First Day of School

Wilson's going to school today!  For a month!  It will take every single one of those days to make him the scholar we know he can be.
We've racked our brains trying to remember the name of the trainer that trained Shasta and Joe, our English Shepherd.  Joe, by the way, not only went to elementary school, but had to go to high school AND summer school!  A bit high strung, he was. 
Kate Davern, is a wonderful dog trainer, and has been training search and rescue dogs since we last talked to her.  I'm so happy that we found her, and that she has room to take Willy on.  He seems to have discovered his strength lately.  He's big.  He's strong.  And has no manners whatsoever.  Since he discovered the bizillion squirrels around this RV park, his delight at trying to catch them is boundless.  He is absolutely gleeful and so very focused that it's all I can do to hang on to the leash. 
So it's off to school for Willy.  I think we'll ALL be happier when he comes home.

Must be the Weather

This is the top of my new slouchy hat.  Yeah, we'll see how slouchy, and how much of a hat it turns out to be.  LOL! 
I've had the incredible urge to get my hands on yarn these days.  Kind of like that nesting urge to make soup when the weather finds a nip of coolness in the air.  It's been years since I've really knitted or crocheted anything, but I've become rather obsessed of late.  On a quest for yarn in a city that evidently is not so into yarn is a challenge.  I found one place in Santa Cruz, a dedicated yarn shop, but when I walked in, the place was hot and there were a bunch of women eating food and trying to talk to me with their mouths full.  I'm sorry.  I have to go now.  :)  Perhaps I'll try that shop another day, when it's not lunchtime.
Yesterday we drove "over the hill" to Los Gatos to a shop called Yarndogs.  So cute.  I wish I had taken pictures of it.  At the front door there's a welcome mat with two dogs on it and a water bowl.  And yes, inside was a customer with a dog.  Obviously, that was okay with me (unlike the food fest). 
Oh my!  What a shop!  What a glorious cloud of yarn!  I probably looked at, and felt, every twisted loop in there.  I browsed through pattern books and pictured myself tucked away in the house on wheels, totally consumed in my sweater making.  And then...YIKES!  $21 a skein!  $14 a skein! I just don't remember yarn being that expensive.   Let's do the math here...hmmmm...say it takes 15 skeins of yarn for a sweater, at $15 a skein...uh, yeah.  Could be a fairly expensive sweater, right?  And for someone that only knows the basics of knitting and crocheting, it could prove to be quite a challenge in many respects. 
So I settled, for the time being, for a couple of small balls of yarn and happily consumed my evening making knots with my little hook.

Saturday, the family

When we left the motorhome Saturday morning, it had been raining all night and morning.  "Oh well," we all said, "what's a little rain."
By the time we got our first glimpse of the ocean we saw that the sun was clearly shining in the middle of the bay.  Hope! 
When we all met up in Monterey the clouds could only be seen on the horizon.  What breeze there was, was warm and gentle. 
I think the last time my family was all together was when my father died back in 1989.  We met then, on a boat, but in the San Francisco Bay, about 75 miles to the north.  I know we have all had the thought that perhaps this will be the last time we're all together.  But maybe not.  Maybe we can be better about making that happen.
Once we motored out, offshore of Lover's Point, the captain turned the boat into the wind and we shared in the scattering of ashes.  We tossed out ginger cookies (her favorite) and flowers, and as the boat circled the ashes & flowers, we saw a school of jellyfish bobbing in the water.  Within the circle there were two harbor seals that leaped out of the water, the sun glistening on their wet bodies.  It was just magical!
It was like she was telling me that this was right.  Perfect, in fact.  Thank you.