EKjourney Backup

What an incredible blessing to live in an area where we can drive two hours in one direction and be in the high desert...surrounded by a rocky lava terrain, sagebrush, and pine trees breathing in the dry forest air filled with a tangy pine scent.  Or drive two hours in the opposite direction and be at the edge of a continent, where the land meets the sea, filling our lungs with the mist of salty spray.  And right between the two, not more 30 minutes away, a rain forest heavily canopied with moss covered trees and a dense fern undergrowth with the musty smell of rich damp earth. What an incredible blessing to experience a winter blue sky and late spring like conditions on a January day. Phil's dad came down to Sisters to visit his inlaws and so we drove over the Cascades for a brief visit Saturday late afternoon and evening. Mount Jefferson from Detroit Lake I have never seen the lake so low.  It looked more like a logged field with little streams running through it. The t...

A car ride is a perfect opportunity for yarn play.  I always bring a bag of yarn and my crochet hooks anytime we are in the car, even if it is only a 15 minute drive.   I don't have a ball winder...which I clearly need, and after the skein became more and more of a mess, I tried to wind it up myself.  Meanwhile, Phil was becoming increasingly anxious over the mess I was making and his desire to fix it was becoming a distraction to him LOL.  In the interest of public safety, he pulled the car over and took away my yarn!  It took him a good 30 minutes to untangle the mess.  He likened my skills of yarn tangleage to my ability to break computers.  Well, I have never had yarn spontaneously combust.  (I have had a computer and an overhead projector spontaneously combust, no joke.) I did have to school Phil a bit in the benefits of a ball of yarn versus a yam.   In the meantime, I worked on trees.

Rock hunting.  My favorite thing to do at the beach is hike, beach comb, and take pictures.  Beach combing was a group event this time. Love this picture.  B is trailing his three older siblings. Rinsing hands in a little water sink hole JUMP! FLY! Oh, how I love this man!  Thanks for filling my life with laughter! Down the runway... Take off... ...crash and burn!  LOL! Hiding in the tall grass These girls are always together Ahhh, tears, snot, and a sandy face.  What is a beach trip without these three? 5 little Kellys Sawyer still had energy left so while we were packing up, we had him run up the trail and back.

I have been interested in hosting a craft night for a couple of years now but never did anything to set it in motion until Christmas Vacation.  My sister-in-law and I were talking about it and she decided to spearhead the project and get it all set up.  Perfect!  I am glad she is a go-getter.  Craft night is scheduled for the fourth Thursday of every month, hosted by me, here in my home.  We had our first craft night yesterday.  It was so much fun!  We had knitting, crocheting, arm knitting, and needle felting.  I am already looking forward to the next one. All set up and ready for guests! What a good excuse to have a nice house clean LOL! I needed some sort of decor for my archway shelf.  I looked outside and could find nothing green and pretty.  I saw the old dried up sunflower heads and picked a few, then I discovered some beautiful dried artichoke flowers, and seedpods from my lilies.  I arranged them in a brown vase but they ne...

January tidbits: I got a bean table!  YAY!  I love bean tables (shaped like a kidney bean).  When I was teaching in public school, I did all my lesson planning and small groups at a bean table.  The shape is genius, lots of room and a very centered location for the teacher. I always wanted one here at home so when I saw this for sale on a homeschooling website, I jumped right on it. It is perfect!  We all fit, it is child sized (and adjustable!) but comfortable for me too, it is so sturdy that bumps and occasional escapes across the table top doesn't cause a wobble.  It is a tight fit in the playroom but has been in constant use!  I LOVE it! For Christmas, my brother and Tina got me a gift certificate to take an art yarn class.  It was so much fun!  I learned some new techniques and made this beautiful coiled art yarn.  It took me all day to make a few yards LOL.  Unfortunately, the plying takes forever because my spinning wheel can...

It was very nice to get out of the house and stretch our legs a bit on this 3 day weekend.  Truthfully, I have wanted to go to the coast for quite some time but it hasn't fit into our schedule.  It is nice that Silver Falls is only a 25 minute drive from home.