Happy camper!

I must say I have been a happy camper over the last month!  A couple of weeks ago I was a participant in the Philmont Leadership Challenge in New Mexico.  It was an amazing course not to mention being held at Philmont Scout Ranch!

Pack line ready to go.  My pack is in the middle.
Big Agnes (my tent) is on the bottom, sleeping mat,
fleece jacket, camp shoes, and camp chair are on the
outside.  The pack weighed in at 28.5 pounds fully loaded.

Morning tour of Villa Philmonte

Deer on the lawn

Rocky Mountain Scout Camp in the area of that...

Igneous intrusion of dacite porphyry--the Tooth of Time!

Trail meals!

Entrance to camp--the parade field
where we met each morning.

Note two of the twelve points of the Scout Law.

Crew lead for my midweek birthday!

Hike on!

Lover's Leap

Morning "stampede"--it was more like a stroll.

Leaves changing

Urraca Crew in front of Urraca Mesa after our conservation project.

Our campsite at Lover's Leap Camp.

View from the Red Roof Inn.

Hike on!

Return hike to RMSC

Our last full day we went into Cimarron
and had lunch at the St. James Hotel.

There are bullet holes in the tin ceiling from the old days!

A trip to Cimarron is not complete without a
visit to the Art Gallery and some ice cream.

Leaving Philmont we stopped to take photos of the buffalo herd.

Last weekend, after being home a few days, I went through the Order of the Arrow Ordeal.  It is the BSA's honor society with a focus on brotherhood of cheerful service.  Camp Ajawah was glorious, as the trees were at peak color.  Our overnight under the stars did not disappoint--a full moon and clear skies.

Ben set up his old Voyageur tent at Conclave.

A splash of color on the maple leaves.

Mary and I take a break from cleaning
the basement of the mess hall.

We (Ordeal candidates) were in the no talking mode for a full day.

Since I am still on "Philmont time," it feels as though I am running a bit behind on some projects.  Coming up this week is my advanced technique class at The Shepherdess.  I came up with a quick to knit project that is easily adjusted to the student's preferred size for a cup cozy using advanced knitting techniques.  It can be knitted with multiple colors or in a solid color.  The checkerboard pattern can be done with knits and purls instead of stranding the color.  The second project has a steek and will be partially finished in time for class.  I am tweaking the pattern to make sure it is correct.
09.10.12  I finished the pattern for the other advanced technique project.

Cutting the steek

Camp Mug Sweater with buttons.

Make it Monkey hat.  This one is ready for winter!

Class Name: ADVANCED KNITTING

Class Dates: Thursdays, October 11, 18, and 25

Class Times: 6 pm to 8 pm

Instructor: Deborah Coder

Difficulty: Advanced

Pattern Name or Location: Pattern provided

Class Price: $36.00 Class Location: Red Table

Class Size: 6

Other Information: This is a series of classes (3, 2-hour sessions) for advanced knitting techniques. The first session includes Project Planning and the last session includes Finishing Touches. In between planning and finishing, students will work on small projects that can be completed in a relatively short time period.  

The sample fits my Eagle camping mug perfectly!

Happy Thanksgiving!

19.11.10  Next week is Thanksgiving.  I picked out our turkey yesterday.  We will have our dinner on Saturday because we will be taking Mom out on Thanksgiving day.  Actually, I am okay with that!  I love cooking, but it will feel less rushed and no clean-up after the meal.  Jim made reservations at a restaurant in Maple Grove.

I am getting the house ready for Ben's visit.  Jim will be picking him up with two more in tow on Saturday.  Today I found the Thanksgiving trolls.  Grandma C. got them for Ben when he was just a little guy and we put them out every year.  They are silly-cute and it would not be Thanksgiving without them.

The Colours of Ireland vest is back on the list of WIPs to finish.  It is a bit worrisome because I am working the back and am hoping to have enough for the fronts and trim.  Jim wants his Darth hat a bit longer to cover his earlobes, so Ben will probably get the first hat.  I have a skein of oatmeal Lamb's Pride Bulky in the stashand will use that for his hat.

23.11.10 When I got home from class on Sunday the guys were home.  It is always a relief to see them after the long trip home.

The temperature has dropped and the skies are clear.  Sunday the roads were treacherous, as we had a coating of ice on the roads.  The last wheel spinning class went well, and my students had some plied yarn at the end.  Now I have to regain my spinning mojo so we can have a more advanced class.  An art yarn class is in my future plans.

Something finally clicked with my last Wood Badge ticket.  I am just about finished with typing the last couple of months--February and March.  I should have it finished by the end of the week.  At last night's meeting the young scouts worked on a First Class requirement for first aid.  One of the Troop Guides was there and he did an awesome job with the boys.  Mike, the Scoutmaster, had a fun activity for the troop.  He cut foam tubinglengthwise in sections, marbles, and duct tape.  When I walked in the room, it was wild!  It was fun to see scouts of all ages building tracks for the marbles.

Tempus fugit--num me vexo?

Today it's cloudy and breezy.  The winds of change are coming.  The leaves are passing their peak colors.  I took Mom for a walk yesterday.  She enjoyed the fresh air and remaining colors.  We picked up a couple of little pine cones and some lovely scarlet maple leaves.  She used to tuck leaves into her letters and books she'd send to me when we lived in Germany.  Before the leaves are all gone, I want to press some between wax paper, which I haven't done since I was a kid.  Winter will be here soon enough.  The critters are scrambling to stash the remaining acorns.  I made an apple pie, too.  Mmmm...the crust is so flaky and the house smells as good as the pie tastes!

Ahhh, it felt good to be teaching again last night!  I had my first class, we made knitted ornaments, and it was fun.  The pattern worked great (I only have one number to correct) and I'll be able to correct that easily and print some more.  Before class, I went in early to teach a young woman how to use a drop spindle so she could teach an actress at the Lyric Arts Theater how to use the spindle during  an upcoming play.  She made her spindle with a pencil, cup hook and cardboard disc (she found the instructions online).  I cut a tiny notch in the disc to keep the fiber from sliding around.  Her spindle worked fine as a learning tool.  Speaking of spinning, I'm excited that the spinning classes are filling up!  It will be a refreshing change of pace for me to teach both advanced knitting along with spinning.  Good things come to those who wait...

The big camporee is this weekend.  I need to practice setting up Big Agnes.  We had the pole repaired and were lucky not to have to pay--the poles were still under warranty.  The theme for the camproee is CSI.  The scouts will have fun with that!  They have to solve a murder mystery and of course realistic first aid will be involved!  

I'm knitting away on the scarf and should be finished soon.  I don't know what I'll make after that.  Heaven knows I have plenty of yarn in the stash!  I typically make something cabled after using lots of color, and I have the lovely tweed handspun I made during the Tour de Fleece over the summer.
22.10.10  Already Friday and I'm burning daylight.  Time to get ready for the campout this weekend.  We went grocery shopping with the Grubmaster last night and got the items loaded in the coolers and tubs.  I set up Big Agnes and she's looking good.  I'm happy to have the new tent poles.  Naturally the dry weather we've been having will end over the weekend and Stearns always manages to get rain.  Ben and Scott would stand on top of the climbing tower and watch the weather when they worked at camp.
The leaves continue to fall and the back yard is full again.  The maple trees are holding on tight and have barely turned yellow this year.  Eevee brings in lots of the outdoors inside.  It seems I have as many leaves inside as outside.
I finished knitting the short cardigan and now I have to block it.  I'd like to get the large buttons painted today so I can sew them on when I get back from camp.  
Well, it's almost time to leave for camp, so no painting today.  My backpack is ready and I made sure to tuck in some gloves and a hat if it gets really cold tonight.

Birthday wishes and snow!

Happy 100th Birthday to the Boy Scouts of America!

We're in the grip of a good old-fashioned snow!  It's realy lovely, but a little bit of a pain to have to drive in it.  I have to work today and tonight.  A good day to wear my uniform!  My new sweater looks nice with my uniform...the rusty brown matches the khaki and O D green!  

As I look out my window I can see that we're at about 15" or so.  It felt like a LOT more when I was shoveling it off the deck this morning!  Jim had to re-plow Eevee's trails in the back yard.  This is good snowshoeing weather.  Maybe we'll be able to do that over the weekend.  

I've finally got a photo of the Rustic cardigan, which looks very nice with my uniform today.  I had one of my students take a photo of me this morning after class.