A city of murals

The folks of Cape Girardeau must really like their murals. There is a long sea wall along the banks of the river, presumably to protect the city when the river floods (anyway, that would be my guess). The city side of the wall is decorated with several murals, each blocks long. One section depicts the city’s heritage, another shows famous folks from Missouri. We haven’t seen all of the murals yet, but we did notice that quite a few buildings also have artwork painted on their walls. Conventional artwork,not graffiti. Here are a few pictures from the section on famous folks, and then a few pictures taken as we drove through farm land, just enjoying the beautiful sunshine.

I haven’t seen these pictures on a full size screen yet, I only have access to a netbook. Can you see all the woodpecker holes in this tree? Its a wonder it is still upright.

Anyone have any idea what this pretty roadside weed is?

The Trail of Tears

You may have heard of the Trail of Tears, a tragic and sad part of American and Native American history. In the early to mid 1800s,a treaty was signed by some people of the Cherokee Nation agreeing to relocate all the Cherokee people to place far west of their original lands. The original lands would go the the government. Not all Cherokees were in agreement, and when it went through Congress, it only passed by one vote. None the less, the Cherokee were rounded up and journeyed westward. It was winter when the reached the Mississippi River, and the whole group was unable to cross before the weather made crossing impossible. Part of the group wintered on the Illinois side, the others on the Missouri side. It was a bad winter, many died.  In Missouri, at the spot of the winter encampment, there is now a state park commemorating those people and that winter. Seeing it in the September sunshine, the leaves just hinting at fall color makes it hard to imagine what a freezing winter would be, the the ravines and mountains would be a challenge with proper hiking gear, even today. We visited the park, and here are a few pictures from the lookout. 

  That’s Illinois on the other side!

 

We wonder if this is the same barge that we saw earlier in the day from the city.You’ve heard of The Old Man and the Sea? Well this photo is the Old Man and Old Man River (one of the nicknames for the Mississippi).

Lemonade from Lemons

Circumstances redesigned our plans for our trip. We never did join our friends at Montauk State Park. One of those ladies has a blog, so I have seen photos of their exploits, and we are disappointed to have missed out.  However, we  have been spending time in a very nice place that I would otherwise (probably) never have visited. Cape Girardeau, MO. The people here have been wonderful, right across the board, from complete strangers to service personal.  The first day we were here, we met a couple that told us they had visited Cape and now that they have retired, they have moved from California to here. That’s how well they liked the area.I can understand that.

We have been sick in our room, nursing bad colds for a few days, but what we have seen  of the area is pleasing. We haven’t gotten out as much as we would have liked, but here are some pictures taken on our ‘urban camping trip’. An overlook at one of the city parks, right among some great old houses, perched on the bluff overlooking the Mississippi River.

Looking back towards the city.

This view from the park overlook shows

the beautiful bridge that connects Illinois and Missouri, spanning the Mississippi River. I don’t like driving over bridges, but this one is gorgeous to look at, it sparkles in the sunlight.

One of the legendary barges of the Mississippi!

The second day of our trip

and we ran into some difficulty, so we didn’t make it to our destination as planned. We did stumble upon a place to stay, clean and with all the amenities, but not a state park in the great outdoors.   

 

Not off to a good start

The day started inauspiciously, dark, dreary, rainy. Actually, I’d be more honest to say that it started poorly. We still needed to pack the clothes and the food into the RV, and that isn’t fun in pouring down rain. We did get everything done and left – also in the rain. The first three hours were driven in heavy rain , very low clouds and mist. Not fun.

One of the things that we are finding that we enjoy very much with the RV is being able to pull over at a rest stop and not to have to get drenched to run into a public restroom. We were able to use our own facilities, make and eat lunch, and then stretch out for fifteen minutes before resuming our journey. NEATO!!

About an hour and a half from our destination the sun peeked out, and by the time we arrived at the campground, it was quite beautiful. When we pulled in, the sun was shining through some flowers. I later went back to get a picture after we set up, but by then the sun was fading. The color in the photos isn’t as gold or as intense. As a magnificent consolation, take a look at these clouds!

We sat outside briefly enjoying a gentle breeze before the wind picked up, the clouds darkened and we have more rain.

I swear, my former boss was right when after a camping trip, he exclaimed “don’t you ever camp when it doesn’t rain!?” I’d come into work after a weekend of nasty weather and he’d say “Bet you were camping , weren’t you?”

  

The Bandit

Finally finished Springtime Bandit and blocked it. I may have to re block, I don’t have proper blocking equipment so improvised and I don’t think that I got things quite right, but for now, it is finished!  I used yarn that I had on hand, and I’m still not thrilled with this yarn in this pattern. I think the color variances hide the lace design, but it was a good learning experience on lace nevertheless.  Of course, there were also the inevitable ‘design choices’ that were made and not discovered until WAY to many rows to rip back and do over—at least in my book. I was able to discover most mistakes within a reasonable distance to rip and fix, but not one. Live and learn

Another camping weekend

MOTH and I spent a long weekend at a campground on Lake Allatoona. We really like the Corps of Engineer campgrounds, they are always well kept. A friend was with us, along with her grandchildren.  We were able to get sites that shared a drive, so that we were somewhat adjoined. Each of our sites had steps that led down to the water. We were close enough to share meals and a campfire when we wanted to, but just far enough to have some privacy when we wanted it as well. The campground was almost empty, perhaps because school started around here a few weeks ago.  MOTH and I wound up staying an extra day and had the campground almost to ourselves, only3 or 4 other sites were occupied, and none in the section we were in.  We had a mix of perfect weather and rain. I can’t complain about the rain, though, we were able to get some reading done and I made some progress on my next pair of socks. Our almost adjoining site.

 

View from our door to her site:

Our site:

The socks, so far:

I must be easily amused, I get so eager to see what color the next stripe will be, and how wide it will be, I just keep knitting.  So far it is more green than I would prefer, I like the purples better. However, now that we are home, it is time to get back to the lace ‘shawlette’ and do some serious concentrating so I can get it finished.

Lake Hartwell State Park, SC

Last weekend we met three friends up at Lake Hartwell State Park, in South Carolina. They had camped there before, but it was a first visit for us. Our sites were not on the lake, however we were the only ones camping in that section, so we had lots of quiet and privacy surrounded by woods.  Friday night we sat around chatting until lightening started. We thought it must be heat lightning as it was silent, but took it as our cue to call it a night. About 1 a.m. the lightning was like a disco strobe, it was so frequent. The rain was intense, but oddly, no thunder. The rest of the weekend the weather was great (ok, it was pretty warm, usually 90+). Saturday afternoon we made ice cream using ziploc bags. All the fixings and equipment were provided by JP.  Mostly, we sat around getting to know each other better and ‘girl-talking’. MOTH tolerated the whole thing admirably and with his usual charm and good nature. It didn’t hurt that they all think he’s terrific and spoil him mightily.

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These are finally finished!

I finished these up between working on a couple of other projects. I am in the process of doing a small lace shawl as part of a Knit A Long on Ravelry, one more repeat on that and I will begin working on the edging. It has been a fun knit in spite of the number of times I have had to tink a row or frog several rows. Thank goodness for lifelines!! For me, especially since I am such a beginner, lace requires lots of concentration and no distractions, so I only get the early ours before everyone else gets up to work on it. These socks, however, when not doing the toes or the heels, were just straight knitting, so I could work on them while watching TV in the evenings. I must say, I like the cast on, the short-row heel and the bind off used. This was Lifestyle Toe Up Sock—more guidelines that can be adapted to any pattern of stitches- than a sock recipe. If you Google it, the article has links for the cast on, short row instructional video and to the Elizabeth Zimmerman bind-off as well. I’m hoping to cast on another pair today, using some different numbers based on what I learned making this pair.

These were made with Blue Moon’s Socks that Rock, Storeytime colorway. It made “sort of” stripes, but was not a self striping yarn.

This is the yarn that I hope to get cast on today. My goal is to keep a pair of socks on the needles for TV watching at all times, with other projects on different sized needles to work on in between. I find that changing needle sizes(projects) keeps my hands from getting too tired and sore.

‘ Been knitting….

but not on the socks shown previously.  I have put them aside for now. For some reason, I wanted to try something new. I think I’m going to try to do some lace.  To get an idea of what lace is all about (and at the recommendation of helpful lace-knitting Ravelers) I tried a few small projects.  The first was out of some Peaches n Creme cotton that I had on hand.  I took the Old Shale scarf pattern and did several rows.  I figured that since it was cotton, no matter how wrong I went, we could always use it for a dishcloth. The basic pattern for Old Shale is simple, easily memorized so you don’t have to read every stitch. That’s good, especially for someone that is new to chart reading. I fund that I really enjoyed doing it, although it required a bit of attention. The wavy ridges with shades of pink running through it is the Old Shale. 

Then, just to do something quick and easy, something to do while watching TV I did a dishcloth in Sugar and Cream, the pattern is a easily found on the internet, “Grandmothers Favorite Dishcloth” or something like that.

From there, I went back to another lace project. This one in wool (which is so much nicer on my hands, it gives!) that was leftover from my grandson’s hat. I made the Twig Lace Cap that is a free pattern on the Knit Picks site. I really enjoyed doing the first half of the project. As I reached the decreases I had to switch to dpns, and when juggling 4 dpns and cable needles…..well, that wasn’t as much fun. I’m very awkward with cable needles.  I’m sure I distorted the last few rows with my too long dpns, too. This needs to be blocked, which I haven’t done yet. I’m told that washing a bit and blocking will make the stitching more even. I can see a few mistakes, but in general, I’m pleased. It was a learning project, after all, not an heirloom. I did my first lifeline, but need to study up on a better method for inserting one. My granddaughter posed so I could get a picture of the cap.

We have just returned from

A long weekend camping with our friend “Pantless”. (Don’t ask-hilarious story,but not mine to tell) This time none of the other gals were available to camp. MOTH and I  wanted to get away and  also, to do a little setting up and customizing of The Lady Anne. Pantless had promised her grandkids that she would take them camping, so we booked adjacent sites at one of the local Corps of Engineer parks, on a large lake.

The woman is amazing! Each day she would hop in her car, drive to her daughter’s and exchange  children. A different grandchild each night. On Friday, she also made an extra stop to pick up her mother.  Amazing must be genetic, because her mom is 93 and usually camps with our group if the weather is warm. This time it she gave it a pass so the great-grandchildren could have a special time, but she does love my MOTH! She came along and we went out to dinner at the Lodge of a  state park on the same lake. They have a seafood buffet on Friday nights and we certainly enjoyed ourselves.

Pantless was our official fire maker. I probably wouldn’t have bothered with a fire given our summer temperatures, but when you have grandchildren in attendance, you must have a fire and marshmallows! I am pleased to report that Pantless made some excellent fires. The one the first night was particularly creative. It started out all ablaze,

then morphed into a volcano!

We had pretty good weather. It did rain a bit Friday afternoon, but that was a good opportunity to do some reading. Other than that, we had a very private site. We could only see the neighbors across the road. Pantless was to our left, but we couldn’t see her for the trees, and no one was behind or on the right of us.

 

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, UNITED STATES of AMERICA !!!

 

 

And our continuing love and gratitude to those who have served, those who still serve, and those who wait for their return

 

Plum Nelly

Man-Of-The-House and I took a couple days for a shakedown and get acquainted trip with the motorhome. We drove to Ellijay, GA and stayed in a private campground. We searched for a campground that had sewer connections on site, because when I had my experience emptying the black water tank, I didn't want any witnessess!  Several friends who are more experienced campers than we are have had some truly yucky and embarassing things happen to them. Also, since The Lady Anne  is a used motorhome, we wanted to clean out the tanks with some equipment  a friend loaned us.  All went successfully, but I have to say that I am glad that I listened to that little voice in my head that told me to buy new sewer hoses and connections. A look at the hoses that came revealed some cracks and holes…what a messy time we would have had. Disaster averted! (at least for this time, I don’t want to tempt fate)

We also learned how to operate our awning-with the kind help of another camper who climbed all over the rig without a moments hesitation. It seems I had pretty much remembered what the dealer showed me, but when he put the awning back up, he let the pull down strap roll up inside, which meant we couldn't bring the awning down. The helpful camper and I moved  the picnic table next to the camper, he climbed on that and manually unrolled the awning as MOTH and I held down the side supports.

Anyway, we had a quiet couple of days, in the shade of trees and awning while the temps were in the 90s. We always had a pleasant breeze, and when we had enough of the heat, the a/c worked well. We became more acquainted with the motorhome and stored some of our gear, tested the different systems.

The campground is named Plum Nelly, and I think we’ll be back. It was quiet and our spot was rather private. Here’s a view of the mountains from our site:

The road traveled around our site, this is from the road, through the trees to our motorhome.

If you look carefully, you will see MOTH sitting against the camper, contemplating and generally enjoying the breeze in the 90 degree heat. The first night the temperatures were supposed to drop into the 60’s, so we turned off the a/c and opened the windows. By the wee hours of the morning, it had cooled off enough that we were chilled, and I had to put an summer blanket on the bed. HOORAY!

If you’ve ever been in the south, particularly Georgia, you may have been introduced to kudzu. It is an amazing plant and grows unbelievably fast. It was imported years ago from (I think) Japan to be planted on hillsides to prevent erosion. The down side is it covers everything in its path, trees, fences, buildings….anything that will hold still for a few hours. This stuff can grow up to 2 feet in a day. At the campground, it was used to make fencing and as a privacy barrier. Looking away from the back of our site, we wondered what the kudzu was concealing:

Well for goodness sake! That would be one heck of a fall. And I don’t think I’d want to end up in that catch basin, either.

And here’s one last photo, just because I like it.

On the crafty front

I haven’t been doing much. My quilting is pretty much stalled, no good reason, just no inspiration. I did begin another pair of socks (two at a time, toe up) and am almost ready to turn the heel. The yarn is  Blue Moon ‘s  Socks That Rock , the color is Storey-time. I’m using the Lifestyle Toe up Sock explained by Charisa Martin Cairn. She gives methods and procedures, you provide the measurements. I don’t have a link, but you can Google it.

Been keeping busy….

but haven’t been posting.  Our last camping trip (back the end of March) to Skidaway Island was revealing for us. While we have loved using our cute little Aliner camper, it became evident that Man-Of-The-House was having more and more difficulty moving about comfortably/safely in the confined space.  We began considering what other options would allow us to continue traveling and camping.  I’ll spare you the soul searching, research and suspense. We came to a decision, located what we felt will suit our needs.  Here it is:

We had to go to Texas to pick her up and then drive back to Georgia.  I’ve never been that far west before, so I enjoyed the trip, and it gave me a chance to get used to driving something this big. The hardest part for me was……all the darn bridges!!! I hate bridges, I have always hated bridges, I have had nightmares since childhood about bridges.  Yes, they are necessary and can be quite beautiful.  They are just fine if I can just look at them, but crossing them???? Not so much.

Now, the low, flat bridges I don’t mind too much.

This one was getting a little bit higher, my knuckles were getting whiter.

The really big ones with all the heavy metal superstructures- we didn’t get a picture of those. The photographer was too busy praying that I wouldn’t completely freak out and drive us over the side.

We made it home in 3 days and met some lovely people along the way.