Nice weather and knitting

(post started 7/6, completed 7/11)

Sheesh has it been 5 months since I last blogged? I won't bore you with all the details, mostly because I most definitely lost my entire audience. Suffice it to say that I have been extremely busy at work after starting with a new group and new set of projects, and had back surgery.

We survived our second winter in the PNW and just recently celebrated Summer Solstice, which in Fremont (a really nice neighborhood just across the bridge from our house) is a huge deal (a little more on that in a minute). We kept hearing that the winter and spring weather had not been typical. Well, ummm, we heard that last year too. Is it global warming? Well whatever is causing the weather to be so bad, please STOP. I hadn't been very down on the weather up until now but last night I had a dream where I found myself yelling, "ENOUGH ALREADY!" about the weather. So I guess my subconscious is telling me something.

Now don't get me wrong, it's beautiful here ...



... especially when you get to see Rainier in all it's glory. That shot was taking at the top of Queen Anne, which is officially our neighborhood. I mustn't mislead you though, we are on the north side of Queen Anne which is a short drive or a nice walk to the vantage point that overlooks the view of Rainier and Downtown Seattle. We took that picture a few weeks ago when my brother- and sister-in-law T, Cheryl, and nephew/Godson Alek visited from NJ.


(Me, Alek & David with the Space Needle and Downtown Seattle in the background. Rainier is just off camera to the right)

We had a fabulous time with the NJ crew. David spent time with them touring many of the Seattle sites like the Duck Boat land and water tour.


(check out the duck just behind Alek)



That's the truck/boat that you ride that starts on land and then actually goes on to Lake Union. Lake Union is right by our house.


(The boat on Lake Union)

They also visited the Experience Music Project|Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (that's a mouthful), Pike Place Market, while on "the duck" passed by the Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park, the Space Needle, and a lot more. They actually saw more than I have, which speaks to how busy I/we've been.


(passing the the SAM Olympic Sculpture Park and "Eagle" by Alexander Calder with the Cascades in the background)


(Cheryl, me, T and Alek outside the SAM, taken on a different day)

I think that one of the highlights of their visit was the Fremont Solstice Parade. Here are a few pics from the extravaganza.


(The parade traditionally starts with naked people with painted bodies riding on bikes - ouch)


(The "official" start of the parade)


(Sexy "Unicorns")


(Close-up of a float. BTW, all floats are "people powered". None are operated by cars making the parade very green.)


(We loved this costume)


(Trixie got into the action. Well, ummmm maybe she was a bit overwhelmed.)

Alek saw some yarn he liked at the weekly Fremont fair and asked if I could teach him to knit. His knitting curiosity was contagious... T and Cheryl wanted to learn too. So we all stopped at a LYS (local yarn store for the non-knitters out their) on our trip to Bainbridge Island and picked up yarn and needles for the crew. On the morning of their last day in Seattle we had a group knitting lesson. Everyone did an excellent job learning how to cast on, knit and cast off. I was especially impressed by how quickly Alek learned. It was my first time teaching an 8-year old to knit, well, a whole family.



I can't wait to see their finished projects.