Garden Tour

Our poor garden has been neglected recently, with all of our travels. Since we both enjoy digging in the dirt, planting and harvesting there will be some time spent outside this week.  The roses seem to be fairly free of aphids because we emptied two containers of ladybugs in the front yard- one just before going to Cancun and the second after returning. The blooms are fantastic!

I snapped the above shot the other evening.  Spookie was at the apex of the roof when I first noticed him-and had moved down the roofline by the time Greg grabbed his camera.  The clouds are interesting, too. More typically, the Spookster can be found snoozing in the leaves...is that a smile on his face?  He must be dreaming.

I was at Unraveled all day yesterday...and stayed for Knit Night with the group.  A few of us went out for a quick bite and beverages before meeting up. It seems that KnitDad had not been introduced to Cadillac Margaritas. That was remedied in short order!

The first Cedar Creek Sock was off the needles Monday evening and the second one started immediately.  I like working with the metal dpns with STR lightweight...no drag on the needles.  We'll see how long this second sock takes.

Today is a very sad day for me.  It marks the official closing of Macy's (Bullocks) on South Lake. They say it will reopen sometime next October,  after seismic retrofitting and a face lift.  I snapped this shot with my iphone last week...it was very sad to see the interior so empty. Almost too sad to shop. 

Almost.

Stash Enhancement

The packages arrived on Thursday, but because I had not finished some other tasks related to recent travels (like unpacking and laundry)...I forced myself to wait to fondle my new yarn.  This morning, after the gym and breakfast, I brought the packages into the studio for the unveiling.  Beto couldn't wait to see the crow and yarn.

Well, here it is-

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rare Gems ...

and Mill Ends...

Then there were the skeins and skeins of assorted Lightweight BMFA's colorways that called to me....

and the purchases made during the infamous Knotorious Sock Knitters yarn crawl....

Beto was overcome with joy.  Me, too!

Spookie, our rather large cat, has a new friend.  He/she is a feral cat we have named Tuxedo for obvious reasons.  As you can see, they enjoy many of the same things...

like taking a siesta in the late morning sun...

I thought it was odd because, until recently, Spookie had seemed uninterested in other cats....then l I discovered...on close inspection of the ground around their napping spot...that they were really hunting buddies!

Out for Delivery/ Camp Fun

Thank God for UPS tracking.  It says my two packages from Orcas are "out for delivery." I can't wait to hear the truck turn down my street....that means my yarn is almost home. YIPPEE!!!!

This is a  shot of me in the winners' (yes, there were several categories) circle for our TP project.  My entry was judged to be The Tallest.

The bottom bit is a large, messy crow's nest filled with metalic and other assorted yarns, the crow is perched atop a TP holder made with several yarns held together (my first attempt at crochet) sporting a gold tassel, and the crow was fashioned from fabric I knitted, cut and sewed onto a coat hanger armature. 

Some of the following pictures you may have seen on other blogs-they ALL were amazing.                   

                                   

Then there were the Funky Monkeys and The Mother of all Monkeys, Cockeyed.  Little did she know when she wrote the pattern what she would become....

or did she?

They were all great works of art...don't you think?  I learned to needle felt when I made my monkey's handlebar.

  

The night before they were presented, a group of us were sitting at the Rosario bar sipping on The Ghost of Alice and other drinks...Chappy (on Ravelry) was next to me furiously needle felting her monkey's fez.  A lady siddled up to her and inquired what she was doing.  It appeared that her husband was a Shriner and her daughter thought Chappy was performing a voodoo rite on a Shriner image when she saw her stabbing her monkey.

Tonight we are going out to Daisy Mint for dinner.  Knitdad mentioned it to me a couple of times - and my daughter said that she really liked the place.  Greg and I decided to try it for lunch yesterday and were surprised that we knew the owner, John. Several years ago he was a fellow customer of Eagle Tools, a business Greg has purchased some woodworking machinery from. They recognized each other immediately.  Small world. Daisy Mint is receiving good reviews which are well deserved.  Our lunch was delicious!

Over the weekend I will post the yarns purchased during the crawl and at camp.

Day 3-Alpaca Farm on Way to Orcas

Monday, after a leisurely breakfast at the cafe in Roche Harbor, the van was repacked and we headed off on more pre-camp adventures.  A few projects were being finished on the drive...one ended up on the dashboard for a quick shot.  That is the top of Alice's head in the review mirror. 

We made two stops on our journey to the to the ferry and our ultimate destination, Rosario Resort and BMFA's Sock Camp. 

Krystal Acres was truly beautiful.  After making many purchases at their Country Store, we headed out for a brief tour of the farm and met some of the sweet alpacas. 

This one is named Houdini and will be the sire of all farm offspring this season! 

We were able to pet and feed some of the animals-they are very social and like to be with their pasture mates.

The other stop we made that morning was a vista point for whale watching and a short hike to a lighthouse.  I managed to snap a few shots there, too.










I didn't see any whales, but the view was fantastic.  Some people stayed back to work on projects....I am glad that mine was shipped ahead so the vista point wasn't missed.

Oh, that reminds me...the packages are finally on their way back home, stuffed to the rafters with yarn.  UPS tracking is fantastic...if you are obsessive, like me, you can check on your package's progress hourly.  The last time I checked the two boxes departed West Sacramento, early this morning.  At least they are off the island and moving in a southerly direction.

Tomorrow's post will be a consolidation of camp pictures...socks and funky monkeys.

Day 2. Pre-Camp Yarn Crawl

Sunday we took a ferry from Seattle and arrived at our ultimate destination for day 2, Roche Harbor. There are several nice shots of the hotel property for you to see.
The first is a long shot of the main building that includes the lobby and some guest rooms upstairs.
My room was on the third floor of the white building on the right.  It had a fireplace, sitting room, bath, bedroom and the balcony had a nice view of the harbor.

Lime kilns are preserved on the grounds and were interesting subjects to photograph (for me, at least).

The garden was small but had many interesting flowering plants.  Some I could identify and several I had not seen before.  There were paths laid out in recycled bricks-some with intriguing patterns.


That evening, we decided to check out the bar and grill and several in the group tried out one of the local drinks, "Pig War Martini."  It was way better than the local H2O!

Apparently, the Pig War is still brewing on the island.

Early Monday morning, after taking a stroll around the grounds, I went into the lobby and found Alice and Chappy enjoying knitting, the newspaper and a nice fire.  There are some display cases containing interesting tidbits from the hotel's past.  One case contained a register that Theo Roosevelt had signed.  It appears an earlier signature on a previous register page had been stolen!

It was time for us to bid Roche Harbor "adieu" and to continue our adventure in yarn shopping before reaching our ultimate destination, Orcas Island.

1st Post Camp Post

I have decided to post one day at a time, as there are just too many good pictures! The first day was last Saturday, the 12th.  The Hilton Gardens sent a shuttle to pick me up at SeaTac around 10AM and I encountered two members of our group, knitting in the lobby.
Joan is on the left and Socktopus (Alice) is on the right.

                              CathyCate and Samro(KnitQuest) were also in the house.

Alice from the Heartland (Altygrae), consulted the map for the big yarn crawl.Nederlass (MJ) drove her "short bus" that had been painted for the Knotorious Knitters yarn crawl the previous day.  Stariel (Ariel) helped pass our our special bus passes that were provided by MJ's husband.  What a cool guy!

After picking up the last to arrive, we boarded the bus.

....and hit the road.

The first yarn store we hit was Weaving Works.  I think everyone came away with something...I certainly did.








The next few shots were taken after we left the bus in Seattle and boarded the ferry bound for Bainbridge Island and our last adventure for the first day.  The picture on the left is of a restaurant that Chappy thought her husband, John, would enjoy. The one on the left is a view of the city from the ferry, as we are pulling away.

My favorite shot taken during the short ferry ride was what I call "Alice Under Glass." Look carefully and you will see why-We had heard wonderful things about Churchmouse Yarns...and they were all true. The staff welcomed us with sherry and shortbread.  We responded, in turn, by making many purchases.

Tomorrow I will post about our next adventures-Roche Harbor and the alpaca farm.