Snail Spirals

Fiber work continues to be sporadic. I just can't get excited about anything. I've knit a few rows on Kiri, but really, that's about it. I have 18 layers of leaves done, 439 stitches on the needle, and have used up 32 grams of the leftover ugly blue yarn. I started with 79 grams, so that means I'm not even halfway done.

In non-fibery news, I had a milestone this week. I passed 400 species on my bird Life List! Number 400 was the Black-necked Stilt, a gorgeous shorebird that I have wanted to see ever since I began birding. So very elegant and long-legged. They migrated in to the Grande Ronde Valley this week- when I went birding at Ladd Marsh last Sunday, there were none to be seen, then when I went again Friday, there were dozens. Friday the 13th was definitely not bad luck for me - in addition to the stilts, I also saw about 15 Cinnamon Teal, another new species for my Life List. Two new species in one day, less than 5 miles from home. Nice. Ladd Marsh is one of my favorite birding places here.

On Thursday, Emma and I went for a walk at Morgan Lake, five miles outside of town in the other direction and up in the mountains. (It really is up in the mountains. The town of La Grande is at 2700 feet, and the lake is at 4100 feet! It's very strange to drive up a steep and winding road to get to a lake.)

The wildflowers are blooming, and we saw lots of beautiful pretties, all new to me.


Yellow Glacier Lily (Erythronium grandiflorum)

We also saw several nice patches of Yellow Bells (Fritillaria pudica) and another pretty purple lily-type, but I didn't get any pictures of those because my camera batteries conked out. Emma and I are going back tomorrow, for that express purpose. Hopefully, she will be in a better mood this time. When we were there Thursday, she whined almost the whole time that she wanted to be carried. Ah, the joys of going for a walk with a three-year-old.