Wednesday, December 09, 2009

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.

northern california coast

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

IMG_1354

elephant seal

san simeon seals

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

point lobos

point lobos

northern california coast

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

point lobos

- 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 -

point lobos

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

point lobos

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!:

felicity hat

felicity hat

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!

14 comments:

malaraky said...

gorgeous photos, what a great trip!!

you're very brave to use that yarn for a hat - I hope it softened up when you blocked it. very nice job :)

Wanderingcatstudio said...

Happy birthday... that looks like a great way to spend it! I turn 30 on Saturday, and I certainly don't feel it!

Michelle said...

Happy 30th! Your photos are gorgeous.

Julia said...

Happy B-day! I freaked out about 30 too, but it's no biggie. You're in your dirty thirties! I don't think anyone ever really feels grown up anyway.
Beautiful pix!

The Frampers said...

these pictures are amazing! I'm totally going to knit your Bella's Mittens! Thanks for the pattern!

Anonymous said...

really beautiful photos-I'm totally amazed and a bit jealous!
Thirty? aww thirty is nothin' your not a grown-up 'til umm...I don't know, I'll let you know when I get there!
happy birthday!

Miss Haley said...

wow, what an awesome birthday present. and how beautiful!!! and man i love that hat... i'll have to make one after i finish your mittens ;)

Mr Puffy's Knitting Blog: said...

Toss. I'm about to be fifty and fabulous - LOL

Love that area and you took some great photos. Your new hat was perfect for the outing!

Anonymous said...

Happy, happy birthday- you share my middlest's birthday- but he only turned 8 ;-). Tell your Mom I said happy birthday, too!

I love that you and Bryan are together- sounds like an absolutely beautiful day- thanks for the gorgeous pictures.

And Happy Birthday to Bryan (and his Mom) too.

YowlYY said...

I am late commenting on your blog, which I just discovered via link from ravelry. As you're a fellow Sagittarian, by now you'll have discovered that turning 30 is not a big issue, although feared (what..aren't we going to turn into grown ups and adopt a middle age way of living straight away?) - LOL!
If there's something I've learnt so far (and I am a decade and some older) is that people like us never grow up - which is good!
Also, as you are a bunny person and a knitter, you're guaranteed to stay in your "mental 20s" for a looong long time :)
I hope the bunnies are all doing well and you had a fab Christmas. Keep on knitting :)

Enora said...

what beautiful photos ! i like it so much ! it give me fresh because at home it is summer...
thanks for Bella mittens pattern, I will surely knit it to go in France in march !

Laurel In Wonder said...

I love this hat, and have put it into my Ravelry queue. I like the yarn you used.

Ps. How did you put the projects in progress on your blog?

Kathy said...

Hey! You're in my stomping grounds! I just found your blog (apparently a late arriver) and was scrolling through old entries. We drove up the coast yesterday from Carpenteria and stopped to watch the elephant seals. Isn't Point Lobos fabulous? We'd go more often but live 2 hours north. Happy belated birthday

Anonymous said...

happy birthday. Love the photos. I was stunned to see the one of the cypress tree because I have an artist friend who painted that tree. No joke! I think the tree might even still be on his web site, davidmontgomerypaintings.com.

Very cool to see your photo.

Love the hat!