December 28, 2006
Mom's hat
I made this hat for Mom over the summer but just photographed it recently. I've made a number of hats but I knit all of them in the round mostly with stockinette pattern which makes a great hat. This time around I felt like trying something new and had Mom look through a Vogue knitting book on hats. She settled on this pattern and we went to Knit Purl to get the yarn. We chose this cotton yarn because wool can irritate Mom's skin. It's knitted in a herring-bone pattern into several pieces that are later seamed together. I think it's supposed to evoke a style from the twenties.
Posted by Dave at 10:25 AM |
Splitting wood
When I arrived at Woods Gap for Christmas my dad was almost through with a massive project to cut some timber someone had dropped off and split the logs into firewood for the wood stove. He borrowed the neighbor's commercial log splitter and had already split and stacked most of the wood. I helped him finish it off. I enjoy swinging an axe but for this size project the splitter was really cool and very effective. First Dad had to chainsaw all the logs to appropriate length. After splitting we loaded the trailer and drove it up the hill to stack by the house.
Posted by Dave at 10:00 AM |
December 25, 2006
A rainy Christmas morning
Posted by Dave at 09:19 AM |
December 24, 2006
Hole-in-one!
I set a new record this morning out on the Herbert B. Pratt Memorial Disc Golf Course. I shot a bogey-free twenty-three over nine holes, five below par. On hole four I finally found my distance on the drive and finessed some trees at the end to score my first birdie on the hole. The real excitement came on eight where my drive sailed down the hill, took a slight curve, was pushed down by the wind and slammed satisfyingly and securely into the chains for a hole-in-one! Dad was there to witness it though we don't have any photographic documentation. This photograph is from a round a couple of days ago where I got into a little more trouble.
Posted by Dave at 08:42 AM |
December 21, 2006
Woods Gap Christmas Tree
We got up to the mountain house this morning and it looked like rain so we hurried to get the saw out and went down to the overgrown stand of Christmas trees by the workshop. We quickly picked a tree that needed to be thinned and cut it down. After cutting about seven feet off the top we hauled the tree up to the house and here it sits. Tonight we will decorate it. Pretty fun having such a fresh tree.Update: Mouse over the image to light the Christmas tree!
Posted by Dave at 10:02 AM |
December 16, 2006
First day snowboarding of the season
Today I finally got up for the first day of snowboarding of the season. I'd planned to go a few times but had cancelled due to the conditions. Today though the skies cleared some and there was fresh snow on the mountain from the recent storm. Since I snowboard with Scott who is much better than me the first run of the day was a little beyond my current skill level and I tumbled down the mountain. However it was fun and it will be something to shoot for as the season progresses. I went to a more appropriate slope and was soon carving and listening to Cat Stevens and then the Dixie Chicks. I closed out the day listening to Shawn Colvin's Shotgun Down the Avalanche. Across the valley over on Mt. Hood we saw search helicopters and planes working to find the lost climbers however I read they have still not been found. And of course a trip to SkiBowl would not be complete without a stop at the warming hut.
Posted by Dave at 06:27 PM |
December 05, 2006
Ross boys at Kruger's Crossing
Drew and I both competed in the Men's C category in the last cyclocross race of the season, a new event at a farm on Sauvie's Island on Sunday. Drew proved himself once again the mud king and rode to a 1st place finish! Looks like it will be Men's B for him next year, unless third-year rotations cut too much out of training time. I don't even know if Drew did much training outside of his burly 45-minute one way bicycle commute twice daily. I imagine with more specific and focused training he'd be out there with the A guys. I left the unicycle at home this time and hopped on my bike for once. I succumbed to the mud and wallowed through much of the race. The laps were pretty evenly split between a slow muddy half and a fast drier half. BikePortland.org has some good photos from the day. I did at least avoid getting lapped by Drew. Cyclocross demands high levels of anaerobic fitness, good bike handling skills and a race mentality, all areas I'd like to work on for next year. Great job Drew!
Posted by Dave at 11:45 AM |