The View from Lizard's Mouth above Santa Barbara

I have been pleasantly surprised at the quantity of autumn colors this year.  Some years the colors come and go in a blink but our temperate weather with cool nights is helping create quite the display.

My front yard

Near the mailbox

In the neighborhood

Corner of the parking lot at work

Old River

State Farm Parking Lot

Across the street from me

My sis and I had a fun day a couple weekends ago at the Ventura County Harvest Craft Fair (or some such name).   We didn't buy much and I think we enjoyed the senior craft shop in town more than we did the craft fair!  The gentleman at the craft store recommended a local diner and we enjoyed our lunch very much.  For the price of a little drive to get together we had a very nice day!

A little of this, a little of that.

Happy 80th Birthday to my DAD!   October 7, 2011

This has been such a long week. We have our new speech therapist on board at work but she's so new and needs so much guidance. Fortunately her 2nd school is going to be a breeze to catch up on even if there are more IEPs out of date. The 1st school seems to have the more difficult children.  I've been at the 1st school every morning this week instead of my own (before my class shows up) and spent two afternoons helping prioritize assessments.  We'll have a lot to do but should have it all done by the end of the month.  I never thought the extra work within a work day would wear me out but there you have it.  I think it's the ingrained horror at having outdated IEPs (huge regulatory No No).  I woke up early today thinking about it and wondering how much help our newbie is going to need. 

Sis was going to come visit today and now can't so we decided since we've both been tired we'd both stay home. She's going to try again in a couple of weeks.

Fall is finally here. We've had deliciously cool nights and I'm enjoying the quiet of no fans and the warmth of a comforter. I'm sure we'll warm up a time or two before winter arrives but for now it's delightful.  We had a lot of rain this week.  One day it just poured the last few miles of my drive home.

And the next morning it looked like this

on my drive to work:

Knitting projects are slowly coming along.  I decided to set aside the stash-busting donation shawl once I realized that I needed to make some modifications.  The yarn stretches like the dickens and what I thought would take 5 skeins looks like it will take 3 1/2.   I'm going to shorten the brown end and use just 1/4 of the skein on each end.   Each color panel is 12 inches long and stretchy so 36 inches plus the brown border will be plenty for an over the shoulder shawl. 

Now I can focus more intently on the other two projects, one a surprise and one not, and maybe finish up my "bee" mitts, too.  

I've finished reading the third in the "Green" series by Julie Pace Christie.  They remind me a bit of the Mitford series by Jan Karon and are comfortable, sweet reads.  I'm now reading a 2nd book by Sharon McCrumb, Once Around the Track.  Like her previous novel, St. Dale, it's a character driven story using a NASCAR theme.  It's not so all about racing that she gets distracted but a fun read about a culture I only know peripherally. 

An Author I Enjoy

I'm about halfway through my 2nd novel by Don Brown.  The first was The Malacca Conspiracy.   I'm now thoroughly enjoying Thunder in the Morning Calm.  I currently have a naval commander, a retired Marine, and a retired South Korean officer making landfall in North Korea after having intentionally ditched an airplane in the sea of Japan, evaded capture by a North Korean naval vessel, and survived a near drowning of one of three.  They are on a mission to substantiate rumors of elderly POWs from the Korean War still being held prisoner by the North.  If they find them they intend to rescue them.

At the same time the story of the prisoners is told and of the commander's family.  Throughout both books characters confront challenges to their faith or lack thereof and their relationship with their God.  It's not done in an "in your face" way but as a natural part of the storyline.

I highly recommend this author for a good read!

Just Finished

My latest fingerless mitts.  I'm not sure if who they're for.  I liked the yarn and wanted to knit with it!

Containment

The wildfires in our area are reaching containment.  The biggest is reported to be 95% contained.  You can almost see the surrounding mountains clearly and the air quality was in the "moderate" range rather than the "unhealthful" range.

I'm also relieved that we haven't cracked 100 degrees once this week.  And, candy corn showed up at the grocery store.  Autumn is scheduled to arrive!

Good for me news this week is that I can and did get a pneumonia shot.  Guidelines have changed in the last few months to include people with asthma in the group recommended to get the vaccine.  Otherwise I would have had to wait until 65.  Whew.

I have to say, though, that this vaccination was not a piece of cake for me as the flu shots have been.  I've been extra tired with muscle and joint aches and it's all pretty normal.  My body is working hard to produce anti-bodies.   This is a good thing and an excellent reason to stay home and knit. 

I finally uploaded photos.  This is from the storm that generated all the lightening strikes that started the local fires and fire complexes.   I like how the dragon fly buzzed into the shot.