Letterboxing in Benicia

A fun new activity!! I just discovered Letterboxing via one of the blogs I read, Potted Frog. (This is why I love blogs!) Letterboxing is very much like Geo-Caching, except you don't have to have a hand-held GPS. Visit one of the letterboxing websites, letterboxing.org is one, and locate letterboxes near you, or in an area you are planning to visit.

A letterbox is a waterproof box hidden somewhere in a public area. At the letterbox website you are given clues and directions to follow to help you find the box. They are never in plain sight; they might be hidden under a bush or leaves, or in a pile of rocks. Inside the letterbox (usually a plastic food container) will be a rubber stamp (often hand-carved), a small notebook, and possibly a pen and/or ink pad. You should take with you your own rubber stamp, ink pad, small notebook, and pen or pencil. Once you find the box you stamp its notebook with your stamp, then write the date and sign your "trail name." You then stamp your own notebook with the stamp found in the letterbox.

I did a search for letterboxes here in Benicia and found two! This afternoon, for a fun outing, Mike and I went in search of them. We found both. One set of clues required us to slide down a concrete slide at a park! The other had us start at the old Capitol Building downtown. I won't give any more info than that as I don't want to give away the locations of the boxes. We stamped the letterbox notebook with our stamp, a striped cat (using orange ink!) and wrote the date and our trail name, we chose Stripey Jack. It was fun to look through the notebook and see who else has visited the box, and when. One had been visited just two days ago.

We now have our first two letterbox stamps in a small notebook (pictured above). Oh, and each letterbox has a name which corresponds to the stamp inside. The two here in Benicia are called "Witchypoo" and "Sandlot."

This would be a great activity for families; kids love it because it's just like going on a treasure hunt. Before you go, though, be sure to read the rules and etiquette of letterboxing found at letterboxing.org, and other letterboxing websites. There's some definite need-to-know stuff there such as being very discreet once you've found the box, what to do if you can't find the box, etc. Here's a great getting-started article. Best of all, it's great motivation to get outside walking and exploring. Take your dogs, too!

So, put on your hiking shoes and get out there!

Not Enough Time, Never Enough Time

My "happy" little bundle of quilting fabrics. The book contains the pattern I'll be following, called "A Piece of Summer."

This is what I want to work on this weekend.

But I have client layouts to finish up. And some things to do around the house and yard. And family to keep company with. And meals to cook. And books to read with a cat in my lap. And some sleeping (including napping). And I'm doing everything way more slowly than usual due to the current heat wave and no A/C in our little house.

Don't get me wrong. I love doing all the above. But it's still hard to be patient and let this quilt-to-be wait its turn. Honestly, I don't know HOW I ever squeezed in a full-time job!

What's awaiting your attention?

My Own Eco-Friendly Produce Bags

A few weeks back I found these pale blue sheer curtains at a flea market. I got two panels for $5.00. I washed them in hot water and bleach, then hung them to dry. I had plans to repurpose them as reusable eco-friendly produce bags.

This tiny white "treat" bag from a wedding was my inspiration, not so much for the bag itself since that was just a simple rectangle, but I LOVE the drawstrings. Not just your ordinary drawstrings, these are the type that draw shut from both sides, and are super-easy to re-open.

Here is one of my finished bags. In cutting up the sheers I found I would be able to get 8 to 10 bags out of each panel, so I'll end up with a total of at least 16 bags. Four are completely finished. The next dozen will sew up quickly since now I've got all the shortcuts figured out.

The drawstrings are a teensy bit more trouble than the regular ones (that draw shut only on one side) because two separate strings must be threaded completely through the casing but are worth it for their ease of use and, I think, they're just cuter! I used lengths of yarn that I have in my stash so the 16 to 20 bags I'll end up with only cost me $5.00 and a little of my time.

Here is one of the bags with three Gala apples inside, giving an idea of the size of the bags, which are very close to the standard plastic ones available in any grocery store.

I'm pretty happy with them!