I have been a fan of Kate Davies for quite a while. Though many of her designs are colorwork and/or top-down, neither of which are usually my thing for various reasons, she is an amazing human. And she lives in the Scottish Highlands. And her husband, Tom, is an incredible photographer… in the Scottish Highlands. What’s not to love? I’ve joined a couple of her clubs in the past mainly to enjoy her writing — she does her research & it’s always a deep dive.
I was sort of ho-hum about her latest club, Rip it Up, and Start Again (A Knitter’s Jukebox), which begins tomorrow. Mostly, I think I was distracted… because this sort of thing is right up my alley. The deal was sealed when I read her latest email/post (at the link) and learned about Bill Oddie and The Knitting Song.
Along with a bunch of other knit-related tunes/videos. It’s worth a read!
…and I stayed home!! After being fairly home-bound for most of July & August (going to work & PT but not much else), I spent a long weekend in Nashville at the end of August, the next one in Madison, a quickie up north, and another long weekend in Denver — so it was nice to stay home. I got some putzy stuff done, took a couple of naps, did a metric crap ton of laundry, took some walks, and even did a little cooking & cleaning… and some knitting & sewing! Oh, and we got our Australian visas, too!
I went out to High Cliff with Kate & Kai for a walk on Saturday. We ended up on the Red Bird Trail — and I’m not sad about that! The trail goes along the top of the Niagara Escarpment, and the views are gorgeous. We’ve stuck to the evenly paved Butterfly Trail for many months, so it was nice to do something different. The terrain was a lot bumpier — lots of rocks & roots to look out for — but no problems.
I don’t have a current picture of my gnome, but I’ve just started Clue 4… working on a cabled sweater/body for the little guy. Clue 5 comes out tomorrow, and the last clue is released on Sunday. I’ve been taking it easy because we’re knitting at a pretty tight gauge (big yarn, small needles) & I’m feeling the strain. I’m looking forward to a finish and will be more than ready to pick up Farfalle!
I started laundry at Ann’s on Monday & worked on my project bag — that’s what I got done while the towels dried. It was SO NICE outside that I took all the laundered sheets (three queen sets) home & hung them on the line to dry.
Ali & the kids did a pumpkin-painting activity last week — I managed to get photos of three/five. Davy & Ali left theirs for us (and I can’t help but smile every time I look at Davy’s). (Ali’s is nice, too. haha.) (But Davy’s!!)
Rusty was in the crawl space under the back porch when they were over, trying to put a thwart the zoomers on the mouse highway into our house! Malina is offering him a little banana snack (much needed & very welcome, I was told) & Davy lent a helpful hand, too. The jury’s still out re: mice.
He fixed the dryer when I was in Denver, and for that I am glad. It was drying perfectly fine, but making the most godawful screech when it was turned on. A big benefit of that operation is that I had to clean off the tops of the washer & dryer… and so far they’ve stayed that way!
Though I’ve continued crocheting granny squares, I haven’t done any knitting (for various reasons) since I had my hip replaced on July 7th. When I saw the email from Sarah Schira about Sweater Weather, her newest mystery gnome KAL, I figured that would be a good way to ease back in. (And, soon, resume knitting my Farfalle Cardigan!) It was gnomes that helped me back after Covid. Gnomes as recovery knitting… it just seemed right to jump in!
I finished Clue 1 & am nearly finished with Clue 2! There are only 6 clues in total, the last released on the 18th, so maybe a finished gnome by the end of the month!
It’s off the needles but it’s not quite finished — I fumbled a little late last night, and decided to put it aside & resume (probably involving tinking a few rows) when I’m a bit more fresh. Anyway, I think it’s hat?
TEXTILES
As mentioned yesterday, it’s football season, which means that our Airbnbs are booked for nearly every home game in Green Bay. That involves a few hours doing laundry each week and, while I could be cleaning during laundry time (sometimes I do), I usually do other things — crochet or knit or sew and catch up on a show or listen to music or a book.
Lately, I’ve been working on my Komebukuro-inspired project bag that was MDK’s 2026 Summer Camp project. It was my first MDK camp experience! I’m pretty sure all my fellow campers have finished, but I’m a putzer, I guess, not to mention busy. I brought it (and my crochet project) to Denver but didn’t pull out either! (I also brought a Musselburgh* hat that’s been underway for over two years, and did get that one out… only to discover that I’d pulled the needles for some other project & it was on unworkable holders.) Anyway, playing around with a design for side two of four & decided that I needed to iron those pieces before proceeding.
READING
I finished both Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid (book) & Brandi Carlile’s memoir, Broken Horses (audio). Wellnessby Nathan Hill has been in one of my TBR piles for a while, so that’s my new bedtime reading. I’d added Barbara Kingsolver’s Partitato my list (probably because of Bonny) and had notification of its release yesterday — just before learning that it’s the new Read With Us book — so that’s my new audio book! (FYI: If you have a Spotify Premium subscription, it’s included.)
So, right about the time that Kate was going to be heading to The Badlands with the girls, I was going to take Junah on his first trip involving an airplane. The girls’ trip was postponed (and the destination may even change), but ours was not!
I chose Colorado because there’s a direct flight to Denver from my nearest airport (and it’s not Florida, like most of the other direct flights). I’d contemplated a layover at ORD on one leg, because that’s a whole experience, but nixed that in the end. Originally, it was to be a surprise destination, but I slipped up & spilled the beans a few days prior.
We left on Saturday, Sept 26 — an early morning flight, so Junah stayed overnight on Friday. And returned on Tuesday — a later flight that didn’t land until around 9 pm. That basically gave us two full days & two half+ days, and we did a lot!
We arrived in Denver around mid-morning & by the time we picked up the rental car, it was time for lunch! Junah chose Culver’s, which is hilarious because they’re everywhere in Wisconsin.
Our first stop was MEOW WOLF — and immersive, interactive art experience covering many rooms & floors. There were lots of people, and plenty of kids (all ages). It’s crazy & a little overwhelming, but there were some very cool things (many of them hard to photograph, mostly due to light!). I don’t think I need to go again, but I’m glad we experienced it.
We stopped at Safeway for groceries on our way to the hotel for snacks, beverages & a few eat-in options, and that night we had pasta!
On Sunday, we took a downtown tour on e-bikes. We were the only two in our group, so that was nice. It was about a 10-mile ride & we learned a lot about Denver’s history… some of which Junah actually found interesting. The weather was amazing!
Nearing the end of the ride, we had to navigate a couple of hairpin turns on an incline… and I biffed it! I’m not so great at turning in the best of circumstances, and I should have known better & just walked up. Instead, I crashed into a roughly textured concrete wall at about the mid-thigh area. Yes. The hip replacement side. It hurt like hell, but luckily, I had my phone in that pocket & that’s what took the brunt of the impact. It left an imprint on my thigh a few inches below the incision site, but barely broke skin & there was no blood (only a not-too-bad-considering bruise). The phone screen & protector were badly cracked… and from that point on, my camera would only work in selfie mode! My pants got pretty ripped up, too, and it would have been pretty ugly (w/blood) if it hadn’t been for my phone. I was OK, really, and able to complete the ride (and the rest of the vacation) with no other problems.
We went to Wally’s Wisconsin Tavern, in the heart of downtown, to regroup over some fried cheese curds, Shirley Temples (for him), a hazy IPA for me, and some chicken wings.
Maddy was the one who suggested Wally’s — and if I was ever in Denver* & there was a Packers game on TV, that’s probably where I’d be! We loved these visitor maps right inside the entrance, and there was lots of other stuff to look at.
Monday was a big day. We drove up to Estes Park & rode the tram — had a little look & a snack up top.
Those view things still only take a quarter.
From there, armed with my new Lifetime Senior Parks Pass & National Park Passports for us both, we headed to Rocky Mountain National Park for the day. It’s elk season! We saw so many — the first was spotted just hanging out in Estes Park, at a park!
I was able to snag a $2 timed entry + Bear Lake Road ticket, so we got in at a pretty good time & had a nice walk around Bear Lake, then continued through the park on Trail Ridge Road. I only got lightheaded navigating those hairpin turns a couple of times. Whew, heights, y’all! We stamped our passports at Bear Lake Visitor Center, the Fall River Visitor Center, and Alpine Visitor Center; would have at Sheep Lakes Information Station & Holzwarth Historic Site had they not been closed, and at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center if we’d had just five more minutes! It was all so beautiful. And BRRRRR!! Chilly!! Only 41F in the middle of the day at Alpine!! We lucked out that the forecasted rain mostly held off — just a little misty sprinkle a couple of times.
It was a long day & we arrived home a little after dark, so we cooked up the rest of the pasta for dinner!
Tuesday was departure day, but our flight didn’t leave until 5:45 pm — not knowing how traffic would be, etc., we planned to be at the airport around 3 to return the car, etc. We had most of the day, though, and I decided (planned ahead) to go to the Denver Zoo. I also booked a “Giraffe Encounter,” because giraffes, and…
…because I’d had an encounter with giraffes at the Denver Zoo about 65 years ago with my mom. It seemed like a good idea.
Fascinating & cute creatures! Zoos have changed a lot… I’m pretty certain that it’s the same giraffe house, but it is much less sterile now.
The woman who led our bike tour told us that there was a baby orangutan at the zoo, so we made a point to visit the primates section. We even spotted the 3-month-old baby clinging to its mother. And then mom put on a show! Walking the “tightrope” things, swinging around on stuff & basically relocating to a whole different area of their enclosure. Boy, that baby clings! Apparently, they’ll be “joined” like that for another 5 months or so, before the baby starts to venture on its own. No photos because a) really hard to photograph that kind of thing and b) even worse in selfie mode! haha.
Junah’s really been into bikes lately, and has been working on a mountain bike at home. Cycling is very popular in Denver & there are lots of shops, so stopping at one became a thing that Junah wanted to do. It wasn’t fitting anywhere else on the schedule, but we found one quite close to the zoo & headed over for a quick stop before we went to the airport.
Z Cycle Shop, formerly Collins Bicycles (which opened in 1934), was amazing. The building still has the old signage, and I had to double-check that were were in the right place. We walked around on wonderfully creaky wood floors & browsed a bit, and then Junah found a bunch of used parts for sale. Oh boy! There’s a happy kid right there. He sifted through everything — I had no idea what he was looking for, but he did. One of the guys in the shop — an owner, I believe — talked to Junah about what kind of bike he had, what he was looking for, what would work, and offered a few tips. It was a wonderful thing to witness! And I’m pretty sure this was the highlight of the trip for Junah! I carried around his wallet, which had a nice amount of spending money inside, for the whole trip, but he didn’t buy a single souvenir anywhere (mostly poo-pooing high prices) (he’s not wrong). Instead, he spent it on used bike parts & a few things from their sale bin! Ali said that he got everything installed & working the next day (he’d have stayed up all night to do it, if allowed).
*Kate just accepted a part-time position as Communications Director for a gallery in Denver, so it could happen!
It was a very quick trip — Friday to Sunday — but so worth it. The weather wasn’t that great, but we we not deterred and much of our time was spent outside. Luckily, it rained mostly at night.
There was some fishing! My Uncle Jim rigged a small ice-fishing rod with a bobber at the end (no hook) for Davy and he was the happiest of clams! It was the perfect size & gave him an opportunity to perfect his cast without getting caught on anything/anyone. Jim also took Junah out fishing, and they both caught little bluegills… not keepers, though. The water is SUPER low and fishing hasn’t been that great.
The leaves are turning — there was much more on our way out than in, and will likely peak in the next week or two. And there were chores! Junah helped Jim with some transportation needs, and they put up a birdhouse that needed a new pole.
Maddy’s friend Katy came up north, too. They’ve been BFFs since grade school, gone to summer camp together, were roomies in college & after college, and camp counselors during college summers. Once a camper/counselor, always a camper/counselor… and they’re also crafters! Katy brought some supplies, and nearly everyone made an easy & forgiving friendship bracelet/anklet. Ginny made one for her BFF, Ivy, and added beads!
Davy was rarely without his little fishing pole. 🙂
This is Jim’s 15yo golden doodle, named Bogey. He’s a big dog and those 15 years translate to 100 +/- in human years. It’s showing. Mobility is severely limited, and he’s mostly deaf. I’m afraid we all may have stressed him out a little, though he did get lots of love.
These four were headed out on a father + daughters walk. I should have at least handed my phone to someone for a mother + daughters pic!
He turned 6 on Friday, but Davy’s a little old soul. Watching & poking the fire, chatting with Jim… or JAMES as he started calling him once he learned that Jim & Jimmy were nicknames for James! So funny.
In other news, the girls & Kate were to embark on their road trip to the Badlands today, but it’s clear that Ginny’s not ready to enjoy all that a trip like that would offer, so they’ve postponed it until late spring/early summer. Her foot is healing, but she’s not walking without assistance or putting much weight on it. Oh well, I have that much more time to assemble their activity kits.
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