Or,
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
First, the Ugly. As the ticker shows, the Volkswagon went in reverse this week. I got all rebellious on the point-tracking system this week. “Points?? I don’t need to count no stinking points!” And it showed on the scale. I think part of the gain was a major hormonal fluid-shift-salt-binge attack. All I can say is that it’s just not fair to have hot flashes and PMS at the same time. The Good news is that I went to that meeting even knowing I’d probably gained, sat through the meeting, and came away knowing what I need to do to fix it. We’ll see what happens next week.
The Good? We’re at a bluegrass festival this weekend. The same folks that do Wintergrass do a summer festival in Stevenson, WA, called Adventure Bluegrass. Stevenson is located on the southern border of Washington, on the Columbia Gorge. If you want to know what heaven looks like, drive along the Gorge from I-5 east. The river is spectacular, the mountains are lovely, and it is a perfect setting for a weekend of fine bluegrass, including my favorite bluegrass band, the US Navy Band, Country Current. We arrived yesterday, and the first evening of bluegrass was as fine as it gets. Early in the evening it was sunny and warm, then it got cool as the sun went down. Cool enough, in fact, for me to wear Rogue. Yes, an Aran weight wool cabled sweater with a hood. In late July. That’s the beauty of the weather here; it can be shorts-and-sandals hot during the day, and wool-sweater cold at night.
Our cabin is right on the Gorge, and here is my Saturday Sky:
One really Good thing about bluegrass festivals is all the free knitting time. I finished the first STR Rainforest Jasper sock last night, and started the second.
I only saw one other knitter last night, though she wasn’t actually knitting. She had a t-shirt on that said “Knitters Have Balls”. Let me tell you, I was tempted to hit her upside the head with my knitting bag when I ran into her by herself in the bathroom, just so I could steal that shirt. She better not show up anywhere unaccompanied today.
The Bad? A big old Douglas fir had to be taken out of our back yard this past week. I’ll post some pictures later when I’ve had a chance to sort through the ten thousand photos we took to document its demise, but I’ll leave you with a couple of Good pictures. Doug and Zeb are our new “foresters”, and they were in my backyard all day, which is not necessarily a Bad thing.
Yes, they really are that cute.
I hear the call of the banjos, so I’m off!
I too went to a slimming club once – lost 25lb, and put it all back within a year. Why is chocolate so good. Why do I have no will power? If you ever see one of those t shirts, please get 2 and send one over to me. I shall also look for one over here in England – if successful, I promise to get one for you too! Sounds like a good marketing idea to me…
Oh and I forgot to say, I love your sock, and that Saturday sky makes me very jealous as I live in a very very flat part of England.
Lorette, I am so jealous: Gorge, bluegrass, jasper sock, Doug and Zeb ;), residency firmly in your past.
I finished my first month, and it’s actually going really well. I have vacation this week, because my sister’s getting married in Iowa. 65 in Portland today, 95 with 95% humidity in Iowa. Ouch. I’m going to take advantage of brew fest and knitting shops in PDX this weekend before I go to IA.
My camera’s broken, so my blog’s been even more sparse than usual. Thanks for the Great Saturday sky pics!
That is such a lovely view, you lucky thing.
What a beautiful view! Funny t-shirt…haven’t heard that one before! You should have put on dark glasses and mugged her for it. 😉
I’m doing weight watchers too, and the weeks you gain weight are just so depressing. What’s working for me right now is using the menu planning option on the e-tools. It suggests menus that give you a LOT of food to eat, so you don’t end up feeling deprived, and the shopping list prints right out for you.
You got to WATCH! Lucky girl. The hard part is when they have to crane the damn tree over the house to get rid of it. So climbing and morsellating was a better thing.
You know the first part of diets is fluid redistribution, and *ahem* reduction in fecal mass. Then the body gets used to it, and recollects. Then the REAL weight loss begins. Points. Points to discipline.
Dang! I wish my STR would stripe like that sometimes…..lol
It looks great!
Um…exqueeze me, I missed the last few paragraphs of your post because you have a picture of a cute man with ink and a great smile.
Did you get him at the store? Where did he come from? Does he do housecalls???
Wow, those guys could take a tree down in my backyard anytime!
Cabin looks fun… sock looks great….you look great regardless of what the ticker says! Enjoy the bluegrass and steal that shirt.
I love the drive along the Columbia – it’s gorgeous. And I also love being able to wear sweaters in the evening! Glad our cool weather is back. Have a great time at the festival!
Oh, if only all Bad was just that bad… Hmmm.
The sock is great – love the colourway. Enjoy the festival!
My LYS sells that “Knitters Have Balls” T-Shirt, so don’t commit any crimes.
Oooo, eye candy everywhere!
We saw Hot Tuna (now in their Blue Grass phase, Chris Hillman and Earl Scruggs this week. It’s been a good summer for music!! Enjoy…nothin’ better than good music with knitting.
Everyone slips. You’ll get back on track 🙂
I love your Saturday sky. It is amazing. The sock looks fantastic. Knitting to music is always so peaceful … like a really peaceful meditation. 🙂
Love the sock. There’s something about that picot edge – I can’t stop knitting ’em!
Cute forestry guys! Cute! Cute!