sherriknits

Ok, I did exaggerate a bit last night, I only had 3 loads of laundry to do.  They were big, though.

Last night was a nightmare for me, I did not sleep one wink all night.  I thought I’d sleep in the car today but it didn’t really happen.  Needles s to say, I’m a bit tired tonight but the house is full of people, everyone is doing something different and I think we’re sleeping in the living room on our blowup mattress so can’t go to bed yet.

It was kind of an emotional drive.  I hadn’t been this way since the big storm in December.  Oh my gosh.  The fallen trees were incredibly sickening.  So much old growth just gone.  Huge, huge trees uprooted  There were many, many places where they had been cut away because they laid across the road.  Some places you wonder if they are going to come down on the road still because the ground is so soggy.  There are some sections that you can’t tell a thing and then other places where it is just devastating.  I thought a lot about the victims of Katrina and Rita.  I wonder how long it takes to get used to the changed landscape.  The cleanup continues up and down the coast.  The trees are being logged behind our church.  If I understand right, they were the retirement safety net for the owners and a very huge share of them snapped off halfway up the tree.  Now we have a clear view of the highway.  I’ve heard of people who have had to put up fences after being used to totally secluded yards and now the highway is in clear view and so are they.  It’s just weird.  I don’t think we try to dwell on it, it’s just a fact of life, our area has permanently changed and it’s strange.

I did try to get pictures but me in a moving car and a camera that would never be ready when I saw something interesting just got too frustrating.  I did take pictures of the bridge going in to Astoria,though.  It’s 4 miles long and I used to be scared to death of it.

Heading on to the bridge:

If you look closely you can see the end of the bridge far far in the distance…it’s kind of foggy.

The end is in sight.

At the end of the bridge, we go way up high, this is where the ships pass under.

I really tried to get the houses as we curved around but it just didn’t work.  I love the houses close to the bridge.  It’s a Finnish town and that’s my heritage so it’s kind of fun for me to drive through Astoria.  I love seeing the old fashioned saunas but I’m not sure if they are open any more.  We had one of our own but it burned down.

We stopped in Cannon Beach at Coastal Yarns.  It was funny.  Hubby let me off, the town was a madhouse.  As I was running up the steps, I discovered I had an Addi Turbo tangled on my purse strap and I was trying to unhook it as I went through the front door and I heard, “I was just talking about you the other day!” and was thrilled to see the owner there, she is only there occasionally.  We had a nice visit.  I didn’t get to buy anything today but I think I’ll drive down some Sunday and visit with her.

I did weave in the ends of the dish cloths for my MIL and knit one magic bootie, but didn’t take a picture of it yet.  Love the yarn, though.

We met up with some of the kids part way down and then drove through Starbucks and made the last part of the trek down the coast.  I was glad to get here but I am really ready for bed.

Hope you all have a fun holiday weekend!  We have to head home tomorrow but that gives us a day at home and we need it.

Technorati Tags: Knitting, RoadTrip

Tags: my life

Yesterday morning, the bride and I got up at 6:30 am and headed up to Tacoma to see the market at Madrona Fiberarts Winter Retreat.  Wow!

The hotel is huge and amazingly, when we walked in the door, there was a friend of ours standing there at the registration area.  I’m so glad, the place was so big and overwhelming.  She walked through the market with us and it was great fun, overwhelming to the senses!  We only had about 2 hours because I had to be to the shop by 12.  I did a lot of damage to my bank account in that time. 

It was so cool to see these incredibly wonderful knitters everywhere.  We walked in behind Nancy Bush.  Stephanie Perl McPhee came strolling through and right towards the Blue Moon booth.  What’s so cool is the realization that they are just people like you and me.    I saw a lot of friends from other shops or reps that I work with. 

We did peek in two rooms where classes were being held…it was so intriguing.  Both rooms had women with their spinning wheels set up and everyone was busy, busy, busy. I had a friend in each class.  Oh how I hope I can go next year.

And the fiber!  Oh my gosh.  I was overwhelmed and really think it might have been a good thing that I had to get back home soon or I’d still be wandering around in a stupor, admiring all that gorgeous fiber.

Here’s what I came home with:

for the bride.

for the little sweet pea who is now into the 2nd trimester.

Kauni!  For a sweater sometime in the far off future….we have to get through a wedding and a baby first.

for moi….hopefully sometime soon but I’m already stuck on the easy pattern.  No big deal, I have too much going on these days.  Notice the beautiful pin.  I actually saw the same one in Simply Knitting magazine tonight!

Just to defend myself, I would never normally be able to buy so much beautiful yarn at one time but I do own a yarn shop and I really should try these things out, don’t ya think?  I decided since I never get a paycheck so to speak, I should occasionally treat myself, right?

Tomorrow I am taking a trek down the Oregon coast and I just might need to stop at 2 yarn stores that I just love and can’t seem to drive by.  I am on a mission, though, so I’ll only be tempted by what I really need.

Tonight we raced up to Olympia to exchange a new router that we bought yesterday, Staples didn’t have any more and we’d have had to wait until next Wednesday for them to get another one for us.  It came without a power cord and cd to load it on our computer.  We accidentally ended up getting a little better one than the one we bought yesterday but hubby decided he was going to spring for it.  And ANYTHING would be better than the one we’ve been using.  We can only hold a connection for short periods of time.  I just hope and pray it is the router and not some other weird thing.  We have continued to have trouble every time the Jeep comes home. 

And here’s my new weird thing.  I took my laptop to work this morning on the chance I’d have time to merge some files.  Never got to it and when I got in my car to come home, I saw that I had left half the power cord in the car.  When I got home, I distinctly remember grabbing it to come in the house.  When we got home from Olympia, I found everything I carried in but the cord.  #1 son and I went down to the shop to see if my old one was there, no.  We all searched the car and the ground in the dark.  It’s no where to be found.  My laptop is useless without it because I have killed the battery.  Thankfully #1 son loaned me his half of the cord from his Sony PSP charger  which fits into the laptop power cord.  Totally irritating that I have lost it and plan to look better when it is daylight.  grrrrr

We got to have a little visit with the mommy-to-be and son-in-law at Barnes and Noble.  Evidentally they were standing on the other side of the wall from where we were sitting trying to find us.  We were eating dinner in the cafe.   We had to get home early because I have 35 loads of laundry to do before we leave tomorrow…and we really don’t need much, just a little behind.  We’re headed to Grandma and Grandpa’s and one little imp is excited.  This time is funny, we’re going in 4 cars and no one is coming and going at the same time.   Makes it nice for the poor dog who gets left home, he won’t be lonely for any stretch of time.

And now I am off to get another load in and out of the washer and dryer and go to bed to dream about my fun projects to come. 

Technorati Tags: Event, Knitting, Fiber

Tags: my life