Creek Canoe Weekend

Headed down Friday evening to meet DH at his friend's place on Craig's Creek. Several of his high school friends will also be there - I'm amazed at the longevity of their friendships. When I left high school I never looked back and had no friendships to maintain....I now see people I attended high school with and we catch up but that is all...well, my class is planning a 30 year reunion this year and I plan to go. Time does seem to heal those high school wounds...

Friday night was cooking out and the guys played cards - let's just say I went to bed early. Something about drinking cold beverages sitting along the creekside...Saturday morning we had a hearty breakfast at Maw and Paw's in Eagle Rock and then on the James River for a day of canoeing! I hope to be able to recover the pictures from the memory stick... and I was able to! CVS has a great digital camera photo service for the novice picture taker - I was able to plug in the memory card from my ruined camera into their picture printer and copy selected pictures onto a CD and only cost $2.99. Good deal! Here's the last pictures taken with my old Sony cyper-shot....

I spotted this box turtle close by our camp site. Did you know that box turtles can live up to 120 years in the wild? He crawled into the weeds along the creek bank after I took this picture - I guess the commotion was just too much for him.


These shasta daisies were growing along the corner of the gravel parking lot close to the place we put our canoes into the James River.

The river was quite muddy due to the hard rains that we had experienced earlier in the week. The rains dumped plenty of water but little of it soaked into our rock hard clay soil - most ran into the rivers and streams.


A view of the river towards the small community of Eagle Rock...


We floated to the riverbank for a bathroom break .... I spotted this frog on my short hike to find a private bathroom spot. The presence or absence of frogs is an indication of the health of the environment - they serve as a kind of "canary in the coal mine" in the countryside.

Shortly after I took this picture we turned over the canoe and the camera fell into the river....the rest of the weekend was relaxing. I slept soundly Saturday night and got up early and cooked breakfast for all the guys after they had a late night of playing cards and trying to pretend they were still 21. I believe the greasy bacon and egg sandwiches were appreciated....

Rewards for working overtime...

Exercise out of the way first - I biked 30 minutes on the exercise bike before heading out to the yarn shop. Don't worry, you'll hear about that in a minute. I have five days off with the DH and we have outdoor fun planned as long as the weather cooperates!

OK - now the yarn shop. I've worked some overtime lately and decided some non-sock projects were in order. So....here goes! First, a beautifully simple cardigan in 2nd Time cotton. This yarn is made from new textile waste orginating in the apparel and textile industry. The women at the shop (Needle in the Square)raved about it and showed me a soft little sweater on display knitted in the 2nd Time cotton. Second, a mock cable pullover from Ann McCauley's The Pleasures of Knitting in a soft 100% bamboo by Stella. This bamboo is tightly woven and does not appear to easily split like other bamboo yarn I've used. The cardigan will be a quick knit; the pullover will be a challenging one.You know you've spent plenty at the yarn store when they put your purchases in a nice cloth bag imprinted with the shop's name. Virginia is planning her yarn attack....

Another great day...

Early start today watching the first of two episodes of Knitty Gritty while sewing together the much overdue Bookcrossing afghan. A little later, we headed out to Craigs Creek to set up the camper and unload our new canoe for a fun fourth weekend with a group of dh's friends. Some tough flowers are able to brave this humid weather...


a purple bloom I find scattered around the wood pile...


a tiny white flower growing in the direct sunlight of the newly mowed field...


a brilliant yellow dandelion with a humble bowed head...



One can still find authentic country stores in SW Va - I love the sign for nightcrawlers. Stepping inside, we were blasted with the smell of frying bacon and encountered one central aisle and two walls of canned foods and cold beverages. I had to buy a Orange Crush in a glass bottle - I haven't seen one of those in years.

Yes, the refrigerators were stocked with cold beer - what a wonderful beverage to gulp down after a hot day on the river!

Back home, I was able to catch a second episode of Knitty Gritty and whipped up a quick lunch of fresh guacamole with


flat leaf parsley and a hot pepper from my little garden.

Thirty minutes on the exercise bike while watching Andy Griffith - just too hot to run outside.
I finished out the day by preparing a pasta dish of sauteed mango, garlic, onion, sweet red pepper with a generous amount of cumin and several dashes of crushed red pepper. Just the right amount of sweet and savory and plenty left over for lunch tomorrow at work. Goodnight....

Early Sunday morning run and afternoon knitting

Decided to get out early this AM before the heat arrives - already 69 degrees at 8am. Ran ~3 miles in the neighborhood winding up and down the hills....walked a little but forced myself to run all the inclines and,hey,it wasn't even too terribly bad. I suppose those 12 hours shifts on my feet and the 10,000+ steps I take are helping me stay fit!


On my run I saw this portulaca growing out of a crack in the asphalt - apparently a seed or two escaped from the nearby patch.


I also passed this field of chicory - chicory has a blue flower in a shade I've not seen in other plant. Too bad they're considered weeds. BTW, the ground roots are used as a coffee substitute or a coffee additive and is a tasty accompaniment to beignets in New Orleans. Luzianne coffee with chicory is also available in the local grocery stores. I sometimes have the craving for coffee but not enough to use a whole pound of it. Hummm, some would taste good now...maybe the local coffee shop sells bulk coffee with chicory.....need to check.

For three hours this afternoon, I meet several others knitters at the local yarn shop, Needle on the Square, for the monthly knitting group meeting. What fun sitting around with other knitters and browsing in the shop - I bought Universal Classic Worsted in Rose Garden color to knit into a baby blanket. I used this yarn in a black/gray/beige color scheme for the wrap I wore all over Paris. This yarn knits up nicely, is machine washable and is inexpensive. With all the young women I work with, I know someone will be announcing a pregnancy soon. Oh, one more thing, I have succumbed to the Crocs cult - I bought a pair of the Mary Janes today. I figure they're a good way to show off all my handknit socks!

No Driving Saturday

I try to have a no driving day once a week when my schedule allows. My husband and I ride together when we have the same schedule (which is most of the time) but we are both guilty of driving big gas guzzlers. Hence....I try to keep my Xterra in the driveway as much as possible. Saturday was a beautifully warm summer day - I spent the morning cleaning house (husband was working) and I spent the evening reading and knitting outside. We needed a few items from the grocery store so I walked the mile or so to pick them up and have a quick lunch at the Italian restaurant adjacent to the Food Lion. Lentini's veggie sub and eggplant parmesan are tasty and inexpensive - I'm glad to have them close by.On my walk home I snapped several pictures of this beautifully restored old house.



I saw wild berry vines here and there along the road - the berries are not quite ripe - I tried one! We picked buckets of these when I was a kid...


Cleaned house, finished reading Water for Elephants, and had some exercise - nice day!

Sunday musings and observations

Virginia enjoys stalking the squirrels and birds roaming in the backyard and is always looking for a hideout. An overturned fertilizer dispenser provides a shady place to peer out at her prey. Don't worry, she is only allowed outdoors under supervision :-).


My husband rescued several unwanted hostas from a landscaping job he did with a friend a couple of years ago. They are madly growing under the trees in our backyard - What a wonderful free gift!


I grew up hanging clothes on a clothesline - my parents did not have a dryer until all of us left home. My mom still uses her clothesline even though they now have a dryer. I remember school morningswhen I frantically tried to dry my favorite pair of jeans by putting them in the oven. Now clotheslines are not allowed in many neighborhoods - I'm happy to see many clotheslines in use in our neighborhood. I read somewhere that drying one load of clothes cost approximately one dollar - seems like a good enough reason for me to keep using that clothesline!

More socks?

I enjoy making socks because
*I wear them regularly to work with my wooden clogs.
*Socks in progress are small and easy to carry along to work on during any free time.
*They are inexpensive to make compared to many projects.
*They are challenging enough to keep you interested but not so much that you become frustrated.

Any other reasons? I'll ponder that as I cast on another pair using Lorna's Shepard sock yarn in the gorgeous Iris Garden colors!