In sickness and in health... and in sickness...

I pity Jack because he has to put up with me, getting sick, all the time. That's what it seems like, lately, anyways. In 2014 I got sick 3 times in the four months of my summer season and had one big, seemingly unending cold after we moved up here in winter. I got over it just in time for Christmas. Well, everyone was staying home sick with ::something:: and here I was thinking what a miracle that I hadn't gotten sick yet. Maybe my Vitamin D intake was helping, or getting enough sleep, or the daily yoga, or drinking enough water... or maybe the bug just hadn't found me yet. Apparently it has now. Grr. At least I've made it almost two full months into 2015 before I got sick. My first cold of the year - or maybe it's some sort of sinus infection? I never really know for sure - I blow my nose in the morning and see colors, but once I get those first big glubs out of the way I'm pretty much clear-snotted for the rest of the day. Probably not what you wanted to read about today, but hey, it's life.

So yesterday I stayed home, and today as well. I've cuddled up with some extra layers and a neck warmer (my lymph nodes on the sides of my neck are insanely tense), put in a request with Jack for a box of lotion tissues, and am contenting myself to sit and drink potion teas, eat extra healthy foods, and spend plenty of time earthing in the sunshine while reading. Jack is convinced that I need to sweat it out, so he's prescribed a bike ride for me today, as well. But my focus this time around is reading: I'm using it as an excuse to finally finish that darn 'Snow Falling on Cedars' book that I've come to dislike so much. And it's working. I've read about 100 pages in the last 36 hours of being under the weather. Phenomenal. Now if I can just read 100 more, I'll be done with the thing once and for all. Then on to something else. I've got so many books on my shelf that I want to read and get rid of, and getting stuck on slow reads like this one really don't help the matter. Apparently it's a movie... I'll have to look into watching it after the book is over and done with - looks like I can get it with the Netflix DVD dealio.

It's still beautiful and sunny outside, for now. It looks like tomorrow is supposed to get rainy again for a few days, and it'll likely clear up on Sunday again. We've taken advantage of the sun, going to the beach more often (although I regretfully haven't gotten out to surf in quite awhile), and whale-watching. That's right: 'tis the season for whale watching. We went out the day before yesterday with my spyglass and walked to the end of the jetty to watch. I was rewarded at the end when I got to see not just a water spout, but a tail waved in my direction through my spyglass. Excellent.

Anyway, my nose is dripping, which means I've got to get up and take care of it. I may as well get off the computer and do some more reading in the sunshine, since I just looked up the forecast and saw that I probably won't have the chance tomorrow.

Stay well, people.

Until next time!

Little Things.

It's the little things that count. On Thursday, we made the 13-mile roundtrip from our house to the Mill Creek Horse Trail, all around that, and back home. It was a beautiful hike, and I particularly noticed lots of pretty little things along the trail.

Like a little drop of dew on the leaf of a little sorrel...

... or the little hole in the center of a snail shell's curve.

There was a little Borrigita-style action to be had...

... and a little picnic area with a fine view.

We witnessed a little ride-along (yes, there's two there)...

... and saw a few little groves of deciduous trees among the conifers.

There were little trees using the stumps of trees past to get a leg up...

... and little striped fungi growing on downed branches.

This tree appeared to be showing a little leg...

... and the little curve in the path as it wound through the trees was quite perfect.

There was a little vibrant green plant growing out of big red stump...

... and finally, as we neared our home, a little bit of fog on the ocean shore in the distance.

And here's a little video to show you what it's like hiking through the redwoods:

Until next time!

Pillow!

Ok, so today I finished my pillow, but first: a few pictures from the hike that Jack and I went on a couple weekends ago.

Looking south from the vista point.

Trailside flowers.

Turnaround point. 

Tiny little trailside flower. 

Weatherworn survey marker above the tide pools.

Looking out from that point.

Rock tunnel (under where the marker was). 

Looking north at the vista point.

Elk on the way home. 

They were crossing the road, so I figured I might as well take a photo. :)

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for... my pillowcase!

Pillow in action on the couch. 

Backside of pillow - I ended up getting a titch underlapped on my overlap but it'll work. 

Pillow and me! :)

So there you have it. That pillow whipped up mighty quick. I quilted most of it at the Methodist Church craft group and they asked if I'd make one (or two) for their craft bazaar. Why not? So it looks like I may be slated to make at least one more of these (hopefully doing a better job), which is exciting. For those who are curious, it's an 18"x18" feather pillow - picked it up at a thrift store for $3 and nixed the case that was on it. (That was Jack's idea - very smart, saved me at least $5 if not more...) The pillow forms they've ordered for the bazaar are 16"ers, so I think I'll be able to fix that little glitch with the back not overlapping enough when I make everything a little smaller (and thus have more fabric leftover for that part).

Now if only we could get a real couch...

Until next time!

An end in sight!

I would like to invite you all to join me in my happy dance. :)

With the help of my recent tax return, as well as months upon months of dedication and penny-pinching and what-have-you, I have just made the payment that pushes my student loan debt under $4,000.

Yippee!!!

So now the thought is (barring disaster): I might be able to knock these out entirely by the time I'm done with the summer season!!!!!

Of course, first I'd better figure out a job for the summer...

In the meantime, things are going quite well! Today I finished knitting a pair of socks at my knitting group, where I presented a dozen blueberry scones (my latest thing is "small batch baking", which works well for making fun treats to bring to knitting group - my most recent discovery is a well of these recipes at http://www.tastespotting.com/tag/small+batch/2). I went to the pool for the second Friday in a row and doubled my distance, back up to 1250m now, and likely to get up to (and perhaps over) the mile mark next week. It felt great! (as did the stretching in the hot tub and the few minutes in the sauna afterwards) Now I'm listening to my new favorite NPR show: Invisibilia. Fascinating topics they cover.

Oh, and I'm starting to learn biblical Greek. :)

Mostly, I just wanted to tell you about my good news and invite you all to join me in my happy dance. :)

Until next time!