Random thoughts

I am sitting with my nursing books all day today. On Thursday I have my first theory test.
These are my random thoughts today...

Pretty sunflower. Summer is almost over. :(

A blooming artichoke. It is time to plant for the winter.

We moved a wood pile a few weeks ago and this long legged black widow was protecting her egg pod.

The red spot on her belly confirmed she was a black widow. Yikes. Thank goodness we always wear our gloves when working in the garden.


This volunteer pumpkin is going to decorate our front steps. When is Halloween? Do I get a day off from school?

Oscar posk in the garden. Looking cute as ever. Can you spot the drool? He melts just standing next to you. Such a love bug.



Are these gooseberries ready? I need to google this. What would I do without Grandma Google.

These are our starts for the fall garden, but they will have to wait until next weekend or at least until after my test.

Santa Rosa 1/2 Marathon

Thomas ran the Santa Rosa 1/2 Marathon on Sunday. The event took place near downtown with the start and finish at Juilliard Park. The route mostly flat and scenic headed west on part of the Joe Rodota Trail (yes just behind our house) and back into town.









It was a well attended event. Marathoners and 1/2 marathon runners started at 7 am.

Of course I am noticing the dogs and the kids. Lily did come along when she spotted Thomas past the finish line she let out a big yelp for him.



Thomas rode his bike in and looking fresh after 13.1 miles rode home.

The event director Arthur Webb also organized a 5k Charity walk/run. It didn't take me long to recognize the charity.

Then and now

When I adopted Lily the shelter staff was calling her "Sweetheart" She had arrived to Sonoma County on 5/28/2005 as a transfer from Bakersfield. She was an intact tan/white cattle dog with an estimated age of 9 months (a second vet said she was 12 months old). Her chart described her as loving to play with ball. We know that hasn't changed. When I took her home she was sick with a skin issue. Every night for 10 days I had to bathe her with a medicated shampoo and give her prednisone orally. The vet later thought it was a flea bite allergy. I think she had been in shelters for so long that she couldn't get healthy. She is also very sensitive to food and we do have to watch what she eats. Before she came home she was spayed, but it was evident she had had a litter of puppies.
This is Lily just a few days after bringing her home.


This is Lily now at 45 pounds, healthy, and full grown.

We take her everywhere we go. This picture was taken in Colorado last year.

She is eternally patient. I often wonder what she is thinking.

She loves the couch and is very jealous of the cats. This is what usually happens when we sit to watch a movie. What can I say we have lap animals. Now if I can just get Thomas interested in chickens.


I love her hairy paws.

For the last few weeks we have been doing dog agility training with her. She is a natural. Actually she came to us with training. We, the humans in her life, have been catching up to her skills.


We take her across the street to play most everyday. Her favorite game is fetching. Her Frisbee = hours of play.

Mouth and eyes wide open.

Back to school

Today is the first day of my second semester in Nursing school. Summer is over.
This picture was taken at the end of the Spring semester outside of my clinical rotation site. All smiles. I am actually all smiles today as my adventure begins again.

Over the summer my books mainly sat piled up in the closet. Granted this is not the entire pile. If I stacked them all they would be about 5 feet high.

The books came in handy when Kayla was staying with us as they served as a stool to help her reach the bathroom sink.
My first assignment is to read three chapters in the IV Therapies book for today's lecture. Done!

Honey Harvest

Thomas does bee box inspections periodically. Yesterday he determined it was time to harvest honey.




It is important to take a frame or two of capped honey and leave behind 4 or 5 frames for the bees.

Gently brush the bees off.



Now we take each frame and scrape the cap and honey off. Since we don't use an extractor we simply use a pantyhose and gravity. Yes the thin nylon weave of a pantyhose is an excellent filter.



A lick here and a lick there after an hour of work I was drunk on honey. It was tasty.

Neglecting my knitting

This year I signed up for a Sock Club class through my favorite local yarn store Cast Away. The class has been fantastic, but I have been falling behind on getting any of my socks done. There are no excuses, I have just simple been neglecting my knitting.

Here I am modeling my instructor's socks because mine were not done (shame!). Just as I write this I feel the strength of my words and sadly they are not motivating me to knit. I need to get my knitting MOJO back! Other knitters have talked about this very issue. You know loosing their drive, inspiration, umph. Could it be stress? Need for some time off? I don't know. It is just not cool. You know needles don't move on their own.





My unfinished Seaweed Sock designed by Wendy D. Johnson knitted in Malabrigo sock yarn. Knitting this one using the Magic Loop technique. One down second one to go.

Most of the Sock class knitted Pomatomous by Cookie A. I couldn't get the gauge to work and am not knitting on size 000 needles so I am working on my Summer Sox by the same designer using Classic Elite Summer Sox yarn.

We just started the Noro Entrelac Socks about two weeks ago. Knitted in Silk Garden sock yarn using the magic loop technique.
Ok so I will admit these are not simple projects, but still I am an avid knitter with some advanced skills to my credit.

These are some of the projects I finished in the last 12 months... really before nursing school got hectic.

I call this my solution to a bad hair day. This is the Star Crossed Slouchy Beret by Natalie Larson made in Malabrigo Yarn Twist color 56-Olive. Wore it twice before I decided it would look better on Kristine my sister-in-law.

Frosted Diamonds by Stephanie Japel made in Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend color Lava. Love this pattern and more so loved knitting it up in Manos. Stephanie is an amazing designer, knitter and she quilts too.

Felix's Cardigan by Jacki Kelly was knitted in Moda Dea Washable wool. The best one skein project ever. I purchased the buttons on Etsy from butteredparsnips. They really make the cardigan. Gifted to Erin just before Aiden was born.

This is simply a magnificent scarf. Saroyan by Liz Abinante knitted in Yarns Northwest Silk and Merino. In retrospect would have used a different yarn for this project, but I am happy with the color and feel of this scarf.



Cobblestone Pullover by Jared Flood knitted in Brown Sheep Lanaloft Worsted color LL39W was knitted start to finish during the Winter Olympics. Yes that is some fast knitting. Jared Flood is my favorite male knitwear designer of all time.

Since March I have finished one knitted projects. One. :(