August

This month is going to be a doozy. It is warm and dry, which means the gardening and landscaping plants need near-constant watering (and weeding); produce picking, preparation and preservation is in full swing; and the horses and sheep are all in sacrifice areas on full hay rations again. Yesterday Brian started four weeks of swimming lessons which means a trip to town every day instead of once or twice a week, and his violin teacher called and has healed enough from his broken leg that he can resume lessons next week - meaning violin practice must resume in earnest. (The return to more structured days is not being met passively or pleasantly by a certain nine-year-old.) I'm trying to schedule meet-ups with two friends, once of whom is moving to Hawaii on September 1, so it's August or never. We have a wedding to go to (and shop for), and the State Fair starts this month - which means blocking the two items I entered in the Textiles section of the Creative Living Competition. And Christmas? It's coming - along with a new baby in January, courtesy of my sister and BIL!

Still, I intend to continue squeezing in Russell's rehab walks (with a bit of jogging now - woot!) and fiber play on a near-daily basis. Here is a progress report.

FO: colorwork hat; entered in State Fair (needs to be steam-blocked)

WIP: Sakaki with beads; needs to be ripped back to fix the mistake marked by the point of the needle

On the mS: 50/50 camel/silk, color #2 (first color completed during le Tour de Fleece)

On the new Jenkins Jay: a sample of 50/50 merino/tencel

Yesterday I finally had the chance to visit the new Trader Joe's in south Salem. It's a bit closer than the one in Portland, but still quite a jaunt so I will not be visiting often. But next time? I'm getting a whole lot more of these:
I'm thinking that with this as my new One-A-Day, I could get through just about anything (see note about nine-year-old above) - but would probably need a whole new wardrobe. /-:

In reality, we'll be eating a whole lot of food like this in the near future:
Sauté of onions and fresh-from-the-garden julienned beets, soon to be joined by our first garden zucchini, some cannellini beans, garlic, sea salt and a splash of fat-free half-and-half, and tossed with whole wheat spaghetti for our supper last night. Yum!

That's it for today from . . .