A View from Sierra County

WIP Wednesday on Thursday

It's late in the evening but still Thursday, and yesterday I was away from the 'net all day long, so couldn't post an update on my knitting... however, I DID get to sit in on a terrific thunder cell passing over my friend Suzi's house in Sattley, just over the crest of the Sierras from me. 

I spent the afternoon on her back deck, watching the clouds build up, listening to thunder passing overhead and reading or knitting, stopping periodically to check out the view.

She lives in that portion of the Sierra Valley known as "Turner Valley, looking westward and up into the mountains.  There was no rain left by the time these clouds made it past the western Sierra slopes; in fact, DH was working on the other side and heard a special storm alert on his truck radio... predicting heavy rain and winds up to 60 mph, right at the tiny town of Sierra City he was about to pass through!

I got to have an afternoon to myself as I waited on the east side of the county between two meetings.

Besides cloud-watching, I was able to snap a picture of each of the two main WIPs I have been neglecting (we had a large family reunion here over Memorial Day weekend, with not much time for the hostess to knit!).

The first is the plain pink-white-blue baby blankie, nearing completion.

As you can tell, I really AM closing in on the finish, that fourth corner, and can confidently expect to be done before the end of the month.  There is more yarn than shown in the ball, just in case I need it.  This type of project will make a grandly functional and highly washable baby blankie, which might even pass through childhood as a favorite, but has made for rather boring knitting.  I won't mind saying good-bye.

The other project is more exciting, which is a good thing, as there's probably further to go to the finish line.

Here's my Gaia shoulder shawl, at least three-fourths completed, judging by the size of yarn ball remaining... and difficult to get a good photo of.  I am still enjoying the fun knitting, and the way the colors appear.  It looks likely to be a versatile piece to wear, not too big or too small, but just right.  And, the colors are smashing!

I am also happy to report that my third meeting, this afternoon, brought the successful outcome of three more years' funding for my early childhood program, meaning I still have a job!  Plenty of reasons to be happy tonight.

Happy summer weekend to you all....

Muddling Through May

I almost typed "March" and if I hadn't been so busy lately planting my food garden, I would honestly think I was still back in March.  Putting a major grant proposal together is one of the big time-gobblers this month.  I submitted it last week and have to wait until the end of next to see if I was successful.  Since our program budget hinges on getting the funding, I wouldn't mind if y'all thought really good thoughts for me and the 123 Grow program.  Then, I got a bit wrapped up in creating a Facebook presence for our non-profit; you can view it through this link if you are a Facebook member, and become one of our fans. If you haven't bought into FB, that's ok too --- the other person of our two-member committee to create this web presence lovingly calls it "Facecrack" for the addicting, time-sucking qualities.

Then, as I intimated, gardening has really risen to the top of the priority list this month, including helping the parents in my program as we contributed a big presence at last weekend's community plant sale, where the temps got really close to 100!  We made $275 in sales, and the temps are back to normal for this time of year in the Sierras, so life is very, very good!  I have soybeans, bush beans, snow peas, eggplant, five kinds of heirloom tomatoes, yacon, strawberries, dill, bronze fennel (for dyeing wool), calendula (also for dyeing), two kinds of basil (the Opal variety may end up in the dyepot as well), red peppers, lemon cucumber, Jerusalem artichokes, mixed greens, rhubarb chard, sorrel, and corn all in the ground, along with several flowering plants, including a bush lupine about to burst into bloom.  This year's spring weather has blest me with the prettiest blooming of roses in ten years, and my raspberries are flowering as well.  There are blueberries, cherries, pears, and apples all setting fruit, but it all adds up to a lot of time outside instead of in front of the computer.  I know... excuses, excuses.

It is the height of spring where I live, and I promise to take lots of photos over the weekend.  We have the old Slate Range Camp in sparkling shape for the annual family reunion we will be hosting.

I have been knitting and crocheting, though all of my projects seem to have made slow progress through this month.  It looks like a handful will reach completion in rapid succession, with my five potholders for the Potholder Swap arriving at the finish line first.  They are pentagonal, a variation of the Granny Square stitch, and double thickness, using basic washcloth cotton.  I will be sending them off in the mail tomorrow, but am basking in the sense of accomplishment.  Crocheting is much harder on my hands than knitting, I had to make ten to get five, and they won't lay flat, but I do know from past experience that they will wear well and do a great job for their intended purpose -curving around the handle of a hot pot and protecting your hands.  I suspect that the baby blankie will be the next FO.  Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

When Good Blog Services Go Bad

Here I am, apologizing for Typepad, once again!  I checked and your comments from yesterday were all there, just wouldn't publish, even though the post had "open" checked in the comment box... go figure.

Thanks for all the kind words, and here's a little clip to help brighten you back up after dealing with technology problems.  Some of you may have seen this before, though only a few people had commented at YouTube... too funny for words, especially for those of you who have become maybe just a bit obsessive about Ravelry.

Bay Weekend

 am behind in responding to the comments praising DH (he was delighted!) and his Steampunk creations, because we took off Friday morning for a three-day weekend away to visit his brother David and wife Ryoko.  We only were a few hours away, but didn't get on the computer til we returned home (and for me, til I went to work yesterday, which was a hectic day but another story).

When we set up this time away, we had intended to enjoy May weather, flowers in bloom, a visit to the beach and riding our bicycles around Alameda island, where they live.

The weather didn't cooperate.  I hear it was rainy in much of the US, but let me tell you, the most drenching rain here was overnight last night!  We still had enough rain to make riding unappealing, and one of the things we did instead was visit Hyde Street  Pier, a part of the complex of maritime history-themed state and national parks in the San Francisco Bay.

Glenn had a very personal reason for visiting... his great-uncle's shrimp fishing boat has been restored and is on display at the park.

I snapped a photo of the display board... a "Monterey" is a particular style of small boat, commonly used in the bay.  Glenn's great-uncle, and his father before him, used fine nets and fished for shrimp back in the days when there was an enormous abundance of fish in the bay.

Here's a photo of the restored boat...

Glenn suggested that he should take it out for a spin on the bay... the park is located in a little cove, with a very nice swimming beach and a large breakwater to shelter the boats.  However, we had to be content with watching a group get the Alma, under sail.

 

We watched as the crew hoisted the sails ("heave, ho") by hand and got underway, then headed further west along the waterfront to Fort Mason, which really was built to be a fort during the Civil War and guard the western port where all that Comstock silver that helped fund the Union cause was shipped out. 

These days, it has been decommissioned for years and provides homes to dozens of non-profit groups such as the Book Bay, a used bookstore run by Friends of the San Francisco Library, the Museo Italio-Americano, and Greens, the famous restaurant that helped to launch the local foods movement.

We were too late for lunch and too early for dinner, but just in time to get a tasty snack that fueled us through the rest of our afternoon of exploring.  We discovered a collection of Chinese sculpture being packed up... the exhibit, by Master Huang Songjian, had been a special event held the night before, but we were able to see one of his masterpieces, a tribute to the four seasons.

After touring Fort Mason, we headed over to Japantown, looking for a particular store that resembles the "100 Yen" stores in Tokyo... good deals!  I came home with two pair of tabi socks, which cost far less than the ones we had seen at the Japanese grocery where I had picked up seeds for Beer Friend (soybeans) and a skein of Noro worsted earlier in the day.  I didn't see any Noro on sale there....

On Sunday, Dave was able to join us in our rambles and we headed north to San Pablo Bay, exploring China Camp State Historic Park, where the Wetton Monterey spent part of its fishing lifetime.

It was peaceful and quiet there, with the summer season yet to begin and clouds racing overhead as the last shreds of rain were milked out of them.

We walked out the length of the pier and discovered that some of the boats we had seen the day before in San Francisco spent part of the summer providing a display at this park.

Glenn and I also walked down the shore and looked for places to take photos with no traces of modern-day life... not too hard there.

A small museum referenced his uncle again, this time in connection with Jack London, the famous author and a sailing aficionado who resided in the north bay (Jack London Square in Oakland was another haunt, and the name eventually changed to honor him).

 

The weekend passed too quickly... we had a great time but, as always, were glad to be back home!