Friday, January 21, 2011

Another rainy day

My friend, Beth, and I just started our seventh year of walking together. We usually meet at 8:30 and walk for about an hour on the Fanno Creek Trail. Then we head to Starbucks for coffee. It is a great way to start the day. For the past 6 months or so, my friend Paula has been joining us off and on. We often walk in the rain. What I learned about living in western Oregon many years ago is that if you let the rain deter you from the things you want to do, you quickly become depressed and frustrated. Sometimes when it is really wet we cut our walk short, as we did this morning. But I always feel better for the rest of the day if I have spent at least some time walking.

Our creek is pretty high, but last month it was higher and actually flowing over the top of the little bridge. The creek is so much lower than the house and rest of the yard that there is no real danger of flooding that will damage anything. When it was so high last month, however, it lifted one end of the bridge and then set it down off it's supports.
The creek drops down even lower on the other side of the bridge and rushes over the rocks when it is this high. In the summer the creek is about a foot lower and sometimes a mere trickle. I must admit that when we bought this house and property the creek was one of the things that really attracted me. It originates just up from us on Cooper Mountain and meanders through the neighborhoods below us. We cross it several times driving toward town and I am always interested to see how much bigger it is just a few blocks from us.

This mossy tree is across the road from our driveway. I always love how the rain brightens the colors of the moss.

I am sewing a corduroy shirt for myself. What possessed me? Every so often I just get this idea that I want to make an item of clothing for myself. I'm not too happy with the way the stitching along the edge of that placket looks. I think I will be doing some un-stitching. Corduroy sure gets thick and awkward when the layers start to build up.

It is kind of the color of rain. What I really know is that it is soft and warm and cozy. I think that is what motivates me to sew clothes when it rains for days and weeks on end. I am always drawn to flannel and fleece and corduroy when it is damp and rainy.

My bird class is next week. I don't know how many people are signed up yet, but I think it will be a fairly small class. I am getting my materials and handouts ready and gathering up my supplies. I'm looking forward to it.

9 comments:

  1. I always want to sew in the spring to have summer dresses, but as I rarely wear a dress, I never sew. Now this weather makes me want to make a snuggly quilt for reading books under.

    Loving the creek. The moss on the oaks out the back door almost glow in this weather.

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  2. Thank you for posting this. I have been wondering how your creek was fairing in the rains you have had the past week or so.

    When we lived in Crescent City I learned that if you wait for the rain to stop you will probably never get much accomplished. Sure, there are days that it is best to hunker down but we sure would have missed a lot fun times had we let the rain stop us. We try to keep in that practice to this day. Actually, rain has become somewhat of a motivator for me. It is so much better than the oppressive heat and humidity of summer.

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  3. It always rains in Paris.

    We have special rain gear to wear at work (here in Maine) and are outside doing everything we have to do--in the rain. I sometimes wish I had another rain suit to wear at home--for walking Riley.

    Today it's cold and snowing and I am staying in until everything has the final plowing.

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  4. I was wondering what type of sewing machine you have? I am looking to upgrade from my crappy Kenmore to a more professional machine and am polling all sewing mavens for their opinions!!

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  5. You are so right - must get out and do stuff - even in the rain, I always feel better. We took a short walk today as it was raining at a pretty good clip.

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  6. For Melodie--I have several sewing machines. The one I use most often is a Janome 6500. It is a pretty wonderful machine, in my opinion. It has a wider opening than usual so it is nice for quilting large pieces and it has a lot of nice features like a knee lift and needle threader and thread cutter and a lot of good stitches. I also have a small Janome that I can take to classes or retreats and an old Bernina that is a workhorse. I really think Berninas are the best machines made, but you pay a lot for that superior quality.

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  7. This post makes me feel so cozy and happy to have a roof over my head.
    I was thinking about corduroy just a couple of days ago. I used to have a lot of it; now the only garment I can picture in the house is a fancy old cowboy shirt of Jerry’s.

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  8. Such beautiful pictures, Terry. Funny how rain affects us; when it rains, I love to iron. Walking in the rain used to seem romantic to me when I was 19, but not now.

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  9. Oh how I wish I could take your bird class! Maybe you could come stay a weekend with me and teach it at QuiltWorks!

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