Easter walk at Oak's Bottom

Spring is here!  Look at the color

Today is Easter Sunday.  The sky looks a little overcast and it's cool outside but every now and then the sun breaks out through the cloud cover and it gets warm and bright.  My husband and I decided to go for a walk somewhere other than our usual stroll in the neighborhood.  We decided to go to Oak's Bottom Trail which is a lovely nature walk around a bird refuge.  It's a pretty easy walk but it does have some irregular terrain, so it's not all flat and since it is a protected bird refuge, there usually is something interesting to see.   Also, it is connected to the Spring Water Trail so you can walk all the way along the river into Portland if you want a big workout.  We like the nature trail the best because you do not have to share it with people on bicycles ....an occasional runner...maybe.

We parked in the neighborhood just above the beginning of the trail and walked down toward the river on the path that runs alongside the historic Sellwood Church.  The Rhodie pictured above was growing beside the church.

So many different plants are putting out their Spring blooms.  No wonder so many friends are struggling with itchy eyes and stuffy noses!

We have had lots of rain and everything has a sparkly, lush look to it.  The greens are all light "Spring Greens.  New leaves just coming out all fresh and bright.

,

We were having a good time, enjoying the walk,
watching for birds, and taking pictures for fun.
AND THEN WE FOUND THIS!!!!!

Looks like the Easter Bunny has been walking along the trail too!

love where these are "hidden"

Bright colored plastic eggs carefully placed in amongst the green along the trail.  What Fun!  We had a great time walking along and finding them.  How wonderful that someone thought to buy eggs, fill them with treasures (yes, we checked them out) and left them along a nature trail for people to find.  They were pretty easy to spot, but some of them were cleverly tucked in places that were not so obvious.  We enjoyed the challenge but left them there for others to find.....hopefully, some kids.

Hot pink among the green

The Oak's Bottom trail runs along the base of a hillside and so it is out of the wind that is pretty strong in that area along the river and the Spring Water Trail.  There is a lot to take in and if you are observant you might see all kinds of things.  We have seen many of the birds that live there, all kinds ducks, herons, eagles and osprey.  I understand there are beavers there too, but we haven't yet spotted any.

This is the view from the observation platform on the trail.  All the tall grass that is choking the waterways, unfortunately, is purple strife.  It has a beautiful purple bloom later in the year, but even though it is beautiful, it is an invasive species and seems to be ever expanding into what should be open water.  The water birds seem to like it though.  It does give them cover and is probably a great hunting ground.

The lake is fed by lots of water coming off the hillside...like this little spring.  The park service has built walkways up an over most of the really wet boggy places so it is easier to walk the trail and not get all muddy.

AHA!!!  We found our Easter Bunny!!!  This young man with his basket of eggs was out accompanied by his Grandmother and her dog.  He was busy carefully putting eggs out along the trail.  I don't know how many he had, but we spotted a lot on our walk.

This was a fun group of people walking the trail.  I believe the lady on the left is the Grandmother of our Easter Bunny.  All these folks had little dogs and the dogs seemed very happy to be able to romp with other of their own kind/size.

look at these little guys (the dogs)

So, all in all, we had a great day.  We did finally see  some kids with arms loaded with collected eggs.  I am sure that if they had known they would be finding eggs, they would have brought baskets with them.  Their parents were trying to convince them to leave some for other people to find.

Raph picked up an egg for a souvenir

Inside was this: "Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." -Lao Tzu

(and a pink puffy chick)

HOPE YOU  ALL HAVE A WONDERFUL EASTER

love, 

Margaret

Needle Felting a pet for an American Girl Doll

A Basset Hound for Kit

Meet "Molly" my newest  needle felted creation.  She turned out really cute and my grand daughter, Aria, is pretty happy with her and so am I.

Why Molly was created::

Before Christmas The American Girl company opened up an American Girl pop-up store in downtown Portland, Oregon and my daughter-in-law, granddaughter and I went together on the new MAX line to check it out and do some shopping.  Aria had saved her own money and had a shopping list of accessories for her doll Kit that she was hoping to be able to buy at the store.

If you are not familiar with American Girl Dolls.....let me tell you...they have quite the following and have been around long enough to have generations of enthusiasts.  Older, special edition dolls are highly collectable.

 The dolls are very well made and have the most amazing accessories to go with them.  You can have a doll that looks like you, hair color, eye color, glasses, dental head gear, or even a wheelchair.  Every year there is a special edition collectable doll and there are also "Forever" dolls that represent different girls from American history and ethnicity and come with their own book that tells their story.   All the dolls are very expensive and the cost of all the wonderful little things that go with them adds up FAST!!!! The quality, however, is very high and the attention to all the little details is amazing.

The American Girl pop-store was at Pioneer Square in downtown Portland and the MAX dropped us off right in front of the store.  The store was filled with little girls clutching their dolls with their moms and grandmothers so we fit right in.

Aria has four American Girl Dolls.  One of which she purchased with her own money....Kit.  Kit is a "Forever" doll who is a girl reporter from the 1930's era.  Aria was wanting to buy Kit's camera and  typewriter sets and she did ...with her own money.  Her mom and I proceeded to pick out things for Kit too (and things for Aria's other dolls as well).  Aria made quite a haul that day and was so excited to get back to the house and play with everything.

Back to needle felting::

The doll Kit has a pet Basset Hound and there was one in the store.  It was a basic, simple little stuffed animal that cost quite a bit for what it was.  I said "Grandma can make you a better one".
So,  I have finally done it and made good my promise.

Here's Aria with Kit and Molly.....and a big smile.   Molly turned out really well but needed accessories of her own, so I made a dog bed, with a pillow and Aria put a "M" on it,  I made a bone (every dog should have one) and Aria made a ball so Molly would have a toy too.

Molly the Basset Hound with bed, bone and ball.

Here's that beautiful smile again.  I think she is really happy with how everything worked out.  We chose the purple/ off-red color combination because Aria was not sure if the dog should be male of female.  She settled on the name Molly....so  IT"S A GIRL"

Molly has sewn in glass eyes, short wrinkled legs and very big feet.  I made a wire armature first and felted the figure in all white around the armature in order to give the figure stability and keep the proportions right.  There is pink on the inside of the ears and two shades of brown with black roving that overlays the white body to create the markings.

Because the figure was felted over a wire armature it is slightly posable....especially the tail.  The whole project took about 5 hours.

Here's a picture of Kit in her bed with her look-alike mini doll (yes, even the dolls have dolls!) and her faithful Basset Hound, Molly in her very own bed with bone
and ball.   So Cute!

Happiness is ...spending time together & creating together....most of all....making memories together

Hope Life is being sweet to you and may all your creations bring smiles as great as this one.

Love to all,
Margaret