What I Did On My Summer Vacation

 I don't actually remember ever having to write about this/  Maybe my teachers were more creative about their writing assignments or maybe my memory is starting to go (which is where I'd place my money).  Since there's been an unbelievable lack of action around here, I thought I'd do a general update with an actual sewing update as soon as I can get pictures.  (Don't get too excited.  It's a t-shirt and a pattern that everyone else seems to have understood but I apparently didn't).

I turned 45.

Please see the comment about the memory above.  I still haven't reached an age that has caused me to panic yet, so I'm just going to keep on taking it one day at a time and see where we end up.  We didn't do anything too exciting, but I took the day off work, and we went out for pizza at Apizza Scholls (which was excellent).  Here's a picture of my birthday flowers. 

Also?  The Kindle has increased my reading speed by the power of 10.  I'm back to where I was in high school when I devoured books.

I got a new camera.

A Nikon D3000.  And, more importantly, I took a class on how to use it.  Nothing advanced.  Just on what the different settings are for and what they do.  I've been experimenting and taking a lot of random pictures, but now that I'm comfortable with the general operation of my camera, I'm ready for something a little more detailed.  Here are a couple of shots.

I went to Lake Tahoe.

Three nights and four days of Mr. flyskim's annual family Tahoe gathering.  The flyskim dad when along, and he wants to go every year now.  Even though the temperature was in the mid-70s for most of the time, there were still huge piles of snow on the ground.

 

The weather here in the Pacific Northwest (can you still consider Tahoe the Pacific Northwest?) has been more than a little strange this year.  I thought last summer was mild, but this one is setting out to prove me wrong.  

We took a couple of great hikes:

The flyskim dad (doing great for a man who had half a lung removed less than a year ago) and Mr. flyskim.)

The view from Eagle Rock.

And walked down by the water. 

There was the dramatic rescue of a hunting knife after a fumble at a twilight fishing session:

Short version?  One of the kids brought a friend.  He dropped his dad's knife in the lake and panicked.  He said it was his dad's favorite knife, but the real story is probably that his dad didn't know he had it with him.  I mean, who sends a 12-year-old to Tahoe with someone else's family and lets him take a knife?

A lot of eating:

And a little recreational welding:

What?  Your family doesn't weld when they get together?

And last but not least, I got my hair cut.

With Mr. flyskim and niece A. 

I'll be back (hopefully later today) with a review of Butterick 5562.  As noted above, I am apparently the only person to have problems understanding this pattern, so please don't judge me. Oh, and the tiler comes next week to install our backsplash, so the kitchen will be finished soon!