I’ve been really fascinated by the Colorado sky this summer.  It is so big and expansive that you can see so much variety.  From where we live we can watch the clouds congregate on the mountains and make their way toward the plains, and in the evening light they are quite a site to behold.  There are so many times I’m driving around on errands wishing I had my camera to document the towering layers, but I never have it.  I can stand on my back porch, though.  Here are some of the heavenly sites from right outside my window.

These high clouds are altocumulus.  There are 3 basic types of clouds.  Cirrus clouds are high and wispy, cumulus clouds are the mid sky cotton balls, and stratus clouds cover the sky low and like a blanket.  It gets a bit complicated for me from there because from those 3 divisions they’re categorized into 10 basic kinds of clouds because most clouds are some kind of combination of the 3 basics.

These are cumulostratus– kind of cottony, kind of blankety.

Our very favorite library book on clouds has been Tomie dePaola’s Cloud Book.  You just can’t help but love Tomie’s illustrations and humor along with real, sound information.  The Man who Named the Clouds is about Luke Howard, the man who first devised the way to categorize and name clouds.  It starts with his childhood and shows how following your passion and studying hard can really affect the world.  I also need to get myself my own copy of The Cloud Book by Richard Hamblyn.  It’s a nature guide for naming clouds full of lovely photos and explanations of why clouds are called what they are.

Have you been looking up lately?

I’ve had this quilt finished and rolled up under my drafting table all summer.  I have a friend at church whose oldest daughter just got MARRIED, and this daughter of hers is a photography major and likes artsy things, so I felt like I needed to make her something for a wedding gift rather than head to Target and buy something.  I ordered the fabric in time for the big day, got it all pieced too late, but in time for a visit this spring.  Unfortunately my free motion quilting wasn’t going quite as planned, so I missed that window to give it to her as well.  Finally this past weekend she was here again and I hurriedly unrolled it to take some photos before whisking it over to her.  Here it is, wrinkles and all.

I ordered a fat quarter pack of Joel Dewberry’s Modern Meadow line (not the colorway in the link, though).  I took 8 of the fat quarters and cut them into big 17 inch  squares and made 2 rows of big blocks in the center of the quilt.

Then I added big solid stripes of some Moda Bella Solid and Cross weave on the top and bottom and called it a quilt top.

For the back I took scraps of the fat quarters to make a narrow stripe and used some more Moda Crossweave, all the same color this time, to complete it.  I really like the simplicity of it because it shows off the loveliness of the fabric so well– and it was fairly instant gratification.  I added ties to one edge so that it can be rolled and tied and taken on picnics for years and years to come.

I quilted it in my signature swirls, but had a hard time getting my machine to cooperate this time around.  I was just using the foot my machine came with and my tension was crazy and my thread would break every time I changed directions.   It made me want to swear.  I didn’t swear, of course, but I really wanted to.  Then I tried RaeLyn’s spring loaded foot and was able to buzz through the whole thing in an afternoon at her house.  I spent about 4 hours on 12 inches of the quilt before our sewing date and then did the whole rest of it in an afternoon between the hours of 1 and 4– with lots of chatting and eating and kid chasing mixed in.  (RaeLyn– We really need to get together again.  Soon!)

So, anyway, here’s the quilt that’s been hiding all summer.  I have fat quarters cut to make another, just need to get some more solid fabrics to go with them.  And I think I’ll keep the next one.

Now, you know that driving to Idaho means a lot of knitting for me.  I didn’t get a chance to get my act together for the drive TO Boise, but while I was there I searched Ravelry, settled on a pattern, and got to work.  I finished it right before we left on our llama trip and finally got to wear it yesterday.

The pattern is called St. James by Tonya Wagner, which is generously free.

I’ve decided that I’m all about simple knitting.  When I started knitting I jumped into crazy patterns full of complicated color work and tiny needles.  I still have a half finish Dale of Norway baby sweater I started for my now 9 year old nephew.  Maybe it’ll end up being for a grandchild?  Anyway, I like one color, bigger needles kind of projects.  And after my last road trip sweater, I’ve decided I need to do non-itchy simple knitting.

So, I made a form fitting t-shirt sweater in luxurious Cascade Pima Silk and I love how it turned out.

Simple and pretty and comfy enough to wear everyday.

I love what I can get accomplished on a long car ride.  We had a road trip all the way to New Hampshire planned and I have been scheming about all the knitting I could get done then– it’s 4 times and long as driving to Boise.  That could be 2 whole sweaters, or several kid’s hats, a stash of hand knit washcloths for the kitchen, some Christmas gifts, but now that we’re down the the wire Barry can’t be gone from work for 3 weeks and we have to fly.  Can I get any knitting done on a plane with a toddler in my lap?

I’ve been hesitant to post about our second day of hiking with the llamas.  A couple of years ago I made this post and got some comments and e-mails from people upset with the harshness of my post– they come here to be inspired and uplifted.  Well, in real life hard things happen, so if you don’t want to know about the heartbreaking tragedy that happened that second day of hiking, then skip this post.

We woke up the second morning to beautiful weather.  Barry had planned a day hike up to the next lake, but I wasn’t sure I could make it with a baby on my back.  He talked me into it though, so we packed up the llamas with light loads of lunch and jackets in case it rained and headed up the trail.  It was steep.

It’s hard to tell from these photos where the trail is, but if you look carefully you can see it  going diagonally toward the big rock face.  We needed to go up and around that rock face.

Barry decided to let Jonah lead Turk while he led Tecate and Two Socks.  Brenna and I were slow, so we didn’t see exactly what happened, but we heard falling rock and squealing, saw Logan frantically running toward us yelling that Turk was lost, he fell off the trail and they couldn’t see him.  Barry came down toward us as well, then went in search of Turk.  I huddled the kids I had with me around and we prayed that Barry would find that sweet llama, that he wouldn’t be in pain, and that everything would be all right.  After what seemed like forever Barry came back, ashen faced.  He had found Turk.  He had fallen 200 feet straight down a cliff and didn’t survive.

I can’t tell you the flood of emotions of that moment, of that day.  I was so thankful Jonah was all right.  When Turk slipped on the rock Jonah had to make the decision to let got of his rope and let him fall.  It was so surreal and shocking for all of us, but I think for him most of all.  One moment Turk was trucking up the trail, the next he was gone.  Completely gone.  I felt so horrible that we killed a llama.  What would the owners say?  How would they feel?  We made so many mistakes.  A child should not have been leading a llama over a cliff.  We shouldn’t have even taken all the llamas for a day hike, should we have?  And what was that feeling of not wanting to go on that hike in the first place?  Was that inspiration that I ignored?  Should I have been more insistent that we not go?

We went back to camp, prayed, and talked about the day.  We decided that the owners needed to know what happened, so we would cut our trip short and headed back.  Luckily we had packed pretty light.  Tecate and Two Socks could carry most of what Turk had between them, and what we couldn’t fit in their packs Barry and I would carry in ours. The kids would have to  help some too.

It was a hard hike out.  My pack was a lot heavier, the kids a lot whinier, my heart a lot heavier.  And Hunter kept pulling my hair!

It was still beautiful, though.  I tried as much as I could to ignore the pain in my shoulders to find it and record it.

I had to just keep moving one step at a time.  I tried to stay back with Brenna, but my patience was a little thin, so I just kept her in sight and she took tiny, tiny steps downhill.  She sure did look cute in her pink turtle neck and big straw hat, though.

We went down and down, switchback after switchback.

Jonah cheerfully helped Barry lead the llamas down.  He’s the best little hiker.

And then we were finished.  I held back the tears until the last big stream crossing, but then my tired shaking limbs couldn’t hold them back any longer.  I cried the rest of the way down.

Now that I have a bit of distance from the whole ordeal I can say it was a good experience.  The first day of hiking was idyllic.  And then we learned a lot.  We don’t have to do things the hardest way.  I’ll wait until I have teenagers to attempt so steep a climb again– boys who I don’t have to carry on my back, who maybe can even carry a little of my load.

We’re sorry Turk.  Thank you for your service.  You were such a good boy.  You didn’t eat when we were slow on the trail.  You were the easiest llama for the kids to lead.  You got us up into some of the prettiest mountains we’ve ever seen.  Thank you.

We left at the crack of dawn with a 6 1/2 hour drive ahead of us.  It was a rather uneventful drive.  We started listening to  the Oliver Twist audio book (we couldn’t survive road trips without audio books, I tell ya) and made several potty stops as we had an unfortunate stomach funk making the rounds through the family.  Poor Logan was throwing up the night before and I was feeling pretty yucky as we drove.  Colorado is a beautiful place though, and as we closed in on the San Juan mountains I couldn’t believe how jagged and beautiful they were.  The towering clouds that formed over the mountains were amazing to me.  I wish I had taken pictures, but I was waiting for my 24 hrs of queasiness to be over.

We camped that night in what Barry read was the most scenic campground in Colorado.  It’s right on Molas Lake right outside of Silverton, CO.  Scenic it was– and cold and rainy.

The next morning we got up early to pack our llama packs.  With all of our stuff laid out on the tarp we could see, and hear, the wall of weather coming toward us.  We hurriedly broke down tents and stowed everything in the van before the torrent began.  We had to postpone our 8 o’clock meeting with the llama guys until the downpour let up.

At about 10 the rain let up to a drizzle.  Barry used their garage to finish packing where it was dry and llama guy Mark showed me the ins and outs of llama saddling.  I loved those llamas.  I’m just an animal lover to the core.  I remember watching my grandpa groom and saddle his horses as a little girl wanting so bad to be a part of the care taking, but too shy or self conscious to ask.  It’s kind of silly, but strapping the saddles on the llamas was like living out that childhood wish.  They were good boys, those llamas.  Turk was the white one, Two Socks the dark one in the middle, and Tecate the big guy in the foreground.

The men hooked the trailer to the van, I put the llamas in the trailer and we were headed to the trail head.

The drizzle stopped when we got there.  It stayed pretty cloudy as we hiked, but not another drop fell!

Llamas can carry up to 80 lbs.  We didn’t have them loaded down that heavy and they were ready to walk as quickly as we’d let them.  Unfortunately I had to be a pack animal too so that Hunter had a way to get up the trail.  Truth be told, I was not nearly as cheerful a packer as the llamas were.  I just couldn’t get comfortable and felt so off balance because with a kid in a hiking pack all of their weight is at the top of the pack so you feel it on your shoulders.  No matter how I adjusted I couldn’t get all the weight down on my hips.  I seriously think I may have been more comfortable with a SweetPod because the baby sits low and most of the weight is on the wearer’s hips.  Anyway, enough of my whining.  It was a beautiful hike, which I can say cheerfully now that I’m looking at the photos and not actually doing it.

It was really steep though.  We gained about 1800 feet of elevation in a little over 2 miles.  Switchback after switchback, one foot in front of the other.

The kids were great.  Brenna tended to hang back with me, but Jonah can just motor on and keep up with whoever there is to keep up with.  The llamas were great too.  They were great followers no matter who was leading.  We let the kids take turns leading all three, we separated them a few times so they could each have one, and Barry led them all on the really steep parts.  They were definitely my favorite part of the hike.

After climbing up and up and up we got to this little basin and set up camp.

It really couldn’t have been more beautiful.  We had a little meadow to stake the llamas out in and big logs to sit on surrounding our camp fire.  Hunter loved just sitting in the dirt and scooping it up into his lap and wrapping little sticks with leaves.

He wrapped this stick in a leaf so intently he didn’t even notice me nearby with the camera.  He’d get the stick covered and say, “Bup.  Bup.” (which is how he says “wrap up”) over and over.  He was incredibly dirty, but incredibly happy the whole time.

If I were to do it again I would definitely invest in some kind of packable toilet.  Digging holes for 5 kids is a lot of work, pretty gross work when you’ve got a stomach thing working its way through the family.  I’d probably just get one of these seat lids that fit on a bucket and several bags.  The bucket could just have stuff packed in it and would fit in a llama pack no problem.  We packed out plenty of poop as it was because our potty learning Ian just could not relax enough to go in a hole.  Both he and Hunter were in disposable Pull-ups or diapers the whole time.

I’d also find a roll up table and pack some food in a cooler.  I had no idea we could bring a cooler if we had wanted to, having been trained well by my parents to pack lightly for backpacking trips.  The luxury of llamas is that you can bring stuff– even real food if you want. So, if you’re ever crazy enough to try this bring milk!  Bring lettuce!  Hey, you could even have ice cream!

I would remember card games.  Doh!

Another thing– I’d check the weather better.  We were in much higher mountains than I had backpacked in when I was a kid living in Idaho.  Idaho is pretty dry and gets warm during the day.  Colorado is cooler and wetter up in the mountains.  We were fine  (you don’t go through too many clothes when you don’t ever take off enough clothes to change your underwear, which was the case with all of the males I did not personally have to diaper and clothe I found out as I went through things to do laundry when we got home.  Gross.), but an extra sweatshirt and maybe even long johns for everyone would have been nice.

So, that’s the first half of our trip.  I honestly didn’t like lugging a baby up a mountain, but it sure felt good to take him off my back in the heart of pristine wilderness, set up camp, watch the llamas chomp to their hearts’ content, and see how happy my children felt about doing something so hard and being somewhere so beautiful.

Thank you Bill and Mark for sharing you sweet llamas with us!

Our trip to the San Juan mountains was breathtakingly beautiful, exhausting, exhilarating, heartbreaking, refreshing…  You know how it feels after you’ve done something really hard– so good to be done?  That’s where I am right now.  It may take me a few days to write about the whole thing after I dig out from under this pile of laundry.

See ya here soon.  It’s too big of a story not to tell.

We’ve been back for a week and I’m finally feeling like I can wrap my brain around a blog post attempt.  We had fun.  Wanna see?

We got to Boise in time for Barry to race in the annual Twilight Criterium in downtown Boise.

See him up there in the lead?  He wasn’t quite in that position at the very end, but he did really well and had a lot of fun in that mass of riders on slick skinny tires riding in circles in 102 degree weather.  It was fun for me to watch while I cast on for my vacation knitting project and visited with old friends from high school/ college.

Boise is a cool town.  Every time I’m there I wish I lived there.

Anyway, we got there and slept on the floor in my parents house for a couple of nights, then headed up to the mountains.

My sister in-law’s family has a big “cabin” on lots of land with a river running through it and a natural hot spring pool.  That’s where we headed and set up camp.  I put the word cabin in parentheses because it has 9 bedrooms, each with it’s own bathroom, a big screen TV and an enormous kitchen.  It was a such a fun, comfortable place for all 22 (give or take, depending on the day) of us to stay.

The kids rode bikes and played horse shoes with their cousins.

They caught butterflies and they swam.

This is Ian’s first ever jump of a diving board.  Isn’t that too cute that he covered his eyes?  I love that kid.

They dug in the sand.  We all swam in the river.

The grandparents watched and my dad said it was impossible to take a good picture of him because his eyes are so squinty.  I have those squinty eyes too.  And I got a good picture.

We watched my dad slam dunk a basketball.  Definitely one of the highlights of the entire trip!

My nephew had a Halloween birthday party while we were there, for which we forgot costumes.  I’m kicking myself that I can’t find a picture of Logan in the hunting outfit he scrounged out of a closet in the cabin, but the impromptu mummy costumes and Captain Garbage Can weren’t too bad either.  The mummies didn’t fare too well during the water balloon games, as you might imagine.

The “Squishy Islands” in the middle of the river were the favorite place for the kids to play.  My sister in-law would have freaked out had she seen the mud bath extravaganza.  The river rinsed it all off in a jiffy though.

And of course, Barry rode his bike to the top of a mountain.  Beautiful, isn’t it?

You want to see a few more pictures, don’t you?  Okay, just a few more…

Aahhh… I love my family.

I’m still trying to recover.  Here’s what’s on my mind, in no particular order:

• We’re getting ready to go on a pack trip with llamas next week.
• I’m on a new diet hoping to get my hormones under control.  I’m tired of having one week a month that I feel totally out of control emotionally.  I mean, should a pile of legos or potty accidents really bring me to tears?  I struggle with hypoglycemia and IBS– apparently PMS can be related to all that digestive stuff too.  We’ll see how it goes.
• I love the short videos on Yoga Today’s YouTube channel.
• I missed posting about our anniversary on Sunday– our 12th anniversary to be precise.  It’s gone by so fast and seems so long all at the same time.  On our trip we stopped at the campus of Utah State and found the tree Barry and I climbed and talked and talked and talked and fell in love in the weekend we met.  It’s a big old tree– all seven of us fit in the branches.

So, a couple of you guessed right on the purpose of my cushions– they’re for our “new” camper!  We’re heading out for a week to try them out, so I’ll have pictures of the whole thing soon.

In the meantime, enjoy these photos of a 6 year old birthday party.  I’m up to my packing deadline, so I can’t say much.

Later, skaters!  I’ll see ya in a week or so.

It’s been a while since I made a crafty post, so I thought I’d show you what I’ve been working on.

I’ve got a stack of cushions.  Can you guess what they’re for?