and gardens with Morning Glories, Daffodils, Sunflowers, Strawberries and Tulips.
    
    
18. Went to The Enchanted Forest with daughter Julie's family
    
    
19. Had our oldest granddaughter, Melody, stay with us for several days
    
    
20. Went to the Oregon shore for a day
    
    
    
    
    
21. Visited Julie's family in Idaho (twice)
    
    
22. Took photos of a lighthouse
    
    
    
    
    
23. Got a gym membership
    
    
24. Finished our end-of-life preparations (Will, Trust, Advance Directive, burial site, bought urns)
    
    
    
    
    
25. Crawl space renovations 
    

Honorable Mentions

I worked on these, but didn't reach my goal:

1. Developed 10 sewing skills (goal was 25)
   
   
2. Made/sent 21 cards/letters (goal of 25)
   
   
   
   
3. Completed 15 jigsaw puzzles (goal of 25)
   
   
4. Crocheted 4 purses for Bag of Love (goal of 12)
   
   
   
   
   
5. Started rearranging my Studio
   
   
6. Started garage organization

Yeah ... that's a lot. I'm quite the ambitious woman. 

Puzzle Season - 02

The Colorful Organised Bookshelf (I like how the puzzle company spelled "organized." British?).

It's a little 500 piecer from Puzzlebug. I like to put these inexpensive puzzles together on my own in a single sitting.

I particularly like the prismatic colors

with plenty of details.

Puzzle Season - 01

As winter settles in, so do Dale and I. It's a good time to spend with jigsaw puzzles. 

We enjoyed the day-by-day Advent Calendar a lot again this year. These miniature puzzles are packaged in 25 little boxes. They combine into one big puzzle throughout the month give us a daily dose of dopamine to lighten up these dark days.

We saved Day 25 for Jodie to put together when her family joined us for Christmas.

Highly recommended!

Forget-Me-Not Bookmark

A little something I stitched.

When solemn sighs the hollow wind,

And deepen'd thought enraps the mind;

If e'er thou doest in mournful tone,

E'er sigh because thou feel alone,

Or wrapt in melancholy prone,

                                             Forget me not.

~ from Forget Me Not by Ann Plato

For my daughter who suffered a tiny tot of a sorrow this year. 

She can use this bookmark and know that I care about her recovery.

Owl Bookmark

I made this for my granddaughter Annalee, the owl lover and new reader of chapter books.

Its made from craft felt. The stem has a pipe cleaner sewed inside to give the bookmark a little stability.

I sewed the bits in place by hand using buttonhole, running, and whip stitches. The pupils of the eyes are French knots.

The bookmark slides into the pages of the book, then hooks over the top!

This was inspired by a crochet pattern I saw online. I decided to make it from felt because it was faster to make that way ... and the Christmas box needed to be mailed!

Snowkid Hat

Who dat?

I made a light-hearted hat for my eldest granddaughter.

The pattern is from my favorite crochet designer, Repeat Crafter Me.

Happy little gal, isn't she?