Sunday, August 24, 2008

Highland Mary Lakes Trail

On August 20, Marcia, Linda, Connie, Robin, Celia and I hiked up the Highland Mary Lakes Trail. The trailhead is 9 miles north of Silverton on a mostly smooth dirt road, with one stream crossing before the parking area.


The trail is steep steep steep! It was mostly dry and rocky, with just one boggy area near the top. We followed Cunningham Creek all the way up, and we passed many cascades and waterfalls.





This is Marcia and Robin leaving our lunch spot at Lake #3.

And here's Linda, Robin, Celia, and Marcia in front of Lake #2 on our way down.


The wildflowers were really past their prime, but there was a lot of color still along the trail. Unfortunately, it rained a bit on our way down, so I did not take many photos. Just as we got back into the car, the downpour really started. What a great hike!





Sunday, August 17, 2008

Feeling So Much Better


I've been a sad, hurt puppy for the last couple of weeks. I had teeth extracted and braces put on and I am not young (at least not compared to my nephew, who is nearly 30 years younger than me and had his braces put on at the same time). But, I am feeling better now and very happy to be able to chew semi-solid food again.

The photo above is looking out the garage door last Sunday evening between storms. We had very dramatic weather that day, and the intensely bright rainbow was no exception. If you look closely, you can see a second arc above.

I have not been on a hike due to travel and this whole mouth makeover, but I will be hiking on Wednesday so more gorgeous photos will be posted soon. I did, however, get a lot of knitting done while lying around:


These are the Belle Epoque socks from 2-at-a-Time Socks by Melissa Morgan Oakes in the most lovely yarn - Socks that Rock Mediumweight in Tlinget. The yarn is almost black, but has a bit of fuschia and green showing through the black dye. What a neat pattern and the finished socks are warm and thick. It almost makes me wish for winter (almost). In any case, the socks turned out just great.
In other news, John bought a new (old) bike. It's from the early 1880's and does not have brakes. In this photo he is riding in front of our house with a very goofy grin. He is so happy! People driving by slow down to see this crazy guy and his old bike. He took the photo with the self-timer which is why it is so blurry. I'll try to take another of him soon.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

That Funny Feeling

Saturday I was sewing on a new quilt project and spent many hours sitting at my machine working away. I suddenly had a feeling that someone was watching me. I looked out the window and there were three steers, apparently fascinated by my sewing.


Of course, as soon as I turned my camera on them they were shy and looked away. These cattle are part of the herd living in the pasture adjacent to our property. The fence you can barely see right in front of them marks our property line and is about 15 feet from my studio window. I'm still getting used to being on the ground floor, but the view sure is nice. They seem to feel the same way.