The balmy afternoon called for a stroll to the waterfalls about five blocks away.
I wasn’t the only one enjoying the quiet park, eventually six other people – including my sweet neighbor – showed up to take pictures, let their dogs romp, and soak in the calmness of the setting.
Listening to the rushing water, seeing the sunlight glint off trees and stream while reflecting on various Bible verses concerning peace that I’ve been studying for the past few weeks helped to center me on God’s peace and goodness. Solace for the soul.
Category: Creek
High Water
The rain pounded down for a couple more days following my last post. Ed and I took up walking to the local county park before and after work each day to check out the creek level and see the water rushing over the Scotts Mills Falls. Thursday afternoon we dropped off parcels at the Post Office as we headed up to the falls stopping in route to look downstream from the bridge. 
The water was the highest we’d seen it since the ’96 floods – when the park was completely flooded. The water didn’t get as high this year, only partially flooding the park. 
It’s mesmerizing to watch rushing water roaring past, churning over what is normally a 12′ – 15′ waterfall in great swirls of chaotic motion. 
We were chatting with the mayor who’d joined us, talking about water levels and flooding when he spotted a small row boat in the rapids upstream. We caught sight of it just as it snagged in tree limbs hanging over the water.
See the blue boat tucked back under the black leaning tree? At first we were worried that someone might have been in it but zooming the camera at it I could see no one and we decided that most likely it’d come loose from some mooring upstream. It was caught in the branches for some time and we were just about to turn away to leave when the currents freed it and carried it towards the falls. I was snapping pictures when the mayor asked if my camera could record. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of recording it sooner. Fingers fumbled in my excitement and anxiety not catching it in time. Barely.
It’s uploaded here. Ed’s voice is the one that mentions “… could be worth five dollars!”
Most of my free time has been consumed with knitting. One is for a birthday present. I started the scarf on the 7th of January and was making decent headway when the niggling thought that there might not be enough yarn sent me to the scale to weigh the partial scarf and remaining alpaca then do some quick arithmetic. 
The original pattern, Irish Hiking Scarf by Hello Yarn (please take some time to check out her great patterns!), is three cables wide. My d-i-l loves wide, long scarves and so I had decided to throw in two extra cable repeats for a wider scarf. Without stopping to figure out if there was enough yarn for such a large increase. There wasn’t. At the rate of yarn being used the scarf would end up being about 42 inches long. Argh! Or rather, rippet. Deadline is now only two weeks away and I’m not yet to the half-way point. I have meetings to attend in Newberg this Friday evening and Saturday morning so have high hopes of making serious headway on the scarf. In the meantime…
I was sidetracked.
A wee alluring cap pattern has been calling my name and when I found just the right yarn for it I cast if on the needles last week.
Pattern: Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap / Djevellue by Gro
(The pattern which I printed a couple years ago, has a photo of a cap knit with alternating light and dark pink yarns.)
Yarn: Cascade Yarns – Cash Vera DK 55%Extra Fine Merino, 33% Microfiber acrylic, 12% Cashmere.
Needles 2.25mm & 2.75mm (each one size smaller than called for in the pattern since the pattern hat fits a 6 month old.)
What a fun knit! I immediately wanted to cast on for another one, this time subtracting a few stitches from each triangle for an even smaller hat. The pattern doesn’t call for a pom-pom but I couldn’t resist adding one.
Less than two months until Aurora’s due date, there are a couple more items I’d love to knit before the baby is born.
09.09.09
Supper dishes were washed, the floor swept, and a few spindles were weighed and written on to get a head start on a busy day tomorrow. The chair with knitting projects to one side and laptop on the other beckoned as the perfect place to spend a quiet evening. There was one must-write email to discharge and then! the luxury of finally slipping into blog posting mode.
Of course the phone rang. It had to do with the pending email. Plans went into a tailspin and right out the window as much of the evening was chewed away by working out elusive details until the point was reached where I can do no more until I hear back from a key person. And now here it is, past my bedtime.
It’s been one of those days from the very beginning.
a cluster headache lurked,
a long list of must-dos, but a body/mind out of sync
a message that didn’t set right and I don’t know how to respond.
Or even if I should.
It’s good to sit here sipping tea, looking through pictures to post since I’m too lazy/tired to upload the more recent ones.
Two projects are on the needles these days. One should have been finished by the 4th, mornings and evenings have been rather consumed in the making of them. I’m well down the foot now but with #1 / 2.25 mm needles it’s slow going. This picture was taken the end of August. 
The other is a sweater for Ed, started just before his birthday. I can hardly wait until it’s done, it’ll be so cozy for him to wear in the house. It too is a bit further along than in the picture. Knitting with #8/5 mm is a good change of pace for my hands.
We had a wonderful time watching the grandkids a few days while our son and wife moved their household to start his new job in Idaho. Such a precious time knowing they’d be moving too far away to watch them growing as we have for these first year(s) of their lives.
Here’s a few pictures from one day’s excursion to the creek.
The days are full of filling orders; finishing, writing on and packing all the individual items that Ed is continually turning out one at a time. We took a break from regular duties on Monday to can green beans with our daughter. We all enjoyed the change of pace, and especially watching the row of filled jars growing. The green beans in the garden have finally rippened and are growing at an alarming rate. I need to do another canner full tomorrow. With the rain we had last weekend it won’t be long before the yard will need mowing. Soon that’ll be a regular, almost weekly chore.
Friday morning my friend Grace and I plan to take her canoe out on the nearby resevoir. I’m so looking forward to being out on the water in the early morning calm.
Safe / At the Creek
The Family of Four (see post below) were rear-ended this morning while stopped during road construction. A young man wasn’t paying attention and didn’t see that traffic had come to a standstill. J saw him barreling towards them and stomped on the brake hoping the impact wouldn’t send them into the car ahead. It did. Their Honda was accordianed, babies strapped into car seats in back, J&M in front. M’s seat buckled and broke. Miraculously no one was seriously injured. J&M are getting more stiff and sore as the hours wear on but we’re all so extremely thankful the babies and parents were unharmed.
The WeeOne at fourteen days.
And Feathers, who was enthralled with “helping” me warp the loom.
Sad to say, I’ve made little progress beyond this stage. The plan is a linen warped, weft faced rug – my first.
Walk With Me Wednesday and gaze at Butte Creek , taken just around the block from our house.
EDITED:6.19 I hadn’t realized that the youtube video had lost the sound, and the picture quality was poor. Will try again. In the meanwhile will a couple pictures suffice?
After taking the mail to the PO I wandered on down to the creek for a moment’s reflection and saw these ducks only when the female stood up and flapped her wings. Running back home I snatched up the camera. By the time I returned they’d settled down and the colorful plumage of the male had faded with the shifting sun.
Moseying on upstream a ways I was slightly astonished to see these and ran onto the bridge for a better shot:
Little did they realize who’s peace they were about to disturb.
Fiberjoy