Trying New Things

I taped a piece of butcher paper to the dining room table and gave Delaney her new set of markers.  She has trouble getting the lids off and on so I removed them for her.

She really went to town.

It held her interest for quite a while.

I decided that maybe giving her a set of markers was premature when this happened.

She even decorated the sweater I just finished for her.  I know they'll wash out but at least she chose harmonious colors.  My first reaction was, 'nuff of that!  We'll try again in six months, but on reflection I decided why not?  They're washable and she's creative.  But I will wait a week, or two.

This is about a quarter of a fleece that I bought last spring.  I am spinning a little but am mostly interested in fiber preparation at this point.  I haven't been able to get small batches clean enough to spin easily and I've heard a lot of good things about a suint bath so on Monday, one week since I put this in, I'm going to check to see how the wool is doing.

 

A Little Bit of Getaway

This is the vacation house that Rochelle owns on the Island.  We've been anxious to visit with her ever since her second open-heart surgery,  She thought she was well enough for visitors so all of us came out to the island Sunday morning.  They spent the day with us and we stayed another four. Unfortunately Rochelle wasn't as ready as she thought and couldn't come back out the next day so we weren't able to see her again before we left.  The good news is that they've identified the problems and she is feeling much better.  Now would be the time to visit except Oregon and Washington are shutting down again for two weeks to get a handle on the spiking Covid cases.  Plus our weather window has closed.  We drove home in rain but now there is snow in the mountains and on the passes.  

The first couple of days were beautiful and I sat on the deck overlooking Puget Sound and read and knitted until the deck went into chilly shade.

The houses here in this 100-year-old vacation cottage community are right on the Sound and this is low tide looking toward Tacoma.

This is looking just the opposite direction.  It's quite a hike up the hill to the parking area.

This is the moon rising over SeaTac which is just across the way,

and sunrise the next morning.

We figured it was a good day because Mt Ranier was out but the weather turned quickly after this and the rest of our stay was in the infamous Pacific Northwest rain, but even that was enjoyable.

I got great entertainment from an app I downloaded called Vessel Finder Lite which identified the ships and gave information about them.  Not all were as large as this Evergreen container ship.  The rain varied in intensity but not in continuity.  The sky was bleeding!!  The visit was a wonderful treat.  Ian's son Doug joined us for the last couple of days and then came back to Bend for a few more days.  

I have been doing a lot of knitting and this is the latest sweater I've finished for Delaney.  

She was hamming up her modeling but it tells me she likes it.  I got online last night and ordered more knitting yarn from Webs - two more sweaters for her and one for me.  At least I don't outgrow mine.

Last evening the eight (nine with Delaney) of us gathered at J Dubs which has turned into our go-to family event restaurant.  They paper the tables and Matt always draws something with the crayons they provide.  His daughter upstaged him last night with this masterpiece.  Grandson Evan turned 17 this week and in spite of being his party, the only pictures I took were of Delaney.  I don't think his feelings were hurt.

With Oregon's two-week lockdown starting Wednesday, it means we won't be having Thanksgiving dinner after more than 25 years of the same tradition.  Oddly of all the celebration dinners we've had in the last five years since we moved here I think I enjoyed last night the most.  The shadow of Covid reminded me of how lucky I am to be right here in the same place with my family.  Thankful?  You bet I am.

Change of Venue

We left for a week in Washington the Thursday before the election.  We had wanted to get up there last month to visit with a family member recovering from open-heart surgery but needed to delay until she felt better.  When you've reached the status of senior citizen there's a greater urgency when illness strikes, but there's another urgency this time of year in the form of ice and snow on the Cascades passes - making the trip without getting caught by the weather.  We were successful on all fronts!  It was lovely to sit in front of hearth, listen to music and visit.

Music is part of the DNA in this household.  The violin on the left was my grandfather's, made about the turn of the century.  I had it restored and took it up on our last visit.  Allison has been taking lessons since then and the luthier where she goes thinks it was made about 1903.  My grandfather was a fiddler and called square dances.  I love seeing it like this.

I love hearing it played like this.  Allison played for us, as did the kids who also have violins and take lessons.  But this fiddle is extra special to me.

Halloween day Jason set out a table in the front yard and the kids carved pumpkins unsupervised for the first time. The pumpkin goo was pretty chilly on their bare arms but they did a super job.

The weather held and the pumpkins glowed.

With the pumpkins carved we took Friday afternoon to do a little sight-seeing in downtown Tacoma.  First stop, the Washington History Museum and I can tell you that next time we visit we need to allow at least a half day to see all five stories.  I thought this collage was an apt representation on the content in some of the displays as we walked through Washington history.

Each era is beautifully curated. I loved the humor in this one.

Second stop was Museum of Glass.  We didn't have much time left, so instead of walking through the galleries we spent our time in the Hot Shop, watching glass artists make art glass.

Like this piece.  It's on display in the Hot Shop, along with three others that are spectacular.

We finished Halloween watching a movie outdoors - Para Norman - with a couple of friends and pizza.  

Sunday morning found us in line for the Vashon Island ferry and the other half of our visit.  To be continued.