Inventory

25 half-pint jars of pickled jalapenos;
25 pints of smushed tomatoes*;
6 quarts smushed tomatoes;
21 half-pints of tomato sauce (to be doctored later);
28 pints of salsa;
4 pints of ketchup;
7 pints of Zydeco beans;
1 gallon + 1 cup pesto (frozen without the $20 per pound cheese);
A lot of ground up basil and oil;
A lot of dried tomatoes;
A lot of roasted tomatoes;
2 ice cube tray-fuls of tomato paste

I need a nap.

*Smushed tomatoes: peel them, quarter them, drop them in a jar and press down. Wide mouth jars work best, unless you have tiny hands.

I'm Here, I'm Here

Don't panic! However, I'm fairly certain my brain has drowned in a vat of tomato sauce. Ugh. I know I'll be very happy about all the work, but right now I am so sick of tomatoes I could cry (which I figure I'll be doing around 9:00 tonight).

The knitting retreat was fabulous, I had such a good time. It is so inspiring to hang out with 60 other women who are just as delighted by the craft of knitting and I feel totally recharged. I took well over 100 photos, but only about a quarter of them turned out.

I stayed with my friend Cindy and her lovely family on Thursday night (and didn't managed to take any pictures of them, how lame is that?) Portland has an amazing light rail system, which I took from the airport to Beaverton, where Cindy et al. live.

Each lodge at Silver Falls State Park has six rooms, three on each side and a common area in between.

Plus a porch. Friday and Saturday were very warm and sunny. Sunday was cooler and overcast.

One side of the dining hall. Even though there wasn't ever a fire in the fireplace, it is still a natural place to gather.

A few of us went for a walk on Sunday. Everything seems to be covered in moss.

Most of the pictures I took on the walk didn't turn out because it was just dark enough in the woods that focusing was difficult. I took this one with the flash, which I don't use much because it can be very harsh. The effect is very eerie and looks like it is much darker than it really was (it was around 5:00 P.M.)

Hand sized clover.

You'd think as much knitting as was going on, I'd have taken more pictures of that, but no. I was, you know, too busy knitting.

Manistee

Len dragged me up to Manistee, Michigan to spend the night in a camper. Which is to say, he asked nicely, and I, because I am really not very bright, agreed. Let me give you a piece of advice from my own hard won experience: if you have spent the last month dealing single-handedly with the garden, house and dog because your beloved has been working 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, do not, under any circumstances, go to Manistee to spend the night in a camper, with the dog, so your beloved can go fishing. Especially if you hate camping. It is a very bad idea. And you will cry. I did, anyway.

For what it's worth, here are some pictures (many more in Fickr):

We borrowed Len's nephew, Connor, who was delightful. He and Lizzy bonded.

He caught a salmon.

And cleaned it.

Amanda

Dylan

Anyway. Once I got over the melt down, it was fine. And pretty. I am leaving tomorrow for the knitting retreat and that really will be relaxing. See you next week!

I've Been Known to Knit a Stitch or Two

I know, that surprises me, too. But here is proof:

Soleil from Knitty.com. Do you like how it blocking on Mabel? I haven't unpinned it and tried it on yet to see how that worked, but I'm betting it is fine.

But wait! There's more!

The Featherweight Cardigan from Hannah Fettig. I love this cardigan. The yarn is a lace weight from Blackberry Ridge which I dyed with grape and black cherry Kool Aid.

The dye behaved oddly when I washed the finished item: it continued to bleed (which isn't so surprising), but the backs of the sleeves are much darker than the fronts. Very weird.

I would like to note that at the moment it is 66.6 degrees. I find that hilarious. And kind of cold.