I'm Back

I've actually been back for several days now, but haven't posted because I didn't get around to transferring my photos from the phone to the computer till today. I actually took the camera with me, charged it up before I left home and took the charger along too, just in case, and I left it sitting in my room the whole time. Luckily, I never forget my phone, although it doesn't take pictures quite as nice as the actual camera.

This was a family gathering in Crested Butte, Colorado. The primary purpose was to bury Grandma's ashes next to her husband's in the place they had chosen many years ago. But Grandma wouldn't have wanted us moping around all weekend, so we also got in some hiking, rafting, and general sight-seeing. Here are a few photos of the surrounding area.

Aspen trees just starting to leaf out in the foreground, with the actual Crested Butte in the background. The town is just visible in between.

After the memorial service, a few of us took a scenic drive recommended by my dad's stepbrother, who lives there. I didn't take too many pics because I was driving, but I had to pull over and get this one.

 Mostly when I wanted to look at something on this drive, I would just stop in the middle of the road if there was no pullover spot, because there was no traffic-- hence the dearth of photos from the drive. Just take my word for it, the scenery was breathtaking. The road came to an end-- or rather was closed beyond a certain point because all the snow hadn't melted yet-- by the edge of a stream. There are so many rivers and streams in the area that I couldn't tell if it was the same one shown above or not, but it probably was. We got out and spent some time by it. Here's how clear the water was:

The solar eclipse was also that weekend. We were too far north to see all of it, but we did get some. If I had stayed in Albuquerque, I would have had a prime eclipse-viewing opportunity as ABQ was right in the path of it. You can't have everything in life.

I took a card that had been left in our rental house by the property manager, the back side of a map that I no longer needed, and a couple of gadgets from my tatting bag and used them to make a pinhole projector to watch the eclipse. I poked a hole in the card with a needle and enlarged it with a crochet hook, and projected the image onto the back of the map. This worked well for a while, but somewhere along the way I set it down and it disappeared. But my dad realized that by closing the blinds in the hallway, we could watch the eclipse in the patterns of sunlight passing through the blinds and reflected on the opposite wall.

It's kind of blurry, but you can see how the spots you would normally see have been transformed into a series of half-moons, especially at the top right.

And as promised, I did take some Lizbeth Peacock Blues thread along. I started this bookmark while there and finished it yesterday. The pattern is Jon's Bookmark with Overlapping Chains.

I added a tail of 1/1 zigzag chain finished with a small motif inspired by the bookmark.

Don't expect any further tatting for the next week. I will be busy practicing for a concert next Saturday night. Imagine 15 harps on one stage, all playing together. It's going to be pretty amazing.