running on the beach

Last week was spring break in Portland. We were feeling a bit overwhelmed with memorial service details (me), and homework (Iz) during most of the week, so when our friends Chris and Hannah asked us to join them in Long Beach for a few days, we jumped at the opportunity. Two whole mornings of sleeping in. Three days of eating, movie watching, bakery shopping, eating, eating and, of course, running on the beach... ahhhhh. My daughter likes to run on the beach. Something about being barefoot on the sand says RUN to her. This fact became obvious as I went through some old and new photos of our many beach trips.

















It has the same effect on Bailey...





... but then any open space has this effect on Bailey.



Notice the beautiful weather? Most people think it rains a lot at the beach, but the clouds have parted on most of our excursions over the years.

If I’ve inspired you to travel to the west coast, I recommend the Oregon beaches over Washington’s. In Washington they allow people to drive their cars on the beach, which, in my opinion is just not right. We spent too much energy trying to keep dogs and kids away from fast moving cars and trucks.



If you do take a trip to Washington’s coast, make sure you drive up to Oysterville (located 14 miles north of Long Beach on the peninsula). On a sunny spring day, this charming little town could make me sell the house, pack my bags and move to a little house on Willapa Bay... oyster capital of the world.

memories of my father

My Dad went into a coma early Wednesday morning, and passed away last night at 8:15. During the weeks leading up to his death, we sat with him, sharing stories and our feelings. His life ended very peacefully, free of pain, with his family surrounding him. I think he knew we loved him very much.

Today I found a note that my father wrote to me when I graduated from college. He bought me a beautiful purse, and here's what he wrote in the note that accompanied it:

A special gift for a special daughter.
You did an excellent job and you did it all by yourself, that is really great.
You're going to go a long way in things you like to do.
I'm very proud that you're my daughter and I love you,
Your Dad

My Dad did not usually express his feelings openly, so receiving these words from him was very special.

Some of the most cherished childhood memories I have of my Dad are from vacations we took to Camp Sherman on the Metolius River. It was there that he shared with me his passion for fly fishing. He taught me how to cast a line, reel in a fish, net it and gut it. All with patience and a calm voice. The simple dinners he would make over a camp stove of fresh trout and fried onions were the best ever.



After my daughter was born, we took vacations to Camp Sherman with Dad and Mom every summer. Dad loved taking Isabel by the hand and walking over to the Camp Sherman store for ice cream and the opportunity to show her off to the locals.



Dad always worked two jobs so that Mom could be home with us and often had to work late into the evening to provide for his family. Even after he retired from his day job as an automotive machinist, he continued to work in his shop at home as an automotive mechanic, specializing in antique car engines. He was a true artist in his field, often creating small parts when unable to locate them for these long outdated engines. His passion for a fine-tuned machine stayed with him until the day he died.

Another attribute that remained strong to the end was his sense of humor. With his quick wit and huge smile, he had the uncanny ability to put us all at ease during some rather difficult times.

At six feet tall and 150 pounds, one would not have guessed that my father thoroughly enjoyed to eat. On a trip to the St Paul rodeo over the 4th of July, Dad and I hit as many of the food booths as possible sampling the cuisine. Dad liked to refer to himself as a supertaster, and I loved to tease him about it.





The definition of a supertaster on Wiki is: a person who experiences the sense of taste with far greater intensity than average.

I love you Dad!

life

Last week was extremely busy... filled with lots of cooking, cleaning, laundry, visitors, grocery shopping, ringing phones, nurses, drug store runs, meetings. My Dad continues to decline rather quickly. We were all grieving from the alarming news of three to six months when the doctors changed that to one to two weeks. He arrived home to hospice care set up in the living room of his house on Monday. It has been an amazing experience so far. My oldest brother took a leave from work and is now there 24/7 helping out. I am continually in awe of the way my family has come together during this sad time, supporting each other emotionally and working as a team to do whatever is necessary. And my amazing father has retained his sense of humor. He often has us all laughing through situations that would otherwise be very stressful. He craves touch. When I sit and hold his hand, he seems very content. It's still hard for me to believe that he will not live through all this.

We have a beautiful, forested park near our house. Tryon Creek State Park. It's filled with lush, green, quiet trails and clear streams. This has become our go-to escape from the pressures of life. It's a perfect place to gain perspective, breathe fresh air and get some exercise. This little trillium caught my eye on our hike yesterday.

last night I had a nightmare...

... then I woke up and realized it was real.

This week has had many ups and downs. My Dad's kidneys began functioning again after receiving three days of dialysis. He also received a blood transfusion and a bone marrow test. While waiting for results from the bone marrow test, the doctor told us there was some confusion about the type of cancer he has, but they were convinced that it was, in fact, a cancer. After reviewing a blood sample, the lab technician thought it was leukemia, the oncologist thought it was lymphoma. He gave us a bit of hope by telling us that some types of these are easily curable.

The diagnosis finally came Friday. My Dad has Acute Leukemia and three to six months to live. Yesterday was a blur of activity as we made preparations for his discharge tomorrow and in-home hospice care.

Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and virtual hugs.

bittersweet

I found these small signs that spring is on its way.

I'm searching for a bit of hope today. We took my Dad to the emergency room yesterday. After days of waiting for a procedure that was to determine why he could not hold food or liquids down, he had become very dehydrated and weak. Images last week showed that he had a blockage that they thought was in his esophagus. While waiting for this procedure to take place, he went downhill very quickly. Tests today show that his kidneys have completely shut down and he is scheduled for dialysis this afternoon with the hope that they can be restarted. Meanwhile, the endoscopy they did this morning shows nothing in the esophagus. So the tests continue. Before this episode, my Dad, who turns 83 tomorrow, has been a very healthy, vibrant man. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

the day I realized how fun it is to felt

I can't believe how long I procrastinated felting this hat. I had put so much time into knitting it that I was afraid of messing it up by throwing it into hot water and altering it forever. On Saturday I finally took the plunge! Well, the hat did anyway.



The felting process was so much fun, and so much easier than I imagined. I can't wait to knit another hat and watch the transformation.

In case you're interested, here are the steps involved...

You will need: a top-loading washing machine set to hot (for some reason front loaders don't work as well for felting. I think it has something to do with rougher agitation in top loaders); a pillowcase (a zippered one is best); laundry detergent, a timer, knitted piece to be felted.

1. Put a very small amount of detergent into your top loading washing machine (use about 1/4 of what you normally use)

2. Place your knitted piece in a pillowcase. Zip or tie it closed.

2. Set the machine to it's hottest water temperature, smallest load setting and longest agitation cycle.

3. When the washing machine has filled with hot water, and begins the agitation part of the cycle, throw in the pillowcase.

4. Set a timer for 5 minutes.

5. When the timer goes off, stop the agitation and check for signs of felting. Some yarns felt quicker than others. You might need to reset your machine to start the agitation cycle again once or twice, depending on the length of the cycle and how the felting is going. It's important not to let your washer drain or spin during the felting process, so make sure you watch and listen, and reset it before it starts to drain. Just stop the machine and turn the dial back around so it begins to agitate again.

After a few of these five-minute sessions, you'll start to see the individual stitches disappearing. The fabric will start feeling more firm and solid and somewhat thicker as it gets closer to being done. Once you start seeing the stitches disappearing, start checking the piece more often, every one or two minutes, to make sure you don't take the felting process too far. The felting is done when it looks and feels done. There should no longer be definition to the stitches, and the fabric should be smooth, solid and sort of firm.

6. When you decide the felting is finished, let the machine drain and turn it off. Rinse your felted piece with cool water and gently wring it out.



7. At this point you need to bring the piece to its final shape and keep it that way until it's totally dry. This involves a little pulling and stretching to get it to the shape you want. In the case of a hat, at this point it is essential to try it on the person's head who will be wearing it. If it's too large, toss it back into the machine and start the agitation process again, but this time don't bother to use detergent, and run it on a shorter cycle. If it's too small, stretch it over a bowl or some other object that's the approximate size of your head. Mine needed another five minutes. This made it about another inch smaller and fit my head perfectly.



I found this vase that was about the size of my head. But I didn't need to stretch mine.

8. I then placed the hat on a towel and stuffed it with tissue paper to keep it in shape.

9. Let it dry for 2-3 days.



When Iz saw the finished hat, she said, "That's nice! Just in time for spring!"

Where does she get that sarcastic sense of humor?

finally! the perfect size

After knitting this hat three times, it's finally ready for the felting process. I just realized that it's been over eight months since I first posted about this blue hat.

It now looks like the perfect size... keep your fingers crossed. It's in the washing machine getting agitated right now! I'm trying on every bowl in the house to find the one closest to the size of my head so it will dry the correct size.