Waves crashing into the rocks at Picnic Rocks

It’s been snowing on and off all day, but I decided to go for a quick walk this afternoon.  I tend to hibernate indoors during the winter months, so I have to force myself outside sometimes.

I’m checking my neighbor’s house every day while she’s out of town just to make sure her furnace is still working.  (It went out on her a couple years back, and her pipes nearly froze before she got home.)  While I was out there, I did some strategic shoveling so Andrew would have a path to the garage if he needed something out there.  It was quite pleasant outdoors, so I grabbed my camera, and off I went.

The wind always blows harder by the lake, and it was blowing pretty hard out there today.  It certainly was NOT pleasant over there!

Wind blowing snow across the bike path

I wandered down the bike path, with the wind howling at my back.  This almost looks like a black and white picture, except for the red poles they put up so they’d know where to plow when the snow gets deep.  The round things are tires, part of some playground equipment.  If you click on the picture, you can enlarge it so you can see the waves on Lake Superior in the background.

My hands were freezing, but I wanted to get the last picture of the Marquette Lighthouse off in the distance.  It was snowing pretty hard by then.  I snapped it quick and got my gloves back on.  Just in that short amount of time, my hands were numb.  It took quite a bit of moving them around inside my gloves to get them warmed up again.

Marquette lighthouse with waves in foreground

The wind dropped off as I moved away from the shore, so I wandered down the bike path a little ways.  It was tempting to take my usual walk, but I was worried about walking into the wind on the way home, so I cut it short.  Good choice, as I was ready to go into my nice warm house when I got home.  But I enjoyed my adventure out in the snowstorm.

This didn’t quite happen in Marquette, but it’s reasonably close…

Kid Rock came up to the Upper Peninsula last fall to shoot a video. I finally got around to watching it tonight. Great song, and even better, it features the Pictured Rocks, over by Munising, which is about 40 miles from here. Lake Superior really is that beautiful turquoise color. After seeing this, you’ll understand why I fell in love with the Lake and the UP the first time I ever came up here.

Ice on rocks with Upper Harbor ore dock in background. You can see a house at the left. I've always loved it and wished I lived there, but I'll bet it's scary when the waves get big!

As much as I love living in the UP, sometimes it can be a bit challenging in the winter months.  Storms blow through on a regular basis, dumping loads of snow.  The latest, a couple of weeks ago, was a doozy even by UP standards, with high winds and big waves for days on end, along with lake effect snow that just wouldn’t stop for nearly a week.

But then the sun comes out, and you get a few mild days so you can get out and go for a walk.  And then you find out again why you live here.

The Big Lake magically changes from a sullen gray to a sparkling blue.  The sun glints off thousands of ice crystals in the snow.  Bare tree branches are silhouetted against an incredibly blue sky.

Here are some pictures I took the other day when I was out walking on the beach.  If you want to make them bigger, just click on them.  Click a second time to make them bigger yet.

Trees covered with ice at Picnic Rocks. The last storm brought huge waves with it. If you enlarge the picture, you can see the lighthouse at the end of the Upper Harbor breakwater in the background, and the White Rocks to the right of it.

Tree branch encased in ice at Picnic Rocks

Ice on rocks at McCarty Cove. I think the waves may have been breaking over these rocks during the last storm.

Sandbar leading to rocks at McCarty Cove. It looks like a pathway to an ice castle! This wll probably wash away in the next storm. The beach is always changing.

What my backyard looks like. Only there's more snow now! And the sun is definitely NOT out today.

Well, we didn’t have much snow for a while, but it looks like the Upper Peninsula is going to live up to it’s wintry reputation this week.  It’s been snowing since Sunday.  I went out and cleared the driveway yesterday, but it’s pretty much filled back in already.  Plus the city plow left a BIG pile at the end of the drive.  Oh well.  Nobody here has to go anywhere today, which is probably a good thing.

Poor Andrew had oral surgery yesterday.  He wasn’t a very happy camper last night, but he’s feeling somewhat better today.  Having had oral surgery myself some years back,  I’d rather shovel the driveway with a teaspoon than to go through that!  But at least it’s over now, and he can focus on recovering.  I’m taking good care of him, and feeding him lots of soft food.

Enough with the non-quilting stuff.  Finally finished the diagonal strip quilt yesterday.  All I had to do was to bind it, but one corner just wouldn’t cooperate, so it took a bit longer than I thought it would.  But the quilt and I finally came to an agreement, and it’s now sporting a cheerful yellow binding.  A picture will follow after it’s washed.  Then I WILL mail those three quilts off to the ALS Quilt Challenge this week!

Today I want to make another block for the BASICS Home Gather that V is doing right now.  Plus I started a small free-pieced quilt the other day.  Just sat down and playing around with sewing scraps and strips together.  I want to finish that today, and get it quilted and add it to the pile for the AAQI.  Once I get three done, I’ll register them and send them off.

Plus I’m thinking about my next donation quilt.  I’ve joined the Heartstrings Yahoo Group, which is a group that makes string quilts to donate.  You can send them completed blocks, tops, quilts, or fabric, or you can make quilts and donate them locally.  I’m going to take the second route, since I obviously have a problem with mailing things off.  (Actually it’s hard to get to the post office.  Parking is impossible.  It’s easier to walk than to drive, but it’s too cold to walk down there right now, especially with a large box.)

My plans include making crib and child-sized quilts for the local women’s center, and maybe some 60″ by 80″ quilts for the Salvation Army, too.  So I’m thinking about doing the 20″ wide strips mentioned in Mile-A-Minute-Quilts by Sharon Hultgren.  Or I may just do individual strip blocks and quilt-as-you-go.

Why you don't go out on the breakwater during a storm...

This is a picture from last fall.  There’s a sign warning people to stay off the breakwater during storms because people have been swept away in the past.  Andrew was standing right at the beginning of it, but I was so nervous about him being there that he didn’t stay there very long, thank goodness.

Enough of this.  I’m off to sew!

Looks like our January thaw might be over for a bit.  But I sure enjoyed it  while it lasted!  Here are a few pictures from my walks along the Lake Superior beach last weekend.

Woo hoo, look at our thermometer! Been a while since it's been this warm!

Ice balls along the beach on Saturday. They were nearly melted the next day, so I'm glad I got this shot! They look like something from outer space, don't they?

Look at the neat designs in this chunk of ice. Be sure to click on it to enlarge it. This could be a quilting design!

Somebody built snowmen in these planters in Mattson Park at the Lower Harbor. They have petunias in them in the summer. Sitting on those benches right now would be a challenge, wouldn't it?

It was cloudy and overcast today, so I stayed in and sewed all day!

The big news is that I finished “Winter Journey,” my first Liberated Challenge Quilt!  By the time I finished the binding this afternoon, I didn’t feel like messing around with the camera.  Besides, I want to get out my light box and get some good photos, so I’ll do that in the morning.  I will tell you it came out really cool.  There will be pix tomorrow!

Strings! These are an inch and a half wide. Guess what I was doing today?

Leaders and enders. I wound up with over 100 little four-patches from this pile! Almost enough for another quilt top already. You can see that I'm getting liberated and using up all my old thread, too! Who says you have to piece with white thread?

Besides sewing loads of four-patches, I also finished piecing the borders for my barn-raising quilt, which I’m going to call Barn Dance.  I’ll get the borders sewed on tomorrow, and then that top will be ready for quilting.  Pix will follow!

So you can see I’ve been a busy little girl!  I’ve been sewing my heart out, and having a blast!