Tourist

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I arrived in Portland late Sunday. Yesterday I played tourist. Took the hotel shuttle back to the airport so I could take the public transit train into and around town. A senior day ticket – just $2! That allows you to get on and off at will.

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I got off and back on at several stops. The first location was a farmers’ market – had lunch there.

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I walked around a bit after that, then got back on the train a couple of stops later. Lots of empty shops wherever I got off. You can see Portland was hit by the economic downturn.

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After a couple of hours I returned to the airport, 20130618-074619.jpg
back to the hotel for a snooze and then an early dinner. My body is definitely still on east coast time! I was ravenous by 4:00 pm.

It’s now Tuesday morning. Time for breakfast and then to meet the other gals.
more later.

Rhododendron

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I’ve had this Rhododendron growing in a large pot on my deck for several years; it has flowered each year but this year it’s loaded with blooms!

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The bird bath is brimming with rain water – no birds splashing about this afternoon, though – too cold and rainy.

Bouganvillea

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The last time I was in Hawaii (Oahu), I took cuttings of Bouganvillea growing along the roadside in Mililani – white, orange, bright pink, red – the colors were gorgeous. I trimmed away the leaves from the six inch twigs, washed them thoroughly, dried them out and brought them home. I was able to root successfully four of the ten and they grew for a while. I gave two to a friend and this is the sole surviving plant.

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It over-winters in her greenhouse successfully. She’s discovered that the way to get the plant to bloom is not to water it through the winter, and only a wee bit when leaves start to appear in the spring. This is the display she has got this year.

Yellow Socks

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Finished this pair of socks last evening. Never leave the needles empty – but I have yarn for just one pair in my stash. I have some leftovers – enough for some legs with solid feet, but I prefer to have most of the sock patterned. So it will soon be time to shop for more sock yarn.

It Arrived – Benartex Fossil Fern Fabric

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The box of fabrics arrived this morning – 90 fat quarters in all the colors of the rainbow. They’ll be fun to work with, combining them with other fabrics I have in the stash. The collection, made by Benartex, is called “Fossil Fern”. While the fabrics are in a “family” there is quite a lot of variation in the batik pattern.

Purple Quilt Finished

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Finished the purple/mauve “low-volume tiles” quilt yesterday. I was pleased with how the whole concept worked – the color family with a single contrast color. The quilting works well, too.

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The back of the quilt – just a simple strip to extend the width of the backing fabric.