We just got back from the most amazing weekend destination, Goldmyer Hot Springs. I've been wanting to go for a while, but had almost forgotten about it. I decided to book it and Jesper got excited about rigging his Mt. bike for hauling all our gear. We took the more difficult trail to the springs, a 5 mile single track hiking trail that's open to Mt. bikes on odd days. It was difficult in many places, then in others we were able to cruise along. Jesper was so impressive to have hauled ALL our camping gear on his bike and ride up the trail. He had barely gotten over a stomach bug and I swear he had a fever Friday night. I saw a few trees with mushroom colonies on them, something I'd never seen before.
The hot springs were incredible, more than we could have dreamed. The pools were not right at the camping area, but a 1/4 mile hike away. We went up after dinner and spent an hour or two in the pools. The lowest one is like a perfect bath temperature, the middle one is shallow is nice and hot and the upper one is actully in a cave that is standing height, the water hot like a hot tub—not scalding, goes back 25 feet and the water is up to your chest. You can walk all the way into the cave and sit there on a wooden bench, the air like a sauna. There was surprisingly no supher smell in the air.
I didn't get any photos of the springs since it was dark, but there are some online, but having seen the photos before didn't prepare me for how wonderful it really could be.

Great health news!

When I got that previous allergy test, I went to a homeopath. I definitely wanted a second opinion on the food allergies. So I went to an allergist. The word is, I am NOT allergic to these foods that I was told unless I have a noticable physical reaction. I will not die young, I can bake cake and eat it too! I am not allergic to any foods. Not even shellfish which is what started all this. BUT, I think I am "intolerant" to shellfish. So I will continue to avoid it.

Then I got the skin test to test for other allergies and I am really allergic to what I thought, grass, trees, dustmites.

Ahh! My arm itches now from this skin test!

Awww - such a cute short animation!

Today I got my first set of Hepatitis shots for traveling to Thailand, ouch!

I finished my black sweater too!

I am actually getting insired to make a pattern again. Here is my inspiration. Not sure I'd wear it myself, but one of the most popular patterns I have on Ravelry is the hoodie scarf, so I think this is a interesting type of garmet to write up a pattern for next.

This weekend I tried indoor rock-climbing for the first time. It was pretty fun, I made it to the top several times and luckily had a perfect fitting pair of shoes to borrow. After that we went to Cupcake Royale in Ballard. What a perfect indoor day!

Sunday we got the chciken coop roof shingles on and set up a winter garden compost set-up. We used leftover chicken wire and made a bin out of it in the garden with 4 wood stakes stapled on to hold it up. We'll see if we can get it to actually compost.
We saw our first local racoon make an appearance. I hadn't seen one in the neighborhood before, but I think the chickens are going to have a visitor. We'll be adding extra dirt to their floor soon. Overall, the coop is quite secure though.

Knitting wise, I found my missing last skein of black cotton-ease! Now I can finish my black sweater with full length sleeves!

Food-wise, I've been trying to eat less/no eggs and wheat. I am definitely going to a different doctor next, an allergist rather than a homeopath to find out what the consequences are for not entirely elimitating wheat and eggs from my diet.

Thailand Honeymoon countdown: 48 days

Ignorance was bliss...

I just got back my food allergy blood test results and now I know too much.

For the next 12 months, none of these foods: (these are moderate to high allergies)
Eggs (both whites and yolks) YIKES!!!
wheat gliadin
wheat gluten
whole wheat
spelt
rye
Pineapple

For the next 6 months, none of these foods:
milk
barley
green bell pepper
kidney beans
lima beans
pinto beans
string beans
peanut
sunflower
soy
whey
sugar cane
cranberry
banana (no problem!)

What's with no eggs?? We JUST got chickens!! None of my allergies make me feel immediately sick or bad (noticably). But eliminating these could fix some other parts of my life that could be better, I guess I don't know how much better?? This is going to be a very hard adjustment since the consequence isn't a noticable sickness, but if I am to eliminate them from my diet, and then sneak some in, then I have to start over in a sense. Ugh.

The chicks are having a lovely day outside today, and their coop is looking fabulous! I picked up a couple solar lights so we won't trip in the dark when we feed them at night. I screwd up one of them, hopefully I can figure out how to fix it, I put the wrong end into the ground stake and now it's locked in with the thread side what was meant for screwing on the lamp at the top.

I talked to Jesper this morning and have booked him a flight home 6:30AM Monday, he's had a great sailing trip and I'm excited to see him again. It has been nice to have the house to myself and have my own schedule all the time!

I've run out of yarn, 4 skeins wasn't enough!! Also, the center of the sweater has a skein that is of a different dye lot apparently. I think it's pretty subtle though.

I have decided to get totally organized with my recipes. I've started an account at Tastebook.com and am entering in all my best recipes and will clean out my binder of print outs at home. I am going to either cook the recipes I have saved in the next year, or they get tossed. This is going to be a good motivator for planning more meals at home! As soon as I am organized, the reward is to print out my own Tastebook.

The chicks are 3 weeks old today. Yesterday I painted more red onto the coop. The weather was warm enough to put them out in their pen. I brought in some dirt to fill some gaps and after a while they started pecking all over. I heard a comotion and one of them found a worm and was running laps aroung the pen. It was so cute, she didn't quite know what to do and everyone was in a frenzy about their first worm ever. So fun!
See the hen in the back? She is the runt of the group. The pecking order is definitely happening. It's sad that she gets pecked on to tell her her place, but as long as she gets food and water, I guess it's how chickens socialize.

Knitting: I am on the sleeve of my sweater and and hoping I have enough yarn, if not, they will be 3/4 sleeves or if anyone has an extra 1/2 skein of Lion Brand black Cotton-ease, I'd love a donation.

I just love this coconut cake recipe! I made this for grandpa's 87th Birthday.

I got the Cake Bible from my friend Jen for a wedding gift and I need to branch off to try another cake recipe next. I just had to make this one again with my new cake stand too.

Last night Jesper took off to sail to San Francisco.

More wedding photos!

Our chicks have moved into their new chicken coop. They are 2 weeks old today.

Tonight I painted the coop after priming it yesterday. I didn't get it all done by the time it got dark, but it's looking good!



Knitting: I have only 3 more rows of the body of my black sweater, then onto the sleeves, top down.