Valentine's Day Celebration

Dale and I decided to celebrate this LOVEly day early. While the majority of the country was busy with the Superbowl on Sunday, we went out geocaching.

It was a sunny, crisp morning. But snow and cold winds were expected for Valentine's Day. That makes for uncomfortable geocaching. So for this week's Tuesday Travels, we decided to take advantage of the emptier streets and warmer weather. (When you're retired, any day can be a Tuesday). 

We searched for eight caches, and found six. Not bad!

Best, I hit a milestone when I found my 600th geocache! 

It was a beauty, too. A tiny container glued inside a broken brick found along the side of the road.

We needed tweezers to pull the itty bitty log out of the container.

We ended up going to two cemeteries. Those are some of our favorite caches. The grounds are serene and there are few living souls around to watch us search. There are a number of older cemeteries in the area. Many of them are on hills with nice views. These two were no exception.

We like looking at the old headstones while we're there. But today, we found a very fresh grave. Loved ones left a silent message on top, written in pine cones.

Happy Valentine's Day in heaven, Loved One. Someone is missing you tonight.

Love never dies.

Quilted Heart #10

This heart feels well-proportioned to me. Very pleasing.

I especially like the red heart with the large-ish running stitches topped by the puffy white button. Charming!

It's ready to be released into the wild!

A Sweet Treat

Look what we woke up to today!

It's only a dusting, but it's rare in Eugene, especially in February.

We might not be surprised to see snow in Fall.

Our strawberries have seen better days. What a shock! I do see some green peeking out, though.

Guess I don't need this for a few weeks.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Eugene Park Tour: Armitage Park

I'm one step closer to completing my 23 in 2023 goal of visiting 23 area parks. On this rainy day, Dale and I decided to get a little distance vision, take a Tuesday Travels ride to just north of Eugene, and roam around Armitage County Park. We're glad we did!

Wow, I like this park! Maybe it's because there were very few people there due to the rain. Maybe because it's such a nice open space hidden just off the I-5 freeway. Maybe because it has so much to offer in three distinct areas.

There's a huge dog park near the entrance. Signs point to a decent-sized camping area. Then there's this big swath of open area dotted with huge old gnarled trees.

Among the trees are picnic shelters, horseshoe pits, a volleyball court, lots of picnic tables, and even more gopher mounds. It's my kinds of wooded park.

The star of the show is this portion of the Willamette River. It's running fast at this time of year. There's a boat ramp for the anglers. Then there's this wonderful bike/walking path all along the river's edge. Dale and I are hoping to get bicycles in the near future so that we can take advantage of Eugene's many bikeways. This will be an ideal place to take a ride.

It also seems like an ideal place for family picnics or reunions, or group gatherings in the summer. There may be a swimming hole, but we didn't see it on our short walkabout.

Lucky for us, there was a geocache nearby ... not in the park, but a short hop down the road. What an adorable cache container! I've not seen one quite like it before.

Quilted Heart #9

This Quilted Heart is the favorite I've made to date.

It's smaller than most. The white heart bead on top of the red button is a sweet addition. That Love ribbon is just the ticket. I stuffed it quite full, so it's very puffy.

It's ready to be released into the wild!

Over the Fence

One of the things I like about living in this neighborhood is that we can open the kitchen window, look out over the fence, watch the kids playing in the school yard and on the athletic field, watch the hawks glide on the wind currents, see the storms approaching, and wonder at the vastness of the clouds and sky.

Every now and again, the big birds decide come in for a landing.

Quilted Heart #8

This heart looks a bit like it's ready for Christmas.

Embellished with buttons and bows

It's ready to be released into the wild!

Throwback Thursday: Valentine's Day

Valentines through the years

Quilted Heart #7

Here's a happy heart with lots of layers.

Plus three charming baby buttons.

Ready to go out in the wild!

Eugene Park Tour: Candlelight Park

When I was ailing with shingles last month, and going a little stir crazy, Dale took me on a short ride on an overcast afternoon to visit a local park. 

We've driven by Candlelight Park at least 150 times since moving to Oregon. We pass this neighborhood park on our way to the grocery store. Until this drive, we hadn't realized how big the park is.

The playground is a decent size, but only a minor portion of the park. There are also three full-size soccer fields. But the biggest draw is the dog park. It's huge. 

There appears to be three different enclosures, each with tables and chairs for the humans while the dogs have free reign. It's a very busy dog park. We thought the dog enclosures were the only part of the park. Because we don't have a dog, we had not checked this park out until now.

This fellow is having a good time sniffing around the edges.

I needed to stay in the car on this visit (thus, the fuzzy photos). We're looking forward to returning for a walkabout. 

Quilted Heart #6

Time for a vibrant print, a simple ribbon, a gigantic button, and some sequins and pearl beads.

I enjoy digging into my stash and using supplies I haven't played with in a while.

Ready to go out into the wild!

Strike a Match

On days when I don't feel so well, I turn to quiet activities that make order from chaos. My favorite?

Jigsaw puzzles, of course.

This one, called Vintage Matchboxes, is 350 pieces. Just the right amount of challenge to raise up a sad brain. Twenty-one wonderful pieces of art in miniature from all over the world. Here are some of my favorites up close.

I'm enjoying the quality of these Puzzlebug puzzles. They've upped their game (so to speak). Easily $1.25 worth of fun.

 Maybe even $2.50.