Whitewater Rafting

Hagen came to visit last week and since he was only going to be here for two weeks I took the time off from work so we spend time together. 

We've been kayaking at Lake of the Pines.  We've been to a Sacramento River Cats baseball game.  They lost but the fireworks afterwards was spectacular.  We've also been knitting.  He goes for the food.  Yesterday we went whitewater rafting.  It was a BLAST!!!!



Paddling through Satan's Cesspool

 Hagen and I took a 45 minute drive from the house to Coloma to start our South Fork American River - Gorge Run.  We got on the water a little after 10:00 heading for some easy rapids.  We stopped mid-day for lunch and then we headed out for the more exciting rapids.  And boy were they exciting.   My only regret was not bringing along a waterproof camera.  There were two spots set up with photographers which is where the above was taken but it would have been nice to have other pictures along the way. 

We took our 1-day trip with Adventure Connection.  We had a great time and our guide Grady was very easy going but gave us good directions and I would highly recommend this company.

I'm game for another trip if anyone is interested.

Bear 1, Bear 2 and A Blanket

When there is chaos in my life my go-to knitting is for charity. There's no size involved and I know it will be appreciated.

Meet Hank

And Ben

The Mother Bear Project is "dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations, by giving them a gift of love in the form of a hand-knit or crocheted bear."

Hank and Ben are the first of many bears I plan on knitting for the Mother Bear Project. 

I'm thinking the next bears need to be girls. 

I also knit a blanket for The Linus Project.  The Linus Project provides handmade blankets to local children in need. My local knitting guild, the Camellia City Stockinettes, is a supporter of the Linus Project. 

 I've been using  Plymouth Encore and Ella Rae Amity, both acrylic wool blends, that I have been collecting because it is washable for all these projects.

While I'm sure the individual charities are happy to receive the items I am knitting, I am looking forward to my life settling down.

Valance

I moved in to our house in California 2 1/2 years ago.  Other then arranging our furniture and the pictures I didn't make much of a mark on the house.  Today I made my first change.  I sewed and hung a new valance over one of the windows in the kitchen.

This is what the valance has been.

This is the new valance.

So much more happy.  It makes me smile. 

I bought this fabric at Britex Fabrics in San Francisco over two years ago.  I'm finally starting to put my mark on the house.

I'm still figuring out what walls to paint.  I need some purple somewhere!!