Yesterday Dave, I and Rigel hiked to Escondido Falls.  It’s one of the few areas that allows dogs so we figured Rigel would like the adventure.  To his great delight he discovered lizards, how to get incredibly muddy crossing streams, and how to scramble and climb like a little mountain goat.

The above picture is from the base of the upper falls.  I banged the hell out of my knee and fell into the water when trying to get to a boulder in the pool.  My knee immediately swelled, throbbed, etc;  it hurt so bad I almost vomited.  As you can imagine it was not so fun getting back down from the upper falls at that point with an injury (requires a lot of scrambling, pulling yourself up/lowering yourself down etc:  my pecs are actually a bit sore this morning).  As my friends know I’m not the always the most stoic of people, but I do want to state I limped back with no complaints.  I was actually VERY STOIC.  Really.

Here’s a pic of the lower falls:

Afterwards we headed a bit further north to Leo Carrillo State Park & beach.  They allow leashed dogs north of lifeguard station 3.  Rigel’s only been to the beach a couple times because most of the beaches (including of course where we live) do not allow dogs.  I wanted him to experience the waves and, more importantly, rinse off all the mud he’d collected.  He seemed to like it overall — we just waded a bit in the surf.

I really would like to start hiking & trail running Saturdays.  There are a ton of hiking opportunities within an hour drive.  We won’t always be able to bring Rigel, but I’d like to when we can.

Rigel crossing the stream.

First, the cats:

(From left and moving clockwise: Obi, Cali and Megs)

Next, Drifting Pleats:

And finally, Rigel:

]]> http://www.sunsetcat.com/2008/06/15/drifting-pleats-and-gratuitous-pet-pics/feed/ 3 http://www.sunsetcat.com/2008/04/30/april-and-may-goals-etc/ http://www.sunsetcat.com/2008/04/30/april-and-may-goals-etc/#comments Thu, 01 May 2008 02:07:00 +0000 StephCat http://www.stephannietallent.com/?p=427

Gotta love Ravelry. Someone ‘favorited’ my felted cat bed. Given I have no picture of the knitted and felted item in question…..I’m assuming they find my cats adorable.

Goals

I feel like I could just re-post the March April goals, including the lack of any knitting progress.

What I did manage to do: finish the felted cat bed; spin a little; make more stitch markers; destash some yarn.

So…..May Goals

To finish: Dave’s Irish Moss Scarf, Pleated Scarf (yep, a new project, with Malabrigo’s luscious silk merino) AND the boucle Portrait Scarf.

Progress on other projects:

Finish the body of the Eyelet Cardi.

On Herbstlied: finish my swatch, adjust the sweater design as needed to fit my desired size and the gauge I’m obtaining (i.e. decide how many extra stitches are needed and where to put them) and get started on the back.

Monthly destash: Review books, mags and yarn for more destashing.

Rigel is an English Cocker Spaniel. He is small, about 30#, and short. He is sweet and loving.

He has, however, been seduced by the Dark Side yet once again. Notice the evil glowing green color of his eyes.

***

Dave bought a baker’s dozen of bagels Sunday morning. I had one and a half, and Dave, I later learned, had three. That leaves eight and half bagels.

We came home from dinner that night to discover an empty bag on the floor.

How does a short but food-oriented, very cunning dog get stuff off the counter? His nose barely clears the countertop when he’s stretching on his tippy-toes.

That’s where the Dark Side comes in. I know Rigel must’ve caused the bag to levitate, sorta like Luke on Dagobah with his spaceship, but on a smaller scale, of course.

Regardless, he didn’t look like he’d eaten 8+ bagels, so I went on a hunt. He tends to hide things in the couch cushions, and, sure enough, I found a bagel.

However, he didn’t look like he’d eaten 7+ bagels, either. I had Dave check outside but he saw nothing.

Hmph.

Because guess what I found today?

I first discovered an uprooted plant. I was puzzled til I looked at the adjacent pot.

Something had been digging.

Was that a bagel?

It was!

Then I checked the other pots.

I accounted for four more bagels.

He was very distressed once I’d uncovered them, and started searching for new hiding spots (or is that pots?).

I’m sure he could’ve eaten three that night. But there’s at least one more pot to check.

….that indeedy the Tunis wool DIDN’T felt that well, that in trying to make it felt I felted the hell out of the rest of the bed, and that is therefore really only one or two cats’ worth of bed, not three: after staring at it suspiciously for awhile they all three tried to cram themselves into it.

At least it’s a FO for April.