Knitting comfort

So. Last year Jared & I discussed selling our house when Hyrum graduated, and using the money to buy property in Alaska. He retires from the military in a few years, and we both love Alaska, so it made sense to plan a move there when we are able. Then last month his mom passed away. It wasn’t unexpected, because of her poor health, but it was sudden. And after discussing things with his siblings and dad, we decided to sell our house this month (!!!!) and move in with his dad for a year. 

Last week was a whirlwind of packing, trips to the donation center, renting a storage unit, and taking things to the dump. Jared pulled everything off the walls and spackled each and every hole. I am constantly surprised by the little bits of paper that turn up in odd spots. And I’m also surprised at how much I throw away when I pack. Right now our house looks horrible because everything is out of its proper place, waiting to be boxed up. 

So it’s time for some knitting and a gratitude list.

(this yarn will be striped socks someday)

things I am thankful for:

* knitting

* free boxes from Walker’s place of work

* we were able to go to church in person today- properly masked and sitting far away

* it is beautiful and sunny today

* chocolate

* God is good

Quarantine, camping style

 Jared spent about 4 months working 12-15 hour days during the initial response to Covid-19. He was about ready to run away, and we decided to follow through with a trip we planned last year to Alaska. It was a good decision- lots of hiking and fishing and camping, and almost no people. 

This is my proof of a negative Covid-19 test (required to fly into Alaska):

and these are some of the cool amenities in our hotel:

I love that there was a big bookcase full of reading material just down the hall. The phone, the alarm clock, and the key all felt like a bit of history from 50 years ago. And the boardwalk was completely empty, because no tourists or cruise ships were in the harbor this year. It was lovely for us, because we were able to walk around and explore, but I know that the locals are suffering because they can’t make money from empty stores. 

We visited Gracie & Griffin the first day, and I got some pictures of the art at her work- all mermaid-themed.

I also finished a sock while Jared was taking pictures with his new camera

AND, I found a yarn shop! 

We rode a ferry from Ketchikan to Prince of Wales Island, and I had knitting to keep me busy during the 3 hour ride.

Once we disembarked, we picked up our vehicle and drove to our first campsite. Of course we took a hike as well as setting up camp! It was wet and rainy, and absolutely beautiful.

We spent a night at Memorial Beach:

Then we drove up to where you take a boat to get to Port Protection. There is a kind of parking lot there, but not all the cars are still driveable. It’s a mix of old and new, working and abandoned, machine and nature. 

Took another opportunity for a hike. Still wet, rainy, and green. 

Our next cabin was Staney Creek, and when we got there, the wood in the fire pit was smoking. It was wet, and whoever had started the fire hadn’t realized it was still burning, or didn’t care. 

We encouraged it to burn, and were able to use up the wet wood completely. Jared took the chance to hike and fish, and I knit and cooked dinner. 

Next day was a canoe day- we crossed Sarkar Lake and spent the afternoon on an interior island. I knit, and Jared fished. It’s kind of a theme now 😉 

Our next adventure was having DJ drop us by boat at the mouth of the Karta River- we stayed at that cabin one night, then hiked along the Karta River to Karta Lake to another cabin. 

The Karta River cabin had an interesting outhouse- it was out of sight of the cabin, and the sign pointing to the cabin was also out of sight. Once you found the outhouse, you realized that it had no door. So the view was pretty awesome (if smelly), but the experience was a bit like skinny-dipping. I was also pretty tickled by the log book at this cabin. Lots of people recorded their fishing results, and a few also added notes about the hike from this cabin into the Karta Lake cabin. The most helpful one suggested taking a compass, since the trail was overgrown and difficult to find. That was absolutely true- everything grows fast because of the rain, and the trail is not easy to find. 

Mint

That thin red line is the trail. Yep. 

beautiful view from the cabin’s porch

Devil’s Club

We definitely could have used a machete for this trail- lots of Devil’s Club (the thorny plant), as well as the biggest mint plant I’ve ever seen. That leaf is bigger than my hand. 

Took a few days at the end of the trip to do laundry and shower (oh that was a good feeling). I knit more, discovered my second sock was too tight, and unraveled the entire thing so I could knit it at a looser gauge. Jared & I went fishing with DJ and they caught a few fish. 

It was an amazing trip, and I’m so glad we were able to take it!

it’s alive!!!!!

I had no idea how long I’d been away. And I didn’t plan it. But I’m back.

quick update:
Walker graduated high school (2016) & started at Utah State. Took a hiatus (Aug 2017- Sept 2019) to serve a 2 year mission in Korea. Got back, worked for a bit, then went back to college (Jan 2020) for a semester. Ended up back at home in March because of the Corona Virus. Now working at Home Depot until he heads back to Utah State in the fall (we hope).

Morgen spent a summer in a treatment center for eating disorders. She did graduate high school (2018). Met Nick at work, had a baby boy named Emmett (Nov 2019), and married Nick (May 2020). Now she is taking certification to get a degree in coding.

Gracie moved in with us Nov 2017, and we aren’t giving her back, so she’s a part of the family now. She graduated with Morgen (2018) and moved up to Alaska (Dec 2018). She and Griffin are engaged (happened Dec 2019), and living in Ketchikan.

Hyrum got to try out homeschooling again (yay.) because the schools shut down in March for Corona Virus. He liked it, but missed seeing his friends, and he’s happy to be done with school and back to work at Zermatt Bakery.

Jared is a Lt Colonel now. Lucky for him, that did not include a desk promotion, so he’s still working in his lab.

And I’m working part-time at an Optometrist office, which keeps me busy without overwhelming my schedule. I also get to tend Emmett every week, which is awesome!

and I almost forgot my happy things:

* it is raining, and it rained all day yesterday too- we need the moisture since spring was pretty dry this year. Hooray!

* all of my family are happy and healthy.

* God is good.

* I have hot cocoa and a large supply of yarn and fabric.

* Jared is making sourdough crackers right now. They smell delicious!

I think we moved back to Iowa

and nobody told me.  It has rained here almost every day for the last three weeks!!! Which is great for the lawn, good for keeping the house cool during the day, and interesting for the garden.  There are puddles. And they have been there for more than one day, at this point.  The humidity is not as bothersome as it could be, since it hovers around 60 degrees when it rains.  I noticed that my kids are getting little curls in their hair though.

There have been hikes, and adventures, and everyone is home and safe and back on a schedule again.  Hooray :)

The canoe is still in our garage.  All the staples and screws were removed, and Jared  & Walker sanded and re-sanded and smoothed out and patched holes and now they have a layer of epoxy, a layer of fiberglass, and another layer of epoxy drying on the outside of the canoe.  The coolest part (besides the whole CANOE IN THE GARAGE thing) is that the fiberglass came in a roll, similar to curtain fabric.  And it looked a lot like silvery burlap because of its color and large, open weave.  However, once they applied it and the epoxy, the fiberglass turned see-through!  So when you look at the canoe, it has a fringe around the bottom edge, and the rest of the canoe looks untouched.  so.weird.

This was my walk today:

Gorgeous greens, even though August is usually the time of dry grass and brown hills.  And more standing puddles. It is awesome and strange all at once.

Morgen and Hyrum went back to school yesterday.  Walker (and the other students in the upper 3 grades at the high school) went back today.  The district chooses to give the freshman a day to themselves at the high school to give them the chance to find everything without the halls being super-crowded.

And on that note, I will be taking a nap.  In order to fit our family prayer and scripture study in before school, we are reading at 5:30am.  Which, if you are good at math, means I am getting up about 5:10am.  Bah! is what I have to say about that. BAH.

held together with glue and staples

In My Garage

My early morning project

Freshly baked bread.

Conversations in the car

Since my oldest child could speak, I have been having conversations.  If you are a parent, you have had or will have these talks.  Once we got to talk about (well, mostly we listened to a monologue about) Morgen's frog dream.  Another time it had to do with why we walk on the sidewalk and not in the road.  I remember overhearing an exchange between two of my children that began with:
"You're an idiot!"
And ended with:
"Well, you're something even worse- you are an IDIOM!!"
And, while they can be frustrating, they are also really funny :).

But with my younger son now 10 years old, I thought the days of these sorts of dialogues were over.  Not so, it appears.  A few nights ago, Hyrum and I went over to the high school to pick Walker up after his performance (Pirates of Penzance- last show is Saturday!).  We had gotten back into the car, and I reminded the boys to put on their seatbelts, like I always do.  And then this happened:
Hyrum- "I'm invisible! I can't wear a seatbelt because then you would see me!"
me- (trying very hard not to giggle because he totally makes sense) "It's an invisible seatbelt.  Wear it or fly home, superman."
Hmmmm.  Apparently, invisibility is not one of Superman's powers.  But it is one of Hyrum's.  Who knew?!

This is the costume that never ends...

Unfortunately, I am not speaking of Halloween costumes.  These are policeman costumes for the Pirates of Penzance.  And I will say only 2 things about them: first, period-authentic Civil War costumes, while they look AWESOME, are probably not necessary for a live theater production that does NOT take place in the USA during the Civil War. (hello, button fly!  you do not lend yourself well to quick costume changes.)  Second, TECH EDITOR FAIL.  It’s a very good thing that I (and by “I,” I mean “we,” since my MIL sewed almost all of the jackets, leaving me to cut out the pattern pieces and sew the pants together.  I know, she IS a saint!)  know how to put together clothing.  Also, that I (again, I mean "we,") am good enough to improvise when the instructions are MISSING BECAUSE THE TECH EDITOR IS IMAGINARY!!!  Or lazy. Or illiterate.  All of which are actually likely, considering the absolute disaster of a pattern…  Seriously.  They hired an imaginary, illiterate tech editor who was lazy.  Or aliens.  Aliens would work, too.

But all I have left to do at this point is to hem the pants and jacket of the second costume.  Originally they were meant for somebody who is about 6 feet tall.  After skipping too many practices, that person has been replaced by a much shorter person.  So, hemming.  Except I can't just chop off the too-long bits and do a simple hem, because what if they use these costumes again and need it to be for a tall person?!?  Which means hemming by hand, very carefully, to take into account the disparity between the hemline needed and the extra fabric involved.  Blech.

Okay, I feel better now :)  

This furlough thing- I would be much happier if none of the Senators were getting paid until they solved this problem.  Jared has to work, as he's considered essential personnel, but he isn't getting paid.  Assuming that the Senate gets their act together, he will eventually get reimbursed for his time.  However, this makes me grateful for our emergency fund and our food storage.

And on a much happier note, it snowed Thursday night!  Quite a bit, actually, and we had snow on the ground the next morning for my daily walk.

It didn't stick, but it surely was a beautiful sight!
Also, today and tomorrow my church has their semi-annual conference, which means I can feast on the wonderful spiritual messages.

So, happy things:
* snow!!!!
* and because of snow, hot cocoa and other delicious winter treats :)
* beautiful music
* spiritual messages
* lots of yarn with which to crochet and knit.
* good friends and neighbors.
* my family is loving and supportive.
* homemade jams and syrups (chokecherry and blackberry) mmmmmm.
* we're all healthy and we have plenty of food and clothing.
* God is good.

Maria

I learned something really cool yesterday that tied a song from "Paint Your Wagon" to the practice of naming storms after women. This is from the wiki entry for "They Call the Wind Maria:"

 "In George Rippey Stewart's 1941 novel Storm, he gives the storm which is the protagonist of his story the name "Maria."
The success of Stewart's novel was one factor that motivated U.S. military meteorologists to start the informal practice of giving women's names to storms in the Pacific during World War II. The practice became official in 1945. In 1953, a similar system of using women's names was adopted for North Atlantic storms. This continued until 1979, when men's names were incorporated into the system.

 This novel was also the inspiration for the song. Isn't that cool? Stewart wrote a novel, which inspired Lerner & Loewe to write a song, which led meteorologists to name storms after women.

 I really like the internet.

this is my favorite version, because it uses the minor key in the second verse, which sounds so much like the wind moaning. there are others available on youtube :)

and my happy list:
* good friends.
* it snowed in the mountains yesterday!
* hot cocoa to warm me up.
* reliable cars.
* a mother-in-law who sewed 2 costumes for w's school musical.
* h did his homework without me asking him to!
* w did a load of dishes without me asking him to!
* m cleaned up her breakfast mess without me asking her to!
* kids who do their chores without me nagging :)
* good music
* warm house
* podcasts
* the internet
* i have lots of warm things to wear
* God is good.