blogging from the KOA

This is going to read like an advertisement, but it's just a rave review.  The KOA campground across from Fort Stevens Park on the North Oregon coast is awesome.  Our site has electricity, water, a waste dump, cable TV (Kyle is in heaven) free wifi, and a green patch of lawn with trees and bushes to give us privacy.  In the common area there is a heated indoor pool, a hot-tub, showers, a game room, and vending machines.  Down at the play area there is a giant bouncy pillow about 20 feet by 20 feet that always has an attendant on duty.  The kids get sorted out by size, so the big kids don't hurt the little kids, and each size group gets fifteen minutes.  There are slides and swings and sandboxes.  There are cheaper campsites with no trees, and no cable.  There are little one and two-room cabins.  There are sites for tents only.  There is an activity center where the camp offers free supervised activities like tie-dying a t-shirt, or making a beaded bracelet.  This is an ideal place to bring the kiddies because they just charge by the site, not by the number of bodies on it.

They have bikes of a variety of sizes and styles to rent.  Even those four-passenger surreys. And there are lots of paved roads inside the campground to pedal around on, or I suppose you can take them across the road to the State park and all their bike paths.

We walked around the property a bit last night after dinner and there are kids all over.  Some families have a one room cabin where two sets of parents sleep, and the older kids have two or three tents to camp in.  What a great way to do a family reunion!

Oh, and there's a dog obstacle course, too. Plus centrally located kitchen set-ups for the folks who don't have their own camp-stoves.    The deluxe tent sites even have a covered kitchen area (especially nice because it usually rains here.)

I'm up at six, and the wifi is fast.  At five last night, it was impossibly slow.

And there's free pancake breakfast every morning from 7 till 10 down at the kid zone.

The weather is miraculously pleasant.  Sunny, warm, with a light breeze.  Yesterday, Kyle and I walked a mile and a half down to the beach to see the wreck of the Peter Iredale, a cargo ship from the 1900s(I think)  It's been rusting away on that beach all my life.  Sometimes the storms wash away more sand and expose more of the ship.  Other seasons, it's half covered.  I have never seen so many people on an Oregon beach.  And omigod, people were actually swimming.  The water is about 45 degrees right now, and the currents are wicked.  Two Californian tourists have drowned this weekend already.

So a mile and a half down, and a mile and a half UP, equaled 3 miles.  Yay Roxie!!

The kitties are with us on this trip.  Fly wandered around during the whole drive and shared his favors between both laps.  Pepper and Ben hid in the tiny spaces between the bed and the nightstands.  They didn't come out till after we had turned out the lights.  They are up and wandering now, peering out the windows with great suspicion, and resenting the whole process.  They'll get used to it.

Fly, the Navigator











So right now, there are just a few early risers.  The staff has driven past in their golf carts headed down to get the pancakes started.  A silver-haired gentleman has cruised by on his bicycle.  A young father has sauntered through the morning stillness with his toddler and his strollered infant up to the convenience store for a latte.  The birds are chirping, the sun is up, and it looks like another awesome day ahead of us.

More knitting photos

Hats are so easy.  I use a 16 inch circular, cast on 80 stitches or so and just knit till the tube is at least  6 inches long.  I can read while doing this.  I can do it with my eyes closed.  I can do ribbing or stockinette.  I can gaze out the window and savor the scenery.  And hats are so useful.  They can fit anyone, and they keep people warm!

Also, hats are useful for using up those little scraps of yarn.

When I have between six and ten inches of hat, I divide my stitches by 4, place markers, and knit two together every time I slip a marker.  When it's too small to slide easily around the 16 inch needle, then I switch to double points.  This is trickier to do in the dark, but doesn't' impair scenery watching in the least.  And within a few hours, I have another hat for the Medical Teams basket, a bit more space in my stash,  and a bit more peace in my soul.  Knitting is so meditative.


The puppets take a lot more visual attention, but are excellent freeway work.  Again, they use up odds and bobs, and it's such fun to see the personality emerge as I work them.

You will, of course, notice that these are one of a kind objects. I have SSS, (Severe Second Sock/Sleeve Syndrome.)  Doing something exactly like something else is a trial for me.  I'm very fond of vests for this reason.  No sleeves.

We spent most of yesterday getting ready for a two night stay with the kitties.  And we gave them flea baths.  Kyle is strong, kind and efficient.  He held 'em, and I scrubbed 'em.  Fly and Pepper sang the song of their people while we wetted them down, but when it appeared that they would survive, they desisted.  Ben gave us only one verse, but it was magnificent.  I had no idea the timid little guy had such a loud voice.  Fleas are much easier to find on a light-colored cat.

I towel-dried them, and they have already forgiven us. They are soft and fluffy and now, they are all wearing flea collars.  My wrists and ankles are itching madly.  The little pests left the kitties, and attacked me.


I have lost my cell-phone, which I had turned to silent, but in searching for it, I found my camera.  It's an ill wind that blows no good.  And perhaps, once I empty all my pockets, dump my purse, clear the laundry off the table and clean every horizontal surface in the house, the phone will turn up.  I can always hope.

Knitting has happened in the meantime

The Flock and Fiber Fest is coming in September, and I'm knitting hard and fast to clear some stash.  The scarf here is some handspun that I space-dyed and plied.  I don't keep records (yeah, I' should.  But there's only so much time in life, and I can create, or keep records.)  The yarn is awesome soft, and it made a wunnerful stole or scarf.  Used up every little bit.

Then I made some puppets.  There are more puppets to photograph. And hats. The road trips will be great for simple, don't-have-to-watch-it stuff.  I love kicking back with my feet up on the dashboard and my knitting in hand,  savoring the scenery and taking it all in.  Without the knitting, I wind up tearing off my fingernails and worrying the cuticles till they bleed.  MUST keep the fingers busy!

On the writing front, well, I deleted my entire new manuscript by accident.  The  Apple geniuses tried to recover it, but it's gone for good.  So I am going to re-write that sucker.  Wish me persistence.   With a project like this ahead of me, I suddenly get all motivated to do housework.

There's a lot of housework to do.  Our cats have fleas.  We tried a kinder, gentler medicine, which didn't work, but we still have to wait another two weeks before we use the Advantix or we could make the cats sick.  So they are plucking fur and shedding flea dirt and I can't keep up with it.  Oh, and the cheap medicine had a sesame oil base, which made them all too loose and spot cleaning is ok, but I really ought to sanitize the entire floor.

We are planning a trip in the motor home to the north coast of Oregon this weekend.  Betcha I can get some pictures of rain for you.  We will be camping near where Lewis and Clark camped for a winter.  The rain nearly drove them mad.  At any time of the year, you can count on the Oregon coast being 40 degrees and rainy.  Thank GOD we do not have to set up a tent and try to do all our cooking over a campfire.  In my younger days, I used to say that I wouldn't have sex outdoors because it might lead to camping.  I am not a happy camper.

With the RV, we have our own flush toilet, hot running water, a real bed, central heating, and four walls and a roof that doesn't have to be assembled.  We even have a microwave.  This time I am going to bring a corkscrew so we can get into the wine.

First run in the RV

This is our new mobile home.  It still scares me a bit, but we took an overnight run and had a grand time.  I adore the huge front window, and the fact that I can throw my  feet up on the dashboard in total comfort as we cruise along.  There is a real bed and a flush toilet, a stove, refrigerator and microwave, all the hot water you need, and nothing runs across you in the middle of the night.  We drove down I-5, enjoying the views of the lush  Willamette valley, then crossed the coast range (taking a narrow, narrow, twisty road at one point.  Good thing Kyle is such a wonderful driver!) and checked into a KOA campground on US 101.  There was water, electricity, a place to dump our sewage, and a TV hook-up if we needed it. (We didn't) The next day we drove up the beautiful Oregon coast.  It was a grand trip - not having to find a place to stay, not having to drag suitcases in and out of a hotel room, eating our own food in our own cozy little space, sleeping with our own pillows, and drinking our own tea and coffee as we went.  We remembered the wine and wine glasses, but forgot the corkscrew.  Next trip, we'll do better.  And next trip, we'll take the kitties.

D is for daisies

98 in the shade

Knee-deep in daisies I wade the selvedges of the summer,

The weedy waste edges of the standing wheat,

with the full weight of the sun on my shoulders,

roasting the marrow of my bones,

filling my blood with a flickering-quick vitality.

Each step kicks up sprays of  rattling grasshoppers,

bright, chitonous  drops from this drowsy ocean

now washing in whiteflower froth against my  shins

while the bitter broken-daisy scent stings the air.

A hawk drops.  I turn to watch, and one pearl of perspiration

trickles like a lizard

down my spine.

Busy Monday

MJ has family who are dedicated U of O graduates and are expecting a baby, so we made a baby quilt with U of O colors and their mascot, the duck.  MJ plotted out the piecing of the ducks and I am so impressed with her skill and precision!  This turned out to be a really nice quilt, and, due to her superb planning, a lot easier to sew than I expected.  Yay MJ!

I get a chance to rap

MJ and RW bought half a pig and got Camas (yes, that's really her name) to come out to their house and teach them how to cut it up.  Kyle has dressed out and cut up deer and one old cow, So his strength and expertise was requested. And I always like to be involved, so we had a big, busy day.  I got lots of photos, but then realized I probably should edit out most of them.  I mean, as interesting as I found it, you probably don't want to see how we took off the pig face, or how RW smacked the cleaver with the hammer to get through the joint, or how MJ powered through the spine with the meat saw. (That girl has MUSCLES!)  But some of the photos are less exciting.  This is Camas and RW sectioning out the chops.

It takes a lot of forearm and wrist strength to cut up meat.  Camas probably arm-wrestles bikers for funsies.

And here is Tim skinning the shoulder before cutting it up for stew meat.





 I did the wrapping.  "My name is Roxie and I rap real good.  I'm the best damn rapper in the whole damn hood. I wrap up venison, pork and elk.  I've been wrappin' up meat since I quit drinkin' milk.  Boom chucka-chucka-chucka- grunt, whoof, grunt"

With all of us working on this, it took us about three hours of steady labor.  We took some of the meat to the butcher to be smoked (ham, bacon, hocks) or ground for sausage, and most of the rest went into the freezer, except for a tenderloin and a skirt steak that got marinated and grilled for lunch.  Deelicious!

Tomorrow, Dh and I are planning a nice walk.  Hope the rest of you find an equally pleasant way to enjoy Father's Day.

The letter C

 My camera and computer are not communicating well.
Here we have photos of c-things, but they showed up inverted.

I am SUCH a techno-incompetant!

Calla lilies

Cat on Car

Cottage

Wednesday the somethingth of - June - is it June already?

http://www.basicallybenita.com  Here's the link to Benita's blog with her letter a week meme.  And here's another couple of catch-up photos that cover A and B.

Aquamarine  ocean and Beautiful Beach in Fiji.

Amiable Bucky entertaining friends at dinner on the ship.

So, DH and I have decided that as long as we are still somewhat springy in the knees, we'd better do some of the things that look like fun.  He had yesterday off.  We went zip-lining.  That violet speck amidst all the greenery is me, shrieking in glee and flapping like a fruit bat from perch to perch.  Oh dear lord, how I loved it!

As you can see.


 It was the Tree to Tree Adventure Park.  Zip lines are only one of the fun things they offer.  There are also obstacle courses and sky walks and all sorts of other things you can do waaaayyyy up above the ground while attached to steel cables strung between mighty firs.  I didn't feel brave or strong enough for the obstacle course, but the zip line - The last time I had that much adrenalin in my system, I didn't have any clothes on.

Another good sport

Here's Igor in his new fishing hat.  He's SUCH a good sport!  His birthday is the day before mine and 20 years later. No wonder I love him.  Us Pisces need to swim together.

Basically Benita has a meme going - photos for one letter of the alphabet each week.  So this is my A for Adorable Igor.

I got this photo on board the ship one day.  It sort of illustrates the way I have been lately.  Not so much anti-social as chrysalidic. Mentally pupating. Digesting that feast of sensory and intellectual stimulation.  Fear not.  I am nowhere near done with my gestational process.  I crack out of this cocoon to reveal -- a bigger caterpillar.

So I will use this photo to illustrate B- Bigger and Better Bugs!


OK, Confession time.  DH and I just bought an RV.  I feel so embarrassed!  It's so - middle-aged of us.  My inner committee is mostly thrilled with the idea of getting to goforaride  and travel with the bed and the cats and the comforts of home but the Scotch Bitch is in a total swivet about spending that much money.  It's not THAT much.  It's a 30 ft. long 1997 rig, so the price is good.  It's well taken care of.  And DH has gone back to work - did I tell you that?  One of his co-workers needed knee surgery but the shop was so short-handed that he couldn't get the time off, so DH agreed to fill in during surgery and recuperation time.  (DH can do all the jobs in the shop.)  He signed a 90 day contract.  He collects retirement AND regular pay, and we have our medical coverage back for a few months.  He could probably work as long as he wanted at the shop, but he doesn't want to work full time permanent.  He wants to see the USA in his new Chevrolet with his darling wife.

SO, the brakes are being replaced, and we are getting a solar panel to keep the battery charged, and by this time next week, I should have a picture of the new rig.  But I'm still kind of embarrassed.

Hellooo?

I have not been sick or dead or anything like that.  I have just had my brain in neutral.  Things have been going on just fine, but I haven't gotten around to blogging about them.  So, here's catch up!

 I have, of course, been knitting.  Here's a fishing hat for Igor.  I have to get photos of the puppets as well.  And there have been hats for MedTeam Intl.  The knitting goes on just fine with the brain in neutral.

 Saturday was Ladies' Tea and Knitting.  I made a coconut cake where you pour cream of coconut over the hot cake, then frost it with coconut pudding.  I made little pineapple upside down cakes for anyone who couldn't eat coconut.

My Pink Peace roses are blooming, so I used the peach-colored tablecloth that matches, and used them for cake decoration.




It makes rather a pretty table.  The bright thing in the foreground is a crazy-quilt tea-cozy.
 I also made orange biscotti, and Earl Grey tea biscuits, and I served Hood strawberries.  The cake disappeared.  There were cookies left.  (Napkins tucked into the ice-tea glasses.)

It was, as always with these girls, great fellowship, wonderful conversation, and lots of laughs.  We practiced working "behoove" into the conversation.

I found some neat little green mini lasers that are waterproof.  There's a picture of me on Facebook with one shining through my teeth.  Green grin ;-)