I know I’ve written before about how much we’ve enjoyed the birds that have come to visit our bird feeder.
Goldfinches, housefinches, tufted titmouse (titmice?), nuthatches, chickadees, cardinals, blue jays and even an occasional grosbeak have stopped by to visit. It’s been lovely!
Gary installed our bird “station” right in front of the RV, so we have a great view. And we haven’t had too much trouble with squirrels since it’s a really tall pole (not that that ever really stopped a squirrel), and Gary installed a sheet metal cone about half way up.
Since we were gone for the last two weeks, the feeders emptied out, and as often happens, the birds went to find fuller feeders! We got right on the stick after our return, filling up the feeders with seed, freshening up the hummingbird feeder and even adding a suet block that we had picked up in our travels. And then we waited. It was looking pretty dismal until just yesterday when I spotted a pair of goldfinches enjoying not only the sunflower seeds but also checking out the suet. At last, I thought! They’ll spread the word, and our feathered friends will be back. To add to my excitement, just as we were leaving for dinner (Yippee for Camp Week and meals being served to staff and volunteers!), I saw a house finch on a feeder. My heart was glad.
However, when we returned just an hour later, this is what we saw –
Yikes! That was either a giant bird that can lick out a suet container
or (you guessed it) – a bear.
Since we didn’t clean it up right away, the big guy came back later (actually a couple of times later) to finish up the seed.
I don’t know if it was the addition of the suet, or if it was just time for the young bear to find the stash, but I fear my days of watching the birds from the front seat are over.
But for the moment, it was pretty fun watching this not-very-ferocious bear enjoy his feast.
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The End
Ok, so it’s not THE END, but this should be the end of posts about our Ellie Adventure!
Let me say right now, in unequivocal terms, that if you’re planning on spending a couple of days in Washington, DC, make sure you follow them up with a couple of days in Lancaster County, PA.
I really can’t think of any place better to unwind and recover from the intensity of DC.
Ahh….I feel better just sifting through these photos!
Although Lancaster is hugely effective at lowering blood pressure, there are still lots of fun things to do in the area. We stopped at the Herr’s Snack Factory in Nottingham, PA for their free tour (which finishes off with warm potato chips right of the line and a small bag of chips to take home) –
and we even  had a 5th generation Herr as our tour guide!
After we got settled in our new campground
a couple of us took a nice dip in the pool.
A perfect end to a travel day!
Thursday we hung out with dear DIL and sweet grandson W (no pictures – but it did involve another pool!), and then in the afternoon we were all delighted by the production of NOAH at Sight and Sound.
Our private backstage tour was a true delight (thanks to J&A’s friend!).
That’s Ellie standing center stage on one of the world’s largest stage. Pretty amazing!
Friday we slept in and then checked out the National Toy Train Museum
which was very, very fun!
Legos!
I love the details in model trains!
We did a bit of shopping and then just hung around the campground, packing up and getting ready for our next trip – taking Ellie back to her family! 🙁
Once again we were headed across the state to hook-up with Mom and Dad, but this time we stopped at the Flight 93 Memorial
So glad we stopped – we must never forget their sacrifice.
And so it was we returned Ellie to her family and our long awaited adventure drew to a close. I know it’s a week that we won’t forget anytime soon, and we trust that Ellie will keep some of these memories close also!
Just think – it’s only two years until it’s Hayley’s turn!
Oh – I almost forgot – you’d like to scroll through the whole set of Ellie’s Adventure – Here you go! Â I think they are in relatively the correct order!
The Middle
Ten things we loved about The Middle of our adventure (Washington, DC).
1. The Metro. What better way to start an adventure than to navigate through public transportation. Green line, express buses, escalators…. We came, we saw, we conquered! (and we didn’t have to fuss with DC traffic!)
2. The Air and Space Museum. This was Ellie’s first choice for the Smithsonian’s and we hopped around from the IMAX 3D movie about the Hubble Telescope to the Spirit of St. Louis and back to space travel.
3. The Museum of Natural History. While Ellie wasn’t very interested in the dinosaurs or mummies, there were plenty of other things to see at this museum. Like the Hope Diamond and the gems and minerals and the butterflies!
4. The Museum of American History. So much to see here – everything from American Icons like Kermit the Frog and Dorothy’s ruby slippers, to the First Lady’s Dresses and an amazing doll house. Oh, and a neat ol’ RV  over in the transportation section! 
5. Seeing the actual flag that flew over Ft. McHenry and inspired the Star Spangled Banner.
6. And then getting to help hold a replica of that flag while we all sang our National Anthem.
7. Our National Mall Walking tour. I think Grams and Pops liked this a bit better than Ellie, but our tour guide was great and I’d highly recommend them – DCbyFoot.
I think that Ellie might have thought these were a bit more fun –
Maybe next time!
We learned lot of interesting facts about the monuments themselves –
The Washington Monument, with all of its scaffolding.
WWII Memorial – with its two theatres of conflict.
The Vietnam Memorial – so moving in so many ways.
The Korean War Memorial – beautifully done
And the Lincoln Monument. We didn’t quite have the stamina to climb the stairs (it was at the end of our tour), but we’re pretty sure he’s still sitting up there.
8. The Hirshhorn Gallery.
Ellie really wanted to stop at a gallery, and since we were walking by, we chose this one. I’m not sure it was the best choice, but it certainly demonstrated the wide variety of what is considered “artâ€. Their special exhibit was on Experiments in Mixed Media –
Hmmmm……
9. A very patient Pops.
Who was also our designated pack horse, carrying our water and lunch and souvenirs all around DC!
We love him!!
10. And last but not least – the pool at the campground.
What a wonderful way to end a day of heavy-duty tourism!
And finally our “official†DC Picture. You might think it would be in front of a monument or important building. But for our dear Ellie, it’s owls all the way. So we couldn’t resist taking a moment to pause in front of the owl display!
As “Middles” go – this was a double-stuff! Â There is so much to see and do in DC that we (obviously) only scratched the surface! But for us, it was just right. Â Next up – The Big Finish!
In case you were hankering to see some additional pictures of our DC adventure – Here you go!
The BIG Finish
THIS time I’m talking about that A/C project at Montrose Bible Conference. Last week, with the help of our friends, Bill and Mary Ann, Gary was able to wrap up some of the last loose ends for the installation. With the extra hands (and one of those crazy lift trucks)
he able to get that suction line leak fixed up at the roof-line and run more thermostat wire (yes, MORE wire!) to connect the heating system to the new thermostats. (This actually had nothing to do with the A/C installation, but it only made sense to combine the functions into one thermostat. Gary had wired the thermostats for both heat and cooling, so we “just” had to get the new wire from the zone valves to those wire connections. Which pretty much meant from the basement to the attic. Which meant long stretches of conduit on the outside of the building. Which pretty much meant gobs more wire. Which is pretty much way more information than you could have possibly wanted. Sorry.)
Here are Bill and Mary Ann working on the conduit. (I had a really cute picture of Bill and Mary Ann actually looking at the camera, but it has disappeared inside of my iPad. Ah, sweet technology!)
In a way it wasn’t a week of hard strenuous work, but it was great to be able to have someone on each level of the work to check for signal lights, dampers open, fan on, etc.
This might just look like a little green light to YOU, but to us it meant that the thermostat was talking to the damper which was talking to the fan which was telling the compressor to turn on and start cooling! We needed to see 28 of them!
{Side note -It was great having Bill and Mary Ann hanging out with us! It turned out to be a pretty rainy week, so we didn’t have much ‘sitting out under the awning’ time, but we share meals and played games and were blessed by their company. And hey – during one of those rainy days, Bill and Gary even got shelves built in the barn! Whatta team!}
This week Gary did a final check on the outdoor units
and I’m happy to report that with only a few glitches (really to be expected considering the size of the job and the miles of wire that were run)
by today everything was humming away. And man, did that feel good! Cool even!
We’ll tie up a couple of loose ends tomorrow and make sure the staff knows how things are set and what needs to happen to make them run. And that’s a good thing, because on Friday we pack up Lizzie and head south. Saturday we collect our granddaughter (Ellie, age 10) for the first ever “Stay with Grams and Pops in the RV for a week ” adventure. We’re so excited to be able to have this one-on-one time with Ellie (and then hopefully with each of the others when they turn 10). We’ll be checking out Washington, DC, the Aquarium in Baltimore, and some sights (and sounds!) in Lancaster. We might even jump in a pool at the campground! We’ve been waiting for this since she was born, so I guess you can tell we’re a bit stoked about it!
I’ll close tonight with a favorite shot of Gary –
If Gary had a Facebook page (like that would ever happen!), this would be his profile picture!
🙂
Finished
(Spoiler Alert – it’s not the A/C {yet})
Eighteen months ago I signed up for a free class over at Craftsy.com. (which is a great site for all kinds of crafters, BTW, not just quilters! Check it out sometime!) It was the 2012 Block of the Month class and I figured it was a great way to use up my plethora of fabric (aka The Stash). Each month they presented a different technique and had you construct two blocks (usually with a little modern twist) using that technique. The premise was that by October you’d have 20 blocks, November you’d sew them together, and by the end of the year you’d have a completed quilt. I must say that the true beauty of the course (and every course offered by Craftsy) is that the classes are always available, so even if you get a month or two behind, you can still watch March’s class in June. Just sayin’. In case that might ever happen to you.
And so I got started – all Stash, all the way!
By January of 2013, I had all the blocks completed!
Next came the quilting! By this time, the good people at Craftsy (in their infinite marketing wisdom) were offering a course called “Free Motion Quilting a Sampler” based on (you guessed it) the 2012 BOM Quilt! Along with the traditional method of quilting a full quilt top, it also taught a ‘quilt as you go’ technique that really appealed to me, given my limited studio (i.e. kitchen table) space. So I set out to quilt each block individually, following the expert guidance on the computer! Borders added (full disclosure – I did purchase the border and joining fabrics) and backing selected (also from the stash), ready to quilt!
It was great to only have to handle a 15 inch square instead of a 60 x 75 quilt top,
and while I still have a long way to go in my free-motion quilting, I’m definitely a lot better than I was.
The joining of the blocks went a bit more quickly that I thought it would (thankfully – I was a little nervous about how that would all work!), and by noon yesterday, a mere 18 months after I started the project, it was FINISHED!
Quilting each block individually gave me the opportunity to use up a batch of fat quarters that have lived in my stash for about 15 years (they came as a bonus with my sewing machine) as the backing. And that made for a pretty interesting back too!
It feels pretty good to wrap up that project.
But here’s the thing.
Back in January 2012 when I was starting the whole project I decided to do two sets of blocks each month. One with my green/gold/ecru stash and one with my blue/yellow/white stash.
And those, dear friends, are still staring me in the face!
All in good time. All in good time. Next up on the quilting agenda is a Baby Quilt! 🙂
