Grand Celebration!

Things are kind of getting back to "normal" here.  We are back in our time zone and feeling relieved after hearing from friends and relatives, who live in Florida and weathered the horrific storm there.  The wildfire smoke has cleared here, but others in our state are still dealing with that. However, along with these scary occurrences, there have been some happy times.  

Last spring we went to a preschool celebration that sent these five off to kindergarten.  And yesterday was the first day for this little guy!  How can he be five already?

At the end of August, we traveled to Minneapolis to surprise my sister on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary.  We enjoyed being with all of our relatives and finally getting acquainted with the youngest family member who's already almost 3. It was a very special five days!

Our grand nieces and grand nephew

and my sister and brother-in-law's family ~

We all enjoyed a wonderful celebration at the Minneapolis Landscape Arboretum.  (If you ever have a chance to see it, go; it'a an amazing place.)  The"kids" had assembled a basket of 50 things that reminded them of their parents. What a special gift!

Along with all of the visiting, we even managed a little exercise! 

No trip is complete without a stop at a yarn shop, right?  And this is an extra special yarn shop as it has been recently opened by our nephew's wife.  Stop in if you are in the area; it's a fun place!

 

This hat is made with a kit from that shop.  It was a fun knit but sure had lots of ends to hide! (There was enough yarn for another hat, but I'm still hiding those ends.....)

I finished two other projects:  socks for our grand son in his requested color and a shawl that I started in the last century and had to restart because I couldn't remember where I was in the pattern sequence.  (That should teach me not to procrastinate, right?)

And last but not least is my cast-on for Dee's fall KAL.  I so appreciate the November deadline!

The pattern is Nutkin and the color is Apricot Pit (?) which was the most fall-ish color in my stash.  That's it for now, but I just want to say that my heart and prayers go out to all the folks impacted by the recent hurricanes as well as the folks struggling with wildfires.  Be safe, too!

Catching Up Once Again......

We just got back last night from five fun-filled days helping my sister and brother-in-law celebrate their 50th anniversary and visiting with family and friends as well.  No pictures though until we figure out how to get them off our phone as DH forgot his "real" camera. We also got to visit our niece's new yarn shop called Harriet and Alice.  That was fun, too, and yes, I gave into temptation.  Meanwhile, here are some photos from our family gathering at Cannon Beach, OR, as promised.

We ate together the first night at Mo's which is a fun place just across from the Tolovana Inn where we all stayed.

The cousins had fun playing together and watching the rabbits that hide on the grounds.

The tide was so low the first day that it was possible to get to the back side of Haystack Rock.

We were very glad to see that starfish have made a recovery from the virus that plagued them for the past several years!

We all had fun strolling the beaches especially since the tide was exceptionally low during our time together.

I even managed a photo of our photographer-in-chief.

All of the kids added to the family reunion tablecloth.  We were sad that our son couldn't make the gathering, but he was immersed in an intensive Chinese class at UW. 

On the last night we watched the grandkids so their parents could enjoy a meal out together.

And I also finished a few projects after we got home.  The socks are two of five "pre-orders" from the grand kids. Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Monday, Monday.........

My good Intentions to fill you in on our Cannon Beach gathering just have to wait until next time because I want to share our eclipse experience.  Coincidentally, that event fell upon our 52nd anniversary!  We spent a delightful weekend in Portland, and then headed to McMinnville, which was on the very edge of totality. Because we took a back route, the traffic was tolerable, and we found a relatively empty parking lot adjacent to McDonalds. There the fun began.

We parked in front of a bakery that was closed until noon.  Next door was a guitar shop whose owner was all prepared for the eclipse!  We walked around and chatted with other folks also.

Dick got this photo by putting his eclipse glasses in front of the camera's viewfinder. Totality lasted only 45 seconds, and he took another photo without the "filter".

It became dark enough to cause the parking lot lights to turn on, and it was noticeably chillier.  Lots of folks from the various businesses came outside to watch, too.

We had a long drive home and didn't stick around very long after totality.  Our route home took us past the town of Scapoose and this interesting historical marker.

So that was our fun weekend away.  I will try to get the Cannon Beach post up soon, but right now I need to go make supper.  Have a great evening!

It's Been Too Long!

Just this morning I received an email from Kathyb asking whether I was OK.  Well, yes, I am; July was an absolutely crazy busy month and the first part of August has been interesting also.  It'll take a while to catch up, but I sure will try.

One Sunday early in the month we attended a picnic with members of the New Hope Revival church that meets at our church. The weather was perfect, and we all had fun.

Not long afterwards we had a fun visit with Nancy and Bill Liggett.  Nancy and I taught in adjoining classrooms in California a long time ago, and we've been friends ever since. Her husband Bill has just published a book called Watermelon Snow which takes place on the Blue Glacier on Washington's Olympic Peninsula.  It's a fun read, and we helped him with a book talk at our local library.

Then most of our family gathered at Cannon Beach, OR, for five days of fun, but I'll have to post more about that later.

Right after we got home from Cannon Beach my sister and brother-in-law arrived.  They were traveling with another couple by train from San Francisco. Notice how blue the skies are!

Here's how the skies looked soon after they left!  The temperatures soared and the wind shifted and the whole area experienced smoke from wildfires in British Columbia. Finally that cleared up on Saturday when the offshore wind returned and it finally rained a bit for the first time since June 17!

And I just now realized that I forgot to send my July finishes to Kris Meares.  The purse is a finally completed UFO, and the other is a dishcloth.  I can never keep the last corner from looking wonky; any ideas on how to prevent that?  (More photos later, I promise!)

Whew! Finished!

Happy to say, I haven't disappeared, but I have finished the three shawls that were my June goal plus a pair of socks that have been lingering undone for way too long. Those projects plus the fact that the sun was out here, and we've been out enjoying it are my excuse for having not posted for ages.  Now to get caught up:

The first of our adventures was on Mother's Day weekend when we accompanied the grand kids and family on the train to Portland where we met up with our nephew's family.  Here we are wondering whether the train will ever arrive in Seattle so we can start our trip.

As the train arrived in Portland, the skies opened, first with an absolute deluge which was followed by lots of hail and commenced with a bang of thunder and lightning. It was an impressive welcome!  Fortunately we didn't have to walk too far to our hotel.

That evening we had a fun dinner out with our nephew's family.   After a good night's sleep we headed home.

Another weekend we headed over the mountains to the town of Winthrop where we had fun exploring the area.

As we climber higher, there was still snow on the road side.  However there were also flowers like these lupine at the lower elevations.

We also did a little hiking to see an amazing waterfall.

This past weekend we drove up to Mount Baker where there is still lots of snow.  This past winter they had over 900 inches. 

This road opened to traffic yesterday, but we were able to walk up it for a couple miles without seeing one car!

I don't think this snow will melt any time soon, do you?

We were intrigued by these rocks.  The strata reminded us of Devil's Postpile in the Sierras.

So, where's the knitting, you say?

This is shawl # 2 which I plan to deliver tomorrow. but shawl 3 still hasn't been photographed, so I'll have to show you that later.  However, here are the infamous socks which languished for so long.

A good lesson was learned, too. When you wait a few years to make sock #2, you have forgotten a lot.  My second sock had to be ripped out when I realized the heel was  started too late and said sock was going to fit a giant.  Sigh.  Live and learn, eh?  Well, it's getting late.  There are lots of other photos to share, and I will do so soon.  Have a good weekend!