Windrush Farm Fiber Fest

Love this car!!

I drove up to Petaluma with Laurie and the top down on the Mustang..  It was a beautiful warm fall day.  Linda has been doing spinning and dying with the women who run this farm.  It's full of sheep, llama, alpaca and goats.

The mosaic name plate for the farm

We took so many photos of the animals.  The women sheer the animals, spin, and dye the yarn. 

Isn't he beatiful!!  He's an alpaca:  shorter nose/muzzle and ears that drop down.

This is a llama-the ears are the give-away

This guy has been harvested!!  Shaved completely

Three were dye and felting demos and beautiful yarns an fleece (roving-it needs to be spun into yarn.

This is the roving

A table full of different colored roving

This green is incredible.  All the dyes are natural:  Plants, nuts, flowers

This is what it looks like before anything is done...just from the sherring

I bought a bit of roving to make felted beads.

This is the barn where the women hold their classes

There  was also a weaving demo.  They use yarn and roving to weave with

This beautiful alpaca was so cute and very naked.

It was so wonderful to see all this going on only 45 minutes from San Francisco.  I love how close everything is in the Bay Area.  You can get out in the country so easily....

Costa Mesa for a Work Conference

Lisa and I went to Costa Mesa to present our Writing Workshop model at the Student Success Conference.  It was an amazing experience.  We heard a keynote speaker who was really inspiring.  His name is Jeffrey Duncan-Andrade and he teaches in an East Oakland High School....he teaches students of trauma, as he puts it, and we have many of the same students at Laney.  We are hoping to have him come to professional development at Laney, especially since he's local. He's also an assistant professor of Raza Studies and Education at SFSU.  And, wow...I bought his second book.  What a Coach Can Teach a Teacher to read soon.  I found his talk on Youtube and it's great. 

We spent most of the time preparing our own presentation and eating out at night.  We found a great restaurant (so great in fact that we ate there both nights) Ecco, they have a great wood oven and make fantastic pizza and many grilled vegetables.  The biggest hit were these grilled marinated artichokes.  We even convinced the chef to come out and tell us how to make them.  Lisa and I are planning to try them at our respective houses and see who can reproduce them with the most success...then we share what worked...

Our presentation was a hit...I was so nervous but it was great.  Our room monitor, the guy who listened and kept us on time and made sure everything worked, came up and told us how much he liked it and said it was very interesting.  Several in the audience told us that it was the best presentation they'd heard at the conference.  We stayed after and talked to people who wanted help setting up their own course for over 30 minutes....so happy.

That left us an afternoon to get out in the sun.  Lisa wanted to go to Newport Beach,where she had spent a summer at age 16.  We took a cab to Newport Beach and ate lunch at an incredible seafood restaurant.

We had grilled prawns and scallops (grilled, not fried-how rare to find that option although when we left we saw the chef brush melted butter over all the entrees coming out...the joke was on us:  probably the same calorie count as the fried would have been!!)

We walked from Newport Pier up a few miles and back on highway 1 thru Newport Beach and back to pier,  The we walked all the way down to Balboa.  Many miles in the sun.  After talking to Mom on the phone I do know we walked past the old house on the beach front.  Between 7th and 8th.

Looking south from Balboa Pier

We loved the vast expanse of sandy beaches and the familiar smell of seaweed, salt, and sand.  There are days when I miss Southern California.

From Balboa Pier

Newport Beach Pier from Balboa Pier:  it was a long walk!!

We saw some great houses behind Lido Island and here is one that we loved.  Amazing stained glass window!!

Bad angle:  too much garage, but there were some nice balconies and some beautiful metal work

Close up of the stained glass window in front

The sun, sand, and ocean can't be beat.  We wanted to spend a day on the beach, but no time.  We had decided to come home and see our families rather than be gone on the weekend. 

from Balboa Pier

From Balboa Pier in the other direction

 

 

 

 

The driver from the hotel told us about both restaurants:  the one we ate at and a Mexican restaurant that we didn't get back to.  We will save it for another trip.

Mural on the back of the Mexican restaurant

This is it on 28th and Newport Beach Blvd.

We had a fun 2 days...very stressful, but successful.

Gillian's Birthday

Friday night we took Gillian out to dinner in San Francisco.  The restaurant is Peruvian and it's called La Mar.  It's a cevicheria, which means they specialize in ceviche.  We had wonderful fresh fish.  My only complaint is that they have some ceviches that have a sort of Asian flavor.  Although I love Asian foods of all kinds, ceviche needs lime and chile.  It was a beautiful warn San Francisco night.  We loved our dinner and walk by the waterfront afterwards.

Gilllian and Shannon

After dinner stroll

  The waterfront was beautiful...warm nights just can't be beat.  We have so few here that it's always a treat.

Taken by Luis

Taken by self-timer

Beautiful girls by water

I also took some fun photos of the girls.  I am so incredibly lucky to have two such wonderful daughters.  Just missing my Miami daughter.  Hopefully, we can see them all soon.

Such a fun night.  Marcio was with his friends at a party they had for him.  Gillian was sad not to have him join us...he has promised to make it up to her by cooking dinner...let's hope so.

Friday Harbor

An unexpected trip up to Friday Harbor brought an opportunity for some great photos and a couple of wonderful hikes.  The weather was warm most of the time:  Bay Area warm.  There was also rain and wild clouds.  On Thursday, Margie and I left mom in the hospital and headed to Anacortes waterfront for a 6 mile hike.

The bridge-like walkway across the bay

I am hooked on this wonderful yellow fungus/mold that grows on the wood decking and pilings.  John or Holly might know what it is, but, even without knowing, I love the colors.

the bridge walkway

We walked to the end of the bridge and then along the road, adding a couple of miles.  The road was pretty dangerous because there really isn't a trail-just cars wizzing by.  We gave up and headed back.  The view of the bridge is wonderful.

 After Mom was cleared for take-off, we headed to the ferry line.  I had to wait because we could only get one priority boarding pass.  I love this ferry line.  Every time we drive up, we wait in line and have a chance to walk down by the water.  It brings me back to my first wait in the Anacortes ferry line over 30 years ago.  I remember when Mom and Margie picked me up at SeaTac and we headed up the freeway.  I got out of the car at the ferry line and smelled something strange.  I asked mom what that strange smell was and she said something like, "Why Suzie, it's fresh air."  I'm a real city girl, used to exhaust and sewers.
I love the old pilings at the water front and always take pictures.

Not sure why I like them so much.  It's probably the contrast of the wood against the sky and the water and the wonderful, worn, irregular shapes.  Sometimes you get lucky and see some amazing birds.

This guy posed so nicely for me

I also practiced my macro lens that lets me take extreme closeups without the blur.  Great for a little camera.

The lens works really well.

The day was very misty although it never rained.  There were wisps of low clouds that hovered around the ferry building and the islands.

I didn't have very good light on the ferry ride, so I really just hung out and knitted.  However, there was one great shot of Mt. Baker through the glass window.  Seeing Mt Baker is always sort of a good omen for a visit.  If we can see it, the visit just seems that much nicer.

Can't believe how well this turned out thru glass-no glare at all

Now that the extreme worry over Mom was over, Margie and I did get a chance to go on a couple of hikes.  One of my favorites starts right on the corner of Roche Harbor road and the left turn to English Camp.  I found it by accident last August and was able to find it again to show Margie.   It was a new one for her.  First we walked to a beautiful pond/lake.  The grass had been cut so the trail was easier to find. (Last year, the grass was so tall, I had to guess at where to walk).  We had beautiful late afternoon light and took some photos.

The light on the water is always amazing here.

Photos for you, Mom.  I think they came out well what with the fantastic afternoon light.  I always remember Luis telling me to never take photos at noon.  The light is just too harsh.
We then hiked up the back way to the top of Mt Young.  Not much of a mountain and on the map, it has been downgraded to a hill.  It's called Young Hill now.  We prefer Mt Young.  Sounds like more of a hike.

Incredible clouds

I always get great cloud shots here

Same day, same time, clouds less wild.

Thought it would pour, but it didn't

I will never tire of this view

The hike down was much faster.  We made it down before dark and before rain.

The next day we did the Mt.  Findlayson hike up to Cattlepoint Lighthouse.  It was my day to catch the ferry so we only walked the hill part of the hike and didn't get down to the lighthouse.  The day was incredible.  Wild clouds again and sunshine.  Very changeable weather.  

Victoria and Vancouver Island in the distance

Looking in the opposite direction towards Cattlepoint

sun on water through clouds-it was mid-morning!

Looking towards Lopez Island

The next two pictures show the changing weather.  It's hard to imagine that these photos were taken seconds apart, just in opposite directions.

Toward Cattlepoint

Towards Victoria

Finally, some photos of Margie and me. 

Our shadows, looking down the hill.

The visit turned out to be wonderful though it started with a bit of a fright.  Margie and I caught up and we were able to be with mom a lot.  I realized how uncomfortable I would have been at home.  Family is everything.