A Few Finishes and Still Celebrating!

Gosh, here it is, closing in on the end of August with just about all the birthday and anniversary celebrations behind us.  We had a short visit with friends from Colorado and then celebrated our REAL anniversary locally because we couldn't find a cat sitter. No matter.  Our kids arranged for some chocolate dipped strawberries and 2 glasses of champagne to be delivered to our door. How nice of them!  We had a great time reminiscing about our life together over the past fifty years.  It's gone by so fast! We started out as two, and now there are twelve of us. Amazing!  And we all get along! All I can say is, "Wow!" Because we had planned to be away at a place without many restaurant choices, Dick had arranged for dinner at the Space Needle the week before. It was a cloudy day, but we still had great views of our city. (The restaurant revolves while you eat, so it's rather like watching an ever-changing movie.) Fun place for special occasions!

Meanwhile, there's been some knitting happening.  I finally finished Kiribati which I started last summer and put away when it got cold. (Thanks, Mere for the pattern link!)  Now I have to figure out what to wear it with!

It has interesting details on the side seam:

I also made a washcloth thanks to Dee's inspiration:  (Isn't her new kitty cute?)

And a replacement sample for  my volunteering.  The earlier one disappeared!

It's taken me two other tries to find yarn for the Undine KAL. I finally dove into my stash of leftovers and will be holding my breath until it's done.  I also decided to make the socks as written.  We'll see whether I like them this way or not.

 Enjoy the weekend.  We are supposed to have rain.......finally.  I hope it helps with the wildfires!  Be sure to check out Patchwork Times for some knitting inspiration!

Three Finishes Plus!

Whew, it's been a couple of busy weeks that involved some unexpected excitement, including getting used to our new car. It's been fun and a little crazy.  Dick had been doing research for quite a while "just in case," so we now have a new Toyoto Camry and just in time for our 50th Anniversary!  It's silver, not gold, but that's just fine.

We also spent a day helping a friend who just had rotor cuff surgery on her right shoulder, and I was able to get some knitting projects finished in time for several August birthdays.

This is en route to the Midwest for the GD that is turning 8.  How she got to be that old so quickly is a mystery!

The pattern for this gave me fits, but it's done and ready to wrap up for the Little Miss who turns 2 tomorrow! She loves dogs, and I just couldn't resist the button.

The next time I make this bag, I will use bigger needles, but it is supposed to stretch, and hopefully it will. (It's for a friend.)

August is a month full of celebrations in our family, with birthdays, anniversaries happening weekly! Nope, it's never boring in August (or any other month either)!  Hope your week is going well. Check Patchwork Times for some knitting inspiration!

Almost to the End......

Just a few more rows, and I'll be finished with this project! I used what was left from Stella's sweater and a multi-colored version of Bamboo Pop called Lollipop to make another one for Sophia.  I have just a few more rows to do, the ends to sew in and 3 buttons to attach, and it will be done.  It takes a lot longer to knit for an almost eight year old than for an almost two year old, that's for sure!

My sister sent this photo yesterday.  Ted caught a 5 pound walleye. They said it was delicious!  He looks pretty pleased, doesn't he?

And hurrah, the deer hasn't discovered the new blossom on my crocosmia!  Yet.....

Things here are getting back to normal after our exciting, crazy time away, and we are enjoying geting used to our new car.  Should have taken a photo, but maybe we will by next week.  Have a good weekend! And don't forget to check out Patchwork Times to see what's on everyone else's needles.

Our Latest Adventure

This past Saturday we returned from a quick getaway to Idaho.  It was a very unusual couple of days!  As you probably know, it's hot and dry here in the Pacific Northwest. Most people think all it does in Washington is rain.  WRONG!  East of the mountains the climate is very different, hotter in the summer and colder in the winter. The one constant, however, is "the mountain". Natives know THE mountain means Mount Rainier, but the strange thing is that you can see it lots of different places, like east of the Cascades on the way to Idaho.

Even though we are the Evergreen State, it's ordinarily dry in the summer, especially this one.

Lots of sage brush can be seen as well as many wind turbines and irrigation systems! When you reach this landmark, you know that you've crossed the Columbia and are on your way farther east.

The Columbia is a beautiful river and flows all the way to the Pacific Ocean. We were intrigued to learn that the first road was built way below along the edge of the river some time around 1918. That must have been a tough job!

We stayed in a condo at a ski area on Schweitzer Mountain.  Not a trace of snow could we see, but the views were beautiful, especially on the night of the blue moon!  You can see Lake Pend Oreille in the distance.

I got a lot done on a couple of my knitting projects when it was too hot to do much exploring.

It was fun checking out the nearby town of Sandpoint.  We did a little walking, a little shopping and a little eating.

We found a great place for pie, and a nice yarn shop that was in an old train car! And then we drove part way around the lake.

But what we will probably remember most about this trip, is that our dear Mazda decided it was time for us to part ways.  It started acting up on the way into town, that very first night, and by the next day we knew it wouldn't get us back home.  Nor was it practical to get it repaired or towed back to Bellevue. (It served us well for almost 17 years and carried us over 200,000 miles!) Our plan when it was "time" was to donate it to a local charity, but here we were in a new place nearly 400 miles from home.  Would you believe that within walking distance from the car rental place was a Union Gospel Mission church that gladly takes car donations to support women and children? It also has a car repair training program!  I guess it was meant to be.  And now you know what we will be doing this week in addition to taking care of the lug of peaches we picked up on the way home! (Little did we know when we took this photo, that it would be the last picture of our car.) We hope our trusty car enjoys its new life.