New project finished (and I was cutting it close!)  I made a baby quilt and hat for baby Bambino, and the baby shower is Tuesday.  Not much time left on this one, but I did it!  

What I did on my summer vacation.....Alex and I cleaned out the shop!  We've been working on it, and the garage, all spring and summer, but we finally got Ralph out to go through all his 'treasures' that we couldn't throw away, and got the shop sorted and put together so you can walk through it (really, you couldn't walk through it before.....)  We made a dump run with the trailer overflowing, and have started a new pile to haul off of things that Ralph decided that we really could toss, but for now, we are done.  Whew!  It feels so nice to walk out into the garage and shop are now, and not feel like we are on the next edition of Hoarders.....

I also crocheted a large market bag while I was off, or at least finished it.  

My original plan for my vacation was to go camping at Hat Creek for a few days.  We finally got Alli into a day program, so Ralph only had to get her up, showered and dressed and off to daycare while I was gone.  We also had someone coming in in the afternoon/evening to help him, so it was looking pretty good.  Then Ralph had a serious low-blood sugar episode at night (requiring a rescue injection), and I figured it wasn't safe to leave him at night.  Oh well....maybe next time I can go camping.

Instead, Alex and I just went to Lassen Park, and went exploring.  Here's what Lassen looks like right now....

We found a place that sounded interesting to hike to, and that didn't have snow on the trail - actually it was quite difficult to find a trail not closed by snow!  Most of the park still has large piles/patches of snow.

The little creek we hiked by was pretty.

And we did have to cross some snow on the trail.  Not much, but it's the middle of July!

Another little creek we crossed over.

My hiking buddy,

Coming in to Paradise Meadows.

The flowers and butterflies were abundant on the trail.

And a caterpillar.....

And a woodpecker

Unfortunately, I left my phone in the bathroom (I'm paranoid about pit toilets, what can I say - it's the second time I've left it in the park because I've put it far, far away from me....).  When I remembered that I'd left it, we went back, but someone had already picked it up.  They left me a nice note saying they had taken it to the Visitor's Center.  So....off we went to the Visitor's Center - on the South side of the park, 45 minutes away.  When we stopped by, no one had turned a phone in to them, and they suggested that we check the 'other' center - the Loomis Museum - an hour back the way we came.  

So, we jumped back in the car and drove back to Loomis, but no one had turned in a phone there either.  Bummer.  I figured that the person that picked up the phone was still out enjoying the park, and I would catch up with it eventually, so I left my name and number and went on home.  That night, I got a call from the store at Manzanita Lake - someone had turned my phone in to them.  They were closing before I could get back up that night, so the next morning, I drove back up to Lassen to get my phone.  While I was there, I grabbed a couple of shots of Manzanita Lake....

On Sunday, Alex, Chewie and I made a quick trip to see Ronna.  We left here around 6: a.m., and got back in around 8:00 p.m.  Not bad!  We got in a nice visit, a great lunch, and plenty of beach time.  

Groot loves fetch - and I mean LOVES fetch.  AJ was throwing the ball in the ocean for quite a while and had to start throwing it on the beach so Groot could warm up - he was shivering. It didn't slow him down much....

But there were times when the ball would hide - usually in plain sight (unless you were the one swimming in the waves....)

Chewie and I....

Chewie liked the walk on the beach, but not the water so much.

I love this - Groot is out in the water with Chewie watching him.

I've been neglecting the blog again, and no good reason why!  I've even been on vacation this week, but haven't posted anything.  Here's how I started out vacation!  I took off a little early on Friday, and AJ and I took the kayaks up to Whiskeytown....

 My latest project - a baby quilt for a coworker.  I need it done by the end of July......

But I had help working on it.....

I got a couple of nice shots of a butterfly on my agapanthus.

And look what's moved into our front yard....she's been hanging out the last couple of weeks, and yes, I finally broke down and started feeding her.  So far, though, no name (though she is sporting a new flea collar - that's only in self defense....)

Cindy M - Alli's respite worker - asked if I could make up some of the purses for her granddaughters - any color will do.  I went through my stash, and made three cute little purses.....

Book club this month was at Kathleen's, and the book was "Two by Two" by Nicholas Sparks.  I've read better, but I've also read worse.  We decided (by looking at the timeline of the author's life) that this was written after his divorce - and it must have been a pretty bitter one....

The bookmarks were pretty simple - I crocheted an Ark, and put animal buttons on it.  (Two by Two referenced a book that the protagonist read to his daughter every night about Noah's Ark)