Finished the hat, and am four feet into a scarf in a different yarn, but the same stitch. I don't know what the stitch is called, but it's a faux cable with a yo in the middle of each cable.

Roasted the first turkey of the season today, after spending the whole morning pulling weeds. That's some hard work-- the weeding, not the turkey-roasting. Roasting a turkey is about as easy as cooking gets.

Enjoyed the trick-or-treaters tonight. We never had many at our last home. Here, in the small town, it's a lot more kid-oriented and friendly. What I especially love about Astoria is that even the teens are outgoing and polite. They gave us a lot of compliments on out doorknocker, a bronze dragon by a favorite sculptor of Tom's.

Hello, after a bit of a break. I got back from my trip a couple of days ago, but Tom had installed a new program on my computer in my absence. Computers being what they are, this caused it to not remember me when I got back. I had to jump through all the hoops to reset my password and get onto the blog before I could access it. That, I didn't have the energy to do until this morning.

In the travel department, Oregon is not known for autumn color, its forests being primarily coniferous. Since I'm from LA, though, the scattered maples (both vine and big leaf) and oaks look quite splendid. The cities, where people choose the trees they plant according to their autumn colors, are downright magnificent. Oh, yes. I said it. The cities in Oregon look splendid in autumn.

The drive was tough. It is, after all, 1,100 miles each way, by the shortest possible route. I took said shortest route south, but followed it with a 200 mile trip to Riverside to visit my ex and reclaim some paintings I did in the '80s. Throw in less than two days for chores, visiting, and packing the car. End with a drive back by the LESS than optimal route, and get home on a total of five days. It was a pretty tough trip.

In the knitting department, the second sleeve of the mohair sweater turned out an inch wider than the first. I tried it on, and, in the mirror, the difference was invisible. Nevertheless, I couldn't stand it. I ripped it out. At present, I'm only a few inches from completion. I may change the collar, though. When I tried it on in front of the mirror, I saw that the turtleneck was not kind to my double chin. Changing the collar on the sweater would be much easier than losing twenty years and eighty pounds.

Sewed up the shoulders on the mohair sweater today, and added a turtleneck. Now, I'm working on the sleeves.

I also, as expected, got a clean bill of health from my doc.

Road trip starts tomorrow. Tom is going to stay home with the dogs.

My sleepiness, so early in the evening, was explained to me as a reaction to the return of autumn weather, after yesterday's brief return of summer. That must be it; I'm ready to hibernate.

I've finished the body of the sweater. The sleeves and collar remain. It looks like it's going to be *very* warm.

Sarah's feeling much perkier on her new cardiac medication. She dragged me all over this end of town this morning-- okay, it was only around the next block, but that's longer than she has wanted to walk in months.

Since it was summer again today, Tom and I went to the beach. We went to the aquarium in Seaside, did a little window shopping, then on to Pizza a Fetta in Cannon Beach. I hit the yarn store while we were there. I almost got out unscathed, but on the last rack, two skeins of sock yarn in a variegated pale green asked to come home with me. In theory, I bought them to make a Christmas present for a friend who is a natural strawberry blonde (pale green looks great on strawberry blondes), but we'll see whether I actually knit it up, and then whether I actually send it.

Autumn returns tomorrow.

The vet thinks Sarah's episodes are fainting spells related to her weak heart. She put her on cardiac medication. Tonight, Sarah walked-- trotted, even-- six blocks without fainting. Good for her.

The restaurant is coming along. The appliances will be delivered Thursday, and the floor finished shortly after. We really might be able to open in a few weeks.

My new mohair sweater is coming along, too. The front is almost done. I'm very happy with the fabric I'm making, especially considering that it was bargain yarn to begin with. It's very thick and soft.

Today's adventure was to check out the produce stores on the highway between here and Portland. There are some good ones; my dinner consisted of local chanterelles sauteed with shallots and elephant garlic. I'm glad to find those markets; I've missed fresh fruits and vegetables since moving to this sunless region. Note: I like the cool, overcast weather. It's just not possible to grow most veggies on the coast.

Poor Sarah isn't doing well. She had two episodes today, during which she fell down and couldn't walk, followed by a period of exhausted immobility. I don't know whether they're seizures, strokes, or what. We're taking her to the vet tomorrow.

The mohair sweater is now 14 inches long. It won't be long now until I separate the front from the back. As I've only used 1 1/2 skeins so far, and I have 6, I have no fear of running out of yarn.

We went to Washington today, for a bit of adventure. Not much adventure, but some. We thoroughly searched through a large antique shop, emerging with a small shelf and a couple of books. Then we took a short walk near Black Lake, a lovely spot just off the highway, after which we had lunch in Long Beach.

Back home, we watched "The Man Who Sued God," starring Billy Connolly. Very enjoyable movie; I wish Tom would grow his hair long again. That's not a non sequitur. Billy Connolly has long hair, and is adorable. Tom, with long hair, is just as adorable, but he refuses to let it grow out. Oh, well.

...and the new sweater is four-five inches along. Stockinette on size 10 needles goes faster than odd ribbings on size 6s, to a shocking degree.

I quintupled my wardrobe today with about one hour of sewing; I hemmed the pants I've bought over the last few months.

Other than that, the day hasn't been that productive. Mostly, I've been complaining about back pain related to yesterday's gardening binge.

I failed to find a yarn I could stripe against the green handspun I started a scarf out of yesterday, so I put it aside and started a sweater. It's out of a variegated mohair, mostly shades of purple, that I bought ages ago. I have a matching wool that I'm going to use for the ribbing. I don't actually need another sweater, but I did need something to knit.

I pulled some weeds today, planted some irises, and continued to avoid altering some clothes I bought months ago. I started a scarf, but I've used up half my yarn without coming near halfway to a decent scarf. If I don't come up with a nice coordinating yarn, a scarf won't happen.

Sarah was sick last night. I gave her a bath to bring her fever down, and held her in my arms for a while afterward. She looked like she was feeling better today, but followed me around with slavish devotion all day. I think she appreciated that I took care of her while she wasn't feeling well.

I did finish Tom's Christmas sweater. The new collar is a big improvement. I also baked rye bread, did three loads of laundry, repaired a torn shirt, washed dishes, bathed a dog, unpacked my car, put most of the stuff away, and made a nice supper.

And they said it couldn't be done.

What I didn't do, from my extensive to-do list, was pull weeds, plant the iris rhizomes I brought from California, and shorten the pants I've bought this year. The irises are new, but the weeds and pants have been waiting for me for months.

Back in Oregon, thank Heaven. It's nice and cool here.

I started reworking the collar on Tom's Christmas sweater before even unpacking the car. I made an increase stitch after each picked up stitch on the front, so the collar wouldn't pull up on the torso, making a tight neck and a short sweater. 1x1 rib knits up quickly, so I might be able to finish tomorrow.

Housesitter situation settled. We have security in place, both human and mechanical.

I packed my car mostly with yarn. I had intended to bring some exercise equipment and furniture, but bins of yarn are so easy to stack.

I haven't knit a stitch in a week. That's something I'll be glad to get back to. I did finish Tom's Christmas sweater before we came down here, but I think I want to change the collar, now. It's good, but it could be better.

Well, the housesitter situation is settled, sort of. I confronted her about a bunch of stuff that had gone missing. She got offended, and quit. She and her boyfriend both still have keys, though, and all of their stuff is still in the house, so I can't just brush her off and get on with my life.

This sucks.

Big week-- huge week. Too much stuff to write about. In Los Angeles, barely managing to keep chaos at bay. Who am I kidding? I'm not keeping chaos at bay; it's sweeping me along in a tsunami of busy-ness and confusion.

Biggest problem? Housesitter situation in flux, I'm scheduled to go back to Oregon in a day-and-a-half, and I'm afraid to leave before the housesitter situation is nailed down.