Sewing for Oso

The lady who owns The Quiltmaker's Shoppe in downtown Arlington, Deb by name, has started a project to make quilts for the victims of the Oso mud slide.  I was very happy to be a part of embroidering a square for an alphabet quilt.

This is the Gardener's Alphabet quilt.  The pattern is one from Crabapple Hill and I actually have started to make this quilt for myself previously.  (And in my usual fashion, I have not made much progress on my quilt!)  When I saw that Deb needed some more help with embroidering the squares for this heirloom quilt for the Oso Heirloom Quilt Project, I was thrilled to help.  I am not a quilter!  I have a terrible time even cutting out a piece of fabric to the correct dimensions in simple little pillow projects.....cutting and patching and appliqué are not my talents.

But I can do simple embroidery and I can color with crayons.  (Some parts of this quilt are shaded lightly with crayons.  Now that is something I can do!)

I spent a week of evenings working on my square and I am happy with the finished block.  I have turned it in to Deb for someone who can sew a straight line to add it to the Gardener's Alphabet quilt.
I feel, finally, in a very small, tiny way that I have done something concrete to help the victims of the horrific disaster at Oso.  (Besides making contributions to several different assistance organizations.)

I hope that the finished quilt will bring some family a little tangible knowledge of how many of us ache for them, for their loss of family and friends and for the loss of all their physical possessions.  I wish for them to know how very many people care about them and wish them well.  

And Deb?  You have a wonderful, giving spirit and a heart full of love.  You are practical, sensible and a most wise lady.  Thank you for letting me be a part of your project.

Blue Bird Cafe

When I head up to my cabin, I always try to stop for lunch at the Blue Bird Cafe.  The Blue Bird is one of those places, those very American places, that are steeped in diner tradition.  This little spot in downtown Arlington offers all the components that make for, in my opinion, the perfect old-fashioned diner.

There is the dry erase board propped up just by the front door, listing the specials of the day.

Entry ambiance and specials board....check!

It has the right look, too.  Big, well-used booths with the benches somewhere between too bouncy and too squishy.  They are just right....Check!

The hamburger deluxe is my burger of choice.  It has just enough veggies to fool me into thinking it's not all bad for me....and is good enough that I didn't remember to take this photo until I'd already eaten half of it!

Perfect burger.  Check!

For a proper, full on diner experience, you need a dining companion, one who also is highly invested in a perfect burger.  And mustard and catsup, too, of course....

The Blue Bird scores on both mustard and catsup and I supplied the dining companion.

Check and check!

There must be onion rings.  REAL onion rings, made with real onion slices, not those horrid chopped and reconstituted onion rings you get some places.  They have to be real onions from real onion rings and they need to be lightly breaded and very crispy, but not greasy.

The Blue Bird has these.  Check!

The Blue Bird also supplies these little sheets with esoteric trivia questions and horrible old jokes for pre-burger dining.  (Too keep the patrons, the anxious and hungry patrons, from banging silverware on the tabletops and chanting, "Me want food!  Me want food!"  Just enough reading material and drinks delivered to the table practically immediately too keep us in line.

Check!

The Blue Bird is darn near perfect.  Check it out for yourself the next time you swing through downtown Arlington and see for yourself.

Independence Day Parade

I attended the Independence Day Parade in Arlington, Washington. Arlington is a small town located in Snohomish County, north of Everett. I feel right at home in Arlington as it reminds me of the small town where I grew up (Sumner, Washington). I haven't been to an Independence Day parade for several years and I really enjoyed this one. It started on the stroke of five and ended just at six o'clock, and within that hour were some wonderful moments of small town American life that, I am sure, were played out all over the US on this July 4th. I'm going to share a few of mine with you.

Arlington boasts of a really good hardware store and one of my favorite outings on a Saturday at the cabin is to go into town and check out the aisles at the store, which seem to have everything you can think of and some you would never would. As evidenced by the following photo, they even have a great old truck! And then there was the OxyClean Man! I've seen him before, in local parades, and he's very funny. His favorite line is, "Oh! A camera! I liiiiiike that!"
And then there is the The Great Stilly Duck Dash. Every year the Rotary Club of Arlington sells tickets and the proceeds support a number of worthy causes....scholarships and youth projects. There are a number of rubber ducks, all with a number, and they are launched into the Stillaguamish River near Lincoln Park and then cross the finish line at Haller Park downstream. There are some serious money prizes, but mostly it's just fun to be a part of the Duck Dash. Good cause and good fun!
And the rainbow caterpillar went by, with many striped legs....
I love farm machinery! Tractors are about the best part of the Arlington parade. Lots and lots and lots of tractors....John Deere tractors and International Harvester tractors and others whose names I've already forgotten. Beautiful tractors that make grinding noises when the gears are changed and rumble with diesel engines revving....The lady on the tractor below looks very noble and "Rosie the Riveter" to me. I love her flag bedecked tractor and her attitude.
John Deere green.....