Reflections

November first, how can it be? Last night we turned our clocks back after welcoming only one trick-or-treater, and a tiny one at that, to our house. It seems like such a short time ago that our neighborhood was teeming with kids who reveled in house to house visits. Yes, time has passed, and this year it has gone faster than ever. Exactly one year ago on Halloween we brought Mocha into our house. After living on the streets for who knows how long, she only weighed a little more than five pounds. Now, a year later, she's fat and sassy but still not sure whether she and Ginger can be friends.


















Even though we had an extra hour of sleep, morning seemed to come quickly and it was time to hurry off to sing in the church choir. Little did we know the treat that awaited. This morning Ross Hauck, one of the gifted tenors in our choir sang a solo that perfectly supported Scott Dudley's sermon on Moses. I heard Ross tell someone that it was on YouTube and found it. Enjoy, and may it touch your heart, too!

Another Grand Time!

We just got back late last night from ten days at Sylvan Lake, catching up with Jill and Michael and our grandkids. We had a wonderful visit, saw lots of people, did lots of laundry and cooking, and best of all, had lots of fun playing with the 3 little people.

I read lots and lots of stories but didn't mind a bit. These two are like little sponges, soaking up every last bit of information off each page.

Daniel has changed a lot since early July when we left for home. He is such a happy boy with smiles and giggles for everyone.


This morning while sorting through ten days' worth of mail, I came upon two wonderful surprises: my last puzzle piece made by Pat Winter and a wonderful Halloween card created by Pam Kellogg. Thank you both very much!

Isn't it pretty? Pat also sent some of her lovely ribbon and some siggies. I will have fun with them! If I only lived closer, I'd take a class in her new studio but will have to remain content to do that vicariously through her blog.

Isn't this just the coolest card? Not only is
Pam a talented cross stitch designer, she also makes very creative cards. This one is just perfect to share. I wonder how she knew that Jill and I once saw an owl just like this on top of our spruce tree. We watched for a long time until it flew silently away.
Happy Halloween!

Adventuring......

Keeping up with the kids is a full time job! Jill and Michael just returned from Ohio, Catherine is now in Africa, and Carl has been diving at Salt Creek. We've been doing our usual things, including a walk yesterday in the pouring rain. This afternoon we went to a piano concert and had dinner with friends, all fun but not nearly as exciting as their adventures.

Here's Catherine on top of the world somewhere in India.


Sophia had great fun at the farm in Ohio. David is learning about insects, and Daniel changes a little bit every day. (Photos courtesy of Jill and Michael)







Carl sent me an interesting video of his last dive where he saw a kelp forest, lots of herring and some deep diving sealions.


Meanwhile, I finished a hat for Daniel and am caught up on week 3 of my socks.



And I finally remembered to do this month's TUSAL report. You can see the snippets of yarn from my recent projects. Looks like a new jar is in order, don't you think?


With that. we're off for an adventure of our own: a few days in Chicago, visiting the grandkids in person. See you in a week or so.

Not All Play!

We haven't been playing every day, just in case you've had this impression from the recent travel photos. The garden has been taking a little time, we've been back to regular choir practices including singing twice on Sunday mornings, and I've been trying to complete some projects before we run off again.

Daniel has grown a wee bit since we saw him last, so I figured he probably needed a sweater that wasn't a hand-me-down. This pattern is fun to knit and goes fairly quickly. And I got to use some buttons purchased when we went to San Juan Island last spring. (Check Ravelry for the details.)
Cottage Creations Babies' and Bears Sweater

Until this morning I was caught up on Kirsten's Mystery Sock KAL. Dick took the photo so that it shows the pretty pattern which runs down the sides of each cuff. Now to do the heels. I'm very curious as to how Kirsten will work the design into the next step!
KAL Part 2

Sad to say, I haven't gotten to my quilt block assignment......... There just aren't enough hours in a day.

On the Road Back Home

Fall is definitely here, and one of the signs is our fall blooming clematis is bursting into flower. This year it "escaped" and has headed on up to our second story where it catches more sun. Clever little plant. The weather has been wonderful this week, so beautiful that we played hooky on Monday and hit the road; Our destination: the Hood Canal.
In bloom at last!

Our route took us right past one of the Girl Scouts camps our daughters attended, so we took this photo for old times sake.
Fond memories

Right across the road was a lovely little waterfall. We'd seen a photo of it on a card stand where we ate lunch so were excited to actually find it.
We heard it before we saw it!

Then we drove past a sign that has significance for our older daughter's inlaws, so we had to stop for a photo.
Welcome to Brinnon

Next, we saw a turnoff for Mount Walker and remembered that we'd been there long ago. So up we went again over 4 miles of washboard road. It was well worth the bumpy ride. On such a clear day, the views from this 2805' peak were spectacular. Not only could we see Mount Rainier, we could also see Seattle!
Mt. Rainier
Can you find the Space Needle?

And up close we were entertained by a flock of gray jays. Ever hopeful they were quick to spot the folks who would feed them.
FEED ME!

Retracing our way and back at sea level, we also saw this guy who's a little more self reliant. This blue heron is getting its food the traditional way.
Hungry Heron

We drove home a slightly different route, enjoying the local scenery and the fact that our schedules are flexible enough to take advantage of such a glorious day.
The Olympic Mountains

Projects? Just a Few.......

Let's see now, Dick's upstairs watching the UW/Notre Dame game; our son's in Indiana watching the game in person; our younger daughter is somewhere in India for work; my sister called from JOANN's in Hibbing on the way to their cabin; our older daughter is probably enjoying naptime on Sylvan Lake; and me? I'm sitting here trying to figure out what I've been doing lately.

Well, first there's this project:
Can you guess what this is?
Actually, I'm beyond this stage now, and it would be easy to tell, but I'll let you wonder for a while.

I just couldn't resist this mystery sock on Through the Loops blog and am about up-to-date on BOTH socks. Of course it's only the first week. This pattern would probably look better in a solid color, but I am loving my yarn choice. (Regia Design Line by Kaffe Fassett)
Sock Number One

That's all you say? Well, I've also been trying to put away some of the fabric I bought on our trip. This piece tickled me:

Especially after seeing this recent photo taken somewhere in the Southwest.

Who'd have thought this little critter would have its own fabric line?

Yesterday I did a tiny bit of work on the fourth Christmas BOM and got a "block assignment" from our quilt group. Best get to work! Ciao!

Grand, indeed!

Seeing friends and family was just part of our recent trip to the Southwest. Another highlight was spending a whole day exploring just a tiny bit of the Grand Canyon. After we left Durango, we headed to Flagstaff, AZ, our jumping off place. Enroute, we passed Shiprock, one of the great landmarks of our desert country. We tried to imagine the pioneers seeing it without today's roads and telephone wires.
Shiprock

Upon the advice of Nancy's friend, Bill, we took the less traveled East Entrance and were glad he suggested it. Our first stop was Desert View where there is this amazing Watchtower that was built in the 1930's.
Watchtower

Looking carefully at other stops along the way, we could still see the tower.
Same tower, a few miles away

We stopped frequently to enjoy the view until we reached Mather Point where we decided to walk a ways along the Rim Trail.
View

We had to look carefully to see the Colorado River which is about ten miles below. From above it's hard to believe that this river, which starts in the Rocky Mountains and flows all the way to the Gulf of California, carved this magnificent canyon.
A bend in the Colorado River

On our heavily traveled trail, we didn't see too many four-legged animals. We did see a gentleman feeding this rock squirrel despite many warnings that medics often treat 30 squirrel bites a day. I guess they have pretty sharp teeth and don't hesitate to use them!
Rock Squirrel

We saw a number of folks risking life and limb by walking out on the edge of rocks with no railings, all for the sake of a picture or two. And then there was the guy tossing rocks over the edge, unmindful of people who may have been hiking below. (I don't mean to be critical but do have a hard time understanding such folly. Guess it's my age showing....)
Can you see the "brave" person?

Once in a while I can catch Dick on "film". And yes, he was in front of the wall!
Photographer-in -Chief

Apparently the raven is the most common bird of the Grand Canyon. He's much larger than the crows that frequent our backyard.
Raven

We have several friends who've hiked down into the canyon so were quite excited to see the trail far below as well as the suspension bridge across the river. That sounds like a really tough hike as the way back out is all uphill! Ten miles UP!
Trail and bridge

A kind woman saw us struggling to take a timed photo of the two of us and offered to help. We were able to return the favor to another much younger couple on down the trail. We only walked as far as the Yavapai Observation station where Dick took the bridge picture, and we realized that was as far as our day's trek would take us.
Travelers

While we barely scratched the surface of this beautiful place, it was a fun way to end our trip. From Flagstaff we headed back to Phoenix, had a great visit with our long ago neighbors, the Lamms, and flew back to the blessedly cool weather of the Northwest.