Emptyknitster

  Sierra Negra Volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in the Galapagos,  in fact the park had just reopened after a recent eruption. Its caldera is the second largest in the world with a diameter of six miles. After our hike we continued on to the Turtle Breeding Center. The National Park's conservation program is working hard to save the Galapagos Tortoise which is on the brink of extinction.  It is thought once there were 250,00 tortoises on the island but there were less than 20,000 when the breeding center began. A few weeks before our visit there were 123 baby tortoises stolen from the breeding center and listed for sale on internet, The asking price was $5000, When asked why they don't go after the sellers we were told that there are no identifying marks or chips on the babies so they can't prove the tortoises were from the center. They are now installing cameras and working on a ways to identify each tortoise. Sadly, the center's manager spoke out abou...

We were soon off to the Galapagos Archipelago landing at Baltra.. Immediately, it became apparent the Galapagos is in its own world, remote and almost untouched. The Ecuadorian government is working hard to preserve this environment. Baltra was a US military base which provided protection for the Panama Canal During WWII. Everyone begins their Galapagos adventure here.   We took a short bus ride to our boat and another short ride to the island of Santa Cruz and headed to the town of Puerta Ayora. Puerta Ayora is the most populated town of the islands claiming 20,000 of the 30,000 total inhabitants. If you are not a Galapagian (as of 1997) you may only stay no more than three months and never buy land. Galapagians are also citizens of Ecuador, and can fly to the mainland at a greatly reduced airfare for yearly medical care and to see family.  The older generation had iguanas and turtles as pets which is no longer allowed. They may have dogs and cats but they are not ...

Hubby and I had been dreaming of a trip to the Galapagos and Amazon Rain Forest for many years and this was the perfect time to go on another adventure. Traveling is not for the faint of heart if you live in Montana. Living in the northwest part of the United State necessitates leaving a few days earlier than the beginning of your tour. We left the house at 4:30 am for our 6:00 flight and flew to Miami, got a hotel and then didn't fly to Guayaqull, Ecuador, until 8:30pm the second night. We had worried about bad weather, snow on our end or a hurricane on the other and in fact Florida was struck by Hurricane Micheal earlier in the week, but luckily not in the Miami area. We were greeted in Guayaquil and taken to our hotel about 1am. We met the others in our group and were on the road by 9am for a day's excursion of the countryside and the city in the afternoon...   Along the road Street vendors were selling baskets of freshwater crab caught in the mangroves. The vendors s...

 Hubby and I haven't gotten up early enough to attend a homecoming parade for several years but this year the weather was perfect and I had my Homecoming sweater ready to go!   Pattern: Bubbly Sweater by Isabell Kraemer Yarn: Cascade Sport Colorway: Burgandy and Silver Gray Needle size: US 3 and US 4 Before the parade began we met up with Missoula's hero, MONTY! And he was sweet enough to let me have a photo with him... We decided to watch the parade from its starting point and were able to catch a fun warm up by the college band. When I finally pulled out the phone they were winding down but it's still a fun snippet: Had to take a shot with one of my favorite critters - just WHAT would I do without this guy? Knit acrylic? I don't think so!  Also took a photo with Smoky. He looked out for Hubby many summer fire seasons over the years! Fiddlers, spooks, horses, ax throwers, politicians, it was a great Montana parade!

Pattern: Norwegian Star Mittens by Rhonda Stovin Yarn: Funull Pt2 Colorway: White and Dark Gray Needle Size" US Size 4 These mittens are knit in the traditional yarn, Ramau from Norway. The resulting fabric is firmer than the others I made last week. An enjoyable  mitten knitting session. These are a traditional star mitten pattern. I've found a new mitten pattern that will be going on the needles soon. There is a sweater on the needles that only needs the yoke completed.

We've been watching our tiger salamander grow for several years. We were sad he had such a solitary life in the dark, musty, sprinkling system box.  Over the years we started calling him Saul The Salamander. Today, Hubby came into the house delighted to tell me that in fact Saul was Sally.... Not one but two little guys are now living in the box, with their mom - and a dad.... somewhere....