Odd Shots on Monday

To participate, post a photo that is odd in some way and leave a comment on this post to let us know where to find it. All the details can be found by clicking the Odd Shot logo in the sidebar. You can see other odd shots by following the links in the comments or visiting those on the blogroll.
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Now, you may wonder what it is that is odd about this shot. What is odd is, that it was taken today (Sunday) August 31.
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Do you see those white specks? Click to enlarge this one a bit to see them better. They are not camera noise because of poor resolution or using the wrong setting. or zooming in too far.
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They are SNOWFLAKES!!!!!

(Sorry, Paulie. We did not deliver you any snow in August, but we sure found it today.)

Sunday's Psalm--22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
raindrops on lupine leaves
O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water.
cactus, Walnut Canyon, Arizona
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
raindrops on anenome seedhead
Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory,
old growth forest at Ohanepecosh
For your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you.

R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.

Thus will I bless you while I live;
lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name.
school choir singing alleluia
As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied,
and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you.
meal with friends in Siberia, 1998
R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
small waterfall near Paradise, Mt. Rainier National Park
You are my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.

My soul clings fast to you;
your right hand upholds me.

R. My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Manzanita Lake, Lassen Volcanic National Park

Psalm 63: 2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9

Photo Hunt--Theme: Beautiful

I am not home for today's Photo Hunt--Theme: Beautiful
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I am here:

Photo Hunt is hosted each Saturday by TnChick. You can visit her to see the details and find the players.

Sky Watch Friday to the mountains again

Among the joys of watching the sky--the sunrise, the sunset, the gathering storm, the rainbow, the moon the sun the stars--is the fact that we get a new serving each and every day. The joy of Skywatch Friday is that it is served up fresh from around the world. The team that carries on Dot's delightful idea of sharing the world's skies maintains the listing of current skies here.

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As we came over the pass on our way to Mt. Rainier once again, it appeared that the clouds were cutting off the top of the mountain.

It was to be our only view of the mountain for this trip, as the clouds had lowered by the time we reached the next viewpoint along the way. It was another opportunity for the near views--the flowers, the waterfalls, and for this trip, the Paradise Inn's delightful architecture (which I will share one day soon.

Two shots I couldn't resist

Look below for my ABC--F--quilting pictures.

.^.

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At a program about plant survival in extreme conditions, we learned that in higher colder areas, some of the plants that are also common in lower reaches develop special adaptive characteristics. One of these is fuzzy leaves and stems for insulation. I found that on this lupine plant on the trail to Paradise Glacier.

On last week's Skywatch, I posted a picture of Narada Falls looking up into the foggy hillside from the viewpoint that you can hike down to. That viewpoint would be just down and off to the left of this picture. The foggy hillside would be up and to the right. In that picture, you only get a hint of how big that falls is. This one gives you a bit of perspective on that.

Paulie has a delightful picture of part of the trail down today.

A Quilter's ABC on Wednesday--F

Among the simplest of

quilt blocks is the

four patch.

Simple Four Patch blocks can be "set" in a variety of ways. You can see the four patch in this quilt top, set "on point" and surrounded by a triple sashing of plain and pieced strips.

Most quilt block designs are made up of geometric shapes--most commonly squares and triangles. But once they are combined they get their creative block names. One of my favorites is Flying Geese, triangles set in a row as if they were flying north for the summer--or south for the winter.

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Yes, that is a marble on this particular Flying Geese quilt. It is a miniature about the size of a piece of paper. Quilts aren't just for beds, you know. They can be wall hangings, table toppers, pillow covers. And sometimes, they can be just to see if you can.

Triangles take different turns, too. The central triangle of a Flying Goose, is a quarter square triangle--formed by cutting a square into quarters from corner to corner. The straight grain of the fabric is on the hypotenuse.

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The triangles of the Friendship Stars on the left are half square triangles--formed by cutting a square diagonally only once. The straight of the fabric is on the sides. It is important to have the straight in the right position for different purposes, because the other side is on the bias and stretches.

The larger star above has still different triangles. It is called Fifty-Four Forty or Fight. Quilt Block names would often come from the happenings of the time--including politics. Fifty-Four Forty or Fight was the rallying cry of the supporters of James Polk in his campaign for the presidency. Both the United States and Great Britain had interest in portions of the Oregon Territory from the border of California north into present day British Columbia in the early 1800s. Polk was ready go to war to claim all the territory to latitude 54-40º--the southern boundary of Russian Alaska. Though Polk was elected, war was averted as negotiations placed the border at 42º North.

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For an elegant and much more complicated block, try a Feathered Star. Expect at least a small measure of frustration at all the varied parts of this one. It has both half square and quarter square triangles as well as diamonds, and I'm not too sure there are many shortcuts--which are one of my favorite parts of piecing.


This third round of ABC Wednesday has a group blogsite where you will find many fine Fs today, and a site to sign on to Mr. Linky and find all the other players. Mrs. Nesbitt started ABC Wednesday, and lets all the rest of us play with her. It has grown so big that a team effort keeps it organized now. Thank you Denise and the team for a FINE job.

Twofer Tuseday--one for Denise

As we returned home from camping the other day we were approached and passed by this group in formation. They passed us, and the last on on the right saluted.


There were eight riders and one passenger. The drivers in leathers with jackets that carried the insignia of the "Bandidos."

The passenger was wearing pink shorts.

Jonna started doing Twofers on Tuesdays. Some of us joined her. To see what it is all about, visit her here.

Odd Shots on Monday--Out of Proportion

This is the home of Odd Shots. You can post a comment on this Odd Shot to let others know you are in the game. All the details are just a click away at the Odd Shots camera logo in the side bar.

We have traveled quite a bit this summer in with our new Little Guy trailer. Wherever we go, it gets attention--and all of it positive except for one redneck who was laughing at its size as he pulled away in his gas guzzler. (Ha, ha! We will laugh when we meet you at the pump.)
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But when we pull into a rest area to stretch our legs, visit the facilities, and switch drivers, we now have to park in the trucks and trailers section. Every time I see our rig it looks so oddly tiny next to the semis and huge RVs.


But I laugh and remember, "why spend more when you can have less?"
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I am actually gone again as this posts. It seems almost as if we were hummingbirds this summer--never lighting at any time for long. We will be back later today. There are still more adventures ahead--but not till later in the week. I wonder what oddity I will find...

Sunday's Psalm--21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.

view from ship, Inside Passage to Alaska

I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple.

view from Fryingpan Creek Trail, Mt. Rainier NP

Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.

I will give thanks to your name,
because of your kindness and your truth:

waterfowl on Manzanita Lake, Mt. Lassen NP

When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.

Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.

Grand Canyon

The LORD is exalted, yet the lowly he sees,
and the proud he knows from afar.

Your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.

sunset at Prince Rupert, BC

Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.


Psalm 138:1-2,2-3,6,8

PhotoHunt--Theme:Wrinkled

For Photo Hunt visit TnChick.

Wrinkles! Are you sure you want to go there?

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Let me show you instead some wrinkled landscape, here at Lake Powell in Arizona.

And another bit of wrinkled terrain here in the same area.

But for the ultimate in wrinkled earth, go to Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.

Hey! Don't look at ME like that!

Sky Watch Friday--We were really watching the sky...

Here's where to go to find more Skywatchers.

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You might wonder how much sky is really there in this first picture. I say there is sky there, because Tuesday morning the sky came down to earth--at least the part of the earth where we were hiking, to sit there with us in the form of fog.

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Narada Falls lies at 4400 feet elevation along the Paradise River. This is only a glimpse of part of its 241 feet drop--along with a glimpse of trees above shrouded in the fog.

We could climb back into the car and turn on the heater once we had satisfied our wondering eyes. The backpacking couple we met and took a picture for had to hike on. They had started their trip on the Wonderland Trail during the weekend when the temperatures were hovering near and above 100º F. in most Western Washington cities and in the 90ºs at the park. Since the Wonderland Trail circles the mountain for a distance of about 90 miles, they had a long wet trip ahead of them before the predicted dry weather from Friday on. Most Wonderland Trail hikers do the circuit in nine to eleven days.

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Later in the morning, when we were hiking to Myrtle Falls with a ranger naturalist, the fog lifted enough for a peak at the Tatoosh Range south of Mt. Rainier. Well, maybe not the tops.

For the only peek we had at the peak, visit Paulie's photo from our afternoon hike, taken from the Nisqually River bed.

ABC-Wednesday--E

There will be something for every letter for this Quilt Block ABC. Today we have reached the letter E and I present to you the Star of the East. Now, mind you, I did not know that it had that name when I made this quilt of stars several years ago. (You have already seen a couple of the blocks from it and you will see more as we go along.) You see, many similar quilt blocks have shown up in different places with different names, depending on what was on the mind of the quilter at the time. This Star of the East has also been known as Eastern Star, Blazing Star, Star of the Bluegrass, Bright Morning Star, and Blazing Star of Minnesota.

I could show you something and make up a name and if it sounds good you might be convinced.


Now here is another naming example. The individual blocks in this arrangement are Indian Hatchet. My quilt group is using them for a signature swap. If sewn together in this arrangement, the block is known to some as East to Eden.


They sure show up better in this picture. I am having trouble with light when snapping blocks with solid white in them. Now, I am stretching into next week with this one, because I am combining the Hatchets with some Four Patch blocks. I think this arrangement is more interesting that East to Eden. I don't know if it has a name, but it is similar to a Jacob's Ladder. (You will have to wait for J!)

And if I put them together like this, it is still different. It reminds me of some of the "Road" blocks. Maybe it should be Road to Eden!


Mrs. Nesbitt started ABC-Wednesday which now has its own blog locations. This one for the Mr. Linky and another or a no comment collection of ABC posts from around the world. All three sites are worth a look.

The summer is winding to a close and I may actually be AT HOME TO STAY in a couple of days. I promise to do some visiting then.