Balloon Fiesta 2011

Just thought I'd share a few photos from the International Balloon Fiesta.

Up up up

Last Saturday we drove up and up and up the Rock Creek road until we got to the end. At the end there is a little trail that first goes down to the creek and then it goes up and up and up. We followed it for a bit but the altitude is a bit much for me. I'm trying to work my way up to the top of the mountain.

Kel found a snowbank and was able to throw a few snowballs.

Mountian climber un-extraordinaire!

I climbed a mountain yesterday. Actually it was a hill. Actually, I didn't get to the top. It was hot and I'm soooooooo out of shape. It was steep too. The boys made it up though. I think they enjoyed it. You can't even see the smoke in the air in the picture. There are fires all around this area and it has been smoke for days and days. I'll be glad when it clears off.

Pictureskew

Such a lovely apple. One of the lovely apples we rescued from the fruit stand in New Mexico. (They were just going to sell it to someone else, I know it!) I took this picture just now because the apple looks just like an apple should look. It's the apple leaf that does it. Just like a painting done by someone other than me. Perfecto.
Anyway, the trip was lovely in other respects as well. Other than the steep dirt road down into the gorge, it was most pleasant. I stopped in Taos and bought yarn. (yes, more yarn) I ate a nice lunch and had interesting conversations with my parents. They are my kind of people, which is good, because I'm related to them.
The Rio Grande Gorge is pretty spectacular, especially because you can't really see it until you are nearly on top of it. Then it goes down down down.
Makes your stomach feel a little strange to look down that far. That's the Rio Grande far below. I wish you could see the scale. Later on that day we went to see where the gorge starts farther upstream. It looks as if the water may have carved this but that isn't true. According to geologists, this is a rift. The river is just flowing at the lowest spot. We live in a rift valley just like the rift vally in Africa. Just not as spread apart as there. But some day in the far far future, there may be an ocean here. I'll let you know. ;) At the start of the gorge it's more tame and not so scary deep. It's picturesque. Or as dad would say, pictureskew.And the apple? It has gone to a better place.

Pagosa Fiber Festival

Last Saturday I traveled over the pass about 70 miles to go to the Pagosa Fiber Festival. It was a wonderful day with just a few sprinkles of rain. I took the boys with me and we walked around. There were many different vendors of wool and roving and yarn and spinning tools and books. The boys liked the animals the best. There were different kinds of sheep and goats and rabbits and llamas and alpacas. We watched a sheep-shearing demonstration. The man had been shearing sheep for 56 years and he was fast. I ended up buying some Australian merino(undyed) and some superwash dyed roving. On the way home we stopped at a malt shop and I had a huge sundae. It would have fed several people. I had no idea it was going to be so big. Set the diet back a gazillion years but it was a special occasion.

4th of July

I spent the weekend in Durango at my brother-in-law's house. My boys had a great time playing x-box games and sitting in the hot tub and watching fireworks and playing with the dogs. They always hate to leave. I got going on the 2nd Masonic Lodge sock but didn't work on it too much. I did start some spinning of the lovely black merino wool I got in Denver about a month ago. I have 8 ounces and I'm going to try and get 2 pairs of socks out of it. That was kind of nice to just sit and spin. I think I ate too much.
I also got to go to Yarn, a nice store in Durango. I bought some of the much talked about Malabrigo and some Noro. Silly me, I hadn't brought any knitting needles other than the size 2 dpns for the socks. So all I could was fondle the yarn. Maybe tonight I'll play with it. Not sure what I can make with just one skein apiece but I'll try a hat or something.

The too-big sock

I'm knitting another too-big monkey sock but dad has graciously agreed to take them off my hands when I get done. I'm very slowly working on a shawl but I only like to knit on it when I'm awake and it's daylight out. Awake, meaning I'm not tired or hungry or depressed. It's coming along slowly but actually looks pretty. I'm not who will get it when I'm done. I started spinning some icelandic wool from the January Spunky Club. It's coarse and scratchy but very easy to spin and I like it. I need some ideas of something small I can knit it into. We'll see. I know there is homework waiting for me but I haven't felt like it at all this week. I feel like I have all these problems and all these ideas all jumbled in my head and I can't seem to sort anything out anymore. A long vacation would be nice.

July

July has been quite a month. Perhaps I'll just take it a week at a time. The first week I spent a week in Pagosa Springs. My mother in law owns a time share and so we spent the week there with 3 brother in law's and 3 other kids besides mine. We left on a Saturday and spent a lot of time just sitting around. The condo was by a small lake so the kids were able to go fishing. On Sunday my sister in law and I took the 4 small kids swimming at the rec center. They got tired of the kiddie pool pretty quick and so we took them into the big pool. My kids were just going along the side holding on when the water got over their heads. Then I was holding my 3 year old nephew when I looked over and Kel, my youngest was flailing around in the water. I walked over as quickly as I could and held him up out of the water. It really scared him and so I had to comfort him quite a bit. He doesn't seem worse for the experience as he went swimming later on in the week.
Monday we had to come home and pay some bills. Fortunately it was only 70 miles away so that wasn't too bad.
Tuesday was the best day. I finished spinning my very first handspun singles. I plied them together and was able to wind the yarn around a chair and then set it in hot and cold water. I hung it outside to dry and it dried very quickly because of the heat. When it was dry, I got out my new bamboo needles to knit it up. I just did a small swatch and I really liked how it looked. Wednesday was the 4th of July and so we went to the parade there in town and about melted. It was pretty hot. Then that evening we went to a nice fireworks show.
The next day hubby was withdrawing badly and I had to drive him home to get something for his habit. It's been a trying time with that.
Friday was just a laze around day and then we came home on Saturday. I wish it had been more fun and relaxing but people tend to get on each other's nerves in that length of time. I missed a massage taking hubby home but that's ok. I don't think I had the money for that anyway. I think I need a vacation just a few days by myself and rest rest rest.
I've gotten my internet back so hopefully I'll be able to start posting pictures again from home.