May 2026

June 4, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

What happened in May…

In the Garden –

More roses blooming early in the month.

Last year we had so much exterior work on the house (roof, painting, window repair, tuck pointing) that we never put in any kind of garden. But by the end of May, I had planted seven tomato plants, some basil, and some colorful marigolds, zinnias, scabiosa, and sea thrift. There are still many weeds to pull, but there will always be many weeds to pull…

Knitting –

I sewed the buttons on my Zephyr Cardigan.

Zephyr Cardigan, pattern by Celia McAdam Cahill, Knit Picks Wool of the Andes yarn

I started the knitting of Frog and Toad, but then had to take a break, as the tiny needles hurt my thumb joint.

Frog and Toad, in progress, Knit Picks Swish DK yarn

I made progress on socks and a market bag.

Ilene Bag by Hannah Mason, Lang Linello yarn

New yarn – I indulged in a colorful rainbow of mini skeins on a day I needed some cheering up. I also won a skein of sock yarn in the guild raffle. Not sure what either of these will be, but right now, I enjoy just looking at my yarn rainbow.

Reading –

I finished ten books in May. Three were in the Jane Austen adjacent category. In particular, Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney, is a look at other women authors Jane Austen would have been reading in her lifetime, writers who inspired her, and who she refers to in her own writings and letters. These authors have mostly ‘disappeared’ from the literature canon, mainly because they were women. My ‘to be read’ list is now much longer, and I look forward to reading many of the authors described in this book! That may be my project for next year. I love having very long list of books waiting for me!

A Visit to Eugene, May 3rd –

A day with family while our son Brian was on the west coast, visiting from Philadelphia.

Art, but on Ice, May 24th –

Once again, no art museum visit this month. But we attended the Stars on Ice show in Portland, a showcase of Olympic figure skaters. It’s been a while since I have attended a live event, though I do like to watch competitions. This year, I was enchanted by the skill and performances at the Olympics, especially seeing the mutual support of the athletes for each other. With just the right amount of sequins, music, spins, and backflips. What must it be like to have their gravity- and friction-defying motion in their muscle memory! (I took just a few photos – which are blurry because they move so fast!)

In the Neighborhood –

Walking along… I saw

Etc

And more neighborhood signs of resistance…

April 2026

May 15, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

April was a roller coaster, with another great loss. Nevertheless, I made progress on some usual activities.

Neighborhood walks…

Sidewalk of the month:

Knitting…

I finally finished knitting my Zephyr Cardigan. It fits well, and now just needs buttons.

Books…

I finished twelve books in April. In the Jane Austen category, I listened to the BBC radio adaptations of all six novels – a completely satisfying refresher. I also listened to two Nancy Mitford novels, and read two by D.E. Stevenson. All escapism. I suppose my re-listen of The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion was the most pertinent, and sadly, very relatable, and I appreciate having her writing to listen to in a sad time such as this.

Art…

Once again, I did not make it to the Art Museum this month, but I did see a huge new wall mural at one of the remodeled arrival concourses at the Portland Airport. Colorful ceramic tiles suggest a volcanic landscape, or the view from 30,000 feet… with details that look like topography, plants, lakes, lava…it is beautiful!

We also went to the Oregon Potters Association Showcase, and bought some new bowls and trinket dishes.

Patagonia by proxy…

My husband went to Patagonia for a Photography Workshop, and shared photos while visiting the National Park and Fitzroy areas.

Sisters quilting retreat…

While he was gone, two of my sisters came to visit and to work on some quilting projects. We finished four potholders to give to family members in Eugene. I practiced using my Juki machine, and we had more quilting planned after the Eugene weekend.

Eugene weekend…

We were enjoying visiting with siblings and sorting some of our parents photos and other archival material.

We watched the splashdown of Artemis II together. Our father was a rocket engineer, heavily involved in the Saturn V engine development in the early 60’s, so we all have great appreciation for successful space missions.

An afternoon in a family garden…

Only one younger sister wasn’t there, not feeling well – and then we received the sudden news that she had an unexpected fatal cardiac arrest and our world turned upside down. What started as a fun reunion turned to grief. At least we were all together and could console each other; at least we are good people to go through tragedy with; ‘at least‘ is one of the worst phrases in the language…All plans were upended and now I am writing this in May trying to remember what else happened in April.

Toward the end of the month…

My husband returned safely from South America. Our younger son visited from Philadelphia. Our daughter passed all her preliminary PhD exams at Duke, and now “just” has to complete her dissertation over the next few years. Our older son traveled to Trail Blazer post season games, thus the many airport trips. There will be two hikes to report on in a later post.

Etc…

Life continues under the toxic umbrella of war and global disarray that I do not look away from.

March 2026

April 22, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

I’m way behind again, here, with life challenges getting in the way. This is my March at home update. A post about March hiking, and one about our week at Yachats on the Oregon Coast, will follow.

Knitting

I went to one local yarn shop, Close Knit, during the Rose City Yarn Crawl, and bought one skein of a new to me sock yarn. I started knitting the socks later in the month. I am ready to add the button bands to the Zephyr cardigan. I finished a small The Answer Scarf, by Laura Nelkin, with rainbow beads.

Neighborhood

Spring blooms all month long, our neighborhood St Patrick’s Day parade, and our neighborhood No Kings gathering.

3/15 – Our neighborhood St Patrick’s Day Parade…

This homegrown parade generally includes everything from firetrucks and Irish wolfhounds, marching bands and classic cars, to a Mardi Gras Krew, and children’s bicycle floats. The rain held off until after the parade.

Waiting to start – all fun and nonsense.

3/28 Neighborhood No Kings Gathering

We stood with about a thousand people at a busy intersection, many folks on their way to the much bigger gathering and march downtown, including a few Portland Frogs.

Books

I finished 10 books in March. Three were Jane Austen adjacent. I found The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, about the working relationship and friendship between Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune, to be very moving. It makes me mad that we are still struggling against the racism and misogyny they were fighting. My husband and I finally finished our ongoing road trip listen to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a tale I have reread or listened to many times since my teen years. For a palate cleansing, I heartily recommend any book by Alexander McCall Smith, whose books usually describe ridiculous human conflicts that are ultimately solved by kindness.

Art

I didn’t make it to an actual Art Museum in March, but we spent most of a rainy day at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, described in a later post. We were given one of the paintings made by my recently deceased nephew, Nathaniel, and found a place for it in our entryway. It reminds me of the rainbow we saw at his life celebration last month.

Etc.

Well, besides the No Kings day expressions of resistance, I found this quote that reminds me to keep thinking about what I can do in my own sphere, if not able to reach out further at the moment.

February 2026 Hiking

March 18, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

I went on only three hikes in February. We had some down time while my husband recovered from a sudden illness. He is well now. The later walks were in easy, recovery mode.

2/5 – White River snow hike, Mt Hood, Oregon

With snow levels still very low, we were able to hike this out-and-back trail, a long time favorite, with just micro spikes on our boots. There was a small amount of post-holing, but it was mostly fine.

Hiking uphill along the White River moraine – lots of exposed earth.

Our usual lunch spot, about a mile and a half up river, near the Timberline Trail crossing.

Boy Scout Ridge, which we sometimes avoid due to avalanche danger, has exposed plants on the surface today.

Luckily we had more snow by the middle of the month. There is more snow at this location now than there was in the beginning of February.

2/15 – Leach Botanical Garden, Portland

This public garden was gifted to the city of Portland by the estate of John and Lilla Leach. We hadn’t been in many years, but I remember taking my children here when they were young, and walking the stony paths between the plants. There was a bit of a Secret Garden feel to the park. I was aware that there had been a huge remodel and accessibility initiative. There is now a lovely Aerial Walkway that floats through the woodland. Today was our first time to try it. We walked less than a mile in total, as we had a time constraint, and also, my husband was still in recovery mode. Spring flowers were popping in a few beds, with more to come. I hope to return later in the spring to see more flowers.

Trails continue down to Johnson Creek, and to the original stone cottage across the creek.

Some flowers in bloom today…

2/26 – Memaloose Hills, Oregon

A windy day in the gorge. Most of this trail is protected from the strongest blasts, and it is a good conditioning hike (3 miles, 550 feet), as we work on our stamina…

Trailhead view across the Columbia River

Gold stars and grass widows on the upward slopes

View of the gorge and Mt Adams from the top of Chatfield Hill

We continued the loop that circles over the top of Marsh Hill…

View eastward from the top of Marsh Hill toward Tom McCall Point, with Columbia Desert parsley and grass widows among the rocks.

Swales of grass widows just beginning to bloom.

On the drive back toward Mosier, we stopped for a view to the north, to look at the greening slopes of the Coyote Wall and Catherine Creek areas, all burned last summer by the Burdoin Fire.

The good news is that, despite all the chaos in the political world, the flowers of spring are blooming again this year in the Columbia River Gorge!

February 2026

March 15, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

I began February with a lighter heart, having reconnected with many family members in Eugene at the end of January. Cold weather, rain, not enough snow in the mountains, and a week-long interruption due to a (now resolved) medical emergency derailed some of our plans, but on we go…

Knitting and sewing

I spent several days in hospital rooms, keeping my husband company as he was treated for a sudden bad reaction to a medication he was taking. All is well now, and he is recovered, but I spent many hours sitting, and knitting serious/whimsical hats for sock monkeys, and other small creatures. These are in homage to the Resistance Hats that were worn by Norwegians during the Nazi invasion, and now are made by Minnesotans and other knitters, as anti-ICE symbols. I bought the pattern, with proceeds going to help people hurt by ICE. In the meantime, while I was distracted and worried, knitting these little hats kept my hands and part of my brain busy. We have a display of sock monkeys in our window, leftover from early pandemic solidarity, and now they have joined the resistance.

I began with a couple of the sock monkeys and the Emotional Support Chicken.

I found a small amount of green yarn, enough to make a couple of Portland Frog hats

And then added a few more, including a Pussy Hat for good measure.

I also finished a pair of socks.

And I actually sewed with my sewing machine for the first time in a while. I made a travel kimono robe.

Books

I finished five books in February, including three in the Jane Austen-esque category.

2-17– Museum Day – David Hockney Exhibit at the Portland Art Museum

I was not previously familiar with David Hockney, but now I am so impressed with his body of work! The exhibit follows his life, from British art school student to American icon. His art follows his curiosity, into new mediums and subject matter. The impact of anti-homosexual laws in England, the loss of many people to AIDS (bouquets and chairs); portrait, still life, abstract, and landscape images, including one of my favorite places – Yosemite. The work varies from traditional art materials to modern iPad drawings and videography.

David Hockney, Self Portrait, 2012, iPad on Paper

Below are some of my favorites of his earlier works, created with traditional media:

Later works used Photographs and iPad paintings

I really loved this Yosemite Series, 2010, iPad drawings printed on paper:

These two extremely large works, described as Photographic Drawings printed on paper, play with perspective:

25th June, 2022, Looking at the Flowers, 2022. In this case, the original flower paintings were mounted on the large wall on the other side of the gallery, as well as reproduced on this large image. The artist is sitting in the chairs.

The videography piece was created with multiple cameras mounted on a vehicle driving through a snowy forest. The perspective of each camera differs slightly, the effect is mesmerizing. Luckily there is a convenient bench to sit and watch.

The amount of work presented in this exhibit is overwhelming. I am showing just a few here. I hope to go back and look again.

Neighborhood

Crocuses and daffodils were blooming in February.

One day I walked to our newly reopened Hollywood Branch Library, and saw the early cherry trees beginning to bloom, along with this sign of the resistance.

This new mural in the entry to our remodeled library celebrates our local author, Beverly Cleary, who grew up here and set many of her beloved children’s books in this neighborhood.

New Beverly Cleary Mural in the Hollywood Library

Etc…

Internet meme of the month…

2025 – Review

February 16, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

I am having a hard time keeping up here – real life is getting in the way, as it should, I suppose, but I want to keep my record. Future me wants to read about what happened. So this post is my summary of 2025, written in February 2026, to the best of my current memory.

Last year I still managed to knit and read a fair amount, but our hiking and travel were somewhat curtailed by health issues, and I did very little sewing and quilting.

Knitting

I finished 17 projects in 2025, including nine donation items, mostly hats.

One goal for 2026 is to finish the Zephyr sweater I have been working on for two years.

Reading

I always set my goal to my age, but lately have zoomed past it. This year I read just over 100 books.

Quilting, Sewing and other projects…

Stitching was mostly helping my daughter work through her mending pile whenever she visited. I also briefly worked on these quilt blocks. Next year I hope to quilt four languishing quilt tops, and I have several planned tops in my minds eye…

Hands All Around Blocks, Modern Quilt Studio

We also made progress on home maintenance and repair: interior wall repair; new dining room blinds, new hallway carpet; new kitchen faucet; window repair; storm window cleaning and repair; exterior paint; and exterior brick tuck pointing. This 1932 house will always need something!

Hiking

I have had the goal of at least a hike a week in recent years. I only made it to 49 in 2025, mainly due to health setbacks. Hip bursitis, and a complete cardiac work up for me, and neck surgery for my husband, kept us on shorter and easier walks for a while. I have noticed that I have much less stamina on hotter days, and we seem to have many more hotter days now.

Highlights:

March – Grass Widows at Rowena Crest, OR

April – Green meadows with Death Camas, Shooting Stars and many other wildflowers at Catherine Creek, WA…these meadows would burn in July….

April – First walk through the new hiker/biker tunnels at Mitchell Point, OR

May – Return to that one trail between Multnomah and Wahkeena Creeks, OR

June – Avalanche lilies on the Ant Hill Trail, Mt Hood, OR

July – Bear Grass near Picnic Rock, Mt Hood, OR

July – Elliot Moraine and Timberline Trail High Point, Mt Hood, OR

December – First return after the fires to Catherine Creek, WA

Travel

Travel was mostly local this year. We had to cancel plans for Paris, Switzerland, and Mt Rainier due to the previously mentioned health issues. We spent two lovely weeks in January and August at Bandon, on the southern Oregon Coast.

We visited family in Connecticut and Philadelphia in the fall.

And I spent two weeks in southern Utah in June, but that was mostly within health care settings, and too hot to go outside.

RIP

I will miss these family members who left too soon.

Etc…

2025 was worse than expected, with the government now being run by corrupt criminals who have a stranglehold on the checks and balances built into our government. Someday, someone will figure out why Congress and the Supreme Court won’t do their jobs (Epstein files?). In the meantime, people are protesting in the streets, and every avenue of progress has been set back; basic rights are denied to many people. I thought this was behind us! I wish I was living in that other reality, with a woman president, all people feeling respected as humans, climate change initiatives proceeding, and everyone learning to accept diversity as a natural part of the human species. In the meantime time I will do my bit to communicate, vote, knit, read, and share in resisting tyranny. In spite of everything, I have to hold an optimistic spark in my soul, for hope that we end 2026 on a brighter note!

December 2025

January 22, 2026April 22, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

I managed to do many of the traditional December things this year, despite the lead up to the winter solstice being a little darker than usual, as I carried the grief of losing two family members in November, and the chaos of our national wrecking ball situation. In some ways, the traditions kept me going through the otherwise difficult days. The solstice arrived, bringing longer days and more light. And we thoroughly enjoyed a two week visit from our daughter.

Knitting:

I finished two pairs of gift socks, and then re-made a cowl into a felted bowl.

Gift socks, Patons Kroy scraps held double.

Lancelot Cowl, as finished last year, in a bulky alpaca yarn called Hobbii Apricity.

When I tried the cowl on this winter, it was just a bit too itchy for me. Since I knew the yarn would shrink and felt, I decided to unravel the last six rows and reknit it with a closed bottom into a bowl shape. Then I machine washed and dried it, and the fiber shrank and felted into a small bowl, with the textured stitches still visible in the fabric. I count it as a success!

Books:

I finished 8 books in December. The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans was probably my favorite of the bunch. I enjoyed seasonal rereads of The Tailor of Gloucester and The Dark is Rising. I learned a lot about the Gilded Age lifestyle in Consuelo Vanderbilt’s autobiography – The Glitter and the Gold.

Museum Day:

The Portland Art Museum has just opened their newly expanded and remodeled gallery space. We bought a membership, and I hope to go monthly to see all the new exhibits and spaces. Today, we focused on the Rothko exhibit, where we saw examples of this Portland grown artist, from early career to the abstract art he is famous for. There was an adjacent exhibit presenting Abstraction Since Rothko.

I am always attracted to bright colors and patterns. And I love to see the close up view of the texture of the paint layers and brush strokes on the canvas. I am looking forward to looking at a lot of art next year.

Neighborhood walks:

The flowers of December sparkled amidst the holiday and protest decorations.

Holiday decorations somewhat overlapped with the ongoing protest signs. New this year were some birds, and some frogs.

Frog added into to this traditionally elaborate display

Celebrations:

The first December celebration was Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, on December 16th.

Long my favorite author! (Internet meme)

I have her ornament, which I bought at her house in Chawton, UK, hanging on my tree.

I slowly put all the decorations on the tree,

and had a lovely traditional Christmas dinner with long time friends.

We also went on a few outdoor walks and a hike, to be detailed in the next post.

On New Years Eve, we stopped on our way home from doing errands to look at our volcanoes from the top of Rocky Butte.

Clear and cold view to Mt Hood from Rocky Butte on New Year’s Eve.

We had a delightful Thai takeout dinner with our daughter and several of her childhood friends, who also happened to be in town for the holidays. Then they went out on the town for the night, and we were early to bed, ready to say goodbye to this difficult year, with hope for better things in 2026.

November 2025 hiking

January 12, 2026 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Three hikes in November…

11/11 Dalles Mountain Ranch

We hiked the upper loop from the ranch ( 4 miles, 450 feet). We began the day with fog and mist, which evaporated by lunch time, and we finished our hike under clear blue skies. We visited the ‘one tree’, and had a quiet day on the trail.

Looking up into the Columbia Hills at the start of the hike. Lots of dried balsam root foliage in the foreground.

The hills were still misty when we sat down for our lunch break,

I watched a flock of towhees in the nearby bushes,

By the time we finished our lunch, the mists had evaporated,

and the oak tree was illuminated under a blue sky,

After lunch, we continued our hiking loop, which circles down to a view of the Columbia River and The Dalles. The sun angle was wrong for photography,

but we could see Mt Hood under its cloud cap on the far horizon.

We hiked back up to the Ranch along Eight Mile Creek.

A satisfying hike on an autumn day, with very few other trail users today.

11/25 Portland Arboretum

We hiked a short loop (2.5 miles, 200 feet), past the view of Mt St Helens and our favorite Japanese maple tree, through the Winter Garden, and then back up the Beech Trail.

The snowy top of Mt St Helens was floating like a cream puff on the horizon.

The maple tree was past its prime, color faded, but not yet leafless.

as were the camellias and some of the foliage in the Winter Garden.

Beech leaves lined our trail back to the start.

11/28 Catherine Creek/Rowland Wall

This was our first return to this favorite hike since the Burdoin Fire in July (2.7 miles, 720 feet). The blackened slopes have become green with newly sprouting grass. We passed many charred trees, and many that survived the conflagration.

The area of Lower Trail, south of Old Highway 8, did not burn, so looks same as it ever does in winter, with dried grasses fringing the landscape.

Unburned landscape south of the highway.

North of the highway, where the fires swept through, most of the golden grasses and shrubs were completely removed, and the landscape is covered with blackened earth and newly sprouted grasses.

Looking north from the parking area across the burned slope.

We began by walking up to the Fairy Ponds.

Trees near the Fairy Ponds show fire damage.

We continued walking up the Bitterroot Trail, to the ridge just west of Catherine Creek.

Looking upriver from the ridge, all the way to the town of Lyle, where the fire stopped at the Klickitat River.

Juncos were pecking around in the dirt here.

Looking across to the Arch, which already has new fencing in place.

Wider view of the Arch, and the lower trail in front of the Arch.

We walked up slope, and past the power pylons to the edge of Rowland Wall.

Looking eastward across the landscape, up the Columbia River. Oddly, green areas are burned, golden areas are unburned. Orange pine trees are fire damaged.

Continuing uphill toward the power pylons.

Near our turning place – the golden, unburned area at the top was burned in last year’s controlled burn of the area, and I guess they held a fire line there in July.

Eastward from our high point. It was a gorgeous day!

From the edge of Rowland Wall, we looked at our familiar landmarks to the west to see how they fared.

The tall tree here can be seen from many of the trails in the area – I think of it as the ‘guide’ tree.

Zooming in – it is still standing, but appears to have some fire damage.

Next, we hiked down the Rowland Wall cliffs…

I found bitterroot foliage in the usual places – a good omen!

Chartreuse lichen on the cliffs – not burned.

Wider view: guide tree on the skyline. Lots of burned trees in the volcanic landscape below the wall.

Next, the trail takes us back east toward our parking area. Some of the lower tree stands in this area were very badly burned.

I hope the frogs will be back in this pond, where we often hear them.

This is the first time I have seen the rock cliffs behind these trees – all the undergrowth is gone.

The ponds are still reflective on this beautiful day.

The experience was a little heartbreaking, but also hopeful – there were still birds, and some of the wildflowers were beginning to sprout up in the blackened dirt. We will return in spring to monitor the changes. I’m glad we can continue to hike here on rainy days in Portland!

November 2025 in Portland

December 20, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

I took many neighborhood walks this month, watching the season change, and contemplating sad partings.

Fall colors in Northeast Portland

The leaves…

Berries and late blooming or winter flowers…

Sidewalk square of the month…

This one has a human profile etched in the weathered cement.

And of course, the early holiday decorations…

Santa penguins, wondering where the snow is.

Knitting

I finished one cowl, which I am wearing almost every day. The pattern is Ella Improv by Cecelia Campochiaro. The yarn in Malabrigo Lace.

Reading

I finished six books in November. The most compelling was The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai, a saga of family life in Viet Nam in the twentieth century.

Signs of Resistance

My neighborhood is always heartening in the display of signs of resistance. There seem to be more and more all the time.

Window signs, telling the world how they really feel!

These signs were displayed in front of almost every house on this block.

Including this one, with an Anne Frank tribute as well.

The wall mural I see on the way home from the library, in the low autumn light.

Sadness

This month I lost two close family members; one older, one younger, one with a long illness, both quite sudden. This was unexpected and sad and I have been feeling shaken and unanchored in time. As a family we are scattered geographically, but with the miracles of technology, we have been able to grieve together. It is hard. And it is human. We are all on that train. We are stopped in our tracks by the loss. We are determined to live well in response. Both paths seem wrong. But we go on.

Thanksgiving was celebrated with close friends who invited us for the day, and for whom I am grateful, especially this year.

October 2025 at home

November 26, 2025November 26, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

We returned from Philadelphia during the first week in October. I have been at home for the remainder of the month, watching the Halloween enthusiasm and the changing foliage fill the neighborhood with color and whimsy, against a background of quiet and not so quiet resistance throughout our city.

Around the neighborhood…

Halloween decorations. Some folks go all out. New or notable for me this year:

Fall Colors:

Creatures:

Sidewalk of the month:

In our yard:

Knitting

I finished three hats for donation, a scarf, and a pair of socks:

Books

I finished eight books in October:

Ribbitting with the resistance in PDX…

National ‘leadership’ continues smashing everything, like a giant wrecking ball. I am proud of my Portland people for exhibiting a mostly peaceful resistance, responding with whimsy and relentless persistence. Some highlights of the month:

Some of our famous Portland Frogs, from Instagram.

And my son took this picture in Paris, France!

Our hikes of the month are in the next post.