TREE OF LIFE KAL

Lion Brand yarn company started a Tree of Life KAL. I love the pattern and thought I would give it a go, I have enjoyed working on the afghan and am pleased with my progress.

I have learned that is a pattern best to be worked on at home when no one is around to disturb me. I find myself knitting with my mpg3 player going so I don't hear the phone or the door.

I tried to work on it while out with Scott when he went fishing on day, but found myself making more mistakes than not so I figure just work on it alone.

I am using Caron Simply Soft in woodland heather. The pictures I took do not show the color well at all. The color is actually a soft sage like green.

I am excited to get this one done, it will be my first full size afghan.

I have more yarn in the mail to start a twin set, so I will have 2 big projects going, I usually don't have two big ones going at a time, should be fun.

BIRDS & BLOOMS

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This year we have been getting all kinds of birds in the yard. Some we usually get and others are new friends to us.

We of course get the wrens, the finches, the starlings and the jays. But this year we have been lucky to have Goldfinches, Western Tanager, Black-Headed Grosbeak and some others that I have identified yet.

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We planted Black Irises several years ago and we love them. We just haven't seen the ones in the back bloom for several years, lawn mower pruning by kids who should know better. But this year they are blooming and showing their glory. The color is so pretty.

We have columbine up to our ears this year, they are very tall and are attracting the humming birds.

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Mother's Day

I was not looking forward to Mother's day this as Scott had to work, DD had to work and DS was just not himself. We had talked about going to the Mission Mills Museum up in Salem but with gas prices what they are and all I was pretty sure the trip wasn't going to happen.

Then Friday night Scott surprised me by saying that the next day would be going. I have wanted to go up and take a look around for several years but we just never have. So this was going to be a real treat.

Scott and I went up on Saturday and spent about 4 1/2 hours going through everything. There really is so much to see. You can go in the different buildings that were once part of the mill and see the different equipment that was used for many years to make wool fabric. The entire process is explained and you can just imagine what it was like to work there. I loved the grounds that the museum is set on it is so pretty and the sound of the rushing water is soothing to me. I can see why a lot of people get married there.

When we left the mills we went somewhere else that I have wanted to go for years.....The Salem Riverfront Carousel. I love carousel horses and carousels, I love all the detail in each and every horse. I absolutely love the old wooden horses, I always think about all the people who have ridden the horses. We even rode the carousel!!!!! I had so much fun, I haven't ridden one in years so it was a real treat.

We did some shopping and then headed back home. On Mother's Day Scott and I got up and decided we would take Frank on our annual trip to Hendricks Gardens (this is a rhoddy garden) but to our surprise he wasn't allowed in the gardens just outside, so we packed it up and went to Owens Rose Gardens. The three of us had fun walking around and looking at what little is in bloom.

Yard Project

We have a nice sized back yard and for several years we have had flower beds here and there. Last year we connected two of the beds together to make one big one. Scott and I have talked about doing this for a long time, so we were happy with the results but knew it could be better.

During the fall Scott started planning out how he would like to see the yard done. I figured it might happen but did count on it just because we have done this before. We make the plans and then don't always do the work. So when he started talking about again a couple weeks ago I was a bit surprised.

Then he ordered the plants for the garden. so I knew we would be digging. We spent 3 hours on Sunday skimming grass and preparing for the new soil. We were smart this time and used an edger to cut the outline of the garden and then Scott cut cross hatches in the inside so it would make the remove easier to do. It was so much easier this way than the old dig and skim method that we have used in the past.

After we removed the sod we then added new soil, rich in nitrogen so the flowers will grow like crazy. We still have a bit of heavy weeding to do on the one end of the bed. So we are waiting for the plants to come and then all we have to do is plant and add bark.

I thought I had before pictures to show but once again I forgot to take any. But it is pretty easy to tell what we did. If you look in the picture you will see the dark soil, that is where we dug. Oh and if you go to the video of Frank you can see how it was in the background. I will post new photos once the planting is done.

RENO

So we went to Reno, NV. We left Eugene right around 8:30 am on Thursday morning and pulled into the Hotel around 4;30 or 5 in the evening. For those that don't know there is two common ways to get there from here, one is to go down I-5 and through Mt. Shasta the other is to go through Willamette Pass and go down via Central Oregon. We choose to take I-5 down. The trip down was uneventful which is always a good thing, there was a lot of road construction which of course slows you down.

Here is a shot of Mt. Shasta from I-5.

We had wonderful weather on the way down and on Friday, except for the winds started on Friday. Friday we went out and about, we visited 3 yarn shops that were on my list. I will post pictures later of my haul....hehehe.

Hey girls I found a license plate for you all, take a look...

Then we came across this little gem.....

We went to the Railroad Museum in Carson City on Friday and were greatly impressed, there was some serious history there.

Scott and gang bowled Friday night and did pretty good, we will see just how good in a while. Fingers crossed for the money.

When we got back to Reno Friday we played at the different casinos, no big winners. But needless to say we had fun. I am a people watcher so I was in heaven just watching all the people and everything going on around me. Here is what the Reno sign looks like at night....

Saturday morning we got up and played a little Keno, we just happened to hit a 4 spot which was our big winner for the whole trip, it payed out at $115 not to bad. Then we headed out for the day. we went to the new Cabela's store...all I can say is WOW. This is an outdoor persons dream come true. I can't even begin to describe it, they have just about everything a person could want. They have wonderful displays of wildlife animals in natural settings. If you ever get a chance to go to one you really should.

When we left there we headed to Lake Tahoe. We started our journey at the upper end of the lake and drove around the West side down to the South and came back over Mt. Rose. The highest elevation we were at was right around 8900 ft. The lake is incredible, there was still snow on the ground and the houses. It was chilly and we had high winds. But it really was a great day. Here we are at the North end of the lake...

Here is a view of the lake at Inspiration Point..... On this leg of our trip the winds were blowing, we had 60 mph gusts.

We had to be back in Carson City for bowling at 8 am on Sunday so we called it an early night. We went on down to Carson City and found snow on the ground. The gang bowled and then we all headed out. Talking with everyone and watching the weather channel we had a decision to make ...which way to come home? We ended up coming home through Klamath Falls and then Willamette Pass.

We had pretty much every type of weather possible on our return trip. We started the day off with sunshine and winds, then hit the snow, then we got into some hail, then fog, then we hit more snow, then when we got home we had rain.

I wish I could say the trip home was uneventful but I can't. We were making good time and just cruising along until we made the turn onto Hwy 58, this is the highway that takes you over Willamette Pass. We started out with nice dry pavement no snow, no ice. Then we started getting into the snow, not bad, it was fresh and the sanding truck had just gone through, so all was good. Then it got worse, we went about 5 miles and came upon a wreck, a car on each side of the road, one flipped over on its roof, everyone appeared to be ok. Then about 3 miles from that we hit the ice, we slid a bit, no area to chain up. So at this point we just parked for a bit to regroup and get settled down and then proceeded on our journey.

We went past the ski lodge and all was well, except the icy roads and fear building in us. Then when we got to tunnel we had to sit for about 45 minutes. There was a U-Haul truck with a car dolly and car on the back that jack-knifed just outside of the tunnel.

I have to say I really was scared at this point. Not knowing how long we would be there, what was going to happen, and with the temp dropping who knew what was to come. Anyways a tow truck got the U-Haul out of the way and we were moving again.

When were about 45 minutes from home we hit a snow storm. I was pretty cool to see the snow coming at us the way it was, we could hardly see the road but the snow itself as so pretty.

We ended up pulling into our driveway around 10:30 pm. We hit the road at about 2 pm so we really didn't do to bad on time.

I was so happy to be home. Frank greeted me at the door by jumping on me, as soon as I emptied my hands I picked him up and was greeted with about 5 solid minutes of his puppy kisses. The kids told us he was depressed and refused to eat while we were gone. He is back to normal now and doing well.

So that my friends is the story of our journey to Reno. All in all we had an awesome time. I feel very blessed to have made the whole trip with out any real problems and am very happy to be back home.

I will be taking pictures and posting my LYS haul.

A New Bag

I wanted to knit a new bag to take to Reno, but couldn't find the perfect bag so I borrowed some ideas from several bags and made my own from a combo of bags.

I used the stitch pattern from one, the idea of a flap from another and the over the shoulder strap from yet another. So what does that make....take a look.

I still have to make the button and line the bag but I think it turned out great. I am going to make a button from part of the apple tree we had to take out last year. Our kids helped us plant the tree in our yard shortly after we moved into our house, I thought the apple wood would give the bag a nice natural feel. I used Sugar 'n Cream in Ecru from a cone.

I used seed stitch on the sides and bottom and then used what I beleive is called a s cord for the strap. The s cord is so eazy and has a nice finish. I used 9 stitches, you knit the first 5 and then slip the next 4, turn and repeat. It looks like you have done i cord on each side with a ladder look in between.

IT'S DONE!!!!!!

So I have been working on a ripple pattern wrap for a while now. I don't want to think about how long exactly. I finished it last night and did the weaving in of the ends today. The model wearing is my wonderful daughter. She informed me "Thanks for making it for me Mom. It is so nice and snuggly, see ya" In her dreams.

Anyways I used Bernat Bamboo Natural Blends, I used the colors dill, wicker and lotus. I love how nice it turned out. Daughter is right it really is nice and snuggly. I can't wait to use it on our trip to Reno.