Portland

Weldon Wagon Road (18-12)

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Weldon Wagon Road trail     3-25-2018      (#12)

Early flowers were out  along this trail through the oak woodlands and open slopes in southwest Washington above the White Salmon River near Husum. This was my most elevation gained so far as I recover (4.5 miles/1300 foot rise), and I felt good. Progress!

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Lower trail through oak woodlands

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Views to the open slopes ahead.

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A seat with a view at the halfway point

Last spring,  the exposed upper slopes were a bright green and yellow balsam root meadow. Today we saw just one plant blooming along the trail,

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and otherwise, the meadows and woodlands were still waking up, sprinkled with grass widows, buttercups, a few prairie stars, toothwort, yellow bells, blue eyed Mary, and Columbia Desert Parsley.

hound’s tongue
lupine foliage
blue-eyed Mary
yellow bells
grass widows and buttercups
yellow parsley
Columbia Desert Parsley
buttercups
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Heading down in the afternoon

LOOKBACK: to May 2017 when the balsam root was in bloom-

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May 2017

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May 2017

Knitting

Another scrappy tortilla washcloth for the 2018 stack:

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I reknit the toes of the socks I finished last week so that the stripes would match.

The reknit toes

Elgol Cross Stitch update

I have been filling in the foreground with shadows and light – mostly pinks:

Cross stitch depicting the view from Elgol on the Isle of Skye.

Blooming in the garden

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Tulips opening

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Euphorbia

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Shadows on a neighborhood stair

 

Spring creeping in…. (18-10)

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Powell Butte Nature Park          March 10, 2018         (#9)

Rainy week, sun on the weekend, warming trend. On Friday we hiked up this volcanic butte from the 148th Avenue trailhead. Excellent signage at the top explains the history and function of the butte as the main storage reservoirs of the entire Portland water system.

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Water distribution schematic

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Display of pipes that deliver our water, framing Silver Star Mountain

Cloudy skies so the Cascade peaks were not in view, but the sun was shining to the north on Silver Star Mountain and friends in Washington.

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Silver Star Mountain

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Old orchard on the top of Powell Butte

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Crows in the orchard

We circled back through Douglas fir and cedar forests.  A few early wildflowers were spotted.

Cedar forest
Toothwort
Indian plum

The Elderberry Trail stairs allow a quick descent.

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A good close in walk, about 4.2 miles/500 feet.

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Quilting:

The Jane Austen quilt is all done except the label and some good photos – hopefully by next week. DSC01346

In my garden:

hyacinths

 

Late season snow (18-8)

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More Snow in Portland      2/26/2018

Intermittent snow and rain all week. I went for several long walks in the neighborhood but no hiking adventures.

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Quilting Progress:

Stitch in the ditch on the Jane Austen replica quilt.  I have finished the center sashing with an off-white 50 wt thread, and am working on the outside diamonds using the same diamond pattern and a navy 50 wt thread. I still haven’t decided what quilting design to use for the center medallion. And I am contemplating the binding choices. I would like to finish this quilt before we (hopefully) see the real Jane Austen quilt in England later this year.

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Knitting Finish!

Bound off the Girl in the Neurosurgery Ward shawl (Girl From The Grocery Store by Joji Locatelli), and posted it as a Ravellenics WIPs Dancing project (Ravelry username knitwish).

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And another win!

I won a copy of Margaret Goes Modern, a collection of quilting short stories, from the author, Frances O’Roark Dowell! Frances is one of my favorite quilting podcasters and a great storyteller. In  her podcast, The Off Kilter Quilt, Frances speaks about her quilts in progress, her writing projects (she is a successful children/young adult author, recently branching into quilt-inspired adult fiction), and her adventures in parenting and other life adventures.  I listen to many knitting and quilting podcasts, preferring the homegrown variety where the podcaster shares a bit of their own life, complaints or noncomplaints about the weather, jobs, traffic, etc, along with their creative endeavors.  From these podcasts I feel I get some “real” news about life in other parts of the world from the point of view of someone living there.  I am looking forward to reading this book!

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Beacon Rock, Cooper Mountain, Hats, Flowers (18-6)

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River to Rock Trail, Beacon Rock State Park, WA    2/10/2018   (#5)

From the switchback staircases on Beacon Rock we have looked down to see a dock on the Columbia River.

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August 2015

Today we looked up at the ant-sized people climbing the Beacon Rock stairs from the dock. We walked to the dock from the Doetsch Ranch Trailhead. There are great views of Beacon Rock,

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Beacon Rock boat dock

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Beacon Rock from the boat dock

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Beacon Rock, Table Mountain, Aldrich Butte

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Stairs and switchbacks

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History

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and of the burnt trees along the ridge line on the Oregon side of the Gorge.

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We had planned to continue up the River to Rock trail toward Beacon Rock, but they remove an all important bridge during the winter.

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No bridge.

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It is parked across the road.

After completing the loop around the former Doetsch Ranch area, we parked at the upper River to Rock trailhead and walked down to the viewpoints around Riddell Lake.

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Riddell Lake

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Closest view of the stairs and switchbacks.

Spring plants and natural history – the Missoula Floodwaters were 200 feet above the top of Beacon Rock!

violets
Oregon Grape foliage
Missoula Floods

 

Although I have been feeling well, like I turned a corner in stamina this week, I was glad to reach the top of the small hill back to the trailhead. Today was not the day to climb Beacon Rock, but it was great get a close view of its columnar structure from a new vantage.

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3 miles/200 feet

Lookback:  Switchbacks and stairs on the Beacon Rock trail.

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November 2013

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November 2013

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August 2015

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August 2015

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August 2015

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August 2015

 Cooper Mountain Nature Park, OR    2/11/2018     (#6)

We walked the 2.8 mile loop with friends on a clear cold Sunday. Nice to continue stretching my legs, and the 300 feet elevation change was plenty. We enjoyed the view of the Tualatin Hills as we ate our lunch from a well placed bench on the overlook trail. There should be a good wildflower display here come spring.

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Cooper Mountain GPS track

Knitting

I finished the second Sonic Six hat, easily winning at yarn chicken, and in good time for Valentines Day.

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I cast on and finished a bulky weight Brassica hat, out of Collinette Prism yarn in the Fresco colorway. This is the last of the yarn I bought in Scotland last year.

Flowers in the neighborhood:

My yard:

crocus
primroses return from last year
rosemary
witch hazel
lily seedhead

Down the street:

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First cherry trees blooming!

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heather

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Chinese paper bush

Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge (18-5)

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Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge Loop Trail   2/3/2018   (#4)

Continuing to take things slowly this week, we went for a 3 mile walk around Oaks Bottom in southeast Portland.  This is an easy trail between the river and the bluff that sees plenty of neighborhood walkers and runners. From the bluff side we could look across the lake and see the west hills and Oaks Amusement Park, with cyclists flying by on the Springwater Corridor.

Details along the Bluff Trail:

Seed fluff
Beaver sign
Tree eye
Ducks
Egret
Berries
Berries
Fungi
Reflections

We later walked north on the Springwater Corridor path and looked back across the lake to the famous mausoleum with enormous wildlife mural painted on the side. We saw a few real birds in the water as well as some decoy/art installation blue herons.

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Springwater corridor

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Heron decoy in foreground

My longest walk so far – getting better all the time.

 

Meanwhile, I have been knitting

away on the Girl in the Neurosurgery Ward shawl – I have about half of the purple border to go.

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I cast on a second Sonic Six hat using the remainder of the Total Eclipse yarn from Blue Moon Fiber Arts striped with some leftover grey sock yarn to extend the skein for the full hat.  Playing yarn chicken with this one.

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And I finished the second of a continuing collection of cotton tortilla dishcloths. I gave away most of those I made last year, but still have scraps to use up.

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The front yard crocuses were in full bloom today.

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Back on the Trail – Grass Widows, Bald Eagles and Osage Oranges (18-4)

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This has mostly been a recovery week – taking things very slowly, and with awareness to my limitations. I have been able to walk more, drive the slow back way, and gradually increase all my activities.

Catherine Creek Trail, WA   1/28/2018      (#3)

I saved my weekend energy for a walk on one of the easiest trails – the Universal Access  trail at Catherine Creek just east of Hood River along the Columbia River. We often include this trail as a quick stop on our hiking trips to see the latest blooms.  Today at my slow pace I appreciated the paved surface and benches along the way, the small details and micro landscapes. Grass widows are beginning to bloom.

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View to the west, labyrinth waterfall in the distance

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grass widow
bitterroot foliage
mushrooms
ponderosa needles
moss
oak leaves
reflection
1.5 miles, 120 feet

Lookback: A couple of pictures with snow, and with more flowers:

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1/27/2017

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2/26/2016

Balfour-Klickitat Eagles

We also stopped at the Balfour-Klickitat trail near Lyle, WA to look for bald eagles in their nesting area. We saw about a dozen, mostly juveniles, perched in the trees around the pond, and taking occasional practice flights.

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White spots are bald eagles

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Another highlight of this location are the Osage oranges, at this point, mostly lying on the ground in colorful curious piles. Signage explains that the fruit is inedible, but that the thorny dense foliage was used as a natural fencing material by settlers in the west in the 1800’s.

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.75 miles, 100 feet

Lookback : A couple of pictures from snowier days:

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12/28/2015    Six eagles

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12/30/2016   Osage oranges

Knitting and quilting

Progress on the Girl in the Neurosurgery Ward Shawl:

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My sister sent me a bouquet of fabric as a get well gift – a beautiful rainbow of batiks that will fit beautifully into my collection for my rainbow themed quilts in planning stages.

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And the first crocus peaked up in my front yard:

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A Healing Week (18-3)

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1/22/2018

Home for a week now, each day I am more awake, more alert, more me.

Each day I walk a bit more, usually with Sean, at a glacial pace. First to the end of the block, then around the block. On Saturday Dan escorted me a full slow mile around the neighborhood, and on Sunday we visited Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins and Ribsy at Grant Park. I am disappointed not to participate in the Women’s March this year, but have given myself permission to temporarily ignore the outer world as I heal from this event.

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Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden, Grant Park

I have been thinking about trust. What is it that allowed me to trust people I’ve met only briefly, including some on the team I never will meet while conscious, to thread some sort of mechanism into my brain and perform this surgery. That is the foundation of civilization, I suppose, that the standards put in place by experts will be upheld, that we all expect to do our best by each other, that we trust.

Knitting

Some time is passed in the evenings with Dan and Sean, watching ‘The Good Place’ and adding several repeats to my Girl in the Neurosurgery Ward shawl. The yarn is Tosh Merino Light in the Mandala and Flashdance colorways.

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A mantra for the week from one of my favorite podcasts:

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Marquam Hill, Portland, OR (18-2)

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1/10/18     A different kind of Adventure of the Week:      Marqham Hill

Begins with a pre-dawn drive up Sam Jackson Road, four flights of stairs in the parking garage, into the entrance hall where I get my wristband; down to the preop suite where I wipe myself with antiseptic wipes and change into a snap on gown, booties and shower cap. That’s when it all gets real. Someone comes to start the IV;  I sign all the forms that admit knowledge of possible bad outcomes including death, and then they whisk me away into the OR ante room. I start shaking uncontrollably as they transfer me to the operating table, but they give me oxygen and then the mask, say “Count down five breaths”.  I only remember three.

Someone is tugging at a mask on my face. There are bright lights in my eyes. They are holding me in place, putting oxygen tubes in my nose, needles in my arms. I am coming awake and it is over and they say I am doing fine.

Then there are a number of hours I am in and out of awake. Dan is there holding my hand. Emily is sitting next to me giving me droplets of water and encouraging me to eat one saltine cracker that takes 2 1/2 hours. There is a light above that is too bright and one doctor says the hospital is full and I may have to stay in this space all night. It is very noisy and bright and I feel discouraged. Eventually they do find a room for me and wheel me in most carefully. Now here I have been for three days with the kindest of nurses caring for me, doctors coming and going in teams all hours of the night, needles poking, measuring ins and outs. Brian and Sean keep me company and take me on walks around the halls and I appreciate their presence. Dan is ever-present and stays the first night. Emily stays the next two nights and I slowly shed tubes and wires and medications until I feel almost ready to go home.

By day three I am feeling very accomplished to make several laps around the 10th floor neurosurgery ward, and a walk to the view plaza above the Portland Tram, resting and looking at all three snow covered peaks on the skyline on a beautiful blue sky day.

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Mt Hood and lower waterfront from Portland Tram plaza

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Mt St Helens and Mt Adams

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Mt St Helens and a peek at Mt Rainier over its left shoulder (photos by Dan)

Friends and family have texted emailed visited called, sent flowers balloons meals good wishes. Now I just look forward to slowly getting better and less dizzy as I adjust to the new me. No more excess human growth hormone seeping from an adenoma on my pituitary. No more hidden acromegaly.

After 4 days on the hill we drive home, me shielding my eyes from the too bright sun and the overwhelming motion around me. I walk as if balancing a marble on my brittle bubble of a head, each day my equilibrium slowly increasing. In a few weeks I hope to be able to move better, drive, smell, hike…continue the adventures.

Meanwhile, the knitting:

I’ve added a few rows to the Girl From the Grocery Store Shawl, though I may rename it Girl in the Neurosurgery Ward.

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