Christmas Kick-off

I've been browsing through patterns on Ravelry for a couple of weeks looking for projects that would make great Christmas gifts. Last week I went shopping for some yarn. This weekend I decided on a pattern and got started on this...


The pattern is "Cream of Spinach"...a funny name for a scarf, but I think it'll be really pretty in this Aslan Trends Yarn, "Class". It's easy and growing quickly. I think it's going to be really pretty when it's done and blocked.

I have a new trick I started using a few projects back. I use net bags I save from avocados, garlic, tomatoes, etc. (the kind with softer netting and smaller holes) to hold my yarn. It helps to keep the ball from falling apart, especially as it nears the end. I've seen something like this in stores but this is recycling and it's free!

Another trick you can see in this picture is something I've been doing for a while now...using a bread tie to keep the end/tail safely tucked out of the way until I'm done and ready to tuck it in. It prevents wear and splitting and keeps it out of the way so I don't accidently pick it up to work with instead of my working yarn. I love this trick. And...it's free!

Feeling Rosey

My daughter and I went to the market early this morning and enjoyed a relaxing shoping trip without the crowds we'd find later in the day. It was really nice. We also found this beautiful bouquet of roses that I just couldn't resist...


They're sitting on an antique buffet in our entry to greet everyone that comes in. Aren't they gorgeous?!


I normally don't like to buy cut flowers as I'd much prefer live ones that I can plant in the garden and enjoy for years to come. But these were much too beautiful to pass up. I think they'll look gorgeous when they're dried too.

Nice Ride

I got to go horseback riding today! My sister-in-law, Kim, has horses and we use to ride from time to time but life got busy. It's been years since I rode with her. But, today we made time to get together and she took me for a ride. The weather was perfect and we all had fun...there were five of us. I got to ride "Smores". She has one blue eye and one brown eye. Isn't she pretty?!...


We loaded the horses into her trailer and went to the Santa Rosa Ecological Reserve in Murrieta, California. I ride a mountain bike up there a lot but this was the first time I got to ride a horse on those trails. I got to see things from a whole new perspective...higher up!


Here are two of the horses after our ride, Smores and Megan. They're great horses. Kim's had Megan a long time and I think Megan is about 23 years old now but I sure wouldn't be able to tell. She looks great! She has such a super personality too.


When we took the horses back, I had to get a little goat time in. Kim has a couple of baby goats. They're about three months old and ohhhhh soooo cute! Especially this little girl...


Here's her mommy..


The little girl was shy and I never got to touch her. But, her brother was brave enough to come close and once he discovered how great a scratch on the neck feels, he didn't move for a while. In fact, he was even closing his eyes as I petted and scratched him. So sweet!


Goats love to climb on things and that's just what this little guy did. That put him at my level so he could give me a closer look. lol


It was a fun day. But, I have the feeling that I'm going to be sore. I'm already feeling it and I'm exhausted! Seems crazy but I guess I used muscles I forgot I had. I think I'm ready for a nap!

Thanks, Kim, for a fun morning! :-)

Today's Harvest

Our garden seems to be maturing a little late this summer but we're not complaining...this is the most successful garden we've had in years. The squash is maturing faster than we can eat it right now. I really need to find more recipes for it so we don't get tired of one of our favorite vegetables. The tomatoes are coming off slowly, which is nice. Here's the harvest of veggies I picked today...


This is an interesting squash...it's two that grew together from one stem...


We've actually had some humidity in the air lately and one morning last week I went out to walk around the garden and noticed the squash leaves were lined with water, just the edges...I can't figure out how this happened (click to enlarge and get a better view)...


The eggplant is growing nicely and we should be able to pick some in the coming weeks. Here's one of the flowers...kinda pretty but very sharp and prickly underneath...


The Anaheim chilis and Jalepenos have been growing like the tomatoes, a little at a time...perfect! And, the herbs are still going strong. I processed a big batch of basil last weekend for the freezer to have it available into the winter.


I'm always amazed at how different fresh, homegrown veggies taste from those we buy in the market. I love knowing how fresh these veggies are and that they are totally organic...no chemicals of any kind! Yum! :-D

Doggy Bag

Last year a friend of mine gifted me a fabulous little project bag that she had made herself. I love it! It's the perfect size for a lot of my projects, cinches closed to keep everything safe inside, and it has a great little strap to attatch it onto my purse, a belt loop, a camping or beach chair, or the handle in front of the front passenger seat in our SUV for easy access of knitting when I'm on the road.

I'm not the only one who loves this bag...she's had many requests to make them and even sold some in a local yarn shop. She's a little tired of making them. However, our knit group can't get enough of them and got together today for bag making lessons and a day of sewing fun! One of our terrific knitsters set up an ironing station and tables in her living room and we all brought our sewing machines and supplies. We had five sewing machines whirring along, making our very own bags. This one is mine...with adorable little doggies on it. I love it! I'm so happy have another bag and to know how to make more!

Thanks, Cally, for all your inspiration, instruction, and for sharing your fabulous bag pattern with all of us. Thanks, Steph, for having us into your beautiful home...again and again...it's always so much fun. And, thanks to my knit buddies for your friendships and constant fun and inspiration! You ladies rock!

Yarn Shop Find of the Summer

I'm always on the lookout for new yarn shops, near my home and everywhere I go. Many are so-so...nothing out of the ordinary. But, sometimes, I find one that meets or exceeds my hopes and expectations. Today, I found one that did just that. It's the "Needlecraft Cottage" in San Diego, just blocks from Pacific Beach. What a great store! They're friendly (something so important but often overlooked by shop owners) and full of yarns that I don't see at other shops...including LOTS of non-wool choices. Wow! So fun!

I've started thinking about Christmas (which will be here much sooner than I'm ever ready for) and decided to look for yarns to make gifts. I found so many possibilities and narrowed it down to three...for now...after all, I can only knit so much, so fast...


The one on the left is "Araucania Ruca" and it's made of sugar cane. I saw this once before and have thought about it ever since and couldn't wait to find it again and buy some. It's soft, has beautiful colors and a slight sheen. Beautiful! I'm thinking of making a lacy scarf or cowl with this one.

The one in the middle is "Ty-Dy" and it's 100% cotton, really soft, and is a striping yarn with gorgeous blues and greens. Can't wait to play with this one either...maybe a scarf.

The one on the right is AslanTrends "Class". It's made of 55% cotton and 45% viscose. It's soft and one of the plies is shiny. Pretty! I have someone in mind for this one...she'll LOVE it! I'll probably make a cowl or scarf with it.

I also bought more "Sugar N Cream"...I really don't need more of this but I love it so much and they had some balls of one of my favorite colors. I'm planning a knitted project bag with this. I found some of the HUGE balls of "Sugar N Cream" at JoAnn's today too in some new and gorgeous colors...but...I resisted. :-( Also, the lady at the "Needlecraft Cottage" said that the natural color of "Sugar N Cream" is fun to dye. Hmmmm?! :-)

What a fun store and shopping experience! I definitely plan on going back to this shop! Now...if I could just find the time to knit more and knit faster so I can finish more projects and buy more yarn!!!

Summer Refresher

We've done it again! We've successfully figured out how to make a favorite coffee shop drink at home...for sooo much less. A few years ago I started making my own flavored syrup so I could make my own vanilla lattes and caramel macchiatos at home. They're so good and I know I've saved lots of money by making them myself...or, at least had a lot more of them than I would have been able to afford. This summer, my daughter and I discovered a refreshing drink....green tea lemonade...


It seemed like an easy thing to make...and it is! We used one can of Trader Joe's frozen lemonade and mixed it with Trader Joe's green tea (five teabags) that we'd made up and allowed to cool (the same amount of water directed on the can), mixed it up and poured it over ice. Yummmm! Tasty and refreshing! :-)

An added note...coffee has about 40mg of caffeine per cup and it turns out that green tea has about 32mg. That makes it a great alternative to coffee for a shot of caffeine. But, if you're looking to drink less caffeine, consider using de-caffeinated green tea.

Mono Lake

Last week we visited the unique and beautiful Mono Lake, on the Eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This lake has an interesting history. It is one of the oldest lakes in North America and at one time was extremely large. However, in 1941 the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) began diverting massive amounts of water from the nearby rivers and streams that feed the lake to Los Angeles, about 350 miles south. This significantly changed the lake, dropping it 45 vertical feet and causing it to lose half of it's volume by 1991. This doubled the salinity level of the lake, making it three times saltier than the ocean and caused it to have an extremely high ph level. In 1994 the DWP agreed to allow water to flow into it and raise the lake to a "healthy" level. We've been visiting this lake for decades and watching it's progress. It has risen quite a bit since we first visited and only has about nine feet to go.

Mono Lake is a beautiful and unique place to visit. With a back drop of the Sierra Mountain Range (near Yosemite) to the west and desert with volcanic mountains on the other three sides, it's a sight to behold. Here is a a glimpse of it as I walked down a wood path toward the shore at "South Tufa" beach...


Mono isn't like any other lake we've ever seen. It is filled with springs that have a very high mineral content. As the water is released from the bottom of the lake, the minerals form Tufa. Tufa are hard, rock like formations. Because of the significant drop in lake/water level, these formations are visible around the shoreline. There are a lot less Tufa visible now than the last time we visited (that's good news) but there are still a lot to see. It ranges in height from ground level to 15 feet or more. In some places it's like walking on a different planet or something. Here are a few tufa towers...


Tufa varies in color and texture a bit but it's usually very rough and sharp. Here is a close-up of some of it...


Because of the high salt content and ph level, fish cannot live in this lake. However, it is very much alive with brine shrimp (like the "Sea Monkeys" a lot of people saw as kids). This is perfect for brine flies that feed on them. The flies cover a lot of the shoreline, making it black. All of the black in this picture is flies...


It seems like it would be really awful to be around but these flies aren't interested in people and you can walk right through them and they won't land on you. Instead, they fly up a few inches to a foot or so and make big black clouds and then quickly land again. It's kind of fun. The Gulls love the flies and their pupa. They can be seen running along the shoreline with their heads down, mouths open, scooping up flies. It's funny to watch.

Speaking of Gulls...80% (over 60,000) of California's Gulls migrate to Mono Lake each year to lay eggs and raise their young. That's a long way to fly from any beach in California! And, they have to fly over 14,000 foot mountains! What a great place for them though...they have several protected islands on the lake all to themselves...well...themselves and many other species of birds.


I'm thankful to the many people who worked tirelessly to make the importance of Mono Lake known and fight for it's "life", to bring water back to it before it was gone forever. Now it will be here for many more generations to visit, awe, and enjoy. Long live Mono Lake!

For more images and information about Mono Lake, you can visit http://www.monolake.org/

Come back soon to to see where we went next...the beauty was beyond words!

On the Road Again...

About a week ago, we loaded up our little "Home Sweet Home-Away-From-Home" camping trailer and we were off to camp near the tiny town of Lee Vining, in the Eastern Sierra Mountains, just east of Yosemite.

When we bought our little trailer years ago, it came decorated in un-matching colors, patterns, and it was just plain...uh...un-attractive. Over the years it has been re-decorated on a budget...a tiny budget...including clearance items from various stores, thrift shops and rummage sales. It may not be worthy of decorating awards but we enjoy it's bright, happy colors and fun little touches that make it a cozy little place to stay when we travel.

This is our living/dining room area. We love the wrap around dinette which gives the three of us plenty of room to stretch out and relax, read, knit, play games, etc. Complete with lots of fluffy pillows...some of which my daughter and I made up with various fabrics and trims. The large table works great for meals and has lots of space for playing games. We love our matching red, white, and blue dishes (they look like speckled enamelware but they're easy-care melamine), our colored (plastic) glasses...we each have our own color to keep track of our drinks, and our bandana look dishtowels. At night this area becomes a queen sized bed...


The shelf behind the table comes in handy for all sorts of fun and necessary items we bring...knitting, a small harp (above), books and magazines, an old marshmallow tin filled with cards and small games, etc.


Our kitchen is very small but with the table we have plenty of space to whip up some pretty fabulous meals. I love the happy wallpaper (found in a clearance bin...at Wal-Mart) and our tin Corona tray that comes in handy for carrying snacks outdoors. I recently started using an old percolator that my parents used when they tent camped decades ago. It makes great coffee!


I forgot to take pictures of the back half of our trailer. The kitchen has a nice sized refridgerator and freezer. And, there is a double size bed which is tucked, cozily, into a corner. The opposite corner has a tiny little bathroom with cute painted shelving to hold washclothes and many of our necessary lotions and potions, and theres a small tub/shower with a pretty red and white fabric shower curtain. There is a skylight/vent that keeps the small bathroom bright and airy.

I love our budget quilt...and so does Salsa! She gets a special treat when we camp of snuggling on the foot of our bed in the mornings.


We camped alongside Lee Vining Creek. The rushing water is so pretty and the sound of it is so nice to hear...especially at night when we snuggled in our little trailer, enjoying the cool night air. We even enjoyed a couple of rainy nights...I love the sound of the rain on the roof!


The skies were clear on the last night we were there and there were more stars than I've seen in many years. The Milkyway glowed like someone was shining a light into the sky. And, all those bright stars with the silouette of the tall pine trees was so beautiful!

We made several day trips that I'll be posting about over the next few days. So, please come back and vist to see where we went and the fabulous things we saw. :-)

I'm Still Here....

...and...still knitting. I've just been super busy with life and I don't have any new projects to show right now. The tank top was going along great...or so I thought...but it was turning out wayyyyy too big. So, before I went any further, I ripped it out and started a smaller size. As I was nearing the finish line on attempt #2, I put a piece of yarn in place of the needles to try it on and it was also too big. Also, I didn't like the cowl front as much as I had hoped.....RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP! I like this ball of yarn though and I really want to make some kind of tank top with it. So, I'm still looking through patterns and trying to decide on one so I can get started again.

The stripey socks have been on hold...but will get finished. I started a scarf but it wasn't working out....RIIIP! I was using some bamboo yarn that I've tried to use on several other projects but it never seems to work out...I'm wondering if this ball of yarn is bad luck. It's back in the basket for now.

Last, but definitely not least...last night at the yarn shop I fell head over heals for the "Ruffled Rose Scarf"...as did some of my knit friends. The pattern is free from the yarn shop, which is always fun. Several of us shopped together for the yarns we needed so we could get started as soon as possible. I'm soooo excited about this project! It's like a bouguet of roses for your neck. Soooo cute! I have a small start on it and will post pics when I make more progress and have more time.

Back to all the busy-ness of this summer...and hopefully...more knitting time! :-D