Just like that my weekend is over.
I was up early Saturday morning to play pickleball at 8 am. It was a little misty and the court was a little wet, but I managed to get a couple of good games in.
After about 1.5 hours of pickleball I was on my way to Battle Ground, WA, for Rico’s weekly sheep herding lesson. We had two weeks without a herding lesson so we felt a little green out there and the sheep were feeling frisky and a little unpredictable. But we all enjoyed ourselves. Well, I imagine the sheep didn’t enjoy it as much as Rico and I did.
All of this and I was home before noon! I really can’t tell you what I did with the remainder of my day.
I got up early this morning and met my pickleball coach for a great lesson. He worked me really hard for nearly 2.5 hours. I was pretty tired by the end of it. We worked on a lot of different skills and he tried some new shots on me to see if I could defend them. I handled them pretty well.
I had taken the dogs with me since it was cloudy and cool and when I was done with Pickleball I threw the toy for them in the park until they told me they were done. Might have been five or six hours! Hahaha!
We were home by about 11:30 and I laid on the sofa with ice packs all over my body for about an hour. Then I took a bit of a stroll around the back yard to pick up, well, you know.
I noticed that my snowball tree has some little blooms on it.

Not quite as spectacular as its spring blooms.
I have four red maple trees in my back yard of two different varieties. The first variety is in full color right now.

When these trees start to fade, the other two will change color. They are the really spectacular ones called October Glory. The October Glories are on of my favorite things about fall.
One of the things I love about fall in Portland is that the minute the rain starts, the moss starts growing. Here’s a close up of some moss on a paving stone.

It’s like a mini landscape.
While I was out there I picked some of the last tomatoes for my dinner salad.

I might have enough for one or two more salads. It makes me sad to know tomato season is over. I just love garden tomatoes in the summer.
Before dinner I hit my sewing room to start putting the linings for my two bags together. I got a lot done.
I sewed and installed the two slip pockets.

I made the zipper pockets for each bag..

I’ve gotten where I can make these now without referring to any instructions or measurements. I used to be so intimidated by these zippers!
I think this is the zipper pocket tutorial that I used way back when. I do make my pockets a lot bigger than the one in this video. They end up being about 11 inches wide and 10 inches deep.
I also finished up the zipper plackets for the top of each bag.

Here’s all the pieces ready to be assembled and then sewn into the bags.

I had planned to finish up the two bags after I had my dinner. But I made the mistake of laying down on the sofa with Netflix on, and that’s all she wrote. What’s left to do is really minor. Just sew the zipper plackets to the top of each lining piece, then sew the side and bottom seams. Then the gussets. And then sew them into the bags.
It seemed like it took me a long time to get these lining pieces all done. And then I realized that’s because I did two linings at a time. I usually only do one. The good thing is that I’ll have two bags completed at the same time.
Facebook has given me some great memories the last few days. First up is this photo of Bender from when he was about five months old. He was handsome even then and definitely still a puppy.

And this next photo is of me and my beloved Forrest… the Magnificent Beast from my tattoo. This was taken on the beach near Cannon Beach, OR, when a friend was visiting a good number of years ago.

I loved that photo. I loved that dog. I miss him every day.
We have a mixed bag for weather coming up.

October can be all rain, so I’m liking that we have some sunny days mixed in with the clouds and rain.
Another work week on its way. Be strong Anne!


























































































