Here's Sophia celebrating the good weather.
It's even been warm enough in the Midwest for wading in the pool
and bike riding.
David took this photo. Not bad for a first grader, eh? Even though the weather is warm, it looks like the trees are starting to show their fall colors.
Oh, and here it's been rainy and in the fifties. Sigh....... (But I do remember what winter in the Midwest is like and am really glad they're enjoying their Indian Summer.)
Dick came in the house yesterday with this sign of fall. The Big-leaf maples are starting to lose their leaves....... This baby measures 18" across! And there are at least a zillion more just like it on every tree.
There will be lots of raking in our future!
I also turned in another purple hat this week, using the same pattern but with an I-cord top. There's still more yarn, so I started hat #3 but am using a different stitch pattern, a mock cable, to keep from being totally bored.
Tomorrow is the first day of fall, but we are still having roses! Just a few weeks ago one of our rose trees looked like this:
And just this week our hydrangea had its first bud. Last winter took a terrible toll on our hydrangeas, but they keep trying! Happy Autumn! (in 12 hours or so~)
Apparently lots of people either come to the park to float down the river or to fly model airplanes. We saw both!
The flaming geyser isn't as big as it once was, but nonetheless it's still interesting. The sign said at one time the flame was 6-8 feet high! The trail to a more conventional geyser is closed for repair.
This next photo is for those folks who think moss only grows on the north side of trees. Do not get lost in Washington state!
And yes, I've finally gotten back to knitting and am tackling some long term UFOs. More on this one later.
That's not to say there have been no new projects. This purple hat is the first one I've finished to donate to the "Don't Shake the Baby" campaign at the UW hospital. We'll see how many hats "hide" in one skein of yarn!
That's it for now; I'm off to make some soup for the first time since last spring.
The rest of August went more smoothly. The Sunday after the kids left was our anniversary, and by Friday we had recovered enough to take our planned weekend in Cannon Beach, OR. The first day was delightfully sunny, and the second day was unbelievably foggy. We had fun anyway. It was interesting to see how sandy the beach was; the Ranger said the sand had begun moving in at the end of July
There's always lots to see at Haystack Rock during low tide.
We saw lots of starfish of all sizes.
And lots of kids making sand castles, even in the fog.
This time we didn't see any elk, but we did spot some of wild domestic rabbits that roam Cannon Beach. Never before have we seen them close to where we stay. Do you suppose it was mowing the lawn?
We came back home to find our hoya in full bloom! The buds go from this
to this.
And then we cut them off because they smell cloyingly sweet at night which our niece, the plant biologist, told us is to attact the insect pollinators. (Not in our house!)
The remaining weekend in August found us at a wedding of a good friend in Clinton, WA, which is on Whidbey Island. It was a perfectly beautiful day, and the good weather has persisted into September. We also enjoyed another trek around Green Lake one afternoon late in the month. Some of our favorite turtles were out and had a surprise visitor. I hope herons don't eat turtles!
And on the very last day of August I finished a scarf using the Yarn Harlot's One Row Handspun Scarf pattern, a nice easy pattern for a very busy month.
The next day we spent the morning relaxing, and then in the afternoon we took the ferry to Winslow on Bainbridge Island. If you ever happen to go there, be sure to have ice cream at Mora's. I highly recommend the sorbet called Tango. YUM!
On Friday, Jill's high school friend Susan, who lives in Sequim, came to visit and stayed for lunch. That evening the whole family gathered at our house for a barbecue.
During the night, David woke up complaining of a tummy ache and was very lethargic, so he and I spent the morning reading stories together.
Meanwhile Sophia and Jill went with Auntie Catherine and her other two nieces to Build a Bear to celebrate Sophia's fourth birthday.
Later that day, Catherine and Brent hosted an all-family picnic at Carkeek Park, which is right on Puget Sound and a great place for a gathering. Everyone had a wonderful time, even David, who still wasn't feeling that great. (Then during the night, Daniel got sick again which made for lots of bedding to clean up and many loads of laundry.)
Much of the next day was spent at Remlinger's Farm. It's a great place to get fresh produce and also has an amusement park that is just perfect for small children.
Every had a great time, and even Uncle Brent sampled one of the rides.
Well, I hate to leave right in the middle of things but have spent way too much time fiddling with a new version of Blogger. I switched back to the "old" version only to discover it's been changed a bit too, so my learning curve has been challenged once again. Sigh..... Happy Labor Day everyone!
