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!

An Unplanned Finish ~

Sorry to be so far behind on posting and commenting, but it's been a bit crazy here.  First of all, the sun has been shining more than usual, so the garden has been screaming for attention.  It did reward us though.  Our clematis is beautiful this year.

Whenever the sun comes out, we get the travel bug, and we've had a couple of fun trips lately that I need to share, but all of my good intentions have been derailed upon learning that three friends have recently been diagnosed with metastatic cancer. Thus, I've dropped everything to knit some prayer shawls.  One is done, and the second has been cast on.

I hope it will bring a measure of comfort.  How I wish someone would find a cure for this dreadful disease.

Finally, the Sun Is Out!

Yesterday the sun came out here for the second day in a row, and we logged our warmest temperature this year, 83 degrees!  (We saw 86 degrees on the car dealership thermometer near home.) So, after our morning commitments, we hopped in the car and headed to the Kitsap Peninsula and the town of Poulsbo.  Of course, we stopped at a yarn shop and a quilt shop there before we  crossed the bridge to Bainbridge Island so we could catch the ferry back to Seattle.

Even the mountains were out on this gloriously sunny day!  Our garden appreciated the sunshine also.  Here is what we saw early in the day.

And here is how the same poppy looked when we came back home.

Meanwhile, I'm still working on the long neglected beaded shawl, trying hard to get the correct stitch count for the border, but  this scarf below, one of my favorite patterns for multi-colored yarn,  is now finished. Hopefully it won't be needed for a good long while!  It does go with our blue skies though, doesn't it?

Carpe diem!  Enjoy the sunshine wherever you are, too.

Slow Down, May! Finished UFOs, Hurrah!

Here it is, the beginning of the second week in May!  I'm convinced that someone has put the calendar on "fast forward".  But then that always happens at this time of year, with lots of activities coming to an end for summer.  Lately, I've been working on some ancient UFOs, trying to whittle down their number. (I am way better at starting than finishing.) I was inspired by Judy L. of Patchwork Times suggestion to make a list of 12 unfinished quilt projects, and then she draws the project number to complete each month, only I'm using it on my knit projects, not that I don't have any quilt UFOs. (or cross stitch....)

April's finish is Color Affection which I started in 2012.

February's project Twin Rib Scarf was finally complete on May 1.  If you enlarge the photo, you can see how the sequins sparkle in multiple colors.

I already shared these two projects which were completed in January.  All that was left on the sweater was sewing the seams, something I can procrastinate forever!

These socks were the March project, and I've already shown them also.

And I know you're already wondering about the May project.  Well, it's teaching me a good lesson:  Do not stop in the middle of a project!  I had totally forgotten how to add the beads.  It's not looking good for a finish by the end of the month, that is certain. Sigh. Besides there's another project looming on the horizon that has a real deadline. Yikes!

I almost forgot this month's finish which is a UFO that wasn't on the list, Dublin Bay Socks, a fun and free pattern.  Have a great week and don't stop in the middle of your project!

Where Did April Go?

April has flown by all too quickly!  First we were gone, and then when we came back home, we were busy catching up.  We spent the early part of the month in the Midwest visiting our older daughter and family. Our days there were filled with the kids' activities, including a swim awards program, and a couple of school visits as well as lots of chatting and hugs. After all these years, and on a lovely spring day, we went into the city of Chicago and finally saw "The Bean."

Millennium Park is huge, and we only saw a little bit of it.  The kids had a great time at the play area, and we enjoyed watching them have fun as well as a great lunch afterwards.

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We got back home here just in time to celebrate Easter with our other daughter's extended family.  The Littles found lots of eggs with the help of their older cousins.

They also like to explore their own yard!

Speaking of yards, ours is full of blooming plants at the moment:

These three are about done now, but the ones below are just starting to shine.

And not to be out done, the indoor hibiscus surprised me with a flower this week and even a couple more buds! 

You may have noticed lots of  unraked leaves in some of the photos.  Our recent rains have made getting out to rake a less than desirable option. (We have had the most rain ever here since they probably started keeping track in 1895!)  Mocha and Ginger don't care about the weather though.  As long as they can find a register to sleep/lie on, they are happy.

Oh, and I have finished a couple of projects, but they are drying now and will have to wait till another post.  Happy Thursday!

Florida Photos as Promised

During the first part of March we spent ten days in Florida for another "sun fix".  We had a great time, too, visiting friends and relatives all over the place, including Dee and her husband who kindly met us in Daytona Beach, not too far from one of DH's cousins in New Symerna.  Sadly we didn't take any people photos, but we did get a few nature ones.

Some kind of turtle

Moor Hen

Different shots of what I think is  an anhinga

Sandhill Crane (about 4 feet tall) 

Our hotel was down the road from the race track, and amazingly we got a nice room in a hotel nearby because it happened to be the week between two big races.  Who knew?

There's lots to see and do in this interesting state which is good because it's about as far away from here as you can possible get and still be in the continental US.  Nice people, too!