Cloud Parade

It has been ages since I've taken pictures just for fun. All my photographic effort has gone towards this blog, The Book, or documentation. Well, today our family got some news that my grandfather isn't doing well. Mum and I decided that a little distraction from life would be healthy. We were at the tail end of a storm, so the clouds were pouring over the ridge line. We went up for a look.

The clouds were moving at an incredible rate, but there was hardly a whisper of wind on the ridge itself. 

Every now and then the clouds would clear. Wind would rustle the leaves, disturbing the remaining raindrops out of the canopy.

We warmed ourselves in the sun. Mum asked where the autofocus was on the camera.  

Crows circled overhead. Their feathers caught the light every once in a while making the birds themselves appear white.

We stayed until the last of the clouds had paraded by.

Cloud Tsunami

I spent some time last week with my Mum scoping out the next place to take more pictures for The Book. This time around we spent some time on a pier looking for good lighting and angles. It was an amazing evening. A wall of fog was rolling in and it looked like a tsunami coming at us.

Sea lions were making a real ruckus under the pier. I lamented the fact that the lens I had on my camera is a prime lens and I couldn't get a closer picture of this guy. He only came up for a brief moment before sinking back into the murky water.

We were pretty hungry, so eating at a restaurant located near the end of the pier was a must. I hadn't had clam chowder in a long while, so this was just heavenly. While eating, there was reminiscing that when I was younger I hated clam chowder. 

There were a fair number of pigeons hanging out and I noted that their presence really inspired quick table busing. I caught a picture of this guy right before he stretched out his wings.

The night was cool and windy and the clouds were sprays of ice in the sky. As we headed back home the moon winked down on us.

Picture taking is still going fairly smoothly. I'm rapidly re-knitting a new version of one of the designs before tackling design #9. There are massive improvements being made in the knit and the instructions.

Spirit Guides

The next morning at Yosemite, Natalie discovered this amazing view right behind our tent cabin. I enjoyed the sun for a little bit before we all had breakfast.

After breakfast we started on another hike. We past right by this doe and her three fawns. It's rather unusual to see a doe with more than two, but all of them looked healthy. I even got a picture of one of the fawns nursing.

On our way up to Vernal Falls, I was taking pictures and nearly stepped on this guy. He actually frightened me a little. I wasn't expecting to turn around and have another little spirit guide staring up at me. He kind of reminded me of Scooter since I'm pretty sure he was begging for food.

The Mist Trail was pretty slick, but it afforded us a lovely view of Vernal Falls. The way the mist was being pushed around at the base of the falls is indescribable. You really have to see it yourself. It was a little hard on my camera, though. I kept having to wipe off my lens.

At the top of the falls there were two baby squirrels playing with each other. The rock was pretty steep, so they would wrestle around and roll downwards, then pause to run back up and wrestle some more.

Instead of descending the million steps that we had climbed up, Mum, Natalie and I decided to take a bit of the John Muir Trail. We climbed a bunch, decided that we might be going the wrong direction and descended. After asking a park ranger we found that we had been going the right way and climbed again. I got a little cranky about going up, down, and up again. Eventually we got to the top and saw Nevada Falls.

It was pretty late by the time we finally headed home. I really love seeing all the orchards around the Escalon and Manteca area, especially when the sky is on fire.

Bye Bye Birthday Money, Hello Fiber Riches

I have completed New Year's Resolution #5. Learn to spin wool.

I'm going to need lots of practice. But the lovely ladies at the Serendipity Spinners booth at Stitches West got me going. They sent me off with a spindle made of two old CDs.

Without them, I would have only bought yarn. After learning the basics of spinning I ended up buying much more than I should have. My first roving purchase was from Snicklefritz Yarn Co. Who could resist a colorway named, "Gnome Running Through Yosemite"

Right next to Snicklefritz was a booth called Becoming Art. I tried to only buy one thing, but the colors were too beautiful. The roving on the left is called "Outlaws" and on the right is "Rich"

I did get some yarn while I was at Stitches. Newton Country Yarns was having a 60% off sale.

Four skeins later I rushed over to The Village Spinning & Weaving Shop's booth. (The three skeins on the left are from Village. The four on the right are from Newton) I swear I have pattern ideas for all these skeins.

I should have controlled myself a little better. But I missed Stitches last year. On a side note, the day before I went to Green Planet Yarn. They give you a discount on your birthday month. You pull a chip out of a jar and can get 20%, 40%, or 100% off. I got 40% off.

After Stitches, I went with my Mum up to Hunter's Point in Fremont Older to see the full moon rise.

A storm had recently gone through, so there were terrific clouds. Definitely a good cloud day.

Unfortunately the clouds obscured the moon. But the sunset was amazing.