Away We Go (Again)

D and I took a trip to Palm Desert. I was only home for 10 days and had a lot of paper work to catch  up on. I was happy with the yarn I bought and nervous about what to bring for travel knitting. D's sweater is on the back burner because I found that lovely vest. Scott's sweater was almost done, so I cast on one for my Emily. Got a lot of knitting done, but some of it was on windy desert roads.

 We decided to just have fun on our week long break. So we went to the movies. I wish I could go to the Palme d'Or cinema every week. They have Shakespeare!!! And beer and wine. You won't find that in Canada. We have Presbyterian Temperance roots that still don't trust open liquor.

 But no one was at St. Vincent. Very funny.

 The flamingos at the Desert Springs Marriot were there to welcome us, across the road from our Intrawest Desert Willow Resort where we stay.

 The wind mills are mesmerizing. If you drive west on Highway 10, you go through a lot of them. We shopped at the outlet malls and had fun.

 Up the Tramway for the first time. We timed it to be there at sundown. It gets dark very quickly down south.

 Lovely fellow hikers took our photo from one of the look outs.

 We tramped through the trails and saw a HUGE squirrel, too quick to take a photo of, but this deer was not worried about us.

 I love cacti. I used to have them as house plants, but I am seriously challenged with just pothos and spider plants, right now. Love a happy barrel cactus.

 And the ocotillo that can look dead and be blooming red flowers at its tip at the same time. Our golf course is planted with native plants.

 This is the faerie bush!

 The pool that is closest to us. We spent a bit of time reading and relaxing and knitting.

 A day at Joshua Tree National Park and a fun drive from the Colorado Desert into the Mojave.

 These trees are actually a type of yucca. Fascinating.

 I really loved my outdoor shower! I would love one at home, but it is only warm enough a few weeks a year.

 The kids are coming home for the weekend, so I have to put their knitting gifts away. I started mom's Handmaiden thrummed mittens I bought in Charlottetown. The Casbah is so soft and squishy and I like making the thrums.

 I did some darning and restored a pair of socks. All the merino had worn off and there was just a nylon thread left. I haven't worn them yet, but I am happy they are socks again.

 There has been some stitching. I really enjoy embroidery. It was my first craft before I went to school, and comes very naturally to me.  I also put some decorative elbow patches on my very old black cashmere cardigan so I can wear it again.

These are the last socks in this year's Operation Sock Drawer. But they are not getting any love. Too dark. I love the pattern, Nutkin, but have screwed it up a few times, and I don't like knitting top down. I may just frog them and make a different pair when the Christmas knitting is done. I bought some lovely Regia self striping sport at 88 Stitches when I went for the Tin Can Knits trunk show and bought the Road Trip book.

It is very wet here. Good for my asthma. The big black dog loves to walk in weather. I planted amaryllis (and delivered one to Hospice) and made my Christmas cakes this week, only a few days late. There are long lists of music for our Celtic Concert and the parade for Nov. 11. There is a Christmas Pageant to prepare with the youth group and extra choir music for Christmas.
I always feel that I'll feel better when I have just one more gift finished or the cards made, but the truth is the list will continue on the next page.
My goal is to enjoy the planning and preparations, and celebrate the friends and family I am blessed to have around me.