So what have I been up to? Well, back in July my sister and I headed out across country and ended up here:
That's Half Dome from Olmsted point in Yosemite National Park for my overseas readers. I took a couple of days off work and my sister and I headed west on a quick 600 mile drive out to the park. We spent three full days in the park and did lots of hiking and sight seeing. My sister took a lot of pictures. I took 12. Taking pictures is not something I really think to do. However, here is the one that made me giggle the most:
I was trying to get a selfie of me with Half Dome in the background... Only I had the zoom on and just got the top of my head and hardly any of Half Dome. Here's my best picture of Half Dome:
This is from Glacier Point. My sister and I did a major hike down to the valley from here. We followed the Panorama Trail down to the Nevada Falls and then hiked down the Mist Trail past Vernal Falls and back to the valley floor. It was pretty awesome. I hurt like nothing else the next day, though. From this spot at Glacier Point you could see all the falls and the direction we hiked in. Did I take a picture? Of course not!
The next day we hiked out to Taft Point, across the Pohono Trail and then up to Sentinel Dome before returning to the pull-out where we'd left the car. Did I take a picture? Yes! One!
If you enlarge, you can see the top of Sentinel dome in the reflection of my sunglasses. I'm resting my aching everything in the shade.
We did have an unintentional adventure on the last day at the park and on the way home. My car battery gave up the ghost. We got it jumped in the parking lot of Yosemite and returned to our lodging, ready to gas up and put the battery on a charger overnight, only to find out that the power had gone out. So the gas pumps were off and we'd have to jump the car again in the morning to get rolling.
We figured we'd make the best of the no power situation, so we ate a picnic dinner outside our cabin and packed up while the sun was still up. We were originally told that the power would be back on in an hour or two, but when it wasn't, we just went to bed. The next morning the power didn't come back on until close to 9 in the morning. (A tree had fallen through some power lines and then sparked a wee grass fire. It took some time to get the fire out and the power lines repaired.) So we got our jump from the properties maintenance man, filled the car with gas, got a refund for the powerless night, and headed for Reno in search of a new car battery.
The drive over the Sierra Nevada mountains was beautiful and we found and replaced the battery in Reno before heading out across the desert back to Utah.
I have been stitching a little bit here and there. The Heirloom Nativity Sampler has been seeing the most consistent needle time. In fact, on Sunday I finished up all but adding the beads and the hardanger portion at the very bottom. Which means it's time to bribe LMS to have her do the hardanger for me. Here's a picture of all I've done so far:
The fabric is really a nice light blue and not as washed out as I've managed to photograph. It's only taken me since 2010 to get to this point. Obviously I'm not in any particular hury. Since this one is done for now, it's time to get together all the supplies for the next Sunday project.
O Holy Night Nativity by Stoney Creek Collection has been waiting in the wings for quite some time. I put the center grid lines and started stitching on Mary's shoulder. I've also been working a bit here and there on Lavender Pansies by the Silver Lining, Jingles by Lizzie*Kate, and Santa's Village by Country Cottage Needleworks, but no pictures to share tonight, but I should have updates on those for next time.
Hugs and Stitches,
Kay
