Forging Ahead

With the Oregon Cardigan. Just put in the underarm steeks - although instructions seem a bit strange in one sense - leaving a single stitch of a pattern repeat on one side of the stitch and the rest on the other - whereas on the other side of the sweater, there is no odd stitch out. Will ponder before I go much further. Called Dear Friend Patricia who was a voice of sanity.


We're forging our way back from S.F. and are in Ukiah tonight. Great yarn store here called "Heidi's." Very cute store dog that is so sweet - adopted from a shelter about a month ago when the store owner's dog died. How can people abandon these wonderful animals. They named him "Stitch!" So cute!

Didn't take much in the way of pix here and just a few in San Francisco. Having lived in S.F. for several years it feels like another home. Recently they are placing large decorated hearts all over the city from the them of "I left my heart in San Francisco," much as Seattle did with the big pigs, and other cities have done with their special themes. Unfortunately that picture is out in the car and not downloaded


Always fun to see urban art throughout the city too.


We're SO predictable. We go to Golden Gate Park, say hi to the last of the Bison herd that is still there. The year we left in '92 was the year the Bison keeper - who'd been with them forever - retired. They decided to neuter all the males so that no new babies would be born and the herd would gradually die off. One of our previous years in the city we reached their outdoor pasture hours after a calf had been born - the placenta hadn't even detached yet. Pretty thrilling!

We go to the Beach Chalet for brekkies:

It's half a block from where we used to live at condos across the street from the beach and down the hill from the Cliff House. When we lived near, the Beach Chalet was old and sadly in need of repair, which didn't happen until we'd been gone for a year or so. The WPA artwork on the bottom floor is really wonderful and you can see it if you click on the site above.

Views from Cliff House down hill along beach (much steeper than it looks) down toward last condos on the left where we lived . In the old days this area was called "Playland" and had a roller coaster and other rides and attractions. Golden Gate park ends at the beach. In the second picture you can see one the two former working windmills that brought in water to the park. Most days of the year the beach is deserted as the fog would come in every afternoon and most days were grey (very happy-making). As soon as a warm sunny day hits, everyone and their brother calls in sick from work and suddenly it looks like any beach in So. Cal. with no place to park and wall-to-wall people. I used to do my 5-mile race walk down a path near the beach to the Zoo and back. Those were in the height-weight proportionate days. Didn't see a smidgen of fog this time. What was the deal?

The second windmill is down at the other border of the park and is under construction, but this one has been redone for years. Really lovely flowers are planted at all times of the year. How could I have left out Poppies in my list of favorite "P" flowers?

And, there are always a million "Painted Ladies" (Victorian houses in pretty colors with well-thought-out trim and gilding). I know where they are in the city so I go have a look but don't try to photograph. Once in a while tho, you run into someone that just didn't do a swatch to see how it would turn out large scale:

There must be some paint ratio of how many eye-searing colors per inch it takes with other colors added to make it all work. Knitting swatches help. Surely paint swatches must help. Ack! And these are all colors I love normally.