Marco, I love you!

Circa 2007.

Marco, my brother is in Florida this week at his grandparent's house. We have been talking on the phone every couple of days which is a treat for me. Living a time zone and a few countries away is hard. I don't get to see him grow up, but we have been trying to see each other once a year. This October he will be visiting us and I cannot wait. Marco, I love you and I miss you.

Stabbed by a needle twice

Yes there are hazards to the hobbies I enjoy. The first time I got stabbed by a needle I was running to get the phone and the metal knitting needle that was on my lap dropped on the hardwood floor bouncing into my foot. It dug in about 3/4 of an inch in between my bones and broke skin. In disbelief I sat on the floor looking at my foot. When I pulled it out it hurt like crazy, no blood no infection. Really stabbed by a knitting needle. How do I explain that.

Yesterday I was working on a sewing project. I wasn't in a hurry, the simple project was going well. When I was sewing the casing for the elastic I reached with my finger forgetting there were moving parts and well the needle stabbed me in the nail. It would have been a minor thing if I could just learn not to panic. But my reaction to the pain was to pull my finger away tearing tissue and causing more damage. I am grateful no blood dripped onto the fabric and I finished my project. Now I need to nurse my very soar ripped finger. My sewing teacher ( remember I took a sewing class this summer) warned us about this and I laughed quietly thinking "Well that is a stupid thing to do." I guess I should have said, "I hope I never do that."


My trusty sewing machine.


OUCH!

Nothing can stop me now.

Love the Internet. No pattern needed just a computer to make this Ruffle Sleeve Top. I followed a tutorial by sparkle power.

Balling the Queen

"Balling" is a beekeepers term. This video is impressive. The bee handler is touching what would be considered aggressive bees without getting stung. See for yourself how nature works.

Wheeling and Healing

Over the weekend Thomas and I saw a number of cyclist riding down Hwy. 1. Impressive feat and one done by many during the summer months. As we were approaching our campsite in Gualala I casually said to Thomas, "Wouldn't it be cool to meet a cyclist this weekend and get to know him/her, you know talk about their journey." Well watch what you ask for. On Saturday night after our delicious dinner we were washing our dishes and overheard these four cyclist looking for a campsite for the night. The place was packed so the attendant was turning them away. Thomas and I looked at each other for a second and I turned and hailed them over. So we offered to share our campsite.



It turns out Rich and his three kids are touring from the Oregon boarder to Santa Barbara County. Their lives have been touched by alcoholism and their journey is an effort to connect with nature and find some healing. You can read their story at Wheeling and Healing.

Meet the Murphy Tribe as they call themselves; Michael, Sarah, Sean, and Papa Richard.


We were so inspired by their determination, entertained by their stories on the road, and touched by their honesty and candid spirit. We wish you the best. Rich you are right sometimes the best thing to do is to keep moving forward.

The gear. Everything you need for four weeks of cycling. Maybe not everything. Michael did say now that they have been on the road for a week there are some items that they will UPS home.

~Meet Nick, well that is his American name. Nick was a really interesting guy. Nick was cycling with the Murphy Tribe when we met him. He was very easy going and had a cheerful carefree disposition despite being in what I imagine is a very different world from what he is used to. Nick is from South Korea. He took a year off from his job with Merck to cycle from the Canadian boarder to Argentina. He started his journey in Vancouver where he stayed for 2 months learning English. He then bought all of his gear (bike, tent, sleeping bag, etc) and started making his way south. Why Argentina? He said he also wanted to learn Spanish. Nick, we will be cheering you on. Buen Viaje!. ~Thomas



This is the road ahead. Rich, Michael, Sarah, and Sean you have our admiration.

Pictures taken by The Murphy Tribe

Not surfing near Point Arena

Thomas and I took off this past weekend to surf near Point Arena just north of Gualala. Well it was beautiful but there were no waves.

It didn't matter that we couldn't surf. Thomas and I along with Lily walked the beach, counted the many varieties of seaweed, and later headed to the farmer's market. Did you know you need a license to harvest seaweed? Yes, you need a fishing license. Needless to say we left ours at home so we did no such harvesting.

Later in the day we decided to leave our surfboards at our campsite and look for a place to hike. The gals at Franny's Bakery were kind to point us to this patch of BLM land just a mile from the Point Arena Lighthouse.

The locals did say it was the first sunny day in weeks.

After hiking and goofing around for a while we sat for a picnic and the entire herd of cows (15+ cows) approached us. Nerve racking!

T's attempt to scare them off did little good. Lucky the cows lost interest and walked on.

Of course, except for #78 who wouldn't move or stop staring. For a minute I was thinking about our exit strategy if she thought about moving any closer. Like the others she lost interest and moved on. Good thing, she was even drooling.



We were curious to see the light house from the other side, so we found this no-name beach were Lily was welcomed. Sadly there are very few state and county parks/beaches were dogs are welcomed.



We have never been interested in going into the light house, but now we have seen it from both the north and the south.



We were hungry that night but I was ready with a great meal from home: lamb steaks from Willowside meats, corn from Laguna Farm, zucchini from Michael's garden. YUM!

I just had to wait patiently for the camp fire to roar. Here I am with yet another opportunity for growth-patience.

Sadly Lily gets car sick. On the way home she had to be curled up between my legs on the floor of the car. She didn't want to be anywhere else. While she was comfortable, I was blasted by the heat of her panting. Can I just say the windows were rolled down most of the way home. We are considering a crate maybe even drugs.

Taking a closer look

Harvesting last week I found this little guy on the dill plant. Take a close look...

We picked it off it's safety and Kayla was so careful to protect it from the sun and cats.


The little caterpillar had a good grip.

Take yet another closer look. He pooped while on my finger! Nice.


The garden is producing well. Garbanzo beans are almost done.

For the last few weeks we have been enjoying green beans.

Purple broccoli will be on the menu this week.

This bee had her hind leg pockets full of pollen. As I snapped the shot a fly made the frame.


Take a closer look at her hind legs. It is amazing she can still fly with all that weight.



We have been eating well this year.

Yellow

For the last two years I have been watching all kinds of birds visit our backyard garden. It is especially eventful when the sunflowers are in bloom. So I had to take a closer look at what makes a sunflower so attractive.









This fly landed just as I was taking the picture. Happy accident or pest?

This is one of Jessica's sunflowers. They were covered in bees. Birds do eat bees. Blue jays like to visit a hive in the early morning looking for the bees that were kicked out by their housekeeping sisters the nigh before. Bees are very clean. If a bee is dead, sick, or born deformed they will kick her out. Thomas and I have also seen birds catch bees in flight.


These were taken last year, but are still my favorite.