Transitions

This time of year the sun rises at such a convenient time, and clouds return to add drama and beauty to the event.

Sabbath morning I got a little extra drama when a hummer flew through my shot! (I was standing near the feeder.)

On Monday, I pointed my iPhone east, then northeast, then north, then back to the east:

Yesterday I took three progression shots of the views on either side of our pasture stand of firs:

By this morning there were too many clouds, although the sun managed to struggle through briefly.

And so our perfect leaf-peeper weather has come to an end. We are forecast to get a lot of rain over the next week, which will probably wash away much of the color we have. Good thing I took a few photos in the area before that happened!

We've also had perfect weather for the three soccer games Brian has had since returning from Walla Walla. Unfortunately, the last two games will definitely be 'mudders.' (Good thing Rick got my washing machine going again!) A week ago Monday:

Last Monday:

Last night, when the clouds were moving in, and the geese were moving out:

Later last night we thought we were facing Dozer's final transition. He has been acting like an old clock winding down for awhile now. 'First potty break followed by breakfast' has been his one reliably energetic point of the day; yesterday morning he didn't stir from his bed for a long time. Last night Rick spent a lot of time loving on him, and by this morning Dozer rallied a bit. As I've said before: One day at a time.

Coincidence? Ironic? Fitting? That in this month when Jackson turns 12 and both our old dogs are struggling, Sara's "Miss October" is her old black tri-color corgi.

Last Sunday we hauled an entire oak tree home. One of Rick's clients owns a lot of property, and he offered us a downed tree and help to load it with his tractor's claw grapple (what a back-saver!). Getting that done before the rain came meant putting off (again) doing something with all those apples my MIL gave us. I finally got a cannerful of applesauce made on Monday; I should be working on another batch right now.... 😏

I can see the end of this crazy batt from here:

After that, GIFT KNITTING.

That's it for now from . . .

Recent, personal, and American history

Last Thursday, the three of us plus Jackson traveled to Walla Walla, WA for a parochial high school soccer & volleyball tournament.

Two of the three games our team played were at night under lights, which was a first for Brian (his team won both of those games).

We watched a few of the girls' volleyball games, too.

The tournament was held at Walla Walla University, my mother's alma mater. In fact, I walked with her – or rather in her – down the aisle for graduation.

Hard to imagine that a year from now Brian could be a student there – if he decides what he's going to do by then. 😏

We've made this trip two other times for Brian's basketball tournaments, but didn't do any sightseeing. This time we remedied that, visiting the Ft. Walla Walla Museum on Friday,

Amazing quilt

and the Whitman Mission National Historic Site after lunch on Sabbath.

Both were well worth visiting; visually engaging, very informative, and sobering.

The trip was hard on Jackson. He can't get in or out of the car by himself, and couldn't stretch out on the back seat like he does so much of the time at home. He didn't want to eat much and had a bout of what looked like enteritis on Saturday. Leaving him behind with someone would have been hard on him, too; there was just no good option for my dear old dog. Now that we're home again, we're taking it one watchful day at a time.

I got in a lot of spinning in the car, at games, and in the hotel. I plied the lavender Shetland top sample on the way there, then started on a wild and crazy batt for another Ravelry challenge. Half of it is spun now!

That's the trip report from . . .