It is my last day in Portland. Yesterday, I finished this scarf that I have been knitting since December. The yarn was very difficult. It is a gift for Cynthia, my hair dresser, who made my hair red and spiky!! While I was knitting it, onlookers would come up and look at it very closely because they thought I was knitting with beaded yarn. So, I decided to add beaded fringe to the ends. Looks cool, but it does tend to tangle easily.

My son-in-law is an architect, who just started his own business at home. Before he left the firm, he was given a box of Jack Lenor Larsen fabric samples. Many of them are silk. I got to go through them and fill a bag to bring home. Some are small but will be great for post cards – some are larger and I have some ideas for my journal quilts for those.

On Thursday, we dropped the kids at school and went shopping. Stopped at Nordstrom where I found shoes, but not Steph. She didn’t find a watch either. Then we went to the new Crate & Barrel – it is huge. I bought a set of organdy napkins in primary colors which I am going to use in a fusing project. Steph bought a lovely placemat which she turned in to a pillow. You can see it on her blog soon. In the afternoon, we went down to Hawthorn St. to Imelda’s (isn’t that a great name for a shoe store) and Steph found summer sandals. Then we went to another store and found a great watch with an orange leather band. Neighborhood stores are the best. I think she is very happy with her birthday gifts. Then we found artichokes – 5 for five dollars. This is Mia’s favorite food. We bought Thai style Halibut burgers and sweet potato fries to round out the meal. She made Asian slaw to go on the burgers – it was delish!!

Last night Steph made homemade pizza with spicy turkey sausage, broccoli and artichoke hearts – yum! It has been a wonderful time for me to spend time reading and visiting with Miles and Mia and to have someone else do the cooking. I feel ready to go home and get back to my normal schedule. Mark is picking me up at the airport and driving me home and will spend the night with us. I think we will eat out; I’m not ready to decide what to have for dinner and do the cooking!!