A Little Adventure

We live in an area that is absolutely stunning.   (If you don't like sage brush, you may not like it here.  Luckily, we do like the desert.)

We haven't been geocaching for awhile, so we went for the first time in a long time.  First we went to Sandpoint.  While we were waiting to get a fix, the boys sat on boulders.

 This is looking back toward Washington (we were in Oregon).  The geology that defines southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon is obviously on display here.
 

Then we drove back to Washington, and stopped to look for one here.  It's another place that I'm glad I went, but I don't think I can do it again.  I am afraid of heights, and climbing up the trail was hard enough for me.   

Two of the sisters.  I wonder if the one that was turned into a cave is lonelier than these two.

A view from the top of the trail.

Another view.

 It was good to get out and explore.  We've driven by the sisters a few times, but never stopped.  They are huge!  I'm glad that we went.  Next time, we may go to Hat Rock.  There's so much to see here.

Keeping Myself Busy

I like to make things.  Some things I make take minutes (ice cream and other frozen stuff), some a few hours, and some days, weeks, or months.  For instance, soon I'll be starting a sweater for the Collar.  It will be heavily patterned, so it will take me months.

Now, I'm knitting a sweater for me.  I started it last week (?), and am one pattern repeat from the neckline on the back.  It's a really fast knit.  I am sure that all the Knitty readers know what it is:

 The yarn is much redder than the pictures.  When it is finished, I'll take some shots outside.

 This project took about 45 minutes.  The fabric was supposed to be for pajama bottoms for Game Boy.  Surprise!  In the three weeks since I bought it, he grew and I would have needed another 6 inches of fabric to make him shorts in the length he wanted.  He decided he wanted a pillow case instead.  I still owe him a second pair.

The boys jointly picked out fabric for pajama bottoms.  (Periodically, they both decide that they want to have the same clothes--and I'd always said I'd never have my kids wear the same outfit.  Oh well.)  Jungle print (not accurately portrayed) for both boys.  Wiz is modelling his pair.

Then there's the second pair of Wiz's shorts--in all of their planetary goodness.  He loves all things space.  Now the boys have cooler pjs for the rest of the summer.  I just need to drag the Collar to pick out fabric for his pj pants now.  Wiz picked some out for him, but I'm not sure that is a good idea.

A little sun

 and a little rain and we get this:

 Tomato plants, several of which now have outgrown their cages.  Now if we'd see more fruit set, we'll be much happier with them.

 The flower boxes are full.

 Game Boy's melon plants are much bigger even since I took these pictures.

 Wiz's strawberries have berries on them.  Now the plants have filled in his entire earth box.

 Adorable baby tomatoes, although we'll all like it better when they are not baby tomatoes and are nice and yellow little pear-shaped tomatoes.

 Rainbow Chard, a family favorite.

 Salad greens:  many and multiple types.

I thought maybe some would like to see how Wiz's incisions look.  He now has his summer cut so we can get an idea of how he'll look even next year.  They are still pink, but very flat.  He has a bald spot on the top incision, but the way his skull is shaped, the bottom one seems to be covered with hair all the time.

The bottom scar has a bit that will always peek out of his hair line.  That's where they removed the outside part of his C1 vertebra.  He thinks that they make him look cool.

Socks Of My Very Own

I have this yarn.  It's yarn that many knitters worldwide stalk as if it is a lion on the Serengheti.  Me?  I lucked into it.  A friend (LittleMy) from Knittyboard sent it to me in a secret pal swap.  I knit a pair of socks out of it and I wear them at least weekly in the winter.  I had a lot left over, so I thought I'd knit another pair of socks.  They needed to be special, so I looked for a pattern.  I didn't find one.  I looked through a stitch dictionary, and found this:

a pattern called lily.  Here it is in yarn with decreases and yarnovers.

 It looks better on my right foot, because that one is wider.  (It's the one I broke back when we lived in Lexington.)  The pattern opens up a little more.

 On the bottom, is the view someone else will see when they look at my feet (hey, I have nerdy friends).  I think it looks like a jelly fish (which is also cool).  On the top, is how they look when I look at my feet. I do that sometimes, especially when I'm wearing hand knit socks.  They make me happy.

I need to make some decisions about these socks.  Do I enter them in the fair?  Should I write up the pattern?  Or shall I keep them mine, and mine alone?

Growing Things

besides the boys, of course.  (Game Boy is growing like crazy.  His feet are officially bigger than mine now.)  Knitting is sort of growing.  I'm about 1/2 way through a bath mat and I'm half way through the lily pattern on the second sock.

All of these pictures are from a week ago.  It's finally warmed up and the sun is out, and now there has been a ton of growth. 

 Roses and weeds make a fine bouquet.

 The tomatoes are blooming.

 This tomato plant was broken off at the ground by stupid fuzzy tailed rodents.  I rooted the stem end and left the other part.  Both parts are doing pretty well.

 Greens!

 Another tomato

 Game Boy's earth box with watermelon and canteloupe.

 Wiz's strawberries

 Cilantro

My flower boxes are filling in nicely.  These were all started with seeds and I'm starting to see flower buds.