"Sunday Afternoon" of Summer

 This will possibly be my most random post every. I haven't posted much this summer despite lots for fun adventures, including some knitting successes, as well. We usually end our summer with a visit to my parents in Humboldt County, which is from nine and a half to eleven hours away from us, depending on which roads we decide to take and how terrible the traffic is. This year was the first time in over twenty years that we went without any kids, which was a little sad; however we did take our dogs which was a little burdensome, but still fun. My dad built me a spinning wheel this year, and has sent me several pictures of his creation throughout his "building journey." My only responsibility before taking possession of it was to apply some Danish oil to the finished project.

My dad has never really shown that much interest in my knitting, but this spinning wheel has changed that somewhat. Last summer a friend of his, who raises sheep, gave him a huge bundle of romney fleece when he found out he was making me a spinning wheel. I have had it in my garage most of the year, waiting for me to learn to spin. I have a long way to go, but thank to my dad again, I did have an enjoyable lesson from a neighbor of my parent', Eilene, who is an avid spinner.

It would appear that Eilene is also an avid knitter. After our lesson, Eilene showed me some of her sweaters. I practically gushed. They were incredible. She and her husband have traveled the world, and she had knitted sweaters with yarn from wonderful places they had visited, including Florence. My favorite sweater, though, was a sweater she had knit from Philosopher's Wool. I'd kind of forgotten about them, since knitting anything from them is a major investment. Her sweater is the purple-hued one on the upper right. Now, I'm thinking that I need to make the investment in one. What a fun afternoon I spend with her.

 Our doggies took quite a bit of our time since my parents' yard isn't fenced well enough for them to roam outside. On the other hand, they were so cute, we didn't mind the effort. Rollie, our "baby," loved it there, and he loved having his "aunty" Gidget along to bother and....sleep on when necessary.

 Having dogs in tow does limit one's activities, but we didn't let it slow us down too much. We spend a lot of time just hiking around Humboldt County, but we also walked in downtown Eureka with the beagles and enjoyed the somewhat new boardwalk.

 I knit a bunny while we were there too. I think she may be my favorite bunny ever. I bought Julie's bunny pattern over two months ago, after waiting years for her to publish it. I have loved these bunnies forever, and finally Julie put together the most perfect pattern for creating one of our own. I sent this little girl bunny to my nephew and his wife, who had a little girl this winter, named Ollie. They're both very artistic, and I'm thinking will appreciate a little handmade gift for their darling little girl.

On our way home from my parents' house, we stopped in Davis to pick up Paige, who doesn't have to start back at school until the end of September, so she thought she'd spend a few weeks with us. We enjoyed some sushi out on the patio of our motel.  It might have been a little more enjoyable had we not had barking beagles sitting with us, but it was fun nevertheless. Paige knows how to order awesome sushi. It's funny how poor college students know all about expensive food!