Feeling Disconcerted...

...and strangely detached. I got some very bad news this morning from our Vicar. A friend, the person who used to be our church musician, watched her husband die in front of her last night. 

Yeah. 

I'm still fiddling with that in my head, as we celebrate a day to be thankful and have ourselves surrounded by family, even the Crazy Uncles and the Crabby Aunts. 

He was 59. Diabetic. Took his insulin dose, and somehow, the part that boggles my mind: his sugar crashed. She tried to get sugar down him (she's apparently been down this road before), and it didn't work. He started speaking gibberish, keeled over and was dead on the floor. 

She's calm. Too calm; brain has blocked everything, I think. 

So I met him twice, maybe? They lived far out of town, and he wasn't a church-goer. We would tease him that, in our church, he could walk in and the roof wouldn't cave...

I'm sad and broken-hearted for her for many reasons. 

Today, in among your celebrations, look around the table, and even if in the moment, that relative is driving you nuts? Give thanks for them anyway. 

Wellness Wins...

F/k/a "Weight Watchers." I joined up again. I need to get myself under control; honestly, I tend to "emotionally eat," and I need to curb that. 

WW used to be Weight Watchers, but has recently changed their name & mission to "Wellness Wins" -- so as to not lose the very recognizable logo? Pardon me, my cynicism is showing. 

Anyway, I do eat clean for the most part, and they've changed so a lot of the fruits & veg are "zero points" which is good for me. But I'm kind of shocked at the points values for some stuff, like this Chocolate Protein Chia Pudding that I've recently become addicted to. It's almond milk, chia seeds, 1/4 scoop of  chocolate protein powder and nuts/berries. Shake it all up in a jar, let it set overnight (or in my case,  2 days?). And then you're good to go - add the berries (or fruit you like) and chopped almonds. Breakfast, and it DOES keep you full till lunch. I guess you could use a different flavor of protein powder if you want. But the chocolate does "scratch an itch" especially when you're trying to lose weight. 

But it's like 8 or 9 points. I get 23 for the day, which is fine - it's what I got over the last time I was in. But somehow, this seems to be a great amount for what it is. 

So for the first few weeks, I'm just tracking and "kind of" following the program. I've lost a bit already, just tracking and being more aware of what I'm eating. I'm also logging my exercise, just to get in the groove of doing that. I was on the ElliptiKILL this morning for almost 40 minutes. It's not that I don't like it. I do, seriously. Just don't have the time. 

I survived (mostly) the Thanksgiving meal; though I do love my brandied sweet potatoes, and my mom's stuffing. I didn't bring the stuffing home. I did bring the sweet potatoes home. There's not a lot of brandy in the "brandied" part. About 2 tablespoons or so, over 8 or 9 sweet potatoes. 

Thanksgiving Again...

Today is, of course, Thanksgiving. Apart from the news I gave you up at the top, today was going to be a day of knitting, starting the Christmas baking and doing a few things around the house. 

I'm doing all that, but with that "in a bubble" thing going on in my head. Hubby is doing a turkey breast tonight (leftovers in my family get distributed ASAP). He's working now on an Apple Cranberry Chutney. I'm doing skillet baked potatoes and I did start on the Christmas baking. I've got "Snow on the Mountain" and "Chocolate Shortbread" dough in the fridge; one batch each. I've already done Molasses Ginger Cookies. One batch. 


I'm thinking one batch of each thing I'm doing, except for the Pineapple Crescents and perhaps the Filled Cookies. 

All in all, I love being in my kitchen. It's my happy place, and I'm happiest looking at the"Baking Cupboard" - where all my supplies are. I love my well-stocked kitchen. 

It's where I go when I want to feel like I'm actually in control of something. 

Too often, we're in control of...nothing. 

Here, though? I know my equipment, I know my spices and other ingredients. I know my oven and stove. All my pots are hanging over my head; all my pans are tucked into the cabinets. The spoons, spatulas, whisks and knives are all in their appointed spots. 

Pretty much everything I'm involved in requires scheduling and planning. But in my kitchen, I can be a little bit of a free soul and cook or bake with imagination. 

Today, in my little "baking nook," I was kind of surprised to see that I'm down to one box of unsweetened chocolate. For me? That's actually quite unusual. Somehow, I've got a raft of the semi-sweet, and now I'm down to 1 square (4 oz) of the unsweetened. 

I've added it to the list. Had enough to make the Snow on the Mountain cookies, which required 3 squares. 

I may add to the Christmas Cookie list. Make some almond bread or pear bread. That gives me some alternative items for my cookie trays. I've got time to think about it. 

Tomorrow, more baking, hoping to whack out as much as I can over this long weekend. Hubby can do his during the day, because he's home more; but I need to get mine done while I have time at home. Last year, he did most of it, and while I loved that he did, I was irritated. Yes, irritated. Because I do enjoy it and it bothered me that this most elemental part of the holiday was out of my hands. 

This year, I want to take back a little. Maybe feel like I have something I can contribute. 

Knitting...

Trying to finish The Fourth Hat. I'm kinda over the whole pattern, but I'm plugging along, a few more rows from the decreases. Once I decrease, it'll go faster. I'm anxious to start something new -- or at least pick up something that I'd set aside for these hats. 

My list, in part, is like this:

1. February Lady Sweater
2. Green Sock
3. Petty Harbour Socks
4. Grapevine Wreath Scarf
5. Bigger on the Inside Sock
6. Sole to Sole Sock
7. Cookie A's Monkey Socks (just started...)
8. Kid #2 Afghan

This doesn't include the yarn that I have that needs to be knitted up. The beautiful caramel-color silk and a baby set that I'm planning to stash. Plus some TARDIS Blue Bah Ram Ewe laceweight - I'm still looking at patterns for that one. I have one skein so I need to make it a good one. 

I'll pull something out this weekend. Not sure which of these will be The One, but I've got to get something done that isn't a hat. 

Essential Oils...

Today, in the diffuser, I have Christmas Spirit. It's not "early" - I'll diffuse that a lot in the chilly weather. There's a great blend called "Thankful" (I mean you'd blend this yourself): Two drops EACH: Cypress, Sacred Sandalwood and Idaho Balsam Fir. That's for tomorrow. 

I bought the Llama as a Christmas ornament, but since he stands up on his own? He stands next to my Lantern diffuser. The sheep? Bought that at the Diocesan Convention. It's felted, and it's from L'Arche, Bethlehem. 

And I got something else at the convention: This bath gel. I normally stick to Young Living Essential Oils, but I couldn't resist this gel from Thistle Farms. Find the link here. So much of what they do resonates with me. They bring women out of prostitution, sex trafficking - dangerous situations. And they give them shelter and a job. 

This is a very nice geranium scent. It's worth looking at their site to see if you can help them. I'd rather be helping an organization that gives back. The holidays are coming, and you can do a lot of good with your consumer dollars, if you prefer to shop that way. 

Young Living has a foundation, and we give money to a number of different causes; and they also provide work locally at the farms that are owned by the company or in cooperation with the farmers in other countries. 

We shop for the holidays; may as well do some good on another level if we can, right?

Random Picture...

As I was pottering around the kitchen, trying to wrap my head around my friend's husband's death, I looked out the window. Our milkweed has popped. It's colder than heck outside, even with the sunshine, and there's a bit of a breeze blowing - kind of cuts right through you. I popped out and snapped this picture. 

Just now, I ran out to get some Rosemary off the bush. Using it in the turkey breast and the potatoes. 

Milkweed is blowing in the wind, which I'm sure won't please the neighbors, but we'll have a nice bit of a patch for next year. 

It's the time of year where we're cleaning up for "the last time" with the leaves, with the garden, and packing away anything that would have been outside - hummingbird feeders, yard ornaments such as the gazing balls and the hand tools I generally leave on the porch for ease of grabbing when I feel like fiddling in the garden. 

When the milkweed is done blowing, we'll take down the stakes for the winter. We'll figure out what we're doing for Christmas decorations over this weekend. We like to get them up now, while the weather is half-way decent. We're not the type to light them up early - like some in our neighborhood who put them up right after Halloween. And light them right after Halloween. No, thanks!

This holiday - the day to give thanks - thank you! Yes, YOU. Thank you for reading the stuff I send into "inter-space." I love to hear from you, so don't be shy about commenting! Thank Whoever you thank and give a thought to those who aren't able to be with loved ones this year. 

Itch. Itch. Itch.

Every once in a while, I try a new product. Sometimes - well, usually, it's on recommendation. And 90% of the time, a recommendation works out well. Not so much this time. I can't help but think that the new spray facial toner I've tried is giving me a nasty case of hives. 

Twice. Honestly, the first time, it didn't bother me. But twice since? Hives. On my neck & chest. Bad. And I can't use cortisone cream - nasty reaction which was, actually, HIVES. 

It was this stuff. And I'm not saying it's bad. It got great reviews, aside from the person who recommended it. I'm just "one of those." One of those people who, if there's a 1 in a thousand chance of something going awry? It's me. 

I'm rather bummed. I like to use natural products, and I like the idea that this is a small company in Colorado, woman-owned, too. That being said... I've got hives and I'm trying to get rid of them without using cortisone cream. Do you know how difficult that is? (sigh)

So Hubby bought me some CeraVe "anti-itch" lotion. The tag on the bottle says, "stops itch in 2 minutes, keeps itch away for 8 hours." Not so much... It was about 2 hours. And I started itching again. 

We've ditched most of the old stuff  we used to use on our skin, but I was thinking, "maybe I've got some Noxema in the basement." I didn't. But I did find some Burt's Bees After Sun lotion. The aloe vera seems to be working. So far. I'll probably slather it on again tonight before I go to bed, and see how that works. I even took off my BellaBeat. It wasn't bothering me, but my sternum area was so irritated that it wasn't worth wearing it. 

It's Fall, Y'all...

I can't decide what color my front tree is this year. It's red. It's gold. It's yellow. It's brown. All at once. And tonight's a gorgeous full moon. Which I'm unable to get a decent photo of because of light pollution. Gotta love living in the 'burbs. 

As the season is changing, I'm watching both of our trees. They're both a little over 25 years old; two maples. The one in the back is a bright orange in the autumn. This year, it's not doing so well in terms of the colors. They're more muted. That happens sometimes, but the tree is in good health overall. I'm chalking that up to Mother Nature - when she's confused, the colors don't turn out so well. 

The one in the front is supposed to be a flaming red - like Lucille Ball's lipstick (Google that if you can't immediately picture it). Again - the tree is confused. It's the weather. This one is also healthy as the proverbial horse, so I'm not too annoyed at the odd colors yet. We'll see how this shakes out when the season really gets rolling. 

As for the milkweed, I've got red bugs on the pods. And the pods are just now starting to burst. I'm sure I'll have more milkweed than I can use. I should gather up the spare and offer it for folks. Note to self: Do that this weekend!! 

I'm not sure what the red bugs are, but it seems like they're enjoying the pods. 

The parsley is still looking great, even after the first frost. We got the tomatoes taken down, and Hubby is going to pull up the carrots this weekend, as well.  

Of course, there's eighty bazillion and five carrots - we'll see how many of them are fit to eat. I didn't thin them out enough - which is what caused the immediate demise of my radishes this year. 

I think that I was able to thin out some of the carrots late in the season, but we'll have to see what actually grew in the plot. Could be that I end up with a bunch of "carrot straws," which are good for not much of anything! 

(Note: now I'm itching again... Looks like the aloe vera isn't doing its stuff either... Maybe a Benadryl night.)

So, let's chat about Orchid Nation...a/k/a the shelf in my living room. I found some river rock, and I also got some lava rock (small pieces). The lava rock is kind of a mess; you have to drain it like crazy. 

I switched up the bark in the keiki (the baby) and then gave the rootless phal a drink, and replaced her bark with the rock + lava rock combo. I'm pretty sure that if I can keep her leaves green, I can encourage her to sprout roots. It's going to take months, if not a full year - and I think having the rock/lava mixture will encourage humidity. I've filled the water to just past that bottom rim there on the left - that's enough to give it a little "terrarium" feel when the rootless phal is in there. The leaves are still pretty turgid, and there's a new one sprouting in the center. Of course, that's a defense mechanism to stay alive, but we'll take it. I think I can make her happy again. About a 20-30 minute soak every other day, not wetting her crown, and tucking her in that humid environment - we'll see. The Orchid Gods can perhaps give me this one, as I'm learning my lesson. 

Knitting...

Along with more Prayer Patches (we think we have over 200 of them, and I've done about a dozen), I decided that I could probably knit the kids some hats for Christmas. 

Using the Emergency One Day Hat pattern on Ravelry, which is now my go-to hat pattern, I'm doing a red hat with gold stripes for Kid #1 (who's loved red since he was a baby) and a gold hat with either brown stripes or maybe red for Kid #2 (who doesn't care what he gets as long as it's something I've knitted). I'm thinking that maybe I can also toss in a scar for Kid #1 - I have no idea if he's got any of the ones I've knitted through the years. I know Kid #2 has - even an incredibly ratty one that's falling apart - he keeps it because he says it's still warm. It's horrible. I told him, "Ok, you can keep it, but don't tell anyone I made it!!" 

I frogged Kid #1's hat once already; I had a moebius strip...it wasn't supposed to twist. And then I started the ribbing. I decided to jazz it up and do a twisted rib. It's K2, P2, so what I did, of course, was knit the Ks through the back loop for a nice little pop. It's easier to tell on thinner yarn (like on a sock's ribbing), but this does make the knit rows in the rib stand out a tad bit more. I'll see if I like it enough to repeat it on Kid #2's hat. There are only 5 rows of ribbing on this hat, so it won't make me want to scream. 

I'm thinking I'll be working on the hats for a bit; we have sufficient Prayer Patches for Pocket Priest's installation, and I can still whip them up during my evenings catching up with Dr. Who...since I'm teaching during the time it's on (Sunday nights), Hubby is taping it for me. I'm not worried about spoilers. I just want to see how the program evolves this year. 

Here's a great way to see if you've actually cast on the proper amount of stitches: do an even ribbing (like what I'm doing here). I ended up with a "spare" stitch. So I put markers every 20 stitches, and found an extra - which I just P2tog (purl two together) and fixed it in the second row of ribbing. Nobody will ever know - except you all... 

Random Picture...

I dug back in the archives for this one. It's back when we weren't crazy and could have a nice back yard. 

We still have that concrete bird bath, and it's still enjoyed by the birds. This was back in 2012, so it was the first year or two that we had the raised beds for the garden. And the cages there were either herbs or potted flowers - we have digger-squirrels, and anything that's not caged is fair game for the little buggers. 

Those are our white plastic chairs that Hubby scrubbed and repainted. I'm not sure they're usable now - it's been a long time. 

I miss having that back yard sanctuary thing. I think I need to get back out there and this coming spring do something positive. Not sure what, yet. Most likely a native plant garden, as we've got the front yard rolling in that direction. If I can convince Hubby to dig up a bit more? Maybe more milkweed and coneflower. Will keep you posted there. 

Looking forward to any comments - let's chat! 

...and I lost...

Lost at Yarn Chicken. Badly. At 5" or so into the bind-off, I realized I was toast. 

Gutted. But - I went on the Shawl Knitting FB group and asked around. Emailed Expression Fiber Arts, and got a reply from Chandi herself! And checked Ravelry, where a lovely knitter had Stone Tulips stashed and was willing to part with it. 

So. One PayPal click later, it's on its way. And I'll finish it up in about 10 days, when it gets here. 

Whew! Thank the Knitting Gods and Goddesses for generous knitters willing to share. 

So then I figured I'd go buzzing along on the Green Sock. 

Stand still, kids... I think I'm liking the green sock now. As I'm knitting on it and I can see the pattern coming along, I'm thinking I might like it. Will wonders never cease? Opal comes through again with a colorway that grows on you. This photo is a tad off - the orange isn't as "coral" as it looks here. It's actually more pumpkin - overtones of rust. And the green in the wider striped bits is a bit deeper. The first orange + white pattern got a bit lost in the tail end of the ribbing; as you can see, it's a more fun pattern in the whole section down toward the needles. 

I found a great pattern for that mohair that Kid #1 gave me a few years ago. I'm not a mohair fan, but he doesn't know that. So I have some burgundy mohair - one hank. And I'd been wondering what the heck to do with it. I found a very simple scarf, done on larger needles. Yes, mindless, but worth the yarn, if you know what I mean. It's on Ravelry, "Quick & Easy Kidsilk Haze Scarf" -- quite literally cast on about 42 stitches on size 4.5mm needles, and knit. Bind off. It's stretchy and airy and lets the yarn "halo" nicely. 

Now I just have to find that ball of yarn. But in the meantime, I listed out my current WIPs. Something familiar is going on here...

Yeah. 

The top three are "Second Socks." 

I can justify why Bigger on the Inside is in "sock time-out." It's tight. Seriously, the "Bowties are Cool" pattern is as bad as "Jaywalker" in its tightness. Even at a cast-on of 72, it's tight on my biker calves. I love the color. I love the pattern. 

I don't love the tightness. 

Sole to Sole: That got frogged. I think I dropped some stitches, so I frogged the whole thing; for the second sock, as I recall, I was only about 2" in so frogging wasn't a huge issue. 

I set aside Petty Harbour to start on the Close to You Shawl. Nothing wrong with it. I was moving along on the leg - I was at about 5" or so and I figured I'd better get skippy and do that project before I ran out of time. 

You know how it goes: "The baby isn't due till November; I have time." "The birthday is at the end of the year and it's only June. Plenty of time." "Who starts Christmas knitting in May?"

Ummmmmm. Time is moving at light-speed, my friends. This time, I figured I wanted to get that puppy blocked before  I was on the eve of the birthday. Because it would've worked out that way. 

So I figure I have about 5 - 6 days to get the yarn; then I can finish it up. I only need about 5-ish yards, but I bought the whole hank. Next up: Search Ravelry for a project using 390-ish yards of this yarn. I'm not saying that I don't like the colorway, but it's not my favorite, so I have no idea what to do with it. Something will come to me. It usually does. 

I Hate the Fourth...

As you all know by now, I've got 3 wonderful dogs. Two of them are terrified by fireworks. 

When I say "terrified," I don't mean normal skittishness. I mean drooling, whale-eyed, shaking, won't go out to pee terror. This is Quinn in the bathroom on the 4th of July. She's been there since July 2, actually. And she's still there. 

Because people are idiots. Because people insist on blowing off illegal fireworks, and not only the little rat-tat-tat ones, but half-sticks and M-80s. Those are mortars, people. 

Here's a little 4th of July trivia for you: M-80s were used by the military to simulate explosives and artillery fire. So then, they evolved into professional fireworks. 

And then, somehow, the idiots got hold of them. And started shooting them off in backyards nationwide. 

Fireworks are illegal here in Illinois. They've been illegal for a long, long time. The larger gauge ones are so dangerous it's not even funny. 

Aside from blowing off your fingers (or your face), they can damage - permanently - your hearing. The guy across the street was blowing them off on the 4th before the storms hit. Hallelujah for the storms, but still - some idiots were blowing off fireworks DURING a thunderstorm. 

I sat on the floor with my older dog for over an hour trying to keep her calm. I gave both dogs a massage with essential oils. I had diffusers going. I gave them CBD cookies. I had fans on high speed to muffle sound. And still. Quinn wouldn't budge. 

We finally got her out of the bathroom and into her crate - she likes her crate in these circumstances. 

All I can tell you is that you should be safe on the 4th of July. You shouldn't shoot off fireworks unless you're a professional. And above all, remember your neighbors: the pets, the vets, the people who have sensory issues, those who are elderly and those with other chronic conditions. 

Go visit your municipal display. Leave us in peace, please. 

If You Don't Like the Weather...

Blue skies, beautiful clouds

...stick around for 10 minutes. I mean it. Usually, it's a joke, but on Thursday, these were the shots actually 10 minutes apart. I saw the clouds, around lunch time, and I thought, "How pretty!" so I buzzed out the door into the heat + humidity (nope, no walk on Wednesday) and snapped this. I went back to doing what I was doing, and then glanced up... to see Shot #2...Went out and snapped that, and heard thunder somewhere off in the distance. 

Thunderheads

Ten minutes later? Stormageddon... 

It bucketed, sheet-rain, sideways. The cloud-to-ground lightning was pretty impressive. Actually, kind of terrifying. The thunder was very loud. The rain was almost louder. 

If you can see in the last shot, right over the restaurant building? You can actually see the sheets of rain coming down, just like a Hollywood special effect. 

Sheet rain

And it just kept on coming. It lasted for well over an hour. The bad thing was that I heard a number of sirens, too, and saw at least 2 ambulances rushing down the street. I understood later that there was a big traffic issue at one of the major intersections a few miles down. It doesn't surprise me. 

And then, when it calmed down, of course, fireworks. Boomers set off in the neighborhood next to the office. Really. See paragraph above on my opinion.

In Thursday night's class, people were joking about how effective our "Yoga Rain Dance" was over the 4th of July holiday. It was effective, but not enough, apparently. 

Garden Glories...

I was at Menard's today, doing my good deed for the church. I bought play sand (jeeze, the smallest bag must weigh nearly 40 lbs!) for the "butt bins" at the church. I cleaned out one (I forgot the one at the front door). Then I put it the required 15 feet away from the door. And the group that meets at the church promptly put it back near the door. 

This does not make me happy and I'll have to address it. 

But. 

That's not the point of this section. The point was I was in Menard's. And I found something beautiful for the garden. This lovely hummingbird feeder was on sale. 

I also picked up some additional hummingbird food. We try to buy the pre-made but without the red dye. The birds don't need the red dye; it's really not good for them. 

We had a "mason jar" kind of hummingbird feeder and it didn't work out well. Bugs, probably ants, got in the feeder despite the very deep "ant well" we had on it. I think the openings were a bit wide and they managed to crawl in. This has smaller openings. The colored part is glass, so that's very pretty in the sunlight. It's under the maple tree, so it's kind of shaded. 

We haven't seen a lot of hummers lately, so I hope that this colorful feeder attracts them. The brown-eyed Susans are starting to bloom, the coneflowers are going nicely, and the pink thing that I can never remember the name of (see it right below the feeder, there) is coming up just as it does every year. The hanging baskets are a bit straggly. The wild mood swings from rain to scorching are taking their tolls on the baskets. But they're hanging in there (ba-dum)... 

And the milkweed. Wow. I don't think I've got monarch eggs after all. But they're feeding something. And we'll have some beautiful pods. 

I remember as a kid having those spray-painted silver and gold and then spray painting Michelob bottles. We'd glitter up the pods and make them into Christmas decorations. We found swamp milkweed all over the place. We'd also do cat tails. 

I expect that, this Fall, we'll have a load of milkweed. I'll have to snag it before it takes over the flower garden. Maybe I should plant some along the south side of the house. Hubby won't necessarily like it, but it's an option. And otherwise? I'll have milkweed to spare, if anyone wants some! 

Random Picture...

Speaking of garden delights, I have to say that while my basil isn't quite spiffy, and my Rosemary is sparse, the parsley? Wow. It's beautiful. Lush, and green, and fragrant. I've used it quite a bit and it's only gotten prettier. It's the prettiest we've had in a long time. I think it's better in the front garden and not in the herb trug. 

I think we're going to have to freeze some of it and maybe make parsley pesto. 

Parsley is a great herb. Yes, it's strong. But it's packed with Vitamin C, iron, and Vitamin K. It's not only good for you, but it's good for your dog! Chopped up in Fido's food, it helps with not only "doggie breath" but also with inflammation. It's antimicrobial - always a plus. And can fight some issues like arthritis. 

I'm going to try it with Quinn. Not sure if she'll eat it, but I'll give it a whack. It might be worth a try, particularly for her cysts. Not sure if cysts are caused by inflammation, but it can't hurt. 

For humans: bone health, an immune booster, full of antioxidants. Helps combat constipation, gas, indigestion. The only thing to worry about, and that's if you eat -- like that whole pot up there -- is that it can cause problems with high blood pressure and water retention. Which is odd, because it's supposed to help with UTIs and keep things flowing, if you know what I mean. Check this link for WebMD for more information. Just so you know I'm not making this up! 

Garden of the Gods, Part Two

Pikes Peak (at left) through the Siamese Twins

So it ended up that we went back to Garden of the Gods. We just didn't see the whole thing, and honestly? Had we more time, we could've gone back ANOTHER day - because we didn't hit all the trails we would have liked to have hiked. 

This time, we hit the Siamese Twins and saw the "gates" a little more up close. This was the time we finally saw wildlife (aside from the humans!!) in the park. 

We found deer right off, saw a great little lizard, and a Stellar's Jay. We also saw "wildlife" in the way of humans who are pretty much incapable of reading a "stay off the rocks" sign. Too many kids were clambering up onto formations where the signs clearly said to stay away. And too many parents were just...oblivious. 

And while I, too, did some yoga poses, I wasn't an "Instagram Yogi" like this one gal... But I digress...

One of the things that caught our eyes was a cliff-climbing class. Holy Moley... I jumped off a 7,000 foot Alp, but I don't think I would ever scale a cliff. There were a nice group of folks who were going to try this. The rest of us just watched. 

We stopped by The Trading Post again, because The Kid wanted a t-shirt, which he never ended up buying. But I got a wedding jug for Hubby. We went into Old Colorado City for lunch - an absolutely lovely BBQ place called Front Range BBQ. I had the rather unenviable task of choosing between a plethora of options for BBQ. 

I wanted it all. 

I ended up with a fantastic pulled pork BBQ and baked beans. Kid #2 had quite the appetite, but again -- I was still a little "meh" on eating. I did chug down the iced tea. 

After lunch, we walked the "arts" area, in the heat (heat for Colorado, that is -- there was no breeze in Old Colorado City). Went into a "British" shop. Lots of kitsch for The Royal Wedding, very little Dr. Who, and no - I didn't buy a thing! 

Maybe my overall issue while in Colorado was dehydration, in spite of the fact that I felt like I was drinking water by the case-full. We started out with a 12-pack of water at the beginning - Hubby sticking a cooler in the car as we left. And by this time, we'd also bought another 24-pack, and were almost half-way through that. I'd say we went through 3 - 4 16-oz. bottles each, per day. 

Kid #1 suggested we find Palmer Park. So we did. We mainly drove through it, which gave me even more experience with blind turns, foot-hill driving and the occasional switchback. It's got lots of pull-offs, and so we took some pics that gave us a really stunning view of the city. 

Did I show you the Kissing Camels? If not, here it is. It took me a minute to spot it. But after that, of course -- that's all I could see! 

The day was a bit hotter than the past few days. I noticed that I was still having a bit of a time breathing. Kid #2 was still watchful and still making sure I hadn't "keeled over." 

I noticed that I was a lot more cautious this time, too. I really need to get new hiking boots; there was a lot of loose gravel, too, which didn't help. But I'm thinking the soles of my hiking boots need updating. Now, either I can re-sole them, since the tops are still good, or I can use them around here, and next time I know I'm going to do some serious hiking - yeah, even at Starved Rock - I'll invest in some new ones. 


"Where the deer and the antelope play..." Well, we only saw these little guys. And one of them was piddling... who knew that deer peed like female dogs?

You learn something every day. Also, Garden of the Gods isn't a state park. It's a CITY park. There's no admission. No parking fees. It was given by a local businessman "for all the community." I love that. 

I have faith that this park will be around for a long, long time. I have faith that the people of Colorado will stand their ground and keep this space open and available for everyone. I have to have faith, because today's news has been making me sick. 

I'm hoping that these pictures give people a chance to breathe and pause and notice that there's beauty here. 

In all the ugliness, regular people are talking about things that they'd normally avoid. Regular people are calling their representatives, emailing, texting, posting on their social media pages (the reps, I mean) and making noise in the hopes of changing the evil that's clouding our nation. 

I have to have faith that regular people won't let us descend into a scenario reminiscent of Nazi Germany and the horrors of Hitler. I have to have that faith. Otherwise? It's something I can't even wrap my mind around. 

Is this the ultimate test of our democratic republic? Maybe. Maybe this is our cosmic wake-up call. 

What is this bird???

OK, so I just checked my bird guide. We did NOT see a Stellar's Jay. Actually, I'm not quite sure what this one is. 

But he was quite the character. He let me get sooooooo close, and then, "poof" - he flew off. I thought I got a shot of him in flight, but I did not. 

Anyone? I'm up for a good guess. Mention it in the comments if you know what this bird is.

The little sand lizard was darting across the sidewalk as we passed. I nearly missed him, and Kid #2 missed him entirely. I was able to get him with my long lens. 

He wanted to pose. Or I scared the crap out of him! He held still and I was able to get a bunch of shots. I figured that one or two would be good. 

This trip, I didn't take many pictures with my phone. I'd been having some battery issues, and it's annoying to have the battery suck dry and not have a place to charge it. After I got home, I bought one of those "portable chargers." I thought several times that a solar charger would've worked a treat - seeing as we were in the sun most of the days!

Here are some shots from Palmer Park. You can see we're pretty high up. Lots of scrub land. Several trails, but honestly, after 90% of our day at Garden of the Gods, we weren't very interested in hiking more. And a few of those trails were pretty steep. We didn't want to chance it. The view was a really great 360-degree vista of the city. It was again amazing how far up the foothills we saw homes. 

We left Palmer Park in plenty of time to get cleaned up to meet J.'s dad for dinner. He's a member of the Broadmoor Country Club and so we went there. Nice buffet, pretty facility. A lady helped -- or should I say "helped" -- take pictures of us (she didn't set the flash, and I forgot!). We took some family shots, and I have to get them printed for my mom. She doesn't do "phone pictures." 


This was our last night in the condo, and I'd been cleaning (not that we were slobs) so we set aside the groceries we were giving to the kids, and finished cleaning and packing. It was going to be a long drive, and it didn't help that the power went out about 10 p.m. ... and the way we found out that it was back on was that the bedroom lights blazed on about midnight!

How Can I Help...

So. We've come to an ugly, evil pass today. The "zero-tolerance" policy that's being used to hold infants and children hostage for a disgusting border wall. The "space force" that's being used as a distraction. The "balanced budget" proposal that cuts Social Security and Medicare... All of this smoke and mirrors crap happening. 

Good people, however, are rising up. We refuse to let this become our Kristallnacht. If you haven't gotten involved in helping people register to vote, or contacting your representatives, or working with organizations helping to mobilize against the evil (yes, it's evil, particularly when you broadly brush EVERYONE with the "animals, criminals, infidels" labels that are being thrown around) that's being perpetrated by this administration. So many of these people coming to our borders are coming for asylum, which is a legal process. By treating anyone who's not "us" as "them" and then further dehumanizing them, this country is going down a long, dark path. 

Are you willing to put your money somewhere that'll do some good? If so, donate here: RAICES (Refugee And Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services) - based in San Antonio, TX. If you're a little "squidgy" about donating through Facebook (and I can't honestly blame you if you are... you know...), then you can donate here: raicestexas.org if you have a mind to. I just tried to access their website. They are experiencing "higher than normal" traffic. I hope this means that they're getting closer to their $8 million goal. 

Facebook is even waiving fees for this fundraiser. That's something. 

I would urge you to do something. Anything. Preserve your own humanity. 

Random Picture...

So what do you do when your rather large milkweed falls over in a thunderstorm? You go into your "pantyhose" drawer and cut up a pair. 

Come on, I'm realistically NEVER wearing pantyhose again, if I can get away with it! But I kept them. I try to keep a pair for "emergencies," but also I know that anywhere I need to go in a "dressy" mode, I can wear a pantsuit. 

When I found that last night's storm did a number on my milkweed, this was the best solution. Think about it: they're soft so they won't cut into a branch. They're weather-resistant, and you can cut them in any length you need. 

Voila! The perfect plant ties. 

I still haven't seen any eggs on the undersides of the leaves, but it's the first year they've been this big. The dill has also taken off like crazy, so I'm hoping that the butterflies will be back. 

The bee balm, herbs and other flowers are also attracting hummingbirds, which is good because Hubby still hasn't gotten the feeders out. I told him I'd do it, and he said, "I'll take care of it..." Soon, I hope. I know - we have a lot of summer left. 

Back to The Knitting...

Yes, we'll continue with the trip, but I need to update you on the knitting. Among other things, too.

So - knitting. I got the chiropractor to adjust my wrists (it works but it hurts a bit, because my hands are still tender!). Tonight I got another point done. So it's on to #15... After that, 3 more to go and I'm done with the current "Close to You" shawl. I do want to do this one again, but not right now. I will look at a few other patterns I've stashed in Ravelry and I'm pretty sure that something will strike me when it's time to take up the needles again.

I haven't had a chance to do much on the traveling green sock because I've been walking at work. In between shifts, we have a couple of hours. So the person I work with has decided we need to walk. Only if it's raining do we not walk.

Today, we walked almost 5 miles in a little over 1.25 hours. Lucky for us, it was breezy, but I'm so quick to burn (even with sunscreen) that I carried an umbrella. Maybe I need to carry a parasol! Anyway, I was laughing because of the breeze -- it created a drag on the walk, so maybe I got a little more exercise than I would've done otherwise.

So, needless to say, unless it rains, the green socks won't see any appreciable knitting time till this shawl is done. I'm so close.

You know how, when you're working on a project, you get to "that point" where you're just going to push on regardless of any other project? That's where I'm at with the shawl.

No, I haven't added the fringe to the 2-Hour Shawl. No. I haven't started the other shawl either. But I'll power through the shawl this weekend, and get it blocking. Then I'll start on the shawl that's in the bag.

I don't think this is going to require strong blocking, like the first one I did. Difference in yarn weights. I'll show you what it looks like after I finish it.

The Garden Grows...

My milkweed has taken off. The tomatoes need topping, and I have to get in and thin the radishes. Hubby tried (thinning the radishes), but he didn't get very far. I also have to thin the carrots, while I'm at it.

The dill isn't as tall as I thought it should be. We thinned it out last year, and maybe we went a little too far. But the rest of the front garden is moving along. The brown-eyed Susans are going well in the bed by the gazing ball.

Also, I'll need to get the hummingbird feeders up. It's going to be a hot, steamy weekend, and I'm sure they'll be looking for nectar. I have a large red "cover" for the one feeder, and that should keep it a little more shaded because the front yard faces west.

Otherwise, I do plan to stay inside, with the A/C, and just veg. And knit more.

Red Rock Open Space...

Like a mitten

So. After we'd done Garden of the Gods, we found Red Rock Open Space. It's kind of off the beaten path, but we saw it on the way to Garden of the Gods, and made a commitment to get there afterwards, if there was time.  J. said it was "too open" for her. Well, yeah, but if you're living in the middle of the prairie, like we are? That's "prairie with rocks." We love that!

Grow where you can... 

One of the rocks that struck me reminded me of a big, red mitten. I mean, there's the thumb, and the body. It was laying sideways. There were people hiking with us, but luckily, we had peace and quiet while we were there. The signage said that mountain lions were there, and believe me, some formations made us feel like we were being "shunted" toward what would've been a great place for the big cat to pounce... but the only wildlife we saw, aside from the baby birds, were bunnies.

Foothills beyond the rocks

Standing on one of the rocks, I got a great picture of the long view. I love the contrast of textures and colors. Again, the aridity of the area really kept surprising me. The bright greens, then the rugged rocks, and the dryness of the air. I mean, it was in the 80s for air temperature, but with the dry, it didn't feel like it. The breeze off the mountains also helped.

You'd think that, after hiking all day, we'd be exhausted. Well, we were tired, but somehow, the energy of the place was there. We wanted to go back another time to try a couple more of the trails. Spoiler alert: we never did get back...

But it's definitely a place where we'd go again if we made the trip out.

God lights

One thing I remembered from Montana: when it's near time for the sun to shift, it shifts dramatically. One shot I took, I saw what my great granny used to call "God lights" -- where the sun streaks through the clouds and makes light patterns very interesting. I took a shot as we were leaving, and noticed that the "God lights" were strong in this picture. It's not touched up or retouched. It's just the way I took it.

We were hoping for rain, which never materialized. Not to put a damper on our trip - but because they so badly need it.

When we got home, we learned about a big wildfire southwest of where we were. It's sad to see the devastation, but again - Mother Nature has a way of doing it up right.

The land will recover. I'm sorry for the loss of people and property. I can't even imagine.

Tenacity

I couldn't imagine this burning. But it could. There are Buddhist teachings about impermanence, but I don't think we really have a grasp on that. We all know in our working brains that life is also short. Life doesn't last in its current form. But in our emotional brains? It's a different story. We tend to think it's going to be "this way" for the rest of our lives.

Not "this way" in the current state of unrest, chaos, and dysfunction (and I'm only thinking about Washington, not globally...). But "this way" in that my family will always be constituted the way it is now; nobody gets older or gets ill; everyone is where they are and nothing changes.

Yet everything changes... This park reminds me of it.  Looking at the trees clinging to the cliffs and being as green and vibrant as they are? That's amazing. That's something that I will have in my brain for a long, long time.

As we hiked, we just felt some sort of magic in the place. Both of us commented that we should, by rights, be totally exhausted. But we weren't. 

Stink-eye from baby birds

We found "Contemplative Trail" and thought, "how hard can that be?" Well. It was an "intermediate" trail! Wasn't a walk in the park, after all. We got a shot of a nest that we think may be eagle babies. Hubby thinks not, but I'm still wavering. Didn't see a parent, but the stink-eye one of the babies gave us? Definitely eagle attitude!

I mean, look at this up close. Tell me what you think. I'm going to have to post this to a birder friend and see what she's got to say about it.

I'd love to think they were eagles. They were certainly big babies. And the nest was pretty high up. I'll let you know what my bird friend says.

We got to a part where there was a scent. We couldn't identify it, but it totally enveloped both of us. A mix of floral and spice, like a conifer. I took a shot of a juniper tree, and got some other lovely root shots. It was a real wake-up call to see the trees growing out of the rock. I mean, talk about "bloom where you're planted." This is a true testament to fortitude and willingness to live.

I did have Kid #2 take some "awkward mom doing yoga" pictures. I'm always on the lookout for those kinds of opportunities, and sometimes they work. And sometimes I realize I need to work on my alignment! I drop my back knee in Warrior, if you're interested. I had my Monday night students work on this - lifting the kneecap to engage the quads makes the pose more stable.

Kind of like a tree clinging to the side of a mountain. Rooting down to grow up.

Random Picture...

Tonight, Quinn wanted ALL THE PETS. She was just clingy. I love that she's affectionate. It was hard to knit with one hand, though!

She's still in her Thundershirt, and will be for a while, till a nasty cyst clears up. Poor baby has more, and we're reluctant to get them operated on unless we absolutely have to. We would love to find a magic solution to this problem.

We've tried diet, supplements, medication... It's just the way she is. I'd say that that's the worst part of owning an Elkhound. Some are very prone to cysts, and they can be very obnoxious to deal with. There's been many a time when I've held her head while Hubby cleans something out, and the poor baby is just shaking. But she trusts me. Oh, she trusts Hubby, too, but doesn't like it much...

Tippi is zonked out alongside Raisa's crate. It's almost time for bed; I didn't sleep well last night, and I've got a long day tomorrow.

I need to close. I want to knit, but realistically? I need to hit the sack. That nearly-5-mile walk did me in. I have to teach tomorrow night, so I'm hoping the walk is a bit shorter tomorrow!