July 2025 In Portland

August 12, 2025August 12, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

July was a busy month, when I look back. Our daughter visited for two weeks at the end of the month, and of course, that was my highlight! Before that, I visited a Textile Exhibit at the Columbia River Gorge Museum, and we went to the Peninsula Park Rose Garden on the fourth of July. There were five hikes (next post), lots of neighborhood walks, and the World Naked Bike Ride rode right past our house.

July 1st – Museum Day

I went with my friend Peggy to the Columbia River Gorge Museum in Skamania, WA, to see an exhibit of tapestry weavings by indigenous artist Kristie Strasen, that were inspired by the Columbia River, and its dams.

Individual panel and river segment descriptions

Close up of panel II, our local strand of the river.

Antique airplane in the museum, and the outside view

Museum patio and view to the Columbia River

July 4th at the Peninsula Park Rose Garden

Not much going on for us today. We went over to the local rose garden to see the roses.

Knitting and other crafts

I have made progress on my three projects – socks, a scarf, a cardigan.

Our daughter is an expert sock monkey creator and teacher. We started making our own sock monkeys on her previous visit. We are further along now; one more visit from her and we should finish. Meanwhile, she made one for a gift to a friend.

Home Improvement/Upkeep – It took half the summer to finish the house painting, and that included having all the storm windows freshened up.

Monthly Book Report

I finished 11 books in July. Several (Cranford by Elizebeth Gaskell, The Dante Game by Jane Langton, Wintering by Katherine May, and Civil to Strangers by Barbara Pym were comfortable re-reads. The type of book that is worth a second listen a few years later. My book group had a lively discussion about Commonwealth by Ann Patchett.

Neighborhood walking – flowers, shadows, architecture, whimsy

New Neighborhood Library

My Hollywood Branch of the Multnomah County Library is closed for six months of remodeling. I went to the newly opened Albina Library, just a little farther away, to pick up my books. It is a beautiful space, open and light-filled. The old part of the building is now a colorful children’s library. The new section is a beautiful, airy space, including classrooms, an outdoor patio planted with native plants, and lots of study spaces.

Knott Street entrance. This older part of the building is a refurbished 1911 Carnegie Library, remodeled as the children’s library.

Signs in the neighborhood of resistance and solidarity…

Appreciating our shared acknowledgement that we are not looking away.

And last but not least, The World Naked Bike Ride rode past our house on July 26th. It took 45 minutes for the full peloton of thousands of people to roll by. Neighbors came out and cheered them on. The atmosphere was festive, as the riders expressed their freedom of speech and body acceptance. No photos.

June 2025, walking and hiking

July 14, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

June 19, 2025 – Juneteenth walk up Alameda Ridge

Having been out of town for two weeks in southern Utah where it was too hot to walk outside or exercise, and I was otherwise engaged in helping a family member with a health care situation; Having returned, exhausted, and happy to be in my own home quietly for a couple of days; Having successfully taken a couple of slow neighborhood walks in the flatlands…

Today I felt I had the energy to walk up to Alameda Ridge and do a few stair repeats. Success! And once again, I am charmed by my neighborhood where I am so lucky to live. Front yards are in bloom and colorful; and today it is only in the mid60s; how lovely to be able to walk outside without being dried and desiccated by the sun. I lived seven years in Tucson, I know dry heat; I knew my survival strategies then. The two weeks of abrupt immersion in the heat and aridity in Utah were exhausting; but now I am recovering. Soon I will be walking in mountains again.

Today I walked my way up the hill, and noticed all the whimsy throughout my neighborhood. It is part of the keep Portland weird vibe. Little doors on trees, little houses under bushes, interesting little signs painted on the sidewalk stair cases of Alameda. Little free libraries throughout my neighborhood.

I also looked at each poetry post – today there was Emily Dickinson‘s, ‘Hope is a thing with feathers’, on one signpost. My favorite poetry post, the one I never miss if I am up in that neighborhood, had a very hopeful, expressive poem today for these terrible times we are living in, with the authoritarian effort to crush anything progressive, kind, diverse, multicultural, and human in our country.

Also up on the ridge today, there is that one house with a flagpole – today they were flying three flags, the Pride flag, the Juneteenth flag, which I had never seen before, and the Ukrainian flag.

How positive those signs are to me just wandering my way through the neighborhood on a beautiful early summer day with flowers blooming everywhere. Birdfeeders and gnome doors and buckets of water on offer for the dogs; signs and flags and symbols of inclusion and acceptance and community. Our quiet mostly white, mostly financially stable neighborhood is not in the firing line of ICE raids, but I have seen my neighbors going to the demonstrations and standing in the space to support the resistance.

I did a few stairway repeats on the ridge today – and now I am ready for our next hike of the week in the mountains.

June 24, 2025 – Anthill, Herman Creek and Pacific Crest Trails near Wahtum Lake, Oregon

We usually hike to Chinidere Mountain from this trailhead near Wahtum Lake, but I was curious to try the Anthill Trail toward Tomlike Mountain, which is another rocky peak in the area.

Trail map – about 6 miles and 800 feet elevation gain.

The Anthill Trail begins above the parking area, and continues upward at a gentle gradient along the ridge above the lake. It is beautifully shaded, and on this June day, all the white flowers of the forest floor were sparkling up at us. This is a new addition to my list of favorite trails.

Beargrass along the trail as we start uphill.

Green forest floor with so many flowers the entire way. Lots of vanilla leaf in this section.

Continuing shaded trail with prolific Sitka valerian

Near the ridge crest, a rocky view opened up, back to Mt Hood and Wahtum Lake.

View to Mt Hood and Wahtum Lake, with beargrass

Yellow flowers on the sunny open slope – arnica, groundsel, Oregon sunshine and wallflowers

We continued along the Anthill Trail, to the spur that ascends Tomlike Mountain. This is a less well maintained trail, a little rockier. After eating lunch at a rocky viewpoint and admiring the view, we decided begin our return hike. It was another rocky mile to the top – I wasn’t quite ready for that today.

Rocky outcrop, and view to the top of Tomlike Mountain.

We decided to walk along the Herman Creek Trail toward Chinidere Mountain before returning to the trailhead. We walked through shady forest for least a half mile of blooming avalanche lilies, as far as one could see, across the forest floor. And a few beargrass as well.

My husband took the side trail to the top of Chinidere Mountain, while I continued a very short distance along the Pacific Crest Trail to the rocky open slope below Chinidere’s cliff side. From here I could see many of the sunny blooming cliff flowers above me, and a view back to Mt Hood the other way. Then I rested in the shade near the trail junction – it was beautiful and quiet in the forest!

Looking up at the cliff side of Chinidere Mountain

We completed our circuit by descending along the Pacific Crest Trail above the lake.

Bunchberry and coral root were prolific along our return trail.

This had been a thoroughly enjoyable hike. We had seen some of the wildflowers blooms at their best, though there are more to come. It was lovely to be back in the woods!

June 2025, Utah and Portland…

July 11, 2025 / margaretquilts / 1 Comment

I spent the first half of June in St George, Utah, helping a family member with a health care situation. I was extremely grateful to return to the lovely pacific Northwest for the rest of the month, enjoying our more temperate climate and the lovely flowers blooming in the neighborhood. I finished knitting a pair of socks, and cheered on the No Kings Day Protests from afar.

Southern Utah, June 4 to 15th.

It was too hot in Utah to do much more than scurry from one air conditioned space to the next. We drove through nearby Snow Canyon State Park one evening, to admire the Navajo Sandstone landscape from the car window. I paid homage to the air conditioning gods and the electric grid, praying that it didn’t go down while I was there.

Snow Canyon State Park –

Birds of St George…

Flying home through Salt Lake City:

Great Salt Lake from the airplane window

Terminal Tunnel in Salt Lake City, inspired by the salt flats

The Columbia River, Cape Horn, and Mt St Helens; welcome views on the return flight to Portland…

Flowers in the neighborhood –

Knitting

I knit not a single stitch while in Utah, but I finished one pair of socks after I returned. I cast on a new pair of socks, and made some progress on a scarf and a cardigan.

Three works in progress – cardigan, scarf, socks

Books

Of the nine books I completed in June, by far the most compelling was Figuring, by Maria Popova. It is a long and interwoven biographical tale of several women artists and scientists who made major contributions within their fields, yet have gone somewhat unrecognized. The women include astronomer Maria Mitchell, poet Emily Dickinson, sculptor Harriet Hosmer, writer Margaret Fuller, and biologist Rachel Carson. She includes many intersecting peripheral people, who interacted with her selected historical figures. I found it fascinating to listen to.

I also enjoyed a trip down memory lane as I read Sandstone Spine by David Roberts, a description of hiking across Comb Ridge in southern Utah, a place I did field work 40 years ago.

The rest of the world:

June 14th – While I was roasting away in St George in a care-giver role, millions of people all over the world were marching in No Kings Day protests. I am grateful that so many were able to show up!

Back in Portland, I took a long neighborhood walk on Juneteenth, and a real hike near Mt Hood on June 24th – to be described in the next post…

May 2025 PDX

June 1, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

In May we enjoyed a visit from our son and his fiancee, went on five hikes (next post), and attended a live concert, while the spring flower season rolled on…

Walking the neighborhood

Blooming this month in Portland:

Knitting

I finished a dishcloth for donation, and I have three active works in progress.

Books

I finished eight books in May. The one I enjoyed the most was Austen at Sea by Natalie Jenner, set in Post-Civil War Boston, and Portsmouth, England. It is an imagining of Americans who appreciate Jane Austen’s novels, and interact with her last surviving sibling. Ms Austen’s themes of women’s restricted access to their own money and life choices are compared between the two countries. Spoiler – neither was great, and we still have a ways to go. The judicial aspect was interesting. I love the opportunity to think deeper about Ms Austen’s work.

Events

We spent a lovely afternoon in a garden in Eugene, Oregon. Pegasus pizza, toy airplanes, and lots of conversation.

I passed on this beautiful dress, handmade in about 1982 by my sister for her daughters. My daughter wore it in about 1998; and my little grandniece is the next eligible little girl in the family.

We attended the James Taylor concert at the Ridgefield Amphitheater with one of our sons. The music was lovely!

An upcoming event I will not attend because I will be in Utah, helping a family member with some health issues. But you should go if you have an event near you!

April 2025 at home

May 12, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

The first part of April was slower paced and focused on healing. We had to cancel plans to visit family on the east coast, and instead my husband had a surgical procedure to his neck to relieve stenosis. All went well, he is nearly back to normal, and his neurological symptoms are receding. I took on most of his chores, all the lifting and even cooking (he has done most of the cooking and shopping since he retired five years ago). I am glad to have him back to most of his regular activities, although our son is still mowing the lawn, and the weeds have gone crazy. We went on several slower paced hikes to see the wildflowers (see next post). And I saw many beautiful flowers in neighborhood gardens on my near-daily walks.

Neighborhood Gardens

Apple, crabapple, and Chinese fringe flowers in the front yard.

Forget-me-nots and a fading tulip out front.

Dogwoods in bloom all through the neighborhood…

Dogwood trees in many colors: salmon pink,

White – these are newly planted, just across the street.

April 15th, Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden in southeast Portland –

It was early for the rhododendrons to be in full bloom, but we saw a few…

April 20th, Easter

A feral bunny stopped by, but didn’t leave any eggs.

I dyed a few brown eggs with muted results.

Arts and Crafts

We saw a lot of beautiful pottery at the Oregon Ceramics Showcase, and bought three small trinket dishes *(made by Truly Sarah)*.

I finished knitting a shawl *(“May I Borrow This Please” by Larraine Waitman, Juniper Moon Cumulus yarn)*, and a pair of socks *(Laines du Nord Summer Sock yarn)*.

Books and Reading in Portland

Signs of Literature in the neighborhood:

The selection of books in this little Free Library has a dark theme.

This telephone pole art has a more positive message,

And I always enjoy a visit with Ramona, Henry and Ribsy in Grant Park.

I read six books in April. I especially enjoyed the biography of Barbara Pym, an author I have been rereading since the eighties; and the memoir of Liese Greensfelder, a young woman from California who worked on a primitive sheep farm in Norway in the 1970’s.

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, our daughter, our son, and his fiancee met up anyway, even though we had to cancel our trip. Looks like they had a good time. I look forward to seeing them all during the summer!

March 2025, at home…

April 11, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

We made our way to the spring equinox with a lunar eclipse, a St Patrick’s Day parade in the neighborhood; more knitting, quilting, home improvement, and reading; blooming plants in the neighborhood; three wildflower hikes in the Columbia River Gorge (next post), and a lot of rain…

Lunar Eclipse, March 13th

My photo, with camera set to fireworks…The sky is light because of the time delay, but the stars are out.

My husband’s photo, with fancy zoom lens on tripod.

March 16th – Neighborhood St Patricks Day annual parade…

Knitting:

Quilting –

I sewed together these quilt blocks. They may become pillows – I’m still trying to decide.

Home Improvement –

New dining room blinds and patched wallpaper

Reading –

Nancy Russell and John Yeon, Columbia River Gorge

I learned so much in the two books about Nancy Russell and John Yeon, two conservationists who worked indefatigably for many years to create the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, and then to implement the plan. It was a huge political and fundraising challenge to cobble together all the different government and formerly private lands, preserving the ecosystems and creating many of the trail systems we hike regularly. I think grateful thoughts every time we drive through or hike in the gorge!

Neighborhood blooms –

A change of plans…

At the end of the month we cancelled our planned trip to the east coast to visit family in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, so that my husband could get surgery on his neck, where a bone spur on the C3 vertebra was causing neurological symptoms and weakness. The procedure will be during the first week of April. More on the outcome next month… ( Update – it went well, he is recovering as expected.)

Two final notes –

1) I still have not gotten the hang of blog editing in the block mode on this site, so it is taking me a long time to create posts.

2) We are trying our best to stay positive in a constantly chaotic, hateful regime, so I am posting a couple of positive internet memes here at the end, to remind me to stay hopeful…

February 2025…

March 13, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

The shortest month seemed very long. I went from skiing the neighborhood snow to admiring the early spring blooms. I knit, quilted, and read as productive activities to counter the political upheaval. We honored the boycots. I made progress on the recycle/repair/upcycle four-year home improvement project. And we went on two hikes.

Crafting/Home Improvement:

I started sewing these quilt blocks together

Back hall carpet installed, almost the last step in that project.

Reading – I read nine books last month, many by or about women: writers, artists, a river guide, a Supreme Court Justice. After watching the Bob Dylan movie last month (A Complete Unknown), I was very interested to read Suze Rotolo’s side of the story. She was a politically active artist. She made a lasting impression on Dylan and his music, but she wanted to pursue her own artistic and life goals, not be just another string on his guitar, his ‘chick’, who would wait for him while he did whatever, wherever in the world. I really admire her for that. There are many great, less celebrated women out there, and I plan to read more of their stories. Meanwhile, I have been listening to the early Bob Dylan music – it fits the mood of this time in the world.

The neighborhood:

February 14th – I always love a chance to get out my 35 year old cross country skis, and kick-glide for a couple of miles down the quiet, flat streets of Irvington. The snow was perfect this day! And almost completely gone the next day.

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, our son and his fiancee were attending the Super Bowl Victory Parade! Wearing hats that I knit for them last year.

Around town – flowers and rainbows…

Rainbow seen while driving north on I-5 in Portland

Hiking –

We hiked out in the eastern Columbia River Gorge twice in February –

February 20th – Crawford Oaks, WA – We hiked about 5 miles on the Lower Vista Loop, past the full Eight Mile Creek Falls, and around the lower plateau. We saw very few early flowers and just a bit too much wind that day.

Salt and Pepper parsley, Dalles Mountain Ranch

February 27th – Memaloose Hills, OR – A beautiful, perfectly calm day. We could see the blue heron rookery on yonder cliff top and a few flowers. It was an easy, enjoyable 3.5 mile hike with dear friends.

Eastward view from the Memaloose Overlook

View to the north, with a peek at Mt Adams

Westward view, heron rookery circled in red

Trail up the south approach to Chatfield Hill

Lunch at the top, and a view to Mt Hood (photo credit to my husband).

Meanwhile, the news is worse every day – we are doing what we can, and trying to hold on to the glimmers and small victories. The daily reports of the shredding of the constitution by anti-empathic billionaires is trying every nerve, but I try to stay positive…

January 2025

February 18, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

I went on a few hikes, knit a little, read quite a few books, and embarked on what I have decided is my personal four year project.

New Years Day was the last day of Hannukkah. We had a small gathering, with latkes.

Neighborhood walks – the low sun position intensified shadows and sky…

Hikes

Early in the month, we spent five days on the sunny southern Oregon Coast (see previous post), where it was cold, but not windy! We took several long beach and headland walks. More locally, we hiked in the eastern Columbia RIver Gorge a few times:

January 13 – Klickitat River Bald Eagles and Lyle Cherry Orchard Trail, Washington – Our annual trek to the bald eagle nesting area on the Klickitat River began with disappointment this year. We saw no eagles along the river in the morning, other than one down on the delta just as we were moving along.

Seagulls and salmon in the Balfour-Klickitat Lake, no eagles in the trees.

One bald eagle on the Klickitat River Delta

We then took a short hike along the lower benches of basalt at the Lyle Cherry Orchard site. It was a beautiful day out there, calm and cold! We saw a pair of eagles flying along the cliff face. We also saw a hawk on sitting a rock, then devouring prey that it pounced upon as we watched. Circle of life…

Lunch view toward Lyle and the Klickitat River Delta

One of the eagles flying along the rim rock

On the return hike, my husband spotted a hawk perched on a rock.

Hawk in the grass, after finishing their meal

We stopped back at the Klickitat River later in the afternoon, and were rewarded with seeing about a dozen bald eagles – a few perched in the trees, and others flying up the canyon, past us and farther up river, beyond our view, seemingly heading home after their day’s outing.

The bright white of an eagle head, across the lake

Eagle, with the sunlit Oregon slopes beyond the river

And another angle, with Osage oranges still clinging to some of the trees.

January 22 – Wind Mountain, Washington – a short, sharp hike. I hadn’t been up this one in a while, and was looking for a test for my hip bursitis rehab, after about four months of steady focused exercises. This trail goes up about 1000 feet in a mile, leading to the top of this conical mountain at a bend in the Columbia River.

Reference photo – May 2013. View of Wind Mountain from Dog Mountain. Our trail zigs and zags up the back side of the peak.

It was quite windy up top on the river side, so we didn’t spend much time looking at the river and Oregon view.

We found a windbreak on the landward side, so ate our lunch looking at Mt Adams and Dog Mountain – also nice landscapes to admire. It was cold, but a good short hike, and a good work out for my legs. Progress!

Lunch view toward Mt Adams and Dog Mountain

Closer view of Dog Mountain (where the above reference photo is from), and the river, looking east.

January 30 – Catherine Creek – Rumors of a few blooming grass widows drew us out east in the gorge, on what will probably be the last dry hiking day for the next week or so. We did not find any blooms while wandering several of the lower elevation trails. We visited several vernal ponds that were frozen, and saw foliage of blooms to come…just not yet.

Catherine Creek Trailhead on a cold day in January

Knitting

Unfortunately, I overdid the knitting action on a pair of socks – right around the time I needed knitting the most to keep my hands busy while my brain was exploding with the national news. I reactivated an overuse/arthritis knitting injury in my right thumb joint. Blah! I wore a brace and knit not at all for two weeks. I am now allowing myself a few rows per day, and it really helps! I’m trying not to overdo it again. Here are the guilty socks, in progress. But I don’t blame them.

Less Knitting = More reading…

Four Year Project

Sometime after the disastrous election outcome last fall I decided I would need a four year project, something I can do in my own home, when the outside world is too much to take (more than sitting on the roof.) It is time to edit, sort, rehome, recycle, and organize the lifetime of belongings we have accumulated during the 33 years we have lived in this house. Three children have grown up and moved out and left behind many things they ‘might want someday’ but don’t have room for yet. I had a career as a geologist before I settled into family life, and I still have boxes of rocks, maps and books (that apparently nobody wants because it is all digital now). Photos and slides, both professional and personal; quilting fabrics and textile art materials for my creative life; personal writing and memorabilia. We have already made some progress during recent renovation work. We recycled all the old paint, thinned out our shelved books in the rooms where we got new carpet, and delivered usable items to new homes. We gave the unplayed banjo to a local music school, and have recycled many magazines that we were shelving for no good reason. A little action every day will make a big difference in four years, and be much more productive than doom scrolling. I plan to find a means of more outward action/resistance, in addition to donations we make to human rights and environmental organizations. And I will knit more hats (thumb permitting) for the guild service project.

Right now it is difficult to think this new year will be a good year, given the chaos at the national level. I call to mind a passage from the novel, Dune, by Frank Herbert, which I first read in the 70’s, as a teenager. Potential future leader Paul was given a test to prove he was human. There was a good chance he might not be, and would not be made leader. The fictional character passed the test. But I can’t believe the current ‘leadership’ ever would – there has been no sign of human empathy, only selfishness and cruelty. Yet we will resist in the ways we can, and hope that our actions in our own lives will contribute to persistence of human rights beyond the next four years…

Instagram memes I collected in January expressing gratitude, encouragement, and hope:

December 2024

January 3, 2025 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

We returned from our California/Thanksgiving road trip on the first of December, with the Winter Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah and home repair to look forward to. In the neighborhood, some folks went all in on their decor – a few of my favorites:

Rudolph and friends

Giant ornaments

All the snow people

We had a stretch of cold, clear days, one of which was an appointment at OHSU for me – all well, for the moment, and I got a great 7th floor view of Portland.

Tram, Downtown Portland

Willamette River, Mt St Helens

And, during that clear weather stretch, the roofing crew we hired put a new roof on our very steep roof.

New plywood

Tar paper

Shingles

Hiking

I went on two hikes – one out to Catherine Creek, WA, on a foggy day, and one to Powell Butte, in Portland.

December 10th – Catherine Creek, WA –

We stopped at the Starvation Creek Rest Area on our drive. The sun was out, and we could see the frosted trees at the top of Wind Mountain.

Wind Mountain from Starvation Creek

Clouds were sitting on the hills at Catherine Creek. We walked up Sunflower Hill through the recent controlled burn zone, then back down along Rowland Wall. The sun never came out here…

Walking up Sunflower Hill toward the burn zone.

Green coming up through the blackened soil.

Springtime view of that same slope – 2023

Walking down Rowland wall

The leaning tree and Rowland Lake

Fields of Mosier beyond

Golden grass of winter

December 19th – Powell Butte – We could see Mt Hood, Mt St Helens, and a few deer.

We watched the lenticular cloud forming over Mt Hood

Mt Hood

Mt St Helens had already donned her own cloud cloak

A few deer in the forest

And a sentiment from the Bard…

Knitting

I finished my Christmas gift knitting, and then made a new cowl after Christmas.

Socks, mitts, hat

More socks

Lancelot Cowl

Winter Solstice

The sun was out. I walked through the neighborhood looking at shadows and puddle mirrors in the low bright light.

Christmas

Christmas arrived, a little quieter this year, with no out of town company. We celebrated with local family and our usual trappings – tree, gifts, cookies, tamales…

Cookie baking

Cookies and grapefruits

Tamales

Gifts from the Paris Olympics and Dollywood

Gifts from Dollywood

Iceland ornament, with puffins!

Cozy fireplace

2024 Christmas Tree

Hanukkah

The first night was Christmas evening this year. The next day, we went with friends to the old Hollywood Theatre, not too far from us in Portland, to see the new Bob Dylan biopic – which we thoroughly enjoyed. I grew up listening to that music as a child, because my older sister played it non stop on the record player in our shared room.

First night

Hollywood Theater, Sandy Boulevard

New Years’ Eve

Another sunny day. I walked through the neighborhood, thinking about choices for next year as I passed some of my favorite shadows and cracks, and found some new shadows and reflections…

We lit the seventh night candles at sunset, than enjoyed a phone call with our son, who had just gotten engaged to his partner – a splendid, cheerful moment to end the year!

Seventh night

New Year’s Eve in Philadelphia

November 2024 in Portland…

December 5, 2024 / margaretquilts / Leave a comment

Everything so tense before the election, then a blurred time of surreal disbelief afterward…meanwhile, we had a late, very colorful fall, with Mother Nature screaming, “Look at me!”, which I did on neighborhood walks and one hike. At the end of the month we took a road trip to California for Thanksgiving – see next post.

Knitting and Home Improvement

I attended the Sacred Sheep Fiber Festival on November 2nd, with my knitting friends. We saw the sheep, and I bought some vintage buttons for my Icelandic vest, and a mini skein for a future project. I have several gift knitting projects on the go – more about that next month.

One of the sheep

New buttons and mini skein

Finished Iceland vest – Calidez by Jenjoyce, made with Allafosslopi yarn

We are still in home repair/declutter mode. I reorganized some of my bookshelves, and I am particularly happy with this shelf dedicated to Jane Austen.

Jane Austen shelf

November 7, Catherine Creek Arch Loop, WA

Once again walking this oft repeated hike, visiting familiar views.

Mt Hood to the west

Eastern view along the Columbia River to Oregon

Passing our ent friend

Ent

Rock spires, fall colors

The arch

The road

Big leaf maple

From the trailhead, we could see the controlled burn swath on Sunflower Hill – and that it is already greening up. Hopefully, native species recovery is occurring there!

View from the trailhead up Sunflower Hill

Closer view

Zooming closer to see the green

Neighborhood color

Our transplanted blueberry bush

The day after the election, this invasive, poisonous pokeweed bush, and lingering demonwraith caught my eye.

But fall colors were late and glorious this year, all through the neighborhood, saying, “Look now! We will be gone tomorrow!”

I felt punched in the gut by the election outcome, that we did not finally elect our first woman president, and now have to face a term of inanity. However, I have my own survival/resistance plan, which includes inspiring my children, who were also gutted by the outcome. I saw the the “Ozymandias” poem shared around on the internet, one of many examples of past overtopping failures, and eventual recoveries and progress. History repeats, but it is painful to be living through the regression, when we could be doing so much better for the people and the planet. I appreciate the lingering yard signs in my neighborhood even more. We are in this together.

Not really, but sort of.

Same.