Some more also rans

Also Ran

I like this picture almost as much as the one I posted at the other place.

Also Ran

Unfortunately, I'm still feeling crummy, which has apparently dried up my usual witty drivel. Mostly I just want to complain. No, that isn't even true. I just want to take a nap. I did finally see the endocrinologist and there are a couple of solutions. Maybe, someday, I'll feel better. In the meantime, I am taking pictures and posting them at the other place. Here are some that I haven't posted there:

I love these fuchsia, they look so fake, like plastic flowers.

These colors shouldn't go together.

I really like grass seed heads.

Volunteer lettuce. This started growing out of our porch a couple of months ago, I haven't had the heart to take it out. It's so random, I have no idea how a seed could have gotten there.

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.

Blueberries

There is a U-Pick blueberry place down the road from us, the berries are lovely and plentiful. I braved 90 degrees, god knows what humidity, rain and other fun stuff, but picked 6 pounds in about two hours.

Lame Blogger

That's me. I thought I would be back in the swing of things after the 4th of July, but apparently not. I'd love to say I'm too busy, but no. I'm just lame.

Here is a pretty picture to distract you from my lameness:

So, what is going on that I haven't been posting?

I just started the fifth book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. Um. This is embarrassing, I'm addicted. They are stupid, but funny (mostly intentionally). Once you get beyond the awful of the first couple of books (which I did, because I was promised semi-incestous werepanthers, it turns out there is nothing "semi" about the incestuousness), her storytelling is really quite. You know. Good. There, I said it. If you want something fun and won't tax you too much while you nurse your sunburn, you could do worse.

I also finished Rethinking Thin: The New Science of Weight Loss---and the Myths and Realities of Dieting by Gina Kolata. Kolata, a health journalist for the New York Times, compiles the history and research of dieting and obesity and reaches the conclusion that weight has far more to do with genetics than willpower. It's so well written, so readable, I had a hard time putting it down (even for Sookie).

It was Art Fair last week.

I ate a lot of very bad food.

I bought a piece of pottery (which I failed to take a picture of), I didn't realize until I was leaving the booth that it was by my old housemate (she wasn't in the booth, I'm not that lame). Kind of a coincidence, but I have always liked her stuff.

In other news, the dog got skunked Thursday night at bedtime. That's a smell that will bring tears to your eyes! Len gave her a bath before I got home on Friday evening. It didn't work. My brother and sister-in-law had looked up a natural de-skunking recipe, which mostly did (hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and a bit of dish soap). Then on Saturday evening she went out happy and came back broken. Her tail was between her legs and she was very very sad. We took her for a very expensive vet visit on Sunday, it seems she strained her back. She's on some anti-inflammatory and she should be better by tomorrow. At which time she will get another peroxide-soda bath, 'cos, seriously. She stinks.

Flowery Landscapes

I Arrived In Time to See the Firetrucks

It turned out the parade in Grass Lake was at 10:00, not 11:00. Oh well.

Too late.

The weather has been a bit loopy, but I don't think it's October.


Gratuitous picture of super cute kid (C & A's kid).


Sparklers are always pretty

Silhouette with added filter in a misguided attempt to distract you from the lack of crisp focus.

Trippy fireworks

Vacation All I Ever Wanted

I was on vacation last week. I didn't go anywhere, or do much of anything except knitting and sewing. It was awesome.

I didn't even take very many pictures, except of some iris.

I took this picture before I left. It is one of my favorite buildings, reflected in the windows of the building where I work.

I hope to have sewing/knitting/garden news sometime this week, but for now, that is all.

Pretty Flowers

Uvularia

Backyard Fieldtrip

Yeah, I don't get far.

Dame's Rocket

I am surprised at how much I like this picture. It is terrible in the small version, but lots of detail in the medium to larger versions.

I don't know what kind of tree this is. I've been trying to capture it's minimalist qualities for awhile and this is as close as I've gotten.

While wandering around the back yard I found a morel, then a nest and robin's egg on the ground (the bigger version of this picture doesn't work as the egg is a bit out of focus).

Pretty Pictures

It's been awhile.

Pretty Mushroom




Spent daffodils can be pretty, too.

Dead Tree

Here is a pretty (dead) tree from this fall, to try and make up for the terrible pictures of the last post:

Flowers for You

Instead of a real post, how about some flowers on a rainy day?

It turns out, if you add pennies to the water, tulips won't fall apart. These have been on my desk for a week.