Tag Archives: LCsCottage

Big Meadow Lake

One of our favorite places to camp and hike is at Big Meadow Lake in the Colville National Forest.  We took our children there many times, and now we are taking our grandchildren there.

Big Meadow Lake

Recently, we had a Saturday afternoon to spend with family, so we drove out to Big Meadow Lake to have some fun.

Big Meadow Lake

My six year old granddaughter and I are looking out over the swamp to see what we can see.  This area has an abundance of wildlife, including moose.  But we didn’t see moose on this day.

Family

It seems that only Daddy can reach the trees on either side of the path.

Bunchberry and Strawberry

As well as an abundance of wildlife, there is a wonderful variety of flora.  In the above photo, wild strawberry and bunchberry grow side by side.

Big Meadow Lake

As you hike, you can walk in the deep woods, open areas, on pine needle laden paths, foot bridges and wooden walkways.

Big Meadow Lake

Big Meadow Lake

Big Meadow Lake

Big Meadow Lake is stocked with trout and bass.  We love to take our canoe out, but a kayak or rowboat will do.

Big Meadow Lake

No jet skis, or other large noisy watercraft allowed. 

As beautiful as the lake is, you don’t want to swim here.  There are leeches in this lake!

Big Meadow Lake

Isn’t the reflective quality absolutely gorgeous?!

Big Meadow Lake

The baby ducks were soaking up the rays on the dock.  They had no fear of us.

Big Meadow Lake

Big Meadow Lake is a precious jewel in the wilderness and we were treated to a fabulous afternoon for a walk in the woods!

Bird’s Nest for Camera Day

My daughter informed me that today is National Camera Day. 

In honor of the occasion, I am posting photos of our newest resident.

She moved in right next to the front door.

Bird's Nest

I think she is a Western Flycatcher.

Western Flycatcher

When I left for work this morning, there was one egg in the nest.

Pine Siskin eggs

Now there are two.

Update 06/30/2013:  There are now three eggs in the nest.

Album Quilt Block

The Album quilt block, another pick from Nancy Martin’s Perpetual Calendar (I’m still working my way through this calendar), was a bit of a challenge for me this week.  Maybe it is because I had to use orange and blue.  Whatever.

Album Quilt Block

The Album block is drawn with a 3 x 3 grid.

Here is how it looks in a straight set:

Album Straight Set

I experimented with an inner border without sashing between it and the quilt.  I don’t think I like it.

I like the plain inner border on the next design.  It also has sashing between the blocks:

Album On Point Set 2

I made some changes to the Album block and used the new blocks in the following designs:

Album On Point Set 4

Album On Point Set 5

Album On Point Set 6

The last design is a sampler to help you see the blocks.  The blocks are set on point.

Block Sampler

The block in the top right corner is the Album block. 

The center block has all the lines deleted but the four corner triangles.  It forms a Snowball block. 

The lower right corner has the small inner squares deleted, and lines added to create the star. 

The block in the upper left corner has the inner squares deleted. 

The block in the lower left corner added lines to create rectangles within the blocks.

I could search block libraries for alternate blocks to use in a design, but adding and deleting lines to and from the main block that I want to use ensures that I will have blocks that play well together.

Next week, I’ll show the Album block in a few on point settings.