A visit to Plymouth Rock with Sparky*

Plymouth Rock isn't my favorite landmark that Camp Chaos has hit but a day with Sparky* makes it more then memorable and bumps the day way up on the list of favorites. We've been friends since the last century and have endured ups, downs and a lot of turns.

These days a visit with Sparky is filled with great conversations, a bit of history, silliness and a bit of yarn in some form.

LL Bean back in 2004

Sparky* bought me my first set of knitting needles and my first yarn (I still have both) and she attempted to teach me how to knit on her visit to Maine in 2004 but I wasn't quite ready. I eeked out 3" of a swiss cheese scarf and tucked it away. When I unearthed it in 2010 I was ready to learn, by that time I was in Colorado and she was in the Pacific Northwest so I resorted to youtube videos. She's always been my knitting mentor and I love being able to have that be a part of our friendship story. 

The original needles and yarn on my deck in Colorado in 2010. 

 A lot of knitter's have stashes of yarn- some of this is for yarn that's "next in the queue" but some of it's sentimental  I have small balls of yarn from my early projects, the first yarn I got from Sparky and now some yarn my uncle found from my grandmother's collection.

Canadian wool- it was the preferred yarn requested by her kids. I can see why- there's some balls of acrylic in there which are very scratchy! There was also a set of metal dps (double pointed needles) tucked away in the stash.

It was great to be able to add this to my stash of memories...

my uncle, Dave and Kendra all dressed up for a walk in the Maine woods 

Cider Mash 5k

About a month ago Dave learned of a 5k that was happening at the local apple orchard. Gary had been looking for a race and Dave jumped on board. They were joined by Marc and Dave began training. He picked out some new kicks at the running store which is no small feat as to find high performance trainers for his small feet.

Dave found the best Coach and motivator in Mayhem. The three year old golden spins circles whenever Dave touches his running shoes and the light up collar with the green light that keeps the pair safe on their nocturnal training runs. They started slowly and ran a few times that first week and built up stamina.

This wasn't your standard 5k road race... this Cider Mash was a cross country tour of the orchard including some deccent hills and terrain. Thankfully there were no apples for ankle rolling. The three started out together along with 300 of their closest friends as they ran along the road and turned into the apple trees.

There were no dogs allowed at the race so Coach stayed home with Chaos eating treats and napping anxiously awaiting to hear how Dave's run went.

Dave and Marc stuck together and Gary wasn't far behind as the runners came back into view.

Ok... so they weren't in the font of the pack but that's not the point. Dave didn't get into this to bring home medals or anything. It's more about finding an outlet for Mayhem's energy and a great way to stay in shape for when he's able to get back on the rock again.

Colby kept watch for his Dad's orange hat bobing through the trees as he hung out with his Dzia Dzia, plus he sported his 'loaf hat that he earned from his first turns at Sugarloaf last winter.

 As a post race bonus there were gluten filled apple cider donuts...

but mostly Dave was just happy to have a good day in the chilly sunshine with his brother and Gary.

Beaches

I'm back to playing with the good camera and have been using the pups to hone my skills behind the lens. They don't seem to mind and have been enjoying our trips to the beach where I work on learning about light and the many settings that need to be tuned in the right pitch to get a beautiful shot.

The first session went well but there was a lot of editing that went into the photos... yesterday I shot in bright midday sun and had a lot of washed out shots in the beginning a few tweaks and many test shots and I was in my grove. 

Fall Colors and Colorado Visitors

There's something about Fall in New England that brings people home. The nostalgia of vibrant colors, the smell of apple pie or the flavor of cider doughnuts- whatever the reason there seems to be a homecoming trend going on here.

It started with the our favorite clamah' returning to the Coast of Maine. We loaded the pups up and traveled north with a yarn shop stop along the way. If there was a theme for the weekend it would have been beautiful buddies... it started with these guys being sweet brothers.

it did get a little fishy at times...

but it came back around...

There's something about beaches to really bring out the beauty in all of us. 

Tinker Toys and Yarn Swifts

Life at campchaos has been spinning quickly and the last few weekends have been full of cool nights in the tent, duck tours with Elvis,  puppy adventures, a weekend upta camp and the parking lot that is I-95 Southbound on a summer Sunday. We've managed to stay in place for a weekend and I was finally able to tackle some yarn that's needed to be wound. Dave helped me out on Friday night and held the skein and suffered through 400 yards of sock yarn. He was a good sport but I could tell that he'd rather be petting the pups instead of watching yarn slowly spin.

The next night I searched for alternatives to aid in the project and found this site, which used old school Tinker Toys to make a DIY Yarn Swift. I hadn't been a huge tinker toy fan as a kid but my sister loves them. It just so happened that Dave had a box of tinker toys from 1983 laying around so he blew off decades of attic dust and quickly went into construction mode.

We referenced the how to but also modified the design here and there. Dave even had a little Tinker Toy Guy that became the center piece of the swift.

We started out with a small base and tested a good size skein of yarn.

The moment of truth... would I end up with a ball or a tangled mess?

Between my hand crank ball winder and the tinker toy swift we made short work and I was quickly able to wind a half dozen cakes of yarn before taking the swift apart and stashing it in my knitting bag... for you non-knitters out there- a normal knitting swift is a really cool umbrella like contraption that retails at least $65. That's a lot of yarn back in this knitter's budget, plus the tinker toys break down for easy storage. Now I can get back to my knitting...

Here's the swift in action after a couple of design modifications.

River Dogs

The humid New England Summer hasn't been as brutal as we feared and gives us a good reason to seek out water with the pups. The past couple weekends we've hit a river and enjoyed some great play time with the monsters. Yes, they can swim but the float coats help them enjoy a long day- especially the big guy who's joints need a break after years of adventures. The newly redesigned K9 Float Coat from Ruffwear provides comfort and great flotation for these active monsters and will be great to help them in the canoe when we return to flat water.

good times on the coast

life's a beach...

campchaos- the mountain dogs hit the beach

It's the way people try not to change that's unnatural...the way we change to what things were than letting them be as they are... Change is constant. How we experience change, that's up to us. ~ Meredith Grey from Grey’s Anatomy

If you had asked me back in October where I'd be in 6 months the answer would have been Carrabassett Valley. Our reality has shifted and we've adjusted along with it.  Today campchaos hit the ocean and as we walked onto the beach the waves from the Atlantic came crashing in.

2012 Chaos plunges in while Mayhem timidly checks out the surf

The tide was high and the sound was monstrous; the big dog broke out into a smile while the little pup tucked his tail and hid behind Dave. We realized that Mayhem's never been to the ocean before and Chaos has danced in both the Atlantic and Pacific.

2006- Chaos in the Pacific Ocean

Before too long Mayhem's fears were soothed by Chaos's joy and he frolicked on the beach and danced in the waves with his brother.

 Change may be scary but like Mayhem we eventually we all figure out how much fun it can really be.

Disney 2012

Want some more images from our travels to Disney? Click Here.

Colby Rips the 'Loaf

 Last year Dave and I trekked to Summit County for some ski time with the Frisco 5, this year it just wasn't in the cards as the 5 hour drive has become a 40 hour adventure but we did get to have Colby join in on the fun and become a Sugarloafer.

He even got a Sugarloaf handknitted hat to mark the occasion. Although he sported this red helmet for his time on the slopes.

We also got to enjoy the company of Keith who made the trek north from Beantown for a weekend of fun upta camp. 

And ended the night in true campchaos fashion with a small campfire.

Valley Adventures and Spring Meltdowns

A few weeks ago I enjoyed a great tromp through the woods with the pups in the early afternoon sunshine.

It was a beautiful Winter day and the pups relished in the early March sunshine and snow. The sun was just right and hitting their golden fur to make highlights that even Bliss couldn't achieve.

Chaos dreams of summer swimming while Mayhem eats a bit of snow.

And I enjoyed my new pink hat that I had knitted out of a fat ball of Rasta by Malabrigo.

It's true knitting has trumped blogging this year... by a lot. At some point I'll have to do a project rundown of the hats, sweaters, socks and other worsted goodies that have flown off my needles but today's all about meltdowns...
This weekend temps crept higher and the snow softened...

we enjoyed some time on the hill with this guy...

and this gal...

in the warm spring sunshine. Then a funny thing happened- temperatures didn't drop back to normal but kept creeping higher.  We pulled out a few pairs of shorts and sported them with our mud boots for an afternoon walk in the sunshine.

And realized that we could have worn chacos.

The pups didn't mind and went for a swim in the river.

Today I wore my chacos everywhere.... I walked in the woods and through a melting iceberg.

The water that skimmed the iceberg on the trail was almost warm and the air felt like an afternoon in June. At no point did I regret my shoe choice as I skimmed along the trail over dry ground, mud, ice and hardpack snow. I should have- this is March in New England. Water on top of melting ice should be COLD. The air temperature should have turned my toes bright red and shot pain through them. But it didn't. I was warm in my shorts, t-shirt and Chacos on a shady trail at 5:30pm in March. 

Another great day for playing ball and enjoying golden hues dancing in the sunshine. It's bittersweet, winter was short as was the snowfall and while we're enjoying this odd weather it's not ideal for a ski resort.

Anyone wanna go play in the river soon? I hear the boating is great and the bike trails are gonna be drying like spilled water in the Sahara.