last shenandoah pictures, for now...

This picture is from on top of Hawksbill Summit... I think hiking gives me a good excuse to wear ponytails.


Here is just part of that trail.


This is some witch hazel flowers. I don't know that I have ever seen witch hazel trees before.


So we walked on the Limberlost trail where there used to be a big swampy area where Hemlocks grew. Terribly, a beetle from Asia has all but wiped them out. 80% are already gone, and the few left are not looking so hot. They put a positive spin on it, showing you all the red spruces and the beech trees that are growing up where the hemlocks used to be... but I know they must be very sad when they hike here. If you want to know more about the hemlock insect and its impact on the hemlocks in Shenandoah read their page here


I can never get a good dusk picture, but I have to say I love how the sky looks at that time of night.

more pictures!

Hey everyone, feeling under the weather, but here are some more pictures!! I think they are mostly self-explanatory....

shenandoah

Hello Everyone, we went to Shenandoah this weekend to see the fall folliage and it was a lovely crisp weekend. On Saturday the highs were in the high 40s and the lows were in the 20s. Unfortunatly, I had a little bit of the sniffles and now it has blown up into a huge sickness.


This tree is next to the visitor center.



This field just looks picture perfect. I love the goldenrod and the milk pods.

We hiked up the hawkbill summitt and here is the view. It was awesome, although I am a bit sore because it was like straight up!
Along the Limberlost trail we saw some signs of a blackbear. I didn't see anything bigger than deer, though.
This is along the Skyline Drive.

33

So I woke up this morning and it was 33 degrees outside.
And I haven't had a decent bowl of grits since I got here.
I'm just saying is all.

OMG, two days in a row!

Wow, two days in a row I have posted! Exciting!

Well two little bits of news:
1. Sunset
Do not adjust your screen. These photos were not doctored in any way, the sky was really beautiful tonight. This was the view from our little porch, there was a rain storm coming in, but somehow the sunset lit it up from underneath. These pictures prove that a sunset is glorious to behold, even from an apartment parking lot. :)





2. Started some armwarmers because my yarn for Holiday presents has not yet arrived.
Started them in the Alpaca Rebecca sent me for my birthday and I have to admit it is the softest yarn i have ever knitted. Man alive, it is awesome.
Note that the ball was wound with my new ballwinder!! Some say anniversary presents are best when they are traditional... but I say they're best if it is something you really have wanted for a long while!!

what's new

well, sorry about the long time before posting again.
It has just been one thing after another here... as I guess happens during moves. We are still not moved in completely... the Army misplaced about half our shipment from Korea so that has just been fun to deal with.

But anyway... Monday was Harland's Birthday *and* our 2nd wedding anniversary - but the first one we spent together. Harland cooked a lovely dinner of grilled shrimp over saffron rice. I contributed some birthday cake. :)
Here is the official blowing out the candles picture:


Now for some belated birthday fun, here are some pictures of my hat for my Uncle for his birthday which was September 30th... (Um, I forgot to rotate these, so you can either rotate your monitor or just sit there and try not to let it bohter you while you read on)
The beginning... I wanted to make sure it would fit a head since I was making it up as I went along...

note: my Cheap way to keep the yarn from slipping off my needles in transit - a twistie tie.



And here it is in all its glory. Do you want to make one exactly like it? I totally made up this pattern from a generic hat pattern from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's "Knitting Rules" book...

Buy a skein of thick and quick, put 88 stiches on some 10.5 sized circular needles, knit 2k2P rib and when you get to where you want to taper off just seperate with stitch markers every 8 stitches then knit the last two together in every group, knit a plain row then keep repeating those two rows until you have 10 stitches left then loop some yarn through and knot, sew in the end and that is it!!

now this is a thick hat, it will stand up on its own if you let it. It is for people who live where it is cold! You have been warned. :)

Also I made two scarves from a pattern from a nearby knitting group that I haven't yet actually made it to yet, and probably won't this week either... why are Thursdays so hard to keep free?
This is the scarf that is not a Christmas Present. In fact, it is for me, and I love it.
Please do not think that pink is as bright in person, because it isn't that bright. And the grey is really a green. Hmm, maybe I will need to photograph this outside someday... because it looks kinda hideous on here and in real person it is SO INCREDIBLY FUN.



it looks more like this (sorry you know I love the macro)


And that, my friends is the last few weeks in my life.

misc. Sunday

Well hello there, Not much is new here... differnet day, unpack a box!!

Luckily in the move there have only been two victims of bad moving. Unfortunatly one of them was a one of a kind bowl made for me by my dear Susan. :( It is very sad, but I thought I would memoralize them here...




(doesn't that look like a real hand? it is just a picture on the newspaper though!!)

A few people hav asked what it looks like where I work.
Well - I work in a typical cube, however when I stand up I can see some really cool DC stuff.
Here are two pictures taken from my window.



neat, huh?

As far as knitting news, I mailed something away for a birthday, but I want to wait until I hear that it arrived before I post pictures. Also I have started a Christmas Present for my Uncle John G. (I have three uncle Johns... or actually I can say *ALL* my uncles are named John... how many people can say that?) and it looks amazing and is my favorite Present so far. And I say this and it is only 1/3 of the way done!

So once I check to see whether he looks at this blog or not, if he doesn't I'll post some of those pictures.

Happy Sunday!