africa journals

keeping my promise, here is the final count of pockets for africa: two hundred and eighty nine pockets are coming with me. and pockets, and toys, beads, lollies, and pens. audrey, your pockets arrived, and kj your pens, more pockets came from debbie in england and sylvia in sweden, and from erin, kathleen, and deb in canada. bella, your toys are here, and anushka and amy and maddy and abby sent pockets. pockets from carol and heather, and wendy, angelica, claire in england. and laurinda sent money to help with the additional bag cost. 

whew. 

again, without words here, i'm just hoping you know how much this means to me ( i know you do) and what it will mean to the new friends we give these to. i said one time it was a small thing, but now i am sure it's not a small thing at all . i thank you all with all my heart. i never imagined something like this, i really never did. 

bella drew on her envelope. me on a bird with a camera and knitting needles. 

sorry for the blurry photo, i might have had a tear in my eye.

X X X 

here we are, our long awaited for trip is finally come, we leave monday morning (eek!). bags are pretty much packed, i'm bringing one (heavy) camera backpack, one small rollie carry on, and a large duffel full of woolly pocket love to check. our itinerary printed out to twenty nine pages. saved packing lists from previous trips are helpful, so crossing my fingers here nothing will be forgotten. aside from my cameras, there is a prized possession always remembered, it's my travel journal. i've been making these books of trips taken since i was seventeen years old (still have them all) . the above book was made three years ago on our last trip to africa, to zimbabwe and botswana. when i returned  friends had wanted to read it, so trying to figure the best way to make that happen, i scanned it to share. i think i've found a better way.

africa journals is a now a blog. it's the above journal scanned in, in it's entirety. printed by hand (at times messy) it's what i kept during the trip, writing every day. if you've ever wondered what it's like to take a safari, this is one account of what one is like. i really hope, if you read it, it'll give you a sense of place, one  that i love so much, africa.

click on the photo to go. after monday, i'll see you in three weeks (i'll be bringing an ipad, but i'm not sure if i'll be able to post), my goodness i'm going to miss you.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx lori

this morning

mail on my doorstep this monday morning. if you are new here (welcome!) and would like to know what this is about you can find out in this post here.

i've counted now:
thirty five packages and envelopes
one hundred eighty nine pockets
six necklaces
five pencils
five pencil sharpeners
three felt balls
shells
sea glass
note cards
ten toy cars
four turtles
six balls
three little dolls
six puzzle animals
twelve wild animals
six hearts
three fuzzy toys
candy
one key chain pen
five rubber animals
a big bag of organic lollies
and soap
so far. more pockets are on the way.

thank you melissa, julie, annie, stephanie, francesca, v, andee, leanne, debbie, ginny, kristin, lynn, sheril,
mary, doris, amy, hilde, betsy, michele, ellen, tracey, anke, emily, heather, tamsin, kyle, claire,
katrina, debbie, gail, emma, natalie, heather, susan, and amanda.

i'm in awe. it's hard to put into words. i feel your friendship and love when i hold your gifts in my hands. when i see all those perfect little stitches and happy colors. and read your notes, thank you so much for those. oh my goodness. the joy.

good practice

would you like to take a walk with me in our salt marsh? the weather is beautiful, and as long as the fog doesn't move in, we should be able to see a lot!

carpinteria's salt marsh is a wildlife preserve. this little towhee must know he's safe here.

sometimes the egret doesn't notice us while he's foraging for his dinner.

wildflowers were sparse this year, finding these is a treat.

my daughter is going to be married here september.

look! wild sweet peas! can you see how tiny these are? so miniature. chuck told me he'd seen a patch of sand dune verbena down at the beach, shall we walk over and have a look?

here they are. we're a little too late, the sun has dipped down behind a large cypress, these pretty yellow blooms are already closing up for the night.

the beach is mostly empty, there's just one sailboat heading back home.

mr. and mrs. duck are bedding down for the evening.

shhh, i think there is someone following us.

hello mr. great blue heron, don't fly away (they always do)

okay, see you again then.

look! a group of swallows

their picking up bits of mud for their nests

there they go! can you believe how clever they are? the sun is setting now, we should start heading back

oh! haha, yes you look invisible, we'll pretend we can't see you little brush bunny

we hear you red-winged blackbird, but couldn't you please show us your wings? no? okay, next time...

thank you for coming with me, i love sharing this special part of coastal california. is it just me, or does this last photo look like hippos might pop up at any minute? haha, i've got only one thing on my mind right now. this is a lot like being on an african safari. i think it was good practice for the real thing.
xo lori

good to go

choosing a project to bring on a trip is so much fun, doing all that required research and decision making. and yarn store visiting. it's serious business (i am sure my husband is rolling his eyes right now, hee hee). i needed something that would take up very little room, would last three weeks, and have no charts or tricky instructions.

i found it in a shawl called sothia. here is the pattern link. i think it meets the critieria for a good travel knit and it's oh so lovely. i chose madeline tosh merino light, a fingering weight wool in the colors logwood and gossamer. keeping it purposely unwound so as not to be tempted to cast on.

more beautiful pockets have arrived, i think there are eighty five at last count. we just stare at them. amazing.

and treats to tuck inside. chuck said we're going to have to charter our own plane.

okay, i did it, i wound it this morning. it's not a good idea to leave things to the last minute right?

good wishes

 without the community, the individual is left without a place where he can contribute.

the community is that grounding place where people come and share their gifts
 and receive them from others.

- sobonfu some

(the first packages have arrived)

ginny, our hostess and creator of yarn along, also used this word community, when she described knitting her pockets for africa. i will try to say what it means to me, the response these small knitted pouches have had. at first, the knitting was the thing. but as the mails and messages began to arrive,  it became clear that it is the caring for others, the thoughts, and wishes and love that are the soul of this project.

the one rule i had for myself when i began blogging almost four years ago, was to have a place that was one of inclusion. a place where anyone would feel welcome, regardless.

i feel i've made some to feel left out, but please know that your messages of community and friendship and love will be going with me to africa. it doesn't matter if you've made a pocket, made something to go inside, or made good wishes, they all matter so very much. i've been reading this book, origins -african wisdom for every day, by danielle and olivier follmi. it was in here that i found the quote by sobonfu some, it's a beautiful book with stunning photos, wise sayings and proverbs.

if you'd like to, please add your name below. i've added a link thing, it was mentioned to me that i might do this. i know i would love to have a place where i could follow every link to your pockets for africa. i'm thinking on how this can best be shared, i'm hoping for photos and well, we'll see, i have so many ideas! and you don't have to leave a comment, mr. linky made me say that.  :)
thank you so much everyone. love, lori

a week of knitting and other things

this week i love:
every comment and email and good thought on my last post
beach for fun, seeing darling puppies and big crabs!
knitting more pockets
beach for work (needing photos of the wetsuit on chuck) for review
working at my other job
and more knitting
new music
teaching knitting at the shop and new homeschool students
wool choosing for the travel project i'll bring to africa, thank you karen for your help
a long phone call from a faraway friend
and a new bone for owen in the mail, thank you geli!



this weekend:

a friend invited me to a neighboring town, to blue hill farms

where we met libby

a cashmere goat

and saw her having her coat sheared

her new summer wear  :)

we saw this mushroom, which is around a hundred years old. it will be used to dye fibers

we said hello to the farm residents

and took their photos

i wished i could bring this little sweetheart home, i think owen (my doggy) would approve

we saw demonstrations of sheep to shawl, i met a designer that had brought some of her pieces worked in libbys fiber

i could be happy here

afterwards we had lunch and did a little window shopping in town

 didn't we just see you two at the farm?  hee hee

ending with dessert made this a perfect day, week. this little one had strawberry gelato, her mama had honey lavender and green tea and i ordered ginger spice and apricot. did you know apricot is the most popular flavor in italy?

the first pockets have arrived (already!) and packing has begun.