Summer in Central Oregon

This is what is going on here at home - the Air Tankers take off here in Redmond and make a quick run to Sisters - working on the 9,000 acre Black Crater fire. 1500 people have been evacuated and they say there is a 50% chance the little town of Sisters will be evacuated tonight - but the good news is the humidty is up and the temps down - it's downright cool this afternoon! The smoke is drifting and we are socked in here in Redmond.

This is life in Central Oregon during the summer and we have only started! It will be interesting going to work in the morning as I travel right through Sisters. The air tanker picture is courtesy of the Nugget News
and I took the other on Wednesday before they evacuated the first neighborhood. When I came through on Wednesday all the fire engines from surrounding communities where lined up to provide support for structures fires (which there haven't been any yet thank heavens) - wish I'd gotten a picture of that - looked pretty impressive!

Haven't been knitting much - but worked in the garden today - the weather was cooperating so thought I should get to it.

Yesterday did the garage sale trip looking for apartment furnishings for Molly. I scored at the Goodwill - got a wonderful table for $8!!!! Its perfect and in great shape. I spent a total of $20 and got silverware for 4 with a little chrome holder, 4 glasses, a great soup mug, two soup mugs that match my dishes and two other small glasses and the table. Still have a lot more to come up - particularly chairs - both dinning and living room, but think that will have to be when we are in Eugene - don't want to have to haul everything over there. Molly and I are going over on Thursday to take a load and sign the rental agreements on her apartment - orange shag carpet and pink refrigerator and all!! Remember those days!!
Hope everyone has a great week!

Moira Littlelace has a cousin

Pat - Moira has a cousin in far off Oregon!! Thanks so much for sharing with us!! This is laceweight - a wonderful copper color - a gift for Christmas - don't know who yet! I'm liking the pattern - easy to remember so easy to pick up. I plan to do a really long maybe beaded fringe. I do wish I had made it wider - but just didn't want to start over.

It has been so so hot here and tonight all the conditions are really bad for wildfire - low humidity, winds and high temp. We've got three good ones going within view. One at beautiful Elk Lake - they are evacuating the west side of the lake as we speak - it would be a real loss! So we are surrounded by copper colored skies and since Redmond is the home of the US Forest Service Air Center - the tankers are flying overhead. (We often go and watch them refill the retardent and then take off - cheap thrills!) Wildfire is a fact of life here - Bend has had quite a few devestating neighborhood fires that started as wildfires - Awbrey Hall which burned 22 homes and Skeleton come to mind. Also the huge B&B Complex fire three years ago burned 93,000 acres very near Camp Sherman where I now work. Needless to say - with the thunderstorms night before last - all these are now popping up - we can see the column from the Crater fire from the office and we've had the scanner on to be prepared if a fire is in the area - so far we've been lucky - but fire season is just getting started and with this super hot weather it could be scary this year. My boss and family had to evacuate during the B&B fire - they were weeks out of thier house!! But all was safe and Camp Sherman was OK - but that doesn't mean it will always be that way.
This is life during the summer in Central Oregon!!

They've got Socks

I wasn't allowed to take the socks with me (Oh mom!) to The Central Oregon Draft Horse Show - but found some there anyway.


It was hot and sunny and the horses were so impressive - not to mention the drivers!!












Knitting is progressing very slowly - but am turning the heel on my Trekking socks. It's just too hot in the evenings. It's not even cooling down at night which is making sleep difficult. I have A/C but can't stand to have it running at night!
My garden is almost bloomed out - I hate that - a big splash and then it's just green. Central Oregon for you!!
M2 daughter has decided at the last minute to go back to UofO in the fall - so she's busy looking for a place to live, getting transfered to the Eugene REI, figuring out all the details. I'm proud of her but will miss having her around. They gotta grow up sometime I guess!
M3 daughter has new second job - working 48 hours this week!!! Busy girl.
Busy Family - having fun most of the time!!
Good Summer to all! Enjoy the heat - it's coming!!
Edited to add: I've got tons of raspberries coming on - they are sooooo good!!!

Trek to Book Club

Yes, we do have a life on occasion and Book Club is about it these days...but we did make it out. Of course didn't read the book...it just wasn't working as an audio book for my Ipod test. But we picked a fun summer easy chick book this time - In Her Shoes - luckily I haven't seen the movie so will look forward to the book.
As said in my last post - knitting is lacking these days - just too lazy. But the sock is progressing slowly and I actually have been working on the Celtic sweater - one of these days I will finish. (I get really depressed reading everyone elses accomplishments - you have way more time than I do!)
My girls and I are really ships passing in the night - but this weekend I get one day with each - they'll probably be sleeping most of the time!! My Goal is comfortable shoes that aren't hot and don't make my feet hurt at the end of the day - yea right. Old age is the pits!! Oh yes the closet - in the middle of night I hear this big bang - I yell out to the girls "are you all right?" No answer so thought I must have been dreaming. I wake up to see MY closet rod had fallen down! Does Fred Meyer have the part to fix it after work? No - so the pile remains until I can get to a hardware store. I don't have that much stuff hanging - I only Iron to wear - never ahead anyway!
Oh yes - the Lavendar - I bought four new Lavendar plants last weekend. My sister the gardener was here and we completely rearranged my garden - on paper anyway - guess who gets to to all the digging up and replanting...but it will be worth it. I may get started if it's not too hot.
Getting late - news is on - later and best to all

Too Busy to Knit Much.....

M2 Daughter took these pictures - just thought I'd do a quick share. Have been busy and it's too hot to knit. Garden is even suffering - but growing. I'll update more this weekend I promise!! Hope all is well with everyone!!!

A busy bee

I have accomplished a lot this weekend...not as much as I had hoped - but progress was made. The lawns got mowed and fertilized, flowers planted and deadheaded. My veggie garden is a bust at this point - it looks so sick I'm embarressed. It'll take a few weeks before it is ready for pictures.












I did manage to knit a little - did a new Ipod carrier - used the Sock Candy that I got at Black Sheep - if I'd gotten another skein I could have done socks - but this was fun a quick.

I also worked on my Trekking socks - although we didn't Trek any further than the hammock. Will finish one tonight and hopefully get a good start on the second.


In anticipation of The Traveling Stash visiting my house, I did look at my Private Reserve - I almost started something else - but decided that two things on the needles at a time is enough for me. So little time - so much I want to knit!!

But I did sort things out, found some new ideas and decided what I could sacrifice.
Is the Sisterhood really coming to visit me?

A beautiful evening on the High Desert

What more can I say.....