So Little Time

It feels like we should still have weeks to go on this trip but in reality we only have another seven days. A lot has been squeezed in so far. We visited Tom's Beau Pere -to-be in Ventura where the sun shines onto the sea, the phone rings with calls from Lebanon and  Paris and the garden is filled with healing herbs.  

I had my first Flickr meet-up with Christine who showed me the wonders of Lafayette and Walnut Creek, complete with yarn stores, patchwork shops and   ( view the photo large ) candy stores. She also made me a beautiful project bag which is just right for sock projects.

We ate soup in the cafes of San Francisco's North Beach,  revelled in the peace of the Japanese Tea Gardens and watched the passers by till our eyes were sore. This week we head off to Lake Tahoe for Thanksgiving and Tofurkey. I hear there is snow forecast - just like home! 

10 Things I Like About You.

So, we survived the flying and the jet lag.  Immigration was slightly tricky as there had been some mix up with another ticket belonging to someone with a name similar to mine. This meant a visit to the Scary Immigration Office.  Luckily I passed and then made it through Customs without having my tin of shortbread confiscated.

Here are some first impressions:

1. Blue skies - lots of.

2. People in Oakland, especially women will smile in your direction if you catch their eye.

3. Blue Jays.

4. Hummingbirds.

5.  Raw food smoothies at Cafe Gratitude.

6. Post Halloween pumpkins still on porches.

7. Many bookshops.

8. At least one yarn store in walking distance.

9. A lovely light filled apartment.

10. So much good coffee I might never sleep again.

Best of all, we get to hang out with Tom and Lara!

Second Cousins?

I had great hopes for Socktoberfest but reality hit and I only managed two pairs of socks instead of the hoped for thousands. Two pairs more than I might have knitted without the 'Fest though. This pair are the least matching fellows I have ever made, lovely solid green Jawoll and the odds and ends of my Noro sock yarn. Obviously I could have fiddled around and made the stripes a little more fraternal but I thought I'd leave things to serindipity. Serindipity seldoms lets you down.

The hat is Felicity, a free pattern found on Ravelry. A lovely simple knit but tricky to photograph without assistance. It is perfect for a person going on holiday. We have bags packed, an in house cat wrangler organised and all that is left is to fly for hours and hours tomorrow until San Francisco appears. Magnus as you can see, is not pleased at being left behind. He gets terribly car sick and it doesn't bear thinking about what might happen on a plane.