Hidden Gems

I love finding hidden gems!  Especially when they involve travel and history.
And the history doesn't always have to be ancient for a place to be interesting.

Last week we stopped in Monroeville Alabama.  It's a very small town with a southern feel.
But it also had a feeling of familiarity. 

The streets were quiet.  Not much traffic.  But not surprising due to the fact that Monroeville is in the middle of nowhere.

There was a sense of history.  Something had happened here. 

 

 Does this building look familiar?

 

 

 

Monroeville is where the movie To Kill a Mockingbird was filmed.  Many of the local businesses are named Lee as Harper Lee had family here and that's why this town was chosen.

 

We weren't able to spend a lot of time in Monroeville but were told that the town reenacts parts of the movie each year.  Hopefully we can return to enjoy that and more sometime soon.

 

 

Until next time ~

Terri 

Crochet Projects

My nephew and his wife are expecting their first child!  It's a boy!

A baby boy deserves a cuddly, soft blanket.

 

It had to be blue, and the yarn as soft as a cloud. 

A crocheted shell stitch of my own design.  A simple creation starting with a center square
and then working around the edges.

Baby is due in April and for once I'm ahead of schedule.

Another project just completed is a shawl for a friend.

She's been fighting cancer and we will be visiting her next month.

A design creation using a simple ripple pattern. 

So soft and comforting.

A homemade gift always shows you really care.
 

There are a few more projects underway and those will be shared soon, so come back.

 

 

Until next time~

 

Terri

The Cruise

Forgive me for not completing our travelog sooner.  I got caught up in the GYOB party and have been visiting ever since!  What fun it's been meeting new bloggers and reconnecting with old friends.

But I do want to finish telling you about our Alaska journey, so here goes ~


The land portion of our journey was incredible.  We saw more than we thought possible and felt incredibly blessed for this opportunity.  But the adventure was only half over.  We still had a cruise ahead, glaciers to see, and visits to ports along the way.

We took another train from Talkeetna to Whitier to board our ship, the Coral Princess.

The weather was foggy and we were worried about what would be missed

by not being able to see very far.

As we approached the first glacier, the sky cleared!

The ice was amazing. 

 

 

And bald eagles were everywhere.

Even on ice burgs.

 

Our first port was Skagway

and we took a city tour.

 

 

 

 

 

Skagway is a fun little place, full of quaint shops and history.

We wern't there long enough.

 

 

Then quickly back to the water for our next stop...

Juneau

and whale watching!

 

 

We took a small tour boat and headed out

and were not disappointed.

 

 

 

Whales were everywhere!

 

 

 

 

As were sea lions

 

 

and more beautiful scenery.

 

 

Our last port was in Ketchikan

and it was raining.

 

 

Not just raining, pouring!

 

 

 

 

After wandering around and getting soaked

we decided to return to the ship

and enjoy the afternoon drying out onboard.

 

Sometimes life happens when you're making other plans.

 

I hope you've enjoyed a snapshot of our journey.  It's been fun

revisiting and sharing.

 

 

Until next time ~

 

Terri

And the Winner Is....

Congratulations to SuZeQ, the winner of the GYOB giveaway! 

Many thanks to Vicki at 2 bags full for arranging another great blog party. I visited many blogs and found some new friends, beautiful and creative blogs, and have signed up to follow many as well.

Thank you to all who took time to stop by and visit.  I hope to continue visiting more blogs and add to my list of those I follow in the future.

It's been fun!


                       Until next time....
                          Terri

Grow Your Blog Party & Giveaway!

Thank you for visiting!  And a big thank you to Vicki for again organizing this event!!

My name is Terri and I am a basket maker, knitter and photographer with a travel habit.

My blog is mostly about my creations with needles, both pine and knitting. I love texture. The softest yarns and silks and the smoothness of a finished basket are some of what I live for. And although these crafts seem to be opposites, I've found that my creativity blooms during the in-between times of working on one or the other. 

I love designing and creating unique baskets and jewelry out of long leaf pine needles. As you can imagine, baskets take a remarkably long time to make, and most I keep or use as gifts. But some are also sold.  I went to China a few years ago on a mission trip and that inspired me to turn my basket making into a ministry. When an item sells, the money is used to help support missionaries in China. 

I also make jewelry out of pine needles.  Using semi-precious cabachon stones with pine needles wrapped around and sewn, creating unique, one-of-a-kind pendants.

Another favorite hobby is knitting and crochet and, like many of my fellow knitters, I always have a few projects in process. I am blessed to have three beautiful grandchildren and enjoy spoiling them with handmade treasures. 

My church has a knitting group and we make items to sell and then donate the proceeds to missions. This has been a great way to learn new patterns and techniques and to make things for a purpose.  Fringe scarves and fingerless gloves were a big hit this year!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As I mentioned, I have a bit of a travel habit.  My husband, the Captain, and I enjoy traveling and are always looking for new places to explore. When we travel I enjoy sharing our journey with anyone interested or will sit still for a few minutes.  

This past year we went to Alaska.  We saw spectacular scenery, wildlife, and what can only be described as raw nature.  

Mt. McKinley was behind us but the clouds kept coming and going.

We finally got to see the mountain!

The sunsets were fabulous!

And the leaves were turning at just the right time.

The glaciers were awe inspiring.

You can read about our entire trip in previous posts on this blog.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Now for the giveaway....

 This year's giveaway is a handmade designer fringe scarf! 

Lilac and lavenders, shades of green, hues of blue and some pink and purple sari silk.

This scarf is made with lightweight, multicolored, and multi-textured yarns and ribbons and several pieces of recycled sari. The sari silk is hand cut by women in India who recycle their beautiful saris (the traditional clothing of Indian women) by cutting them into strips. My purchase of their product gives them an opportunity to enhance their lives.

The scarf is lightweight--almost like wearing a necklace, which doesn't limit it to cold-weather apparel. In fact, it were designed especially for springtime, full of the colors of everything in bloom.   Each scarf has about 20 strands of the softest, silkiest yarns you can imagine! Keeping the number of strands less for the spring scarf also keeps it from being too warm as the temperatures rise.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post!

***The winner does not have to have a blog -- anyone can enter -- anyone can win - regardless of where you live.***

The winner will be drawn on February 15, 2015 and will be announced here! 

 

THE CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

 

CONGRATULATIONS  TO SuZeQ Creations!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~  

So that's all about me :-) 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will leave a comment so I'll know who you are and can visit you too!

Until next time ~

     Terri

Travels to Talkeetna

Our journey continued with a train ride to Talkeetna.

 

Along the way the scenery continued to be spectacular!

We stayed at the Mt. McKinley Lodge.

If the clouds would have lifted we could have seen

Mt. McKinley from this point.

 

So lucky we got to see it in the park!

 



In Talkeetna we visited a dog sled camp.

This was the real thing.  The owner has run the Iditarod a dozen times

and these are his dogs.

Because there's no snow they got to pull us on wheels.

 



But yours truly got to stand up in the back,

kinda like what it would be like on a sled.

 



And the visit wouldn't be complete without seeing the puppies!

 



Tomorrow we board the Alaskan Railroad and head to

Whittier to board our ship.

 

Until next time ~

 

Terri