A Retreat

Some friends and I had planned a retreat for a few days last week--a get-away to a house in the mountains with as many craft projects as we could fit in our cars. As it turns out it was also a retreat, albeit briefly, from the political scene. We watched, stunned, on Tuesday, but then were able to postpone thinking about it for the most part while we enjoyed friendship and fiber and walking in the woods. Some of us brought dogs.

Ginny will write her own post about the week.

I debated taking a dog. Rusty couldn't go because he would have had a difficult time with all the stairs in the house where we were staying. Maggie wouldn't be my first choice because she gets car sick. Ginny is the one that would be going stir-crazy left home while Dan was at work all day. So Ginny came with me and I'm glad I brought her. Having her there made me get out and walk at least twice every day. It would have been very easy to just stay inside and work on my projects, but I'm glad that I didn't miss the beautiful woods. The weather was fabulous, although a bit scary to have summer-like weather in November. Of course I had my camera with me on some of the walks.

The walks were refreshing (and necessary for Ginny), but most of my focus was spent on my projects. I didn't get to everything but made a valiant effort, staying up late every night. We shared the cooking so I only spent one evening in the kitchen and that was making an easy batch of mac and cheese.

It might be hard to tell what this is from the photo. When it is delivered to my granddaughter in December it will have a covered mat on the floor, a hula-hoop supporting the scalloped roof and be supported from the ceiling. It has windows (thanks for demonstrating, Mary), inside pockets, and a door with glittery decorations. If I have time I will weave a rag rug with the leftover material. This is soooo cute, but it took soooo long to sew...and I'm not quite finished.

This is a photo of all my projects for the 3-1/2 days. You can see on the pattern envelope how the canopy looks when it is set up. From bottom left and around: a batch of 41 dryer balls ready to be felted, a rag runner woven on the Cricket loom, a baggie of walnuts ready for the freezer (those weren't mine because I didn't get to cracking any that we didn't eat--I need to finish this at home), Ginny :-) , six chenille scarves fringed (half of the 12 that I brought), and a warp wound for two ponchos. Not shown is the painted warp that I did that was in a plastic bag ready to come home and be rinsed.

I drove home Friday, but not before stopping at the lake. It doesn't seem right to go to Lake Tahoe and not actually go to the lake.

Ginny learned quickly that she could retrieve her ball from the lake but she'll tell you about that in Rusty's blog.

A Walk in the Woods

This morning I drove to my son's house in El Dorado County to work on some computer issues. When there was a break in the rain we drove a short distance to Bridal Veil Picnic Area on the South Fork of the American River to take the dogs for a walk.

I just used my iPhone for photos because I didn't want to deal with the other camera in the rain  so it's hard to see Kirin in this shot. He's way out in the river swiming back with a tennis ball. That's Sam nearer the shore and Ginny trying to decide about the river. Ginny isn't use to going on walks without the focus of The Toy or The Ball.

This Ball was Kirin's and it wouldn't have been smart for Ginny to compete for it.

Eventually though I took one ball and when Kirin was distracted in one direction Ginny got to go for the ball in another. I didn't want to throw it too far out in the river because #1, I wasn't sure how far she would go out to get it and #2, we weren't sure if she could handle the current if she did go out farther.

She did get plenty of ball time on the trail.

The people were looking at things besides tennis balls.

We spent about an hour and needed to get back to the house.

What a beautiful interlude. The rain makes everything look and smell so clean and fresh.

She's Two Today!

So many cute photos. I may have to do more than one post.

I can use more photos if I make a mosaic. A lot of firsts for Ginny at two months old. First meet-up with the big dogs. First Christmas tree. First time in the barn. First visit to the vet.

Still two months old. Running in the fog. Spending time in the shop with spinners. Playing with Rusty and Maggie and conquering branches.

Ginny and her lamb.

Ginny and her moose.

Ginny at 7 months with the favorite Toy.

Ginny not so happy after her little operation so that I wouldn't have to worry about what might happen while I was going to be gone for two weeks.At 10 months Ginny discovered that she wasn't a big fan of drones.First herding lesson at Sheepdog Debbie's place (Herding-4-Ewe) just down the road.

Ginny's first birthday.

Ginny at two years old. Rusty will post some photos in his blog post of Ginny's recent lesson at Sheepdog Debbie's.