Two Tickets to Paradise

I've got two tickets to paradise, 

Won't you pack your bags, we'll leave tonight…

Haven’t you heard stories, on the news or maybe even read about people who just disappear? Someone might go to work then never come home. Or maybe it’s time to go to the store or school and that’s the last time you’re seen. Some, I know, fall victim to mean people who kidnap or kill then hide the bodies. Some are in bad situations and have help to vanish so they can live. Some are just people who don’t want to be where, or who, they are anymore.

Surely it’s crossed your mind. What if you just kept driving? What if instead of getting on the plane and coming back to reality you decide just to stay wherever you are and start another life? What if? What if?

I’ll admit it’s crossed my mind. I wouldn’t mind just being somewhere else. Maybe just for a day or even a week. Or maybe just being someone else. Sometimes I just want to go where there are no worries and no cares. Paradise.

 

Out of curiosity I did a search on the Internet. There are actually instructions on how to just fade away, vanish, without a trace. No records, no identification, no history. Is that how people do it? What would it feel like to have no history? No background? Probably wouldn’t be much fun. Or maybe it would be a lot of fun. Who knows? 

Really, I have nothing to complain about. I have a good life, but it’s been one of ‘those’ weeks. Wait…I mean months. I’m ready to go. Where is Paradise? I don’t know. But I have two tickets. Would you like to join me? 

I'm gonna take you on a trip so far from here, 

I've got two tickets in my pocket, now baby, we're gonna disappear. 

We've waited so long, waited so long.  

I made a Citron a while back. Probably a long while back since I tend to make and not block things. It was small and I was a little disappointed but I dug it out and decided to block it to see if I could make it bigger. I wet it and pinned it out and decided I’m a sloppy blocker. It stretched but the Citron is supposed to have these little puckers and I stretched some of the puckers. It’s still not big but it’s okay. It looks fine folded up like a scarf, too.

In progress

Back of Citron

Kind of cute as a scarf!

I am in awe of the people who stretch things out meticulously. I don’t have the patience. Actually I think I don’t have the knowledge. That would involve measuring and math, both of which I’m not fond. But it’s done now, even with the ends worked in!

Half-a** blocking. And it's not red, more maroon and pink and brown!

I’m ready for it to be fall. I like the colors and I found a little felted bag I made out of some yarn from our trip to Vermont a couple of years ago. It will be perfect for keys, I.D. and such when you just need a couple of things. It will fit inside a bigger bag then I’ll have what I need but I won’t have to carry all of it everywhere.

Felted bag. Fall colored yarn!

And finally, I’m almost through with the Halloween blankie for the littles. It’s not big either but it will be fun. I made some giant hairy spiders out of old chenille yarn I had hanging around. They have a buttonhole so they can be buttoned on to things. I had some odd orange buttons so I sewed them to the blanket and buttoned the spiders on. That way they can take those off if they want and play with them! I still need to make two or three more spiders and it will be done.

Hairy spider! Tarantula or Black Widow?

Halloween blankie for the Littles!

I think I’ll go pack. Some clothes, some yarn and I’m set!
 

Got a surprise especially for you, 

Something that both of us have always wanted to do. 

We've waited so long, waited so long. 

Won't you pack your bags, we'll leave tonight, 

I've got two tickets to paradise…

Hummingbird Don't Fly Away

Hummingbird don't fly away, fly away. Hummingbird don't fly away, fly away.

The sweetness of your nectar has drawn me like a fly.

I just love you, love you, love you. I don't even know the reason why.

I like hummingbirds. It’s a treat when we are at the mountain house to get to see them cluster around the feeder. The feeder hadn’t been up long, so there weren’t too many this time. Just three or four that battled the bees and wasps to get to the sugar water. But now they know it’s there, they will be back, and bring friends!

Imagine my surprise when I was on my deck at home the other day and something buzzed my head! I thought it was the biggest mosquito ever and I’d better take cover! I watched for a minute and there it was. A hummingbird! She, because she wasn’t bright and pretty, was getting nectar from the blooming trumpet vine. I couldn’t believe it! I ran to get the camera and you guessed it, she was gone. I didn’t even know we had them out here in the desert.

Female Hummingbird

The next morning I was ready. I waited outside because I was determined to get a picture. No such luck. This little bird was camera shy! As soon as I got ready away she flew! Darn.

That's where it was before the camera was ready.

I didn’t think much about it until the other day I when I went out around noon. BZZZZZZZ. There was another one! This one was a male, beautiful green and yellow colored. Don’t you think Mother Nature has it backwards? The female should be the pretty one! He buzzed some hanging things I had put up, he buzzed another colored string of turtles in the corner, and then he went to the trumpet vine. Soon he was joined by two more, both dull females, and I ran to get the camera. Alas, they sensed it and again, left as soon as I got the camera positioned.

There were three then there were none!

I do know why the females are dull colored. It’s to protect them while they nest. They blend in instead of sticking out and trying to take center stage. They usually only lay about two eggs and after they lay they become single bird parents and don’t need the mail around. Hey, maybe Mother Nature had it right after all! That male bird is gonna need something catchy to snag another friend!

I did manage to get some pictures of the birds at the feeder at the mountain house. Not good, mind you, but you can see a little black dot that IS a hummingbird! Maybe I need a better camera!

My friend Lydia has a cabin in East Texas. She’s recently posted a video of the hummingbirds at her feeder. You should check it out. It’s awesome! That is if you like hummingbirds!

Not Lydia's. It's what I wish a feeder here looked like!

Oh hummingbird, mankind was waiting for you to come flying along...

I’m having serious knock you out stress here so I have been trying to keep busy, so I’ve been crocheting and knitting. While sorting and trying to store some yarn I happened across the ugliest yarn ever, black and orange striped, which would be great if you were a Bengals fan, or lived in the rival town about twenty miles away. But I was neither and really am not sure why I got it. Anyway, I’m turning it into a small Halloween blanket for the Littles. It’s ugly, but hey, it’s Halloween!

A Halloween blankie in the making

I also blocked…yes, really, and actually finished a shawl. It’s little, and I’m not sure I like it although I really liked the yarn when I made it. But that’s the beauty of knit and crochet. If you don’t like it you just rip it out!

Pinned and blocking.

Up close pinned loops.

Back view of shawl.

Front. A little dark on the color.

I also started another of the magic granny square jackets, this on lighter and in a more subdued color. I think I am truly ADHD! Come to think of it though, the shawl colors remind me of hummingbirds.

Small enough to become a scarf!

Hummingbird don't fly away, fly away. Hummingbird don't fly away, fly away.

In you I've found a fragrance. I'll love you 'til I die.

I just love you, love you, love you. I don't even know the reason why.

It’s Magic …

Oh, ho, ho    

It's magic, you know…

Never believe it's not so! 

Is there such thing as magic? Probably not or else I’d be twitching my nose and turning people into toads all over the place! Sometimes things seem magical though. Sometimes yarn is magical to me. I made a cute little ‘shrug’ the other day. It was quick and the way it went together was almost like magic!

The original picture I saw; http://www.kootoyoo.com/2010/05/mulberry-granny-shrug.html

A knitting friend of mine, Carrie K, pinned a picture of the jacket to Pinterest. If you don’t know what Pinterest is, you surely need to find out! Anyway, I thought it was cute, repinned it and went to the originating site. There was a free pattern! Besides that, there was a video, and step by step instructions with pictures!

So I went to the yarn stash, and looked around. I found something in the blue cabinet that would work. It’s a little bright, but it’s fun, so what the heck! It’s kind of a blue/green boucle, something from Hobby Lobby called Fleece Lite. What made it even better is that it had a sale sticker on it and I’d only paid 2.00 a skein! So, the jacket would cost about $10.00 to $12.00!

Blue stash cabinet #2

There were six of these...for something!

This jacket is crocheted, not knitted. It required a giant hook, size “Q” in America, and when I started looking I found I had two of them. If that wasn’t big enough I even found an “S”! I can’t imagine working with one that big. The “Q” feels like a dowel!

I followed the instructions and started crocheting. At first it felt a bit awkward, mostly because the hook is so big around. But after I figured how to hold it in a more comfortable position it became easier.

Crocheting with a pole!

Just a granny square...but not square!

One thing about a big hook and fat yarn is that the project goes fast. It took me about three days, and that wasn’t working on it continuously. I’ve got a couple of other projects going so if my hands got tired I switched to one of them just for some relief.

If you can make a granny square you can make this shrug! That’s what it is. I was glad, though, that there were pictures because it seems a bit wonky. But the further along you go, the better it gets.
When it gets a certain size you can fold it and start to see how it will work. It becomes an “L” and you can see the sleeve and the body. It’s magic!

One of the hexagrams was finished! It was kind of floppy and I was skeptical. I folded it. Then I knew I had done it right! I anxiously started the second one.

Wonky hexagon

Folded to make an L. See the sleeve and body?

The second went fairly fast. It was still a little hard on my hands. Then it was finished as well. I laid them out to see what they’d look like. Surprise! They looked like a sweater!

Both sides now!

I sewed the back seam then sewed the sleeves. I decided I wanted the sleeves longer so I added three rows of granny stitch on each sleeve. It was easy. Just make rounds like you’d normally do. Then I edged the whole thing in single crochet.

Looks pretty good on her!

Close up front

From the back

Close up back

Not bad! I like it. In fact, I like it so well I might just make another one!

This will work!

Back on me

Funny how some things can make you happy.

It's magic, you know

Never believe, it's not so…

Life Is A Highway

I wanna ride it
All night long…
If you're going my way, I wanna drive it
All night long…

Road trip! We’re packing for yet another quick trip of 2000 miles in five days! We’re going to Utah this time to see Ty. I haven’t seen him since October and we both miss him. I’ve never been to Utah so I’m looking forward to it.

We left the house at 3:30pm. We made a couple of stops then took off for Utah. Yes, it was a very long ride. We stopped as needed and did pull over and rest for about an hour. Alan did most of the driving but I didn’t sleep. He has this annoying habit of running over the Mallory strips and scaring me as soon as I doze. A Mallory strip is what we call that bumpy area that lets you know you are running off the edge of the road. Mallory’s dad had a big part in creating these bumpy patches, hence, Mallory strips. Some states have them on the edges of the road and in the middle so I got it from both sides. We drove into Vernal about 20 hours later, 10:30am the next day. Actually on our time it was 11:30. We unloaded, had lunch then rested. Alan snored as soon as his head hit the pillow. I went into Mom mode and started straightening up Ty’s room and doing laundry. I couldn’t sleep but did manage to relax some.

Ty and his roomie took us to eat lunch at a local restaurant. They are both petroleum engineers and just moved to a new apartment. I’m a people watcher. While we were waiting for our food to arrive I noticed that every girl who came in had puffed up hair. It was like there was a sale on Bumpits and everyone bought one! I finally mentioned it and Ty told me it’s actually called the “Vernal Poof”. It’s ‘the’ hairstyle to have. Isn’t that funny?

The advantage of driving all night is that you get there. The disadvantage is that you are exhausted when you do. We took it easy and looked around at some of the local sites. Vernal is located in the Unita Basin which is famous for its dinosaur fossils. Alan had an appointment to get some new seat covers put in the Dodge. We dropped the truck off as we looked around. The Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum was right across the street from the seat cover place. I didn’t go in but I did walk over and get some pictures of the outside dinosaurs. I know the littles would love to see it!

Dinosaurs in Vernal

Camo Seatcovers

Lots of hiding places!

Utah is a very pretty place. At least where we were it was. But it sure didn’t seem very spring like! It was cold and the mountains still had snow. We drove around and saw some beautiful scenery. We went out to the mountains and saw an operational mine. They do a lot of reclamation to restore the land so it wasn’t a barren ugly mess like I expected. Their tailings pond boasted that it was crystal clear. There were streams and a lake. Everything was crisp and fresh looking. It was really a nice change from the dry, ugly dessert we come from.

Reflections on a lake

The view from the top...Utah

Looking down from the mountain in Utah

Up high with the aspins...Utah

Too soon it was time to head back. We decided to break up the trip home into two days. The countryside through Colorado was real eye candy. There were many snow topped mountains. We saw literally hundreds of elk. We saw deer and wild turkeys. We tried to stop in Silverton. It’s a quaint little village with lots of shops and restaurants but it seems everything is closed on Monday. Seriously, even the gas station/convenience store was closed. There were kids, bundled up, playing outside. I don’t know what they do if someone who actually lives there needs something! We also went through Durango, where we spent our honeymoon. It’s changed so much neither of us could even remember where we stayed. We wondered if the place was still standing! We drove on to Santa Fe and spent the night. After a good night’s sleep we headed home the next day.

Silverton, Colorado

An old mine office in Colorado

Rocky Mountain High...Colorado

A tunnel in Colorado

The rest of the trip was uneventful except for the depressing changing scenery. Soon it was no longer cool with temperatures in the 80s and higher. The mountains were replaced by wide open spaces. The green trees and snow turned into sand dunes and mesquites. We agreed that even though it’s home we sure live in an ugly place!

I started a crocheted shawlette called Summer Twilight Shawlette on the way. It was with the Madeline Tosh yarn I got in Dallas.

Madeline ToshYarn

Wound yarn.

It’s not big and I was sure I could finish it on the trip. Turned out I did. Twice! It was really pretty but it was the size of a doily! It was more like a collar than a shawlette. I made a few of the shells on the final row and decided to take it all out and make it again, with a bigger needle.

Started shawlette...the first time.

On a hook two sizes bigger than what the pattern recommends I started again. What a difference! Now it looks like a shawlette even before it’s blocked. I finished it, again, and this time I’m happy with the results. Now I just have to block it!

Finished product...unblocked

Even though the road trip was long, it was fun. We saw a lot of things and enjoyed our own company. Now it’s back to work for a couple of days. But we’ve already decided we’ll get back in the car and head off again, somewhere, soon, going through all these cities and all these towns. We’ll make the journey and we’ll go the distance. And we’ll enjoy the ride.

Well, life's like a road that you travel on.

There's one day here and the next day gone.

Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand.

Sometimes you turn your back to the wind.

Life is a highway, I wanna ride it

All night long.