Month: August 2023

Watching Bungee Jumping

It’s vacation time! On our way to Summer Lake Hot Springs, we stopped at the Peter Skene Ogden State Scenic Viewpoint and watched bungee jumping for a bit.

We’ve been to this viewpoint many times, including the chronicle of this visit in 2014 with one of my favorite picture of Matt. It’s a deep crevasse, that viewpoint, and thus good for Central Oregon Bungee Adventures to set up shop.

It’s not a speedy process, the bungee jump. After getting strapped in there’s the long wait to get the courage to make the jump. The first person we saw jump went relatively quickly, the second one too longer. But she eventually did it.

It turns out the fun part while watching is not the initial jump, but the first bounce back up. Here’s a photo to orient yourself. Take note of where the bridge meets the side of the crevasse before scrolling to the next picture.

The jumpers go all the way down, and then pop! right back up. They tend to have arms and legs flailing as they bounce.

Once all the bouncing stops, they are reeled up so that another jumper can take their place.

“I can’t believe we will be doing that in just one hour!” cried one of three older teenagers who were also watching. We didn’t stay around to see their jump, but I bet they had fun.

Summer Lake Hot Springs

The first part of our vacation was exploring the Oregon Outback, a place I really enjoyed. First of all, driving is much more fun when you are the only car in sight for miles and miles. I also really enjoyed the landscape as it is similar to what I grew up with in Boise.

We stayed at Summer Lake Hot Springs, which provides camping and RV spaces and cabins.

This is the bathhouse that covers the biggest hot springs–fed pool. This picture shows fence rails and that’s where the three outdoor pools are. They are of varying temperatures and we found them to be generally hotter than the main pool.

Here is our cabin, Manzanita. Inside the decor is very eclectic as if it was sourced from various thrift shops. In other words, my kind of place.

Aside from a bed and a kitchen sink and hot plate, there was also a toilet and sink. Super luxury. Here is the glamor shot.

On the first night we played Micro Macro Crime City and had fun staring at the drawing to identify the various crimes that were being committed. This is a fun game that can be played by kids and adults alike. (There were some mature scenarios that are not kid-friendly, but they were clearly marked.)

SKS: The Road Less Traveled and Lemonade

I’m a fan of pants, but appreciate this message.

Sara comments that nude from the waist down seems odd to her, and I agree. But it made us both laugh.

This postcard comes from Whistle and Fizz in New York.

Sara reports that, back in Arcata, working with a friend made the work fun and that her first time with students is tomorrow.

Monogrammed Sheets

I like to make some mark in one corner of my flat sheets so that I don’t have to try the sheet in a few directions in order to make length and width match the bed.

I went all out with this monogram, part of a download that includes four different treatments of the alphabet.

I learned that it’s tough to keep those outer lines straight. I think in the original they are straight stitches, but I switched them to backstitch because I thought straight stitches would catch on things in an active-use object. I also switched the French knots to figure-eight knots, as I prefer them.

Sometimes this color combo doesn’t work for me, but I like how it turned out this time.

The downside of fancy sheet monograms is that the back is very visible—it’s different if things are in a hoop. Maybe in the future, I could cut a square or circle to cover the back and tack it down so only back stitch or running stitch show. But maybe this is just fine.

Chewy’s Delivery Service is Subpar

Antares requires eye medication that is cheapest when bought from Chewy. I’ve ordered it multiple times, and, save one time, each delivery has been left on my doorstep despite our signs that ask that all packages be brought to the back porch.

Every time this happens, I contact Chewy and explain that the problem hasn’t been fixed, despite me doing all the things they have told me to do. And every time they write back and apologize and assure me it won’t happen again. And then it happens again.

As I have been telling them, things are stolen from my doorstep, hence the request to not leave things there. And today it happened. I was riding home from work and saw an opened Chewy box on Interstate about three blocks from my house.

I knew my box had been delivered, so after checking all the places, I walked back to see that indeed, the opened box was my box. Luckily, the thief wasn’t interested in my cat’s $60 dollar eye medication and abandoned the box, so the biggest damage was that I got to bring home trash.

My email telling them of the theft was met with the same apology and reassurance that it wouldn’t happen again. From the future, I can say the pattern continues.

I will be quite happy when I don’t have to deal with Chewy any longer.

The Bayard Box in Kenton

My walk today included a discovery of this fun public art project: the Bayard Box.

From the website, I see that this is the ninth edition.

Despite the usual setup where you need to put money in to open the box, this one is set to open whether or not you put in money.

It includes a QR code so you can read more about the box.

Walks are that much more fun when there are finds like this.

Dropcloth Samper Drawing Stitches

I have completed my second Dropcloth sampler. This builds on the original Dropcloth Sampler that I completed in 2021. I bought a three-pack, so there is one more sampler to go.

I love a lot of things about this sampler. Let’s dive in.

Battlement filling! So amazing! I want to start making my own designs so that I can use a ton of battlement filling! You can also see a bit of cloud filling on the right. Cloud filling looks complex, but it’s really just seed stitches arranged in a grid and then weaving through those stitches.

Plaid filling! Also a not-complex stitch that pops. Buttonhole filling was also fun, and I like those two colors.

More filling stitches that are not complex. The hardest part of brick and cross would be getting the columns straight. Backstitch trellis is also in that category, but looks great when done. I also love how couched filling turned out. This is not surprising, given my love for couching.

Here’s what I’m quite proud of. Aside from the fun of filling the hoop with figure eight knots, I also took the time to stitch the screw at the top of the hoop. Sometimes, I’m in the mood to do those small details and sometimes I just want to get ‘er done.

Here’s the back, for those who like to see what’s up.