That time of year. I got up way too early and then ended up taking a two-hour nap in my recliner as I wasn't functioning worth a darn. Must have needed it 'cause I did better once I got up. Rearranged the living room just a tiny bit and changed out a lamp in my bedroom. Did a few household chores and settled in to work on my latest 'row-by-row experience' quilt panel. I really like this one but it was difficult appliqueing those 30 trees. I managed to get it done and even found a piece of backing that I think will work okay.
(click on to enlarge)
I may try to finish it up later in the day but I'll probably wait until tomorrow morning when I'm fresh. I've got some writing to get done now. After I finish this blog post, that is. My blogging has been hit and miss as I've spent more time writing my latest book. I post on Facebook once a month soliciting buyers so I'll know about how many to order once I get to that step. I've got over 3 dozen people so far and that's promising considering it's mainly a book on Port Townsend memories, my childhood, and opinions on this and that. It'll also have a lot of memories other people have contributed too. Makes the book better, I think. Let me know if you want a copy. Email me at cedarrose61@hotmail.com I hope to have it ready after the first of the year. It'll be a paperback selling for $20 and will have several photos, as well. Am calling it 'This Side of the Road' (the title of my previous blog)
Went into Port Townsend on Thursday with Jen and drove around running errands and taking pictures. Was especially interested (not the first time) in my old childhood neighborhood and grandpa's barn. Took a few more pictures of the swamp road (which I named this blog after). Probably won't interest anybody except me or those folks who lived in PT back in the day but I'll post them anyhow. I've posted before and after photos before 'cause they fascinate me.
Here's my dad with his old Intern'l pickup unloading wood that he chopped out on his property. You can sorta' see the school buildings up on the hill in the background and that house right below it is where I raised my own kids.
You can barely see the school now. That roof is my Uncle Jim's old house.
This area I'm standing was one of grandpa's large gardens. Jim's house was always in plain view then but you can barely see it here. Notice the apple trees.
These next pictures are the "alley" that you drove up from the swamp road to get to our barns and house. Grandpa and two of my uncles (in the 1940s) are working on cutting logs with a large saw my grandpa built. Another shows grandpa and my cousin, Linda. She'll be 72 next month. The pics after that show the area today.
That shed there on the right with the tin roof was where my dad was stacking wood in the previous picture. These next photos show the back of the house when I lived there and how it changed through the years.
That little green shed was a chicken house (was larger than that) and had ducks on one side with a little pond for them to swim in.
The barn is barely standing today.
And here's some photos I took of what's left of the Swamp Road and the view of the lagoon. The swamp road used to accommodate two vehicles and stretched from 19th Street & Haines all the way over to the A&W on the S-Curve highway.
This little house was quite surprising to see. When I was a kid, it was a small little shack on the swamp where the Potterfs lived. Clarence or Art, as he was called, was in my class but he was very shy and never talked. I recently read he passed away. Makes me kind of sad we never got to know him. Or the family, as far as that goes.
Moving forward in time, here's a model of the mobile that Jenni and Wayne hope to buy eventually and put on his 4 acres on the west of town. He's already started getting the land cleared and ready.
Here's a shot I took of Sammy when he was trying to keep warm one cold morning. He has this routine where Jen takes him out to pee first thing in the morning and then he runs back lickety split to crawl in her bed and under the covers where he'll sleep for two more hours. This morning, though, he wasn't being allowed in her bed so he had to settle for his own bed.
And here's a picture I took one cold morning of the sunrise from my driveway. I thought it was spectacular.
Here's what is left of a plastic microwave tray that I used to cook bacon on. I had stuck it in the oven to save for my next time cooking bacon and Jenni forgot to check before preheating for the dinner she was preparing. It melted all over the place but peeled up halfway easy once we let it cool. Took me a while the next morning, however, to peel the stuff off the oven racks. And yeah, it stunk too!
My sister-in-law made me this real cool wall hanging (it's in my kitchen now) of books --two of them with my book titles.
Even more cool is the quilt (in process) she's working on for me. Used some of my old t-shirts that don't fit anymore. I can hardly wait to get it. The back is just as fantastic as the front.
this is the front and below is the back. Below them are the individual squares.
I ordered the first season of this show on FX called Fargo that I had heard was pretty good. Stars
Billy Bob Thornton and last night I watched two episodes. It's pretty good. I'm anxious to see the rest. One good thing this week -- I finally won a little bit at the casino. Wayne did real well too. He won $700 and $2200. I won $107. Originally had it up to $140 but you know...I got greedy! sigh...
Nothing much on my agenda for the next two weeks so I'll probably see how much progress I can make on my book. And I'll be sitting at the sewing machine and in front of the television. Interesting, huh? Ha! Sure did enjoy watching The World Series. Can you believe I have NEVER watched the world series before. Just didn't seem that interesting. Things are changing with this ole broad!
Have a good November and oh yes, aren't we glad the campaigning crap is almost over!
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