Friday Night in the Big Town

This is probably the last evening this week when the weather will be nice, so Shana and I took The Amazing Roxanne for a walk by the lake. We're just a mile from Lake Overholser, so we get to enjoy it anytime we like. This lake is a resevoir for our drinking water. There is boating and fishing, but no swimming allowed. Along the east side of the lake there is a multi-use path, very popular with walkers, and a road circles the lake. It's a really nice place for cycling, as there in often a cool breeze off the lake, lots of nice things to look at, and not a lot of car traffic. On the west side there is a very nice new playground. There is a separate channel on the east side of the lake which is popular with rowing teams, kayakers, and fishermen. The dam is on the south side of the lake, and below the dam seems to be a good fishing spot. Certainly it's a good fishing spot for birds. I often see herons looking for a good meal, and lots of turtles.
I was hoping to see some nice birds today, but didn't see much. I've seen blue herons, egrets, mallards, teal ducks, kingfishers , red wing blackbirds, and quite a few migrating birds around the lake. I have seen Canada Geese, but surprisingly few, considering that there are a lot of them who stay in the state year-round. I saw a raccoon one day, and on the other side of the lake there are a couple of pastures where there are horses, llamas, and sheep.

Please note that today I got a hair cut. The peculiar appearance of my hair was caused by my hairdresser's mania. He has every second double booked, and was in such a tearing hurry today that he really only had time to make my hair stand on end before shuffling me out and the next head in. He washed my hair while the previous client was baking her highlights under the dryer, started cutting mine, stopped long enough to rescue the other client, wash her hair and send her on her way, then finished my cut. This was all happening in a room that is about 8x10. The cut is good, but styling is not his best skill, especially when he is trying to do two heads at the same time and catch up on all his scheduling problems on my head while talking a mile a minute. He just wears me out - but gives a really good cut!

The rest of the weekend promises to be quiet and busy in a domestic sort of way. I'm going to start a gift afghan, maybe finish the purple socks that are going to Alaska, and get rolling on the blue ribbed ones. I'll probably try to get a pattern repeat done on the Kimono Shawl Sunday evening after Rita goes home, and maybe cast on for another pair of socks. The blue ribbed sock will probably stay at the office during the week and be my lunchtime socks, so what I will probably start will be something a little more complicated. I have some tweedy yarn that might look really nice with cables down the side...We'll see.

Today we got the news that Shana's mom will have heart surgery next week, so we'll be trying to get things Shana needs to do here at home and at work out of the way. We don't know yet exactly when the surgery will be, or when her mom will want her to come. Today she was thinking that Shana would be the most help after surgery, to get her through the first week or so at home. We'll just have to give her a little time to think about what she would like and plan accordingly. She's really been struggling with her health this year, so we are all very concerned. At least she's been admitted to the hospital and will stay there until the surgery, so she will be well cared for in the meantime.