Sunday, August 16, 2009

Firelight, Friends and Fiber

When GarySue and I left my house, we really didn't expect the adventure that ensued. Trying to leave town before 12:30, we didn't actually make it until 1:30, then drove to Billie's which was about 20 miles further than I expected and in the middle of a land development that isn't too well developed (not a lot of people so the roads leave a bit to be desired) Billie has a nice place and there are a few others out there, but its basically in the middle of backroads-Nevada-nowhere, which is its saving grace. Except when I'm running late! So, I didn't really appreciate all the time that went into driving to Billie's house to get her camp trailer, until about midnight when I would have otherwise been sleeping on a cot in a tent and it was around 37 degrees. Thanks Billie :)
We got to the camp area, found the other ladies, parked the trailer, unloaded everything and settled in for a nice visit.
We had talked about having lamb for dinner on Saturday night, so just before Gary and I left Battle Mountain to head for Elko, we stopped at the grocery store; among the things we picked up was a bulb of garlic. I like to season chops with soy-sauce and garlic (don't knock it if you haven't tried it! Works for steaks too!). Carmin loaned us her hibachi, although she didn't come back to eat with us. We missed her and she missed one HECK of a dinner!
As we were unloading the truck, the bulb of garlic kind of rolled out of the bag it was in so Gary put it on top of my camping kit on the picnic table and didn't think about it again until I asked, "Where's the garlic?" to which she replied, "Its on the top of the camping kit." to which I replied, "No, its not there!" A few minutes later, we saw the cutest little fuzz ball! A very brazen fuzz ball, who jumped up on to a rock not two feet from Gary, and then proceeded to continue to walk toward her where she thought the little fat squirrel was going to just walk right into a bag of potato chips! We decided we knew what had happened to the garlic. Our little camp mascot kept us company until night, then came back to make sure we were entertained throughout the next day until it was time to go. Jen was not enamored with the little furry fiend, but Gery had fed it, so it went and found a friend to come help charm food out of us, or just jump up on the picnic table and grab it for themselves. The other little furry fiend was just as fat as the first. Guess we weren't its first victims :)
ADDENDUM: In this picture, the fiend is trying hard to look like an innocuous forest creature, don't let him fool you.Lamoille Canyon is a beautiful place, you wouldn't really expect to find something like this in the middle of the high desert, if you didn't live here that is.
It looked like this all around us....

This is me blinding people... lol Billie is just out of sight on the left, then Jennifer, and Jo, our resident knitting gurus.

AND Jo helped me start my first sock! I got home, picked it up and had absolutely no idea how I got where I was but gamely started working on it again anyway. I'm sure Jo will appreciate it when I show up next Saturday and ask her to fix it LOL just kidding Jo, but I may need to start over :)

5 comments:

Sharon said...

What a great weekend, and I think we may need to be looking east for a retreat ourselves. Ian and I have stayed in Lamoille and I really do love it. You're knitting??????

Michelle said...

Hurray - you're KNITTING! Good for you, 'cause I know you wanted to learn. And SOCKS! That's a pretty ambitious start (says she who has only knit two pair)!

Mim said...

Good going Becky! Knitting socks is fun once you get the hang on it.

Jody said...

Congrats on your first sock...what took you so long????
That squirrel is such a rascal but aren't they cute. I feed 2 little chipmunks that live on my backporch and they even sit on my lap and let me pet them:)
We've got 40C temps here today with the humidex.

Kathy said...

That's an outstanding idea - a mini-retreat! I want to start knitting socks too - just haven't either found the right book or the right teacher...yet! I shall persist.
At the rate I wear out socks, I really do need to learn how to make them from my own wools, don't I?

It looks like you had a ball. I am very envious. :)