A smooth ride home

I flew back to the Adirondacks yesterday afternoon and it was quite different from my trip to Boston. The skies were clear, with few clouds, it was breezy but not gusty and I didn’t have knitting to occupy my hands. I was able to sit up front behind the pilot. He looked so young, I wanted to ask for his driver’s license.

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I figured out the seating plan. The pretty young women sit in the copilot seat. My views were fantastic though and he was very happy to act as tour guide.

 

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Marblehead in the foreground, Baker's Island in the middle

 

I couldn’t see Baker’s Island as well but the view of the Green Mountains, Lake Champlain, the High Peaks and sunset were beautiful. I took lots of pictures but they were mainly through one of the plane’s spinning propellors.

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I had a great view of the dashboard with all the instruments. I couldn’t get a clear picture of it because the plan was shaky but there was a plaque with written instructions outlining what to do if the engine stalls. I think they should have that memorized.

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Knitting aside, feather and fan scarf

I received some beautiful yarn from Nezinscot Farm, Maine CIMG0492.jpgas a gift from a new friend. I decided to knit a scarf and because it was handpainted, wanted to try a ripple effect with a feather and fan pattern. I wanted both halves to mirror the other so I used a provisional cast on for each half and cast on 36 stiches. A provisional cast on leaves “live” needles on the edge of the knitting so you can figure out how you want to finish and edge or in this case, connect two halves without a seam. Here’s Lucy Neatby’s instruction for a provisional cast on for those interested. She is my favorite current knitting instructor probably because she used to knit while serving on ships in the UK’s Merchant Marine and settled in Nova Scotia.

I got to what I thought might be close to halfway and cast on the second half of the scarf on the same set of circular needles from the outer strand of the ball of yarn. Every ball of yarn has a center strand and an outer strand – the two ends.

CIMG0506.jpgNow I could figure out when I hit the middle. I had to contend with a few tangles but it wasn’t too bad.

When both halves were even, I binded off with a suspended bind-off to keep it loose, grafted the two halves together and Voila.  My ravelry page is here

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Now I have to get back on a  plane and fly back to that tiny airport.

Atop a Brown roof

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I’m enjoying Providence as tourist and mom. Yesterday, I attended a field hockey game played on a field on a roof of a building. Obviously it was a flat roof but it was atop a hill and the wind was blowing at least 25 knots. One of the goal boxes was blown over. I walked the sidelines taking photos to stay warm, which didn’t really work but there were nice views. I was reminded of how much I enjoyed  high school field hockey games.

I got to hang out with Chelsea at her house and she made us breakfast and I made us dinner. More of the same today, with possibly a rugby game and exumba?? class.

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Providence on foot

Providence high
I’ve been visiting Providence for three years but this is my first walking tour. This is the best way to see the buildings, skyline and clouds.
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My journey began from this tiny airport. The pilot (no attendant aboard) warned all 9 passengers it would be a rough trip. It was! I tried to remain calm with knitting and music as the plane dropped, pitched and yawed. Then when we landed he said it was better than expected. Holy cow. The plane was so small, one passenger sat in the co-pilot seat (and chatted way too much with the pilot) and they weighed us and told me I had to sit in the back. My seat mate was ashen green when she got off the plane. Maybe if I eat a lot this trip, I can be co-pilot.

Saranac Lake airport terminal

Colorful lunch

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We took advantage of nice weather and rode our bikes and then walked to the local lean-to. We enjoyed spectacular views but the leaf colors may be just passing their prime. I had fun reading the log book. Seems a lot people simply go there to get drunk. At least not at mid day. Since we didn’t use our GPS, I didn’t think I could swap anything in the geocache box with good conscience.

Ah, the mountains

photo courtesy of Bethany

Back in the wilderness with hiking options galore.  Yesterday was Wednesday, hiking day with a wonderful group of women.  They hike, snowshoe and ski  through all weather, with the exception of pouring rain or flooded trails.  We hiked to Indian Head, a trip I had taken with Tim in the winter and posted about here. It was much more fun this time and I can hardly believe I did it on showshoes.  We walked the road to the Gill Brook trail and followed the river with several waterfalls.  Then we made a right and headed uphill.  As a general rule, I don’t like hikes with ladders.  This one had at least five.  I don’t think we ever saw them when we did it in the snow.  The view of Lower Ausable Lake, flanked by the mountains, was stupendous.  We met a group of revelers at the top enjoying lunch and libations.  I don’t think I would have like the ladders after that.

I finished my socks made from possum  and wool yarn that I bought in New Zealand last year and am very happy with them. Now it’s onto a scarf made from beautiful kettle dyed yarn that Ramblinroo brought to Seguin for me from Nezinscot Farm Yarns and Woolens . Maybe Chelsea will like it.Possum sox

So much for endless summer

Frosty bbq
So much for endless summer. My winter clothes are packed away and there’s frost on the ground. It’s friggin’ freezin’ here. Time to get out more long johns. There’s about a 20 degree daily swing in the temperature.

We just received information about our Tasmania trip from the present caretakers and from a cookbook published by the Friends of Deal Island, which Cooper’s girlfriend, Elizabeth, sent us. It is full of information about the island and even includes a suggested shopping list if you find yourself without a store for three months!

I have to start thinking celsius. High summer temperature is 20.5° C and low is 12.6°. I guess that decimal point adds heat. It wouldn’t make much of a difference in fahrenheit and will make my rounded off conversions a little complicated. Ah but I just found a way to estimate. Double the C, subtract 10% and add 32. Simple, eh? So 55° f to 69° f. Why do we have different systems anyway.

Celsius, meters and kilos make much more sense. I have to think of clothes for 12.6° C, plant a 10 meter square garden and buy 10 kg of 50 kg of flour. Will that fit in a shopping cart. I’ve been working out our food needs in lbs. I knew this was going to get complicated.

Resting places

Final resting place
This is a pretty nice final resting place. I only need an interim resting place. Today we opened three months of mail, which led to endless phone calls to insurance, satellite companies and the kindle support team.

I knew I was in trouble when the first person I spoke to at Dish satellite company didn’t know what a World Series was. 

Mail’s been sorted, house is clean; onto laundry and a hike in the morning. 

Home Sweet Home

It’s great to visit our home.

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We’ll be here for 4 weeks and I’ve already scheduled trips to visit Chelsea and Cooper. The mountains are red, gold and yellow. We cleaned indoors yesterday and today, Tim stacked a cord of wood from our neighbor, felled a couple of dead trees, weeded, got rid of cluster flies, filled the hot tub and rowed. I was less ambitious but stocked the kitchen, ran and plan to soak in the hot tub. We marvel  at our views

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Boat to boat

 Dinghies to the Leeward
Today’s journey began and ended on a boat. Capt. Ethan arrived with the Leeward at 0800 and, with the help of Dee and her family, we loaded our stuff and the cats. They had two dogs and we picked up a bucket of lobsters along the way. All in all it was a peaceful ride.

Shirley inadvertantly got tossed around like luggage a few times but she did fine. 
Leaving Seguin
Then everything was offloaded onto the pier with a gaff hook, including the cats and the rowing machine, and we loaded up the car and headed home.

Lake Champlain Ferry
We took the ferry across Lake Champlain, along with four tractors and a boat full of cars. Drive on, drive off. How simple. We got back to the mountains and then we cleaned again. It’s great to be home.
Shirley and Loki en route