Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Rocky Mountain High


I have dreamed of becoming a forest ranger. That is, I did as a child. My family took camping trips out west to mountain country. I would watch the scenery pass me by from the front window of our truck camper. Being here brings back a flood of memories. Here it is over 30 years later. Today I sit in the front seat of a convertible next to my darling. We spent the day in Rocky Mountain National Park. It's an unbelievable sight! Words can't describe the awesomeness of this park.

The road that loops around the park goes up over 12000 feet.

The drive to the top tested my nerves. There came a point that I couldn't look over the edge of the road. There is no guard rail. I will admit that I was terrified!

We were lucky to see Elk graze on the rocky tundra at the highest elevation.

At the highest point it was cold and rainy. Then the sun shone down like a gift from God! What an experience!

Monday, September 7, 2009

Chasing the Sun


I was lucky to capture these beauties on film Saturday morning. Morning glories are on of my all time favorite annual flowers. They look so pretty climbing up an old gear box.

I planted several different varieties. I don't remember the name of this purple flower. The colors are so vivid.

The vines are now climbing on my sunflowers! It's lovely to see. My Grandmother took pictures of her flowers. She loved to garden and wanted to share and remember her success. Grandma would pull out her photo's for all of us to see. When I was younger I never understood the draw of flower pictures. I always politely sped through the dreaded flowers! Look at me now. I never would've thought that I would be taking pictures of flowers. I bet my Grandma would be proud.

We have been chasing the sun all day today. We left for vacation and are heading west. It's amazing to see these awesome wind turbines along the interstate. This is a shot of a cool turbine near Paw Paw Illinois. I'm sure the windmills are all over the country. There is something so majestic about these huge power makers. We found ourselves mesmerized by them. I am planning on blogging from the road. That's if I can get Internet. I hope you stop by and join me on our adventure!

Friday, September 4, 2009

Marching On Baby


My very first sock is taking shape. I can't believe that I waited so long to jump into sock knitting. So far I am finding the process fairly simple. The pattern is from the book Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd. The leg of the sock is a simple knit 3, purl 1 rib. I have knitted away with no problems. Or so I thought!


The issue is me! I was so excited to get to the point where I could try on the sock. I had been anticipating that moment for several days. Finally I tried on the sock......It's a little big. It's not huge. It doesn't fit snug. I looked back at the pattern. Hmm, what did I do wrong? I read the first paragraph where it talks about size. I just skimmed through that part you see. I knitted the wrong size! When I saw the number 8 and I assumed it meant shoe size.


My thought about the second sock is to knit the correct size. I can't imagine frogging this entire project. It's just a little big, right? What would you do? I have learned yet another great lesson. Read your pattern carefully from start to finish! lol! It makes for a funny story. I will surely always remember my very first adventure into sock knitting.

Have a great weekend!