This morning I woke up at 8 to transplant the starts that Pamela gave me. And, I stuck forks all around them because I noticed our  neighborhood strays making a happy home in my raised bed!!! I’m going to add some chicken wire to keep them out since the bird netting doesn’t do a thing.

Today I also planted some carrots, basil and marigolds. I’m going to soak the rest of my seeds overnight (scarlet runner beans, garden beans, radishes, cucumber, chard) and plant tomorrow. And then it’s back to work around these parts!

It’s always exciting to learn something new.  As children, and as a culture, I think many of us expect that we should already be good at something if we’re “meant” to do it, but I know from my craft work that success is all about repetition and practice. Yesterday we went zip-lining in the hill country, something that I am definitely not good at (and quite frankly, was afraid to do). What was refreshing about the day for me was that no one was there to tell me that I sucked or wasn’t good at zip lining, and it would have been ridiculous to think that anyone would already be good about an adventurous activity. No one scolded me for nearly smashing into a tree, and by the end, I was pretty confident on the cables. I try to take this approach to any type of learning– go at my pace and do what works for me. So, in the garden,  I will do what I can each day and be proud of the outcome no matter what. When it comes to new skills, we really should give everyone an A for effort. (I’m hoping I’ll also get a B for basil and a C for cucumbers.)

Every year my resolution is to learn something new–usually by taking a class. In past years I’ve expanded my knowledge of knitting, sewing, quilting, encaustic painting and pottery. This year, I’m stepping outside! I encourage you to step outside of your box, too–no matter how small the step is. Once you get over the fear of trying something new, it’s amazing how just by accepting what you don’t know, you can reignite your sense of wonder.

Today his mom came over and helped us to build and fill the bed. Paul really did a lot of the work, but we were good at spreading out the soil and nodding our heads while he explained the plans. We put a mix of compost and garden soil in there along with some manure for good measure. I haven’t done my planting plan yet but I hope to get to it tonight and plant tomorrow. Since I’m late for this first growing season, and only just found a book I like,  it’s going to be a big expiriment. I figure it will get better as things go along and I keep learning. For now I have two tomato starts from Pamela and a whole lotta seeds, so at least something will go right (I hope!). As we were building the bed I realized that today was Earth Day, and I thought this happened to be the perfect form of celebration. After we were done with that project, I pulled up a bunch of the weeds that have been driving me crazy in the back yard. It’s so funny, once you do a little bit of work, the idea of doing more is kind of exciting. The hardest part is getting started!

How did you celebrate Earth Day?

In case you need a refresher, I started this blanket in April to use up stash yarn, and all of the squares in this blanket are based on patterns  from Jan Eaton’s book, 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws, and Afghans: Crochet Squares to Mix and Match. I concocted the borders and edging on my own. I forgot to take a closeup of the edging, but I used some spike stitches and really like how it turned out. All told, I probably wove in over 200 ends on this sucker, but it was worth it. I always try to save the “boring” part of projects for a situation where I’m captive: watching a dvd or, for instance, driving for 3 days from one end of the country to another.

We’re still regrouping over here, but will be back in the swing of things as soon as we can. I feel kind of weird about leaving Montana. I woke up with this strange feeling that maybe I’d never lived in Montana at all. My brain is still adjusting, but it feels good to be home.

We (and by we, I mean Paul) did a ton of driving today, and since I didn’t have the yarn I expected to have for a work project, I got the chance to work on one my “just for fun” projects (You might recognize this blanket from here and here). I found the perfect  yarn to use for the border at my LYS  just a couple of weeks ago (many of the squares are made with Lana Grossa Wollywasch, the border yarn is called Merino Magic) and I had to buy all 5 balls of it to ensure I could complete the blanket with it (I think I’ll use 4, but I quickly realized the 3 balls I bought initially wouldn’t be enough, so I had to be on the safe side!). I got the idea as to how exactly I would crochet the pieces together when I was helping a customer plan her own afghan project. Other than the border skeins, the entire thing is from scraps and although the colors are a little crazy, I like it. It kind of reminds me of stained glass (… from the 1970s).

In addition to hooking, I spent the day spotting tons and tons (and tons!!) of pronghorn in Wyoming. It’s always fun to see them on the road, but we found this herd right by the rest area, and they didn’t even get spooked while we took photos. (Note: Of course, it is always dangerous to approach wild animals and I am in no way suggesting that you do!). It was very cool to get the chance to watch them, since whenever we saw them in Bozeman they were so, so skittish.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to blow through Colorado and Oklahoma, and maybe even part of Texas. Now that the move is “real” (haha) I’ve been looking at Fiber Groups in the San Antonio area and was pleased to find so many on Ravelry. I’ll have to do some more research, but so far, I’m excited. And thank you to everyone for your well wishes, we are hoping this move will be a very good thing.

Tomorrow’s post will be by Erin Harris of House On Hill Road (I’ll post a link here when it’s  up, but wanted to let you know since no post is planned for tomorrow). Erin will show off her own version of one of the projects in the book, and she’ll also be doing another giveaway, hooray! Be sure to stop by!

And for locals, just a reminder that I’m doing a book signing, trunk show, and free crochet flower demo at The Yarn Shop this Saturday, August 22nd, from 1-3 pm. Please come by and check out the projects, say hi, and enjoy some refreshments. I set up the projects today and I must say, they look nice all together in one place.

And now for a quickie roundup of things we did in Portland.

We hit the Rose Garden– which was totally gorgeous! It had rained the night before so everything was dew droppy and lovely. I’m partial to the peachy-pink-orangey-yellowish roses, in case anyone was wondering.

We ate. And ate. And ate as much as we could. That biscuit Paul is holding has fried chicken, cheese, bacon and gravy on it. I got one too, along with a plate of fried green tomatoes at Pine State Biscuits. It was delicious! One of my other favorite things we ate were waffles from the waffle wagon. They make them with vanilla batter, fold them into a cone, and stuff them with the goodness of your choosing. Bozeman lacks good & cheap food, I really would have been happy to do nothing but eat the whole time we were in Portland.

I also did some work-like things, such as signing books at Powell’s and teaching Susan how to crochet a flower.

Susan and crew took me on a mini crafty tour, including a stop at Yarnia. Pearl (Susan’s daughter) liked checking out all of the yarn.

On our last day we had a moment of Zen at the Japanese Garden, and took in the views on the Willamette River.(You can see Paul’s Portland Post Here–his is better, it’s true; and more of his drawings in his etsy shop).  I’ve totally neglected the “getting there” and “getting back” parts of the trip (we drove) but I haven’t edited the photos yet…so that’s for another day!

Today’s stop on the blog tour is a great review and interview from Natalie Zee Drieu at Craft. Read it for some tips on what kinds of garments are well suited for embellishments and other tips. And, of course, they are giving away a copy, so be sure to head over. Lee Meredith at Leethal also wrote a great review with shots of the inside of the book– I’m really flatterd, Lee!

Between the book stuff, we’ve really been enjoying Portland and Susan is a great host! Yesterday we ran all around town– but first, we had to hit the Rose Test Gardens– the flowers were soooo pretty! I thought the book cover fit right in….

And locals, remember, my book signing is at Powell’s tonight, at 7:30 PM. I went yesterday to scope it out, and bought a few crochet books for myself while I was at it!

But first, let me show you a sneak peek from the book, one of my favorite projects: the Butterfly Apron!

Accent your favorite (or new favorite!) apron with a butterfly pocket and trim. I like this trim because you work it as you go- meaning you built the length as you make it (instead of having to do a long foundation chain). The instructions for this project not only include the crochet patterns, but I also give directions for sewing the apron and putting it all together. If you don’t crochet, you could either learn (yay!) or use store bought trims and doilies to get this effect. So why sew the apron and crochet the trims yourself, you ask? Because you can find a fabric/crochet thread that suits your style perfectly.

Now, onto the events. Next week we’ll (and by we, I mean Paul, with me in tow) be driving to Portland, OR so that I can do some fun book signings. I’ve never been to Portland before, but I am really excited. The ever so kind and gracious Susan Beal is hosting us, and plus, I will finally get the chance to go meet some of my crafty friends (hi Diane and Lee!). These three ladies have been so great to me, making sure the word gets out and spreading my post cards all over town. Thank you thank you!  If you live in Portland (and I know some of my favorite crafters do), please do come say hi if you have a chance!

PORTLAND, OREGON  EVENTS
Thursday, August 13th

Look for me between 9 and 10 AM on AM Northwest (eep!)

7:30 PM: Talk and book signing at Powell’s Books, 1005 West Burnside. I’ll have many of the projects from the book on view and will tell you some stories about how I came up with them.

Saturday, August 15th

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM: Talk and signing at The Yarn Garden, 1413 SE Hawthorne Blvd. I’ll be demonstrating how to make a quick crocheted flower, so bring some yarn and a hook! Again, I’ll have projects from the  book on display and if you have any quick crochet questions, I’d be happy to answer them.

BOZEMAN, MONTANA EVENTS

When I return, I’m doing a couple signings in my town! Bozeman really has a lovely community of knitters and crocheters, I have really enjoyed getting to know them at the shop.

Saturday, August 22d

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM: Trunk show and signing at The Yarn Shop, 25 N. Willson. Come celebrate with me! Again, I’ll have the projects on hand and you can ask me anything you want about crocheting (true of any day I’m working, but still!).

Saturday, August 29th

2:00 PM: Talk and signing at Borders, 2855 N. 19th Ave. Same deal, different date, please come say hi!

See you soon!

It was early enough in the day that we saw snowshoe hairs and marmots on the trail, in addition to hearing birds sing and all of that. Which is the good thing about travelling with a toddler- they’re able to wake up early and get moving!

Tegue was full of the giggles the whole time. He found Paul to be very entertaining.

We also drove to Yellowstone and did a quickie tour of the Park. Tegue got to see the big things: Old Faithful, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the mud pots. He also pointed to a bison and said (we think) “Doggie!”

We stayed at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, and the elk gathered outside there most nights. This was the #1 reason  I wanted to stay there, so I could watch the elk.

Paul and I have never stayed overnight in the park before, so even though everyone else was pooped, we decided to get up at 6:30 AM and drive to the Lamar Valley to see what we could see. We saw a wounded bison all alone, a couple pronghorn, a pair of coyotes travelling together, a pair of sand hill cranes, a black bear, and a ton of bison (including my favorite: baby bison!) crossing the road. The clouds were so low that we were nearly driving through them, and the cars were so few and far between that the park felt like ours. So, if you ever travel to Yellowstone, remember: get up early if you want to see the animals, especially if you go in the height of tourist season.

We actually got there a little too early and had to wait for the corn dog booth to open. No problem, we entertained ourselves with ribbon fries.

I had to stop by the alpacas, because you know, I need to coo at them and convince them to come home with me.

Other than that, we rode a few rides. Yay for rides! My rule is that I won’t ride anything that goes upside down, so the rides we rode were most scary only  if you noticed the rust stains, blankets concealing the inner workings of the rides, or  listened to the cranky noises of the machines– it’s all part of the charm. We had lots of fun and laughs, especially on the the Tilt-A-Whirl.

Paul called it quits on rides after that, so I went on the Parachute ride by myself. There’s something extra silly about riding a ride by yourself after a certain age, but oh well.

Paul also did some drawings while I people watched and took pictures, and then we ate one last (foot long) corn dog for good measure. It was close as Montana comes to Coney Island, and we had a great time.

And now to share some pretty photos of where we live. We went on a walk/hike (it wasn’t that strenuous, really, to call it a hike) a few weekends ago. This path is on some private property, but whoever owns it is nice enough to let the public enjoy it so long as you stick to the rules. I like that.

There’s a great view of our town from up there. Amazing.

Lots of wild flowers and a path that looks like it might lead directly to the sky.

We even saw some prickly pear flowers to remind us of Texas. It is much, much cooler here than it is in TX right now, I am thankful for that!  I am really loving Bozeman this summer. When I walk home from work, it almost seems fake: birds chirping, colorful poppies and gardens everywhere, and even the occasional bunny hopping out to say hello. It’s kind of dreamy. You can see some more hiking pics on my flickr page if you like.