Early June, 2022

June 12, 2022 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

The sun came out for a few days, and the roses finally bloomed, seemingly all at once.

Hiking: We hiked twice on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge, where wild flowers are also blooming late this year.

June 1 – Hardy Ridge – We found some of the earliest blooming wildflowers on top of Hardy Ridge (8.2 miles, 2100 feet).

Fading trillium

Oregon anemones

Glacier lilies

Eastward view toward Table Mountain.

Phlox Point, and plenty of black flies photobombing us.

Blue jay near our lunch stop.

Looking south toward Oregon on our return hike. Service berry bushes in bloom.

June 7 – Cape Horn – We started in the middle, at the Strunk Road Trailhead, since the full loop is not open this time of year. We were hoping to see the tall larkspur, which can be profuse along this trial.

Lupine blooming in reclaimed fields along the trail to the Nancy Russell Overlook.

Cow parsley also in full bloom.

Tall ferns unfurling

Tall ferns

And we found the larkspur!

Larkspur blooming all along the trail…

More larkspur…

Also, candy flower and buttercups.

More buttercups.

Maple trees were leafing out.

Avens at the Hwy 14 underpass.

We made our way to the Lower Oak Overlook, where the trail is closed for falcon nesting season. The river viewpoints were very windy, but it was calm and protected in the forest. We retraced our steps, back up the larkspur lined trail, for a 4 mile, 650 foot hike for the day. Lovely!

Knitting – I finished my June gnome for the ‘Year of Gnomes’, and made progress on socks, a hat and a sweater…

June Jester Gnome, Oh, Gnome, You Didn’t pattern by Sarah Schira

Side view, with jingle bells and pockets.

I was inspired by a Cirque du Soleil show from 20 years ago, and some other knitters’ Mardi Gras interpretations of the pattern.

Works in progress.

And spent much time preparing for our overseas adventure to Scotland and Iceland… finally! Postoned and postponed and postponed again. I will report back!

NZ2020: Day 17, Onawe Peninsula Trail

June 6, 2022 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

February 10, 2020

Today we began our independent travels after two weeks on guided tour. We slept in bit, then decided to walk the Onawe Pa Track (2.7 miles, 300 feet), on the Banks Peninsula. We drove about an hour to the carpark, then spent most of the afternoon looking at the rocks, tide pools and views along the trail.

Route from Christchurch to the Banks Peninsula, an eroded volcano.

View from the Hilltop Lookout showing the long narrow Onawe Peninsula in Akaroa Harbour.

Location Sign at the Hilltop Lookout

The far end of the Onawe Peninsula is an island at high tide. We began by walking along the tidal flats on the west side of the peninsula, on a dark cobbled beach with iron-stained yellow and orange volcanic tuffs in the adjacent cliffs.

Trailhead

Walking south along the westside of the peninsula

The low point that is flooded at high tide. We walked through the gap and saw a few birds.

Cormorant

Heron in the tidal flats

Closer view of the heron

We walked back through the gap, and continued walking south and up onto the hill to the top of the peninsula.

Track going up to the top of the peninsula.

Looking south as we walk up the road/trail

Continuing on

Grey boulders at the top of the peninsula

View to the south of Akaroa Harbour, including a cruise ship

View back to the north, showing the coastline and skyline of the Banks Peninsula.

On our return, we explored the beaches and cliffs on both sides of the peninsula, looking at marine life in the tide pools, and ‘picture rocks’ in the cliffs.

Back down to the beach

Tide still out…

Through the gap again.

Tidepools:

Crab and snail

Bivalve

Snail

More clams

Oysters

A seaweed

Another cormorant

Tidepools

We enjoyed photographing the differentially stained tuffs, or ‘picture rocks’:

I decided to climb up the first hill, to look at the view from there:

Me, atop the hill.

View from the top…

Looking back at Onawe Pa

Tide coming in on the tidal flats, as we make our way back to the car park.

Last view from the Hilltop Viewpoint on our way return drive.

Back in Christchurch, we had dinner at a Thai restaurant. We had done well with left-side driving, and were ready to make our way to Lake Tekapo tomorrow.

May 2022, at home

June 3, 2022 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

It has been a rainy month in Portland. Many spring flowers were late, but they did bloom. I planted tomatoes and basil and marigolds, and I hope they grow. There was plenty of knitting time for gnomes, hats and socks. The terrible school shooting in Uvalde, Texas on May 24th has put a damper on everything, though it is a sunny 74 degrees out today. I may live in a bubble, and I don’t think all guns are bad, well somedays I do, but the lack of action on this issue is so frustrating, and deadly, and it happens everywhere in our country and rarely anywhere else. I find some comfort in seeing so many social media posts that agree with me. I have collected quite a few via screenshots, and I am posting them here, for me, to remind me that many share my anguish and sadness and frustration.

Knitting –

Make Gnome Mistake – the May Mystery Knitalong with Imagined Landscapes

New socks for a gift

Two sets of Knitted Knockers, made for donation to KnittedKnockers.org, who provide prosthetics to mastectomy patients.

I made three hats for donation to the Puddletown Knitters Guild service project.

I started a new pair of travel knitting socks to take on our upcoming Scotland and Iceland trip.

Not knitting – we painted one of the bedrooms.

Garden

The neighborhood tulip strip looks even better this month.

Native irises

Rhodies

First roses of the year

Tomatoes and basil

Anti-Gun Violence Memes, mostly from Instagram:

Background checks and limits on assault weapons and ammunition could prevent these senseless deaths. This time I am privileged to be witnessing from a great distance, though it has happened nearby – an average of 544 gun deaths per year in my state. And, ‘no person is an island’ – we all suffer each time.

My actions:

We donate money to advocacy groups, and vote in every election.

Next month we have some international travel planned, so it may be a while before I post again…..

Margaret Quilts

Quilting, Knitting, Hiking

Month: June 2022