snow day

It's true, Seattlites are snow-wusses, but today it gives me a lovely sunny (if very cold) snow day, so I'll take it.  I've just baked gingersnaps, a blueberry coffee cake is in the oven, and I'll sit down with some knitting soon, before turning my attention back to school (the campus may be closed, but I still have lots to do). 

in which I jump out of a perfectly good airplane

I celebrated my birthday (just a little late this year) by going skydiving!  I've never been before, though I'd been wanting to for years and years.  I did a tandem jump from 13,500 feet, with about 60 seconds of free fall before my instructor deployed the parachute.
Bill at Skydive Snohomish was my instructor, and he was great.  Thanks, Bill!!  It was such a thrill, I'm looking forward to going again already!

handmade shopping

I am a huge fan of buying handmade goods, especially locally. To that end, I do as much of my "shopping" at craft fairs and festivals as I can, including today at the Fremont Fair in Seattle. I had on my list a couple of t-shirts, a skirt to wear to Alaska in September, and a wine bottle stopper (that one had been elusive!). Since I want to do what I can to promote buying handmade, here are the websites of the folks I bought from today:

Uzura www.etsy.com/shop/uzura
Intertwined Designs www.intertwineddesigns.com
B Hive Designs www.bhivedesigns.com

go handmade!!

catching up

I did a few really cool things since I last posted in September (coincidence? I think not). First, I climbed Mt St Helens. Amazing trip, and I'd do it again. I had essentially zero practice or training, and still did pretty well. Not setting any speed climbing records, but it was a great time. I was joined by my friend Brent and his friend Heather, who was on a flight layover between Nova Scotia and Australia. Most folks I know bring a book or knitting for layovers... this woman climbed a mountain.


just getting started



the fog is clearing



the climbing route: Monitor Ridge



on top of the world, but not yet on top of the mountain (Brent, Heather and me)



making progress



getting closer (the horizon line is the top)



looking north from the cornice -- the 1980 eruption blew the top and north side of the volcano off.




at the top! known to the mountain's climbers as half way


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Next up, my parents went on a long road trip that included a visit to Seattle and British Columbia. I loved having them here and I loved the time we spent exploring Vancouver and Victoria, BC. We ate well, laughed much and saw new things.



My mom and me at the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park....



Here are my parents on the ferry from Vancouver to Victoria....



My dad, Finn and me canoeing at Green Lake, Seattle.


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Then, just as they'd done some 23 years earlier, my parents dropped me off for my first day of school. My first quarter of full-time grad school went wonderfully, and was as much fun as I've had in a long time. Drawing and coloring, cutting and pasting, showing and telling -- I tell you, this is all the fun of kindergarten with all the perks of adulthood. My classmates are awesome, and my grades are good. I am having a blast.


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Lastly, a note from Mr Finn. He gained a little fame when the doggie day care we take him to selected his image to paint on the side of their doggie transport truck. How awesome is this?



thanks, Great Dog!

photos from helicopter

our chariot of the sky...



Smith Tower, Seattle



I can see my house from here!

102 degrees

all-time high temperature record for Seattle was set today.


posted at 10:43pm, when it's 95 degrees IN MY HOUSE.

my charges

I've got my hands full for the next several days with some dog friends. I'm taking care of these three gents, who alternately sleep, play, argue, sleep and eat.

alpaca shearing

I was generously invited to the annual alpaca shearing event at Vashon Island Alpaca, which took place yesterday. I helped with fleece gathering and bagging, as well as animal handling.




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The shearing itself is done by a three-man team of shearers: one man using the clippers, while the other two held the animal. Kind of like different cuts of beef, there are different parts of the fleece: "one" is the back, "two" is the neck and the upper parts of the legs, and "three" is the belly, the topknot and lower parts of the legs, if it's not very dirty. We who collected the fleece and bag it (one large plastic bag for each type) would scamper around the feet of the shearing team, pulling shorn fleece off and picking locks of it up off the floor, working as quickly as possible to keep it tidy, out from underfoot, and organized into the three types.


Jake, a farm regular, and I made a good fleece collecting team




most of the animals stood throughout the shearing, but not all of them.


Knitters: you know that baby alpaca yarn we all oooh and aaahh over? This is it.... baby.

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After several rounds of that job, I helped fix some jagged wires in a fence of the holding pen, and then I helped prepare the animals for shearing. Each animal was identified by serial number and name, then rounded up by one person (basically by grabbing their head and neck--I let the pros do this bit), and then holding them--this is where I came in--for a blowdown with a high-powered hairdryer, and some fleece-picking, if necessary. And yes, I jumped right in when asked to pick twigs, lichen bits and.... other bits... out of the critters' fleece.


a little alpaca ass-grabin'


a good mix of befores and afters, for reference

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I tell you though, there is just no end to how funny these guys look after they've been shorn....


this guy insisted that they leave his sideburns


...and they sure can bend!

I had an incredibly good time, and I sincerely hope I can come back and do it again next year.

Thanks to Bill and Lee for having me, to Nathan and Harlan for allowing me to help, and to Cohni and Josh, for inviting me, and for taking pictures!

nine inches (22.8 cm)

my official reading from the back yard.



The dogwood tree in the back yard.... see that little layer of ice between the twig and the snow? Now think of that all over the streets....


the Japanese maple....


I walked Finn to day care.... this is Roosevelt Avenue


happy holidays!!

(note: officially, I hate english holly)

Finn, I don't think we're in Seattle anymore...

As I waited for the bus* to take me downtown, I saw this....

These are two of the skiers I saw today. Five cross-country (including one skijourer) and one downhiller.

* skiing really might have been faster than the bus today, but my hat goes off to the Metro and Sound Transit drivers these snowy days -- they've been doing a helluva job, under very trying circumstances. Bravo!

snow daze

Some photos from my increasingly snowy neighborhood....

Seattle skyline from Maple Leaf Reservoir

NE 15th Ave, looking north


Finn has taken up a little "donkey kick" to get through the crusty snow

I know the ground is down here somewhere....


my backyard, this morning

Houses across the street -- I love the subtle color pallette here...

Icicles on the car (photo taken yesterday -- you can tell because you can see the ice [that is now under six inches of snow] on the ground).

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

Even after the National Weather Service cancelled the winter storm warning for last Friday, it started snowing last night, leaving about 1.5 inches in my neighborhood. It's 28 degrees F as I write, and they're saying that we're in for a blast of Arctic air over the next several days, taking us into the teens, which is pretty cold for this area.

urban craft uprising!

I've just come home from volunteering with the Urban Craft Uprising Streat Team -- a fantastically good time and kick-ass craft show. Seriously, I've never been to a better craft show. I am so glad I saw the call for volunteers -- I'll be sure to do it next year too, if I can. I hung banners (thanks to Troop 253 for those knot skills -- I had everyone in awe!), I counted folks coming in the door, I directed traffic, I handed out swag bags (greatest job ever -- there were people lined up for over two hours waiting for these bags of goodies, so imagine how thankful they were once they got them!), I sat with authors while they signed their books, I sold UCU merchandise, I "gophered" for the vendors, I helped them bring their wares and displays into the space (lots of exercise there), and I distributed raffle tickets. Reminiscing makes my feet sore all over again.

I had to practice some serious self-restraint too (saving for our trip to Steamboat Springs in January), there were some of my favorites: Texture, glamscience,and Revival Ink (my favorite t-shirt is one of hers). Some of my new favorites are Amphora Candles, Felted Style, Made by Moxie, Rivkasmom, Sam Trout, Semilla Designs, and the famed Yarnia, whose yarns I just couldn't stop touching. Speaking of which, I've often heard the phrase "delicious" and "yummy" used to describe yarn, but I have to admit, I never really understood that sentiment until today, when I saw Spincycle Yarns for the first time (I do believe this will have pavlovian implications for me in the future).

But the two vendors/artists I really haven't been able to get out of my head have been ECOTONES, who needle felts wool and silks together to make the most amazing neck warmers, chokers, wrist cuffs and other beautiful -- nay, yummy -- pieces. Naturally, they don't have a website (gah!), so I just may have to go back tomorrow to pay them a visit. And Fernworks Fine Art, whose jewelry is just stunning.

Oh my, it was a great day.

putting up pickles

After reading about just how easy it was to make homemade dill pickles (somehow I expected more steps than canning peaches) at Eating Locally in the Pacific Northwest, Eric, Finn and I went off to the Ballard Farmer's Market on Sunday for an armload of pickling cucumbers, to supplement the four we grew in the garden. That was the easy part. Finding alum was a bit harder. No luck at two grocery stores and one local hardware store with an extensive kitchen/canning section. Our last hope was the massive grocery/department/always-too-busy-to-be-sane store where I bought the canner last summer. We crossed our fingers, the angels sang, and we found the alum. Once home, we followed all the directions very carefully, and now we have seven quarts of these beauts to look forward to.... in about two months.

To celebrate, we had a dinner of brats, grilled peppers, grilled portabellas with pesto, garlic and feta, and grilled peaches, our new favorite food. If you have not tried this, and you're within driving distance to fresh peaches and a charcoal grill (I have a sneaking suspicion that they just wouldn't be the same over propane), try these. Simply cut the peach(es) in half, remove the stone, sprinkle the flesh with a pinch of sugar and grill, somewhere between the hottest and coolest parts of the grill, flesh-side down, for about two minutes, turn once, two minutes more, and serve warm. Oh. so. good.

weekend wandering

My good friend from high school, Elise, and her husband Ari, were in town for the weekend, for a series of whirlwind visits with folks they know in the Seattle area (cousins, other friends, a high school science teacher, and us). At their request, I arranged for a group hike to Boulder River Wilderness Area* on Saturday. The hike was beautiful, and strengthened my resolve to do more hiking this summer.


enjoying the falls on the way out....


looking downstream from our mid-point, where warm feet were bathed in fresh snowmelt....


an as-yet unidentified plant, but I'm working on it.... ideas?


a close-up of the falls....

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It's been an incredibly warm weekend here in western Washington (mid-90s). The kind of heat that has you crossing your fingers that the next red light will have you stopped in a patch of shade and has you not really wanting to eat dinner, much less cook it (chips, salsa and beer was all we could handle). Both days saw us taking Finn to the off leash dog beach at Magnussen Park, and generally avoiding the indoors. I tried to sew a couple of hours ago, but had to give it up and head outside (strange how the house seems to hold heat so much better in the summer than it does in the winter, which is pretty darn well, actually), where we are now expecting thunderstorms... it just has that feel out there.

Now I am going to try to sleep.... I think I'll start by counting how many times I can say thankgoodnessweinstalledthatceilingfan....

* It started off as Mt Pilchuck, then Mt Rainier, but then I realized that those places are still reporting snowy conditions, I googled early summer seattle area hikes and got Boulder River on the Washington Trail Association's website.

you know you're at the Fremont Solstice Parade when....

I went to the Fremont Solstice Parade last Saturday with some friends. It was easily the strangest parade I have ever seen, either in person or otherwise. There were no banners or other announcements of what group was coming next, and I am pretty sure that whoever wants to be in the parade, can be. You and your friends want to dress up in mardi gras beads and thongs and march down the street with finger cymbals? Go for it. There were a few (man-powered!) floats, a smattering of semi-organized musical ensembles who appeared to have practiced the same songs, and I tell you, there were absolutely no political statements whatsoever....





I perused the craft fair but I think I was missing a street or two, because I remember it being much larger and with more real crafts and fewer booths of sunglasses for $3.99. Oh well, next year.


these guys had a guitar case proclaiming them as the Old Time Jug Band or similar, but mostly I recognized two of the four as being from the Tall Boys.