Road Trip

Each year, Dan and I plan several "getaway" weekends. Everyone in our family looks forward to them. Justin gets to spend time with his friends, Kenny gets to spend the weekend with his grandmother, and Dan and I get a chance to spend time alone together.

Since Dan I and I both enjoy history and antiques, we chose to visit Humboldt County, California. Humboldt County is a county located on the northwest coast of California on the Pacific Ocean. It is about a eight hour drive from the Fresno area, so we had to leave early. The drive took us through San Francisco, up the Coastal Highway and through the coastal redwood forests.

These trees are truly amazing. There are so tall and thick in places that they block out the light of the sky. The dominant trees in coastal redwood forests range from several hundred years to over two thousand years. These forests are truly ancient. Their appearance has changed very little over time. Only a couple of trees per acre, per century need to appear to sustain the population.

Dan and I stopped at one of the Scenic Vista point to get a closer look. That's the back of our car near the base of one of the trees which gives you a sense of their immense size.

Situated along the spectacular Northern California coastline 280 miles north of San Francisco is the City of Eureka. The city is bordered on one side by beautiful and functional Humboldt Bay, and on the other by mountains lush with giant redwood.

Eureka has a population of around 28,000 people. Established in 1850, it is listed in the National Register of Historic Landmarks as Historical Landmark No. 477, It offers all the charm of a European village. Beautifully-restored buildings dating to the 1800s make up the downtown shopping area comprised of several blocks. Within an easy walk is the incredible Victorian Carson Mansion, one of the most photographed structures in the world.

The Carson Mansion was constructed in 1884-1885. It is a three story, eighteen room structure with a tower and basement. The house was designed by the Newsom Brothers of San Francisco, well-known architects throughout California. Perfectly situated to the south of his lumber mill, the Carson Mansion has become a local landmark.

The mansion is a fairy tale like structure, with gables, turrets, cupolas, complex windows, porches and pillars. It is adorned with Stick-Eastlake characteristics. The wide porches with large ornamental pillars make for a grand entrance. A complex combination of gables, turrets, cupolas, and pillars constitutes the exterior of the Mansion. The second story balcony has wrought iron framework with the Masonic Order insignia combined with his initials, W.C.

To the west of the Mansion sits another grand Queen Anne. This home was built in 1889 by William and Sarah as a wedding present to their son John Milton Carson. This house was also designed by the Newsom Brothers. The Queen Anne façade is dominated by a large domed turret, so characteristic of the style. Layering, spindle work, and surface undulation also help to define this home as Queen Anne.

The pink and white color of the home has endeared itself to locals as the “Pink Lady.” The clustering of these two landmark Victorians at the foot of Second and M Streets, certainly helps to define the boundaries of Eureka’s Old Town which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Twenty miles to the south of Eureka is the town of Ferndale. Ferndale was the model for the small town under siege in the movie "Outbreak" starring Dustin Hoffman, Renee Russo and Cuba Gooding. Ferndale is known for well-preserved Victorian buildings. In fact, the complete town is California Historical Landmark No. 883 in part due to the Victorian structures. This is view of Main Street. The blue building on the left was built in 1901 as a commercial Victorian called the S.H. Paine Building.
This building was built in the Eastlake-Stick style in 1896 for P.F. Hart. It has been at various times a stagecoach stop, a saloon, a gambling hall, a house of prostitution and an art gallery.
Another famous Ferndale landmark was built in 1898 as the New York Cash Store in the Eastlake-Stick style. This building was designed by T.J. Frost, Architect.
At the corner of Main Street and Ocean is The Victorian Inn. It was originally built as the Ira Russ Bank Building in a style described as Eastlake-Stick. It was also designed by T.J. Frost in 1891. This building can clearly be seen in the movie "Outbreak" as it is the backdrop for the "hospital" in the script.

There is so much to see that it is hard to get any knitting done. However, I do have another square of the afghan nearly completed and should be able to finish it by tomorrow.

The Endless Afghan - The Thirteen Square

This is what I did when I couldn't work on the computer. I picked out a fairly intricate pattern out of the The Great American Aran Afghan and I knit.

Contrary to the opinions of the knit critics in the house, this in NOT a pineapple.
Nor is it an decorated Faberge' egg on a pedestal. (What goes on in the mind of an 11 year old anyway?)
It's a fish swimming through the water! It's also one more square completed on the afghan. Twenty seven more to go!

Coke (and Root Beer Slushies) are bad for Computer!

It is amazing how much we take for granted until it is not around. Take, for instance, my laptop computer.

With the advent of microchips and Centrino processors, the lowly laptop evolved from a expensive plaything with limited capability to a powerhouse that competes easily with unwieldy desktop models. About four years ago, I made a decision to switch from a desktop to a laptop as my personal computer. I have been very happy with the decision. My computer goes with me to court, to seminars, up to Washington, on airplanes, in cars, and trains. Last February, I upgraded to a new Hewlett-Packard Pavilion Entertainment PC. It literally has most of my life packed into its hard drives.
So imagine this tranquil scene. I am sitting at the kitchen table typing on the computer. Justin and Kenny burst through the front door with a surprise for everyone. They had stopped at the local A&W and brought Root Beer Slushies home for everyone. Since it was 105 °F (40 °C ) in Fresno, the prospect of a icey drink was a welcome treat.
Kenny reached into the paper bag the boys had used to transport the drinks in the car, and grasped my Slushie by the rim of the cup lid. He then started to pass it over the computer to my right hand. Just as he was directly over the open keyboard, the lid pulled off the rim of the cup and the entire drink cascaded into the laptop!

I jumped up and quickly unplugged the computer. But the damage was done. I watched in stunned dismay as root beer slushie poured out of every port in the computer. The laptop made a sort of a sizzling gasp, then went dark.
Kenny immediately started a mantra of "I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry..." as he tried to wipe up the spreading puddle. I tried to soothe him and deal with the electronic catastrophe at the same time.
The next day the computer was off to Hewlett-Packard for repair. I had purchased the "3 year - all inclusive" extended warranty on advice of my husband when I bought the computer (he envisioned that I would drop the computer, not test its capability to mimic a sponge).
The repaired laptop arrived Saturday. I plugged in the computer and opened the screen. Apparently the repairman was not amused at the sticky mess underneath the keyboard.
I spent the weekend reloading all my programs and downloading by backup disks. I’m back in business!

The Endless Afghan - The Twelfth Square

Kenny starts 6th grade tomorrow. This past week has been spent doing "Mommy" things after putting a full day at work ----- taking Kenny shopping for new school clothes, new shoes, school supplies and a new backpack. I have also been informed by my young man that he is "too old" for the kids dressing room so I was relegated to sitting outside the "adult" dressing room and waiting for him to come out show me his choices.

This left me very little time for blogging but a great deal of extra time for knitting.As a result, I finished the twelfth square of the Endless Afghan and have most of the thirteen square completed as well. Hopefully,things will return to normal around here next week.

Sweater Progress

Working for a living certainly gets in the way of my knitting. Particularly since the Fresno County Courthouse does not allow knitting needles to be brought inside the building and I had 10 hearings scheduled this past week.
Needless to say, the right sleeve on the Elsebeth Lavold sweater has been rather slow going.
But once I finish it, I only have the right front to knit. Then I can block all the pieces and start to assemble them for the front button and button hole bands. Hopefully, I will finish it in time to wear up to Washington at the end of next month. Wish me luck!

What is this??????

Kenny wants me to knit him a hooded sweatshirt for the upcoming school year. He has requested "a cool sweater with a dragon or wolf on it". I got out my graph paper and started to sketch out a pattern. I then turned to the internet for some inspiration.But when I came across this on the net, all I could think of was "Why?????"

Why would anyone want to wear a sweater that looks like roadkill?

The Endless Afghan - The Eleventh Square

Problem: Justin and his two best friends want to attend a 12 hour long rock concert in San Jose, California. Mom is very uncomfortable with the idea of three 18 year old boys driving 125 miles from home over a road nick-named "Blood Alley".
Solution: Offer to drive them to the concert, then hide out at a hotel for a day of uninterrupted knitting.

Reward: The boys had a great time and were very happy NOT to be driving back to Fresno at midnight. I was very happy because all that time alone allowed me to finish the 11th square on the "Endless Afghan".

This pattern is from The Great American Afghan and features a oak leaf and acorn design. I have oak trees at both my homes in California and in Washington so I thought this square was wonderful representation of my ties to both states.

Is it just me?

I enjoy visiting fiber arts blogs to see what other like minded wool addicts are up too. Sometimes I find a link to a new project (such as the Mystery Stole 3), a tip on a technique I would like to try, or inspirational photographs of WIP's. When I visit, I try to leave a comment to let the blogger know that I stopped by their site.
If you visit a lot of blogs and leave comments, then odds are you have come across a "robot trap". The trap is a bunch of letters and/or numbers that have been stretched and pulled until they resemble a drunken chorus line melting into a lamp post. Right below these distorted runes is a little box. The commenter is asked to type the letters/numbers into the box "as they appear above". The reason? It supposedly it prevents "robots" from leaving spam comments.

When first ran across these little gems, the grouping seldom exceeded 5 letters. Lately however, these sequences are getting much longer. Sequences like "Jfjur" or "yerhn" have now morphed into "gjrnfbbdjfklmblj" or "okgjvjjiivwwvmmnxvvwv". Trying to decipher these encryptions often requires perseverance, luck, and a good, stiff drink.

Not much better is the dreaded "grey box". This trap consists of a rectangle infused with what appears to be swirling sticks and stones in deep, grey, foggy mist. Interspersed within the greyness are six random letters/numbers that appear to be jumping rope out of sequence. They are about this tall, which makes them difficult to see without the use of an scanning electron microscope.

Don't get me wrong. I am all for keeping spam out of the comments. I just sometimes wish there was a simpler method.