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September 16, 2026
Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk and Twin Barns Loop from ... Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. We've made good use of our time here in Olympia, Washington, and we'll be moving on to our next stop in Forks today. We'll have four days in Forks, and we have a lot of sight-seeing on the agenda. If the forecast is to be believed, we should have good weather while we're there.

Backing up to yesterday, we checked off the first item on our sight-seeing list with our walk on the Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk and Twin Barns Loop. Both hikes can be found at the Billy Frank, Jr., Nisqually National ...

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Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk and Twin Barns Loop from Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. We've made good use of our time here in Olympia, Washington, and we'll be moving on to our next stop in Forks today. We'll have four days in Forks, and we have a lot of sight-seeing on the agenda. If the forecast is to be believed, we should have good weather while we're there.

Backing up to yesterday, we checked off the first item on our sight-seeing list with our walk on the Nisqually Estuary Boardwalk and Twin Barns Loop. Both hikes can be found at the Billy Frank, Jr., Nisqually National ...

read more
September 15, 2026
Funnies, Bunnies, and Blooms from ... Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. When I left you yesterday, I was thinking I'd wait until after our hike to blog again. But then we had so much going on yesterday, and I managed to take dozens of pictures again. Since I know I'll take bazillions of pictures on our hike today, it seemed like a good idea to cut down on the volume for my next post. We're planning to do our hike in a couple of hours...and bonus! It rained last night, but the forecast is for dry weather for the hike. Yay!

Okay, so ...

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Funnies, Bunnies, and Blooms from Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. When I left you yesterday, I was thinking I'd wait until after our hike to blog again. But then we had so much going on yesterday, and I managed to take dozens of pictures again. Since I know I'll take bazillions of pictures on our hike today, it seemed like a good idea to cut down on the volume for my next post. We're planning to do our hike in a couple of hours...and bonus! It rained last night, but the forecast is for dry weather for the hike. Yay!

Okay, so ...

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On Our Way from ... Cat Patches

Good afternoon, my friends. We find ourselves in Olympia, Washington, this afternoon. It was a relatively short day of driving to get here. It began with some last-minute packing and preparation, and then, we were on our way. We spotted some fall color as we drove away from our home. I expect we'll a lot more of this as we make our way through Washington.


Traffic was fairly light getting through downtown Portland, which was a nice change from the usual bumper-to-bumper we often find there, no matter the day or time. And soon, we crossed the Interstate Bridge ...

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On Our Way from Cat Patches

Good afternoon, my friends. We find ourselves in Olympia, Washington, this afternoon. It was a relatively short day of driving to get here. It began with some last-minute packing and preparation, and then, we were on our way. We spotted some fall color as we drove away from our home. I expect we'll a lot more of this as we make our way through Washington.


Traffic was fairly light getting through downtown Portland, which was a nice change from the usual bumper-to-bumper we often find there, no matter the day or time. And soon, we crossed the Interstate Bridge ...

read more
September 14, 2026
European Patchwork Finale- REPOST from Humble Quilts

This is a repost from October 2015. I'm heading back to Alsace and will be posting snippets in the Facebook group but not on my blog. Feel free to join HERE.





I saw some great antique quilts for sale by Jane Lury "Labors of Love". I'm not sure why she wasn't in the vendor area. It didn't seems like the antiques had a big following as this is an artsy kind of show. I knew my blog readers could appreciate the antique quilts.






When we left Alsace we went to........
Germany for a quick beer. Then ...

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September 13, 2026
Making Progress from ... Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. The past couple of days have been busy, but I found some time for sewing yesterday. So, what have I been up to? Oh...thanks for asking! 

A lot of my time has been spent cooking. I made some Frozen Breakfast Burritos, Egg Salad for sandwiches, a lasagna for dinner on the road, and some Jumbo Breakfast Cookies. They're essentially a peanut butter cookie, but they contain raisins, oatmeal and multi-grain Cheerios. We like them as an alternative to Clif bars when we're driving.


We like Clif bars too. Either a cookie or a ...

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Making Progress from Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. The past couple of days have been busy, but I found some time for sewing yesterday. So, what have I been up to? Oh...thanks for asking! 

A lot of my time has been spent cooking. I made some Frozen Breakfast Burritos, Egg Salad for sandwiches, a lasagna for dinner on the road, and some Jumbo Breakfast Cookies. They're essentially a peanut butter cookie, but they contain raisins, oatmeal and multi-grain Cheerios. We like them as an alternative to Clif bars when we're driving.


We like Clif bars too. Either a cookie or a ...

read more
September 11, 2026
Going With the Grain from ... Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. It’s been a mildly hectic week, and so I’ve given myself permission to skip a day or two of blogging. It occurs to me that whether I blog or not has to do with whether I get to do any sewing. If I’m not sewing, the rest of the day is pretty ho-hum…a lot of busy work standing between me and my sewing. 

Yesterday’s busy work happened to include a pedicure. It was good to take a spa break, even if it was for just an hour. As I’ve mentioned ...

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Going With the Grain from Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. It’s been a mildly hectic week, and so I’ve given myself permission to skip a day or two of blogging. It occurs to me that whether I blog or not has to do with whether I get to do any sewing. If I’m not sewing, the rest of the day is pretty ho-hum…a lot of busy work standing between me and my sewing. 

Yesterday’s busy work happened to include a pedicure. It was good to take a spa break, even if it was for just an hour. As I’ve mentioned ...

read more
September 10, 2026
A Little Time for Sewing from ... Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. It's been a couple of days of this's and thats's. I've been keeping up with my slow-stitching each day. On Tuesday, I stitched far enough to decide to move my hoop up.


When I started stitching on Wednesday, I was at this section. I stitched the lower part of the hoop so that I could squeeze those little bits at the top inside the circle for stitching.

For Tuesday's trip into town everything took longer than I thought it would. Happily, I was there early for my haircut and color, and ...

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A Little Time for Sewing from Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. It's been a couple of days of this's and thats's. I've been keeping up with my slow-stitching each day. On Tuesday, I stitched far enough to decide to move my hoop up.


When I started stitching on Wednesday, I was at this section. I stitched the lower part of the hoop so that I could squeeze those little bits at the top inside the circle for stitching.

For Tuesday's trip into town everything took longer than I thought it would. Happily, I was there early for my haircut and color, and ...

read more
September 8, 2026
A Good Day of Sewing from ... Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. It was a better day of weather yesterday. It clouded over for part of the day, but mostly, we saw sunshine and puffy white clouds. I've looked ahead to our first stop next week. If you can believe the forecast a week out, then we should have good weather for our first stop in Olympia next week. Fingers crossed.

There was just one chore on my list yesterday...mopping the floor. Mike helps me with that since there are some heavy things to move out of the way. He always does the sweeping too. With ...

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A Good Day of Sewing from Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. It was a better day of weather yesterday. It clouded over for part of the day, but mostly, we saw sunshine and puffy white clouds. I've looked ahead to our first stop next week. If you can believe the forecast a week out, then we should have good weather for our first stop in Olympia next week. Fingers crossed.

There was just one chore on my list yesterday...mopping the floor. Mike helps me with that since there are some heavy things to move out of the way. He always does the sweeping too. With ...

read more
September 6, 2026
WIPS Sewing and Paying it Forward from ... Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. Our weather is improving somewhat. We saw some blue sky and sunshine yesterday. If the forecast is to be believed, we should start seeing less rain over the coming week. We're still keeping our fingers crossed for good weather when we travel to Washington. We have lots of hiking planned, and it'll be nicer if we don't have to don our rain gear.

Before we get too far afield, I have a couple of patterns to give away. [Edited to say both patterns are spoken for. Sorry.] Usually when I'm finished with ...

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WIPS Sewing and Paying it Forward from Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. Our weather is improving somewhat. We saw some blue sky and sunshine yesterday. If the forecast is to be believed, we should start seeing less rain over the coming week. We're still keeping our fingers crossed for good weather when we travel to Washington. We have lots of hiking planned, and it'll be nicer if we don't have to don our rain gear.

Before we get too far afield, I have a couple of patterns to give away. [Edited to say both patterns are spoken for. Sorry.] Usually when I'm finished with ...

read more
September 3, 2026
Rainy Day from ... Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. It rained most of the day yesterday. Watering the flowers is officially off my to-do list until next week sometime. We're expecting more rain today, and possibly tomorrow. It's fine by me. You might remember several years ago when we took a fall trip and ended up cutting our travels short to return home because of a wildfire threatening our neighborhood. Happily, things are getting a good wetting down as we anticipate this year's fall trip. This rain will go a long way toward greening up our field.

My day started with chopping ...

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Rainy Day from Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. It rained most of the day yesterday. Watering the flowers is officially off my to-do list until next week sometime. We're expecting more rain today, and possibly tomorrow. It's fine by me. You might remember several years ago when we took a fall trip and ended up cutting our travels short to return home because of a wildfire threatening our neighborhood. Happily, things are getting a good wetting down as we anticipate this year's fall trip. This rain will go a long way toward greening up our field.

My day started with chopping ...

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August 28, 2026
Portland Rose Garden and Japanese Garden from ... Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. Well, I said it would be a good day, and it was. It was one of those days when I could have taken thousands of pictures, but I restrained myself. I'll show you what I have. This part of Portland comprises several of its most beautiful and beloved public spaces. Clustered together, one can find the Hoyt Arboretum, Washington Park, Pittock Mansion, Oregon Zoo, International Rose Test Garden, and Portland Japanese Garden. Matthew and I were there to see the Japanese Garden. As it turns out, the place was way busier than expected on a ...

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