Our Saturday Adventure and a Birthday Finish!

Last Saturday we and a friend set off (along with lots of other folks!) in very cloudy weather for a hike near Mount Rainier.  Years had passed since we last hiked the Naches Loop Trail, and it's just as pretty as ever. This time the wild flowers were in full bloom which made our effort extra worth while! The clouds disappeared, and the views were terrific.

Fields of lupine were all along the trail.

The uphill trails were fairly gentle.

This lovely view of Mount Rainier appears right after you round the bend, part way through the hike. What a nice reward!

The clouds began to move in later in the afternoon, and pretty soon the mountain was barely visible.

We also caught a bit of Mount Adams a little farther down the trail.

So many flowers were in bloom.

And we didn't even have to climb to the top to find a little bit of snow!

Shhhh!  Don't tell Stella that her sweater is finished, just in time, too, as she turns THREE on Saturday. How did that happen so fast?  Check with Judy L. to see what everyone is knitting.

Two Finishes and a Get Away ~

This week has been fairly busy, but I did finish a couple more projects.  A while ago Dee found a great free pattern for some yarn in my stash!  Shocking, eh? The Interrupted Cowl is fun to knit, so fun that I ordered two more skeins of Bamboo Bloom in different colors.

In a recent email, DD#1 mentioned that Sophia would really like a nightgown.  That inspired me to find a quick pattern (Thank you, Center Diamond Fabric Shop in Cannon Beach, OR.) and crank up the sewing machine for the first time in ages.  It took 45 minutes in line locally to get the fabric cut, but the wait was worth it; next time I'll get the fabric with my patterns.

It's way too warm in the Midwest for a long nightgown, and the pattern had a shortie version complete with bloomers. Sewing is so much faster than knitting, at least for me.

Speaking of Cannon Beach, we had a great weekend there a while ago.  Both of us really enjoy walking on the beach, and the tide was especially low when we were there this time.

This was the view of Haystack Rock at high tide from our window. This was a minus tide, and we were able to walk out past the rock which we'd never been able to do before. (And yes, we are wearing jackets at the end of July !)

We saw lots of anemones but only one starfish.  I guess they were particularly hard hit by the starfish wasting disease this year.  This anemone looks hungry.

And these are all closed up because some kids couldn't resist poking at them.

Someone left this sand castle village on the beach for everyone to enjoy.

The bunny population at Tolovana has increased dramatically since we were there last fall. They seem to come out in the afternoon and entertain everyone.  Here's three of the many.

Our time at Cannon Beach flew by all to quickly. I never tire of being at the ocean at any season of the year! ( And when you're reading blogs, check out Judy's to see what's being knitted this week.) 

A Real Finish at Last!

One down, one to go!  Our two grand daughters have birthdays in August, 5 days apart. One gift is done and ready to mail, but I need to fill a request first. (She wants a night gown. Wish me luck!) Here it is, probably too large but that's better than too small, right?  Maybe if you enlarge the photo you will be able to see the buttons, they are suns!  Perfect for a rainbow sweater, don't you think?

I had to add these photos because the colors go so well with the sweater.  Our work in the yard has been rewarding, lots of pretty flowers.

Waiting for this fuchsia to open took a while but sure paid off!

Our newest rose tree outdid itself!  In a few days of warm weather, it looked like this.

Have a great week.  More soon of our weekend in Cannon Beach, OR, but now I have to get back to work.

Catching Up!

By now, you may be wondering what's happened to me! I've NOT been watching television but have been spending lots of time outside in the yard.  We were gone last weekend to the Tri-Cities (Richland, Pasco, and Kennewick for you non-natives) in search of a little warmth.  And we did find some!  We also had fun walking along the Columbia River on the Sacajawea Trail.

Before we left for home, we visited the Sacajawea Museum which was very interesting.  Did you know she was only 17 when she joined the Lewis and Clark expedition? She died of an infection shortly after the birth of her second child, a daughter, at the age of 25.

The museum is located at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers.  How would you like to try navigating the river in this?

Today we felt rewarded when we saw this Stargazer Lily finally open one of its buds.  And yes, it was finally warmer here!

I've been knitting on some long term projects which I hope will be off the needles soon.  Two August birthdays are spurring me on!  Meanwhile, I've finished another headband.  It's such a fun pattern and doesn't require a whole lot of yarn.

Mocha likes to supervise my knitting. I thinks she's saying, "Can't you knit faster?"

The Chicago family checked in today, too.  They spent a fun day at Six Flags yesterday. They look pretty happy, don't they? (Thanks for the photos, Michael!)

I'd rather try to paddle the dug-out than ride this thing! (Goliath roller coaster)

It's official now.  We are a one car family for the first time in almost 50 years.  Our second Mazda is on its way as a donation to KUOW, the local NPR station.  Our Mazdas served us well, the last two for twenty years each!  One of these days I'll get around to posting the flower pictures.......  Have a great weekend!

Exploring the PNW with Our Siblings

Bob and Mary weren't with us all week long because their grand daughter was graduating from high school in San Diego, but before they left,  we all took a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island, visited Churchmouse Yarn and Tea, had lunch and then ice cream at Mora's.  Then we headed for Port Gamble and walked around there.  For some reason, perhaps because we've taken this same trip so many times, we didn't take but two photos. This flower was in front of one of the shops.  We also had a very nice dinner in Gig Harbor.

Have you ever seen such a strange looking plant?  We were told that it is Jerusalem Sage. 

I had to have a picture of this sign for my Pilates teacher.

We took this photo on an earlier visit to  Port Gamble, but this time we walked around to the front of the house which faces the water. My recollection is that the house dates back to the 1800s.  There's a very interesting tree, a Camperdown Elm,  in the front yard; it was planted in 1875.

We took Jane and Ted to Snoqualmie Falls  and did a little bit of hiking on one of the trails. It was fun taking pictures through this hollow log.

The falls weren't quite as full this time as they were last September when this photo was taken.  Lots of folks like to celebrate special occasions in the lodge that you can see on the top left.

Another day we went hiking near Stevens Pass on the Iron Goat Trail. It follows along on the old path of the Great Northern Railway and has snow sheds and old tunnels. This area was the site of a terrible avalanche in 1910 that remains one of the worst natural disasters in our state and is a relatively easy hike and very interesting, too.

We also saw lots of wild flowers, but I'll save that for another post.  Have a great day!

June Crazies!

Wow, here it is almost the Fourth of July, and I've not posted anything since early June! Well, it's been a bit crazy here.  I had a "significant" birthday, and the unexpected festivities lasted almost 2 weeks!  Jill and Family from Illinois surprised me at the Spaghetti Factory at what was supposed to be a celebration for our son whose birthday is 2 days before mine.

Here are all the grandkids having lunch across from the Locks after a fun morning exploring there and Golden Gardens.

This railroad bridge has to go up to let tall sail boats through.

A few salmon were using the fish ladders much to the kids' delight.

Everyone enjoyed looking for rocks and shells in the tide pools.

I don't think this heron was looking for shells or rocks though!

Later on at the end of the week these two from MN (my sister and her hubby) plus Dick's brother and wife (who managed to escape our camera) were among the guests at a surprise party which I thought was going to be a small family BBQ. ( Yep, I was shocked when I walked in the door with my large bowl of requested potato salad and was greeted by family and friends.  That is one birthday I will never forget!  There even was a photographer, but we've not seen her photos yet.) All six of us had a fun ferry ride one day and explored a bit of the Kitsap Peninsula.  Bob and Mary left for San Diego the following day to attend one of their grand daughter's high school graduation.  Jane and Ted stayed a couple of days longer, and I'll do another post about those adventures soon.  Haven't done much crafting aside from another couple of headbands though.

Apparently this little one has decided headbands are OK as she's finally wearing the one I made at Christmas.  It's a tad large though, so I made her this one in her favorite color.

And this one from leftovers from the one I did for Sophia.  I made both a bit narrower and snugger, however. (It's a quick and easy pattern!)

That's it for now.  I'll be back soon with more about our adventures.  Have a Happy Fourth of July or whatever occasion you happen to be celebrating!

Pretty in Pink.......

The garden work continues while the sun shines.  We finally got our water feature going after a year's hiatus. Hopefully, it's sturdy enough to resist the local wildlife!

Lots of plants are blooming now.  Do you notice a color theme here?

Even my most recent finished knitting project was in this color family:

However, there are other colors in the yard, and this one survived the recent 4-legged visitor. (I hope he stays away until the rest of them bloom, too!)

Have a great weekend!  We are celebrating the end of the choir season and a couple of birthdays.