Good Bye Summer

By the way, that truck is parked. It is not about to run them over.


When I was a kid, we always started school the day after Labor Day. As a result, I wasn't too happy when the Labor Day Weekend rolled around. I didn't hate school, but I also can't remember ever being anxious for school to start. In fact, I'd say that I never cared for the entire month of August because it was like one long Sunday afternoon. with school looming in the near future. That dread that "Monday" was coming kind of ruined the whole month for me. I've been back to school for two over two weeks now, so Labor Day is just a nice break to me now, and I've learned to enjoy the few days in August that I'm not working. This summer was a little more difficult than usual to give up because my kids seemed to enjoy each other's company so much, much of the time. Maybe it helped that Paige was gone for several weeks, and maybe they realized that their remaining summers together are numbered. Whatever the reason, there wasn't much arguing and there was even an occasional hug...OK, the hugs were usually a little exaggerated performances for their parents, but at least they weren't hitting each other.
I knit a lot this summer, but I kind of feel like I don't have much to show for it. I finished my Friday Harbor Socks from Knitting on the Road. I think they're really pretty and look forward to the days when it's not a thousand degrees outside, and I can consider wearing them.

I've also knit one Brigid sock with some beautiful lilac yarn
from Hill Country Yarns I was in their sock club this year but, I didn't like the pattern they sent with it. I love the yarn though. Once again, I don't expect to be wearing these socks any time soon...especially since I woke up to discover this.....Our little girl beagle is just lucky she's so cute because I was very unhappy!
I've also been working on my Bear Claw pillow. I'm knitting the back in garter stitch, which is very boring, but I didn't see the point of working so hard on the back of a pillow. I've never had to weave so many end in before, and it was a pain!

Humboldt County Fair

In the twenty years that my parents have lived in Humboldt County, we have missed the Humboldt County Fair two times, once because I was eight and a half months pregnant with Kai, and once because I had a chance to make way too much money teaching a week-long computer class for teachers.


The kids have toned down their midway activities, but they still love climbing the rock wall and riding the ferris wheel. ...and visiting the cow barn.

...and watching a horse race or two. Russ ruined his horse-betting winning streak this year. He's only bet on the horses a couple of times, and won every time. He was nine dollars ahead over the last twenty years. You can't see the horse he bet on in this picture because he is way too far behind the others to be in the picture! Really! Mmmmm. Lesson learned.


Of course, my favorite place to visit is the domestic arts building. I was a little disappointed in the knits this year. They covered up the items with the entry cards. I didn't even bother taking a picture of the socks because you could barely see them. I did like the little pink sweater and bear though.

Northern California

My mom and dad live in Fortuna, California, which is over four hundred miles from us. It takes at least eleven hours to drive up there, which can be tiring to say the least...especially when the little beagle, Gidget threw up in the car after a few hours on the winding mountain roads. Russ was smart enough not ot have fed her in the morning, just in case, so it wasn't too bad.

...But once we get there, it is well worth the drive. Besides the fact that we leave near-one hundred degree weather to come to foggy, sixty-degree weather, it's beautiful with mountains and redwoods all around. My parents have a huge yard full of good stuff to eat.



We have some favorite haunts, but usually try to go places we've never been to before when we're up here too. Last year we drove up to Agate Beach, which is at Patrick's Point State Park about 45 miles from Fortuna. Paige and I searched for Agates..well, I'm not sure search is the right word since they're everywhere on the beach.




Another thing I love about Northern California is that I'm always inspired to knit here. I started the Firday Harbor Sock from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road before we left. Russ and I trade off driving, but I got in a good four or five hours of knitting on the way up.

Typical of me, I had a little trouble at first. I looked on Ravelry, and no one else seemed to have had the problem I had. You're told to cast on a certain number of stitches per needle, but then the number of stitches increase with the pattern, so you have to move on to the next needle to finish the pattern for each particular needle. I didn't realize that and thought I was doing something wrong. I eventually figured it out, but it frustrated me because my stitches weren't coming out right, so I thought I'd done something wrong. Novice mistake, I guess...novice who's been knitting for over twenty-five years!!