winter wonderland

it's not every day you find yourself in vermont at an alpaca farm. but that's exactly where i was last week!


b and i spent the holidays with my family in the northeast kingdom, which seemed to me an excellent opportunity to check out some local fiber action (it's cold and snowy there so everyone needs woolens, you know?). so i reached out to the local ravelry group and secured an invitation to snowshoe farm in peacham for me, my mom, b, and malaraky.

oh man are these creatures adorable.


terry and ron were fantastic hosts - so open and warm. ron picked up all the babies so we could pet them more easily, and man are they soft! we basically spent an hour looking into huge alpaca eyes, stroking alpaca fleece, and asking questions about different breeds, what they eat, their personalities and quirks.

this dude on the left with the crazy mop is a suri, and the gal on the right is a rose grey named esther rose whose coat was almost lavendar:


these are smart animals and some of them were so very engaged - everyone trotted out to say hi and a few even poked their noses over the fence to see what was up. my mom even made a new friend!


happy new year to all - may it be full of family, friends, and soft fiber!

wildlife

so on friday i formally entered what my friend jo calls "the flirty thirties". i approached this milestone with a bit of reluctance. okay, a lot of reluctance. thirty sounds awfully grown-up, and i don't feel it.

lucky for me, bryan took me on a surprise trip up north where i could gawk and squeal at animals as if i was three, not thirty.

big sur is an absolutely stunning place, where dense forest follows a rocky, mountainous coastline. the five-hour drive felt like two, it was so beautiful.


on the way up we passed a sign for "vista point - elephant seals". a quick u-turn and...






so many harbor and elephant seals - i'm amazed that they're still there, protected - that we haven't driven them all off. and they just lay there happily, burying themselves in the sand and honking at each other.

best. birthday present. ever.

we spent saturday at the point lobos wildlife reserve hiking around their unbelievably gorgeous park.








point lobos is known for their sea lion look-out -


- as well as coves full of sea otters. but they slid and somersaulted around so quickly i couldn't get a good photo! we did have an up-close experience with a lovely dear though -


that's, like, zero zoom on my camera. she was right in front of us.


also, there was knitting! see that hat? sort of? it's the felicity hat by wanett clyde (ravelry link). i wanted a new, slouchy hat and i wanted to use a skein of gorgeous sheepy linsmore sheep farm pure wool that malaraky gifted me last year. close-ups!:




the color is more accurate in that second photo - it's a deep brown with red, purple, and green hues very naturally wound into the yarn. i love it. i added a few rows of broken rib around the band so it wouldn't curl, and otherwise knit per the instructions. a quick knit, and very cute!

it's bryan's birthday today, so send him some b-day wishes!

thanksgiving, socal style

shots of wild turkey on the patio


ferris wheels and goofy glasses


segway rides down the beach


into the sunset


followed by a little ice skating.
nothing here is traditional, but that's okay. i am so thankful for my family, my friends, and for you all - happy holidays, everyone!