Felted Hat BEFORE, and an Historic Day for Geology

 

Here's my felted hat before knitting! It's a natural brown because it was the only feltable thing in my stash in the right thickness. That's OK because my plan is to weave a sweet hatband for it. And to felt it before that, of course. 

And the Historic Day: I finally felt an earthquake! One of my very longtime geologist dreams.  There was a 3.8 quake yesterday morning, epicenter approx. 45 miles NW of Chicago, enough to give southern Wisconsin a shake. I woke long enough to wonder why the strong wind outside seemed to make the bed move and then I dropped back to sleep. I remember hearing a rumble but am willing to concede that might have been a snow plow.

 Cindy

Quickie

Hi Cindy,

I should be headed off to bed but I haven't written yet this month and there is only 40 minutes left in it so I thought I'd post a few pictures.

We got new cell phones a couple of weeks ago. Mine is a pretty blue one that I want to protect so I made a couple of cozies. Guess which one is mine.
Two weeks ago DH went backpacking in Aravaipa Canyon with a couple of his buddies, one from Seattle and one from Dallas. It was the first trip they've done together in 14 years. Aravaipa Canyon is SE of Phoenix. I drove them down to the east end which is near Safford and picked them up two days later on the west end. Before I could pick them up though I had to call AAA for a jump, the truck battery had died.

Aravaipa is a perennial stream so they didn't need to carry water. There were plenty of frogs and fat squirrels to keep them company. They didn't see any rattlesnakes so it must have been a bit early for them.
The main part of the canyon is a Bureau of Land Management Wilderness area. You have to get a permit to hike there and they only let a limited number of people in each day. The Nature Conservacy has purchased ranches at both ends to help preserve the area.

This is my favorite picture. DH took it in one of the side canyons they hiked up to. Notice the columnar jointing in the canyon walls. Looks like a volcanic tuff to me. And notice how the smooth erosion of the walls is almost exactly the same height as the boulder in the distance. Imagine the force of the flash flood to move that!

I'll close this off and head to bed. DH is dropping me at the airport on his way to work. My flight leaves shortly after 10 and I should be to MKE by 3:30. I'll see you on Friday and may give you a call beforehand. Looking forward to seeing you! A