Knitting Iris

the twilight of summer

 

 

 

 

i was born into the twilight of summer.

thank you to family and friends for such a wonderful birthday week!

school of fish

 

 

 

 

 

 

and the school of sun and snails, water and weeds, mountains and meadows, boys and dogs, bikes and berries (chokecherries, actually).

yes, we're homeschooling again this year.  i've missed these days, this life.

 

taken on the fly from the bike on the ride back home.

: )

we went and got dizzy

  

 

Early up that morning, and on the road for the 4 hour drive.

Then:  "Krazy Kars" bumper cars, the "Tilt-a-wheel", the "Corkscrew", "Thunder Canyon", "Tremors", and "Timber  Terror".

A short break for a snack and a magic show, then back for more:  the "Log Flume", "Bumper Boats", and the Ferris Wheel.

Then, the 4 hour drive back home on dark, curvy, lonely, deer (and skunk!) filled, and even rainy, country roads.  Or rather, the four PLUS hour drive in those conditions.

And that didn't even include the 7 more rides and roller coasters that we either didn't get to or chickened out over.

Nor the other half, the water park.

But we HAD to.  The boys had free admission tickets through a reading program last year.  They'd earned them.  We HAD to go.  It was the only day left in the season that would both fit in our schedule and when the weather looked promising.

And so we went, despite the fact that E had a nasty cold with a sinus infection.

I'm not sure when we'll go back; C was still spun out and dizzy the next day.

But the boys are already saving their dimes for another day there next summer.

I knew someday we'd make this trip.  And to think I'd so been dreading the day we'd eventually have to spend a whole, hot summer day there.  It just didn't sound like my idea of fun.

Now, I'm already looking forward to another spin (or rather, double-spin) on the "Corkscrew", maybe even a turn on the "Panic Plunge" or the "Aftershock",  not to mention a day trying to keep everyone from getting sunburnt to a crisp at the water park.

Who would have thought?

Next time, though, we'll set aside enough time to camp nearby, rather than making the drive there and back all in one day!

august into september

august mantle

sunflowers in the boys' garden bed just before dusk, just after thunder, rain, hail, and a big rainbow.

with frost warnings for early morning. 

3 a.m. by headlamp.  mid 30 degrees.  everything is soaked from the evening rains.  frost is starting to settle and form here and there throughout the garden.

what to do?  cover them?  cut them and bring them in? let them be frost-killed?

 

Despite the cold and sleepiness, I couldn't help marveling at the beauty of the cole crops, sparkling and purple and magical by the light of the headlamp.

 

E with his sunflowers, the afternoon prior (before hearing of the frost warnings).

Guess you can see what I decided in the wee hours of then night.

I covered what I could at 3:00 am and then got up again to start the sprinklers running at 5:00 am in hopes of washing off any frost that might form before the sun came up over the mountains and reached the garden.

Whatever the case, it worked.  Nothing was terribly injured by the frost.  It turns out that I could have left the sunflowers out there, too.   

Oh well, now we have an indoor sunflower patch.

There's another frost warning for tonight...and then highs in the 80s predicted for tomorrow afternoon.

summer quilts

  

 

 

 

 

Almost the whole year here it is cool enough at night for down duvets but,since the boys' loft beds lie just under the peak of the highest point in our house, it can also get quite hot up there during the  warmest part of the summer.  

Three winters ago now I got the crazy idea in my head that I was going to finish two quilts for them, before the beginning of that summer (very much inspired by Amanda's quilt for her E here).

Ha!  Two plus years later, at the very tail end of this summer, as the temperatures are dropping into the 3o-40 degrees F range at night, and we're already waking to see fresh snow coating the nearby mountain tops,  the quilts are both done!

To be honest, I doubt either of these quilts would be even completed before next summer if it weren't for the entry deadline last week for this year's county fair as motivation. 

As I could only enter one item per category, the blue/green/brown quilt was the one I chose.  (That's E's quilt.)  I certainly didn't expect a ribbon and didn't receive one either.  There are some extraordinary quilters around here.  The point is to participate.  The judge did, however, leave written feedback which is always helpful (not all judges leave feedback).

And so, finally, the boys are tucked snugly under their own quilts tonight, just in time for the first **FROST WARNING** of the fall and, just as the first cold of the season hits our family.  Maybe with a fire in the wood stove downstairs, they'll be able to use their quilts a little while longer into the fall before putting them away until next summer. 

Just to make sure, I tucked an extra, warmer, blanket made by his grandma, underneath E's quilt, just under his sniffly little nose.  As I did, I told him he was wrapped up in our love....and he responded, "But I'm always wrapped up in your love."

Now guess who was trying not to sniffle.

Of course,  I've caught the bug now...the quilting bug, that is,  and so another quilt is already under way.

Tune back in here a year or two for the finished results...