Monthly Archives: October 2016

Angel Island pt 3!

So I believe that this may be the first time that we have triple posted for a single location but, as it happens, Angel Island is a favorite of ours so you can all deal. It is a small island in the San Francisco Bay, just north of Alcatraz, and the island is entirely a park with a fair bit of camping available – maybe one of the few places in the country where you can legally camp in a city.

We also got a chance to use our US camping equipment for the first time in a while, so the bright orange Eureka made a reappearance! Instead of some crazy kayaking to the island or running a 12K, we took the ferry out with some friends and just did an overnight camp. It was a lot of relaxing and hanging out outside and by the beach. So quite a nice relaxing trip and I highly recommend Angel Island for anyone who lives in the SF area.

On the out from fisherman's wharf. No longer locals we are allowed to go there.

On the ferry from Fisherman’s Wharf. No longer locals, we are allowed to go there.

And we get treated to the iconic view of the Golden Gate bridge for our troubles.

Going camping with friends means we can get a Jasmine & Lloyd picture!

And our neighborhood beach. I think my new camera phone is working out alright.

Old yeller.

New Bike Bag

Now that I’m using my bike on a regular basis, I decided to make myself a small bag that I could use to carry keys and my cell phone. Usually, I make very simple bike bags, but this time I added some embroidery to make it a little bit more fun. I was pretty happy with the way the bag turned out.

I used four hook and eyes to close the bag.

I embroidered a penguin, of course!

It’s not a very big bag, but it fits a cell phone nicely!

And on the bike!

WiFi Sweet WiFi

I had been avoiding embroidery in all its forms since I was about 10, figuring that I just didn’t have the patience for it. However, after visiting a friend who embroidered, I learned that doing rows of stitches at once rather than each stitch individually saves a lot of time. Since then, I have done a handful of cross stitch projects. The most recent of which was to thank friends for letting me stay at their place, I made a cross stitch sign for them. The sign is the WiFi info in the style of typical “Home Sweet Home” signs.

This method saves a lot of time!

I was very happy with the way this project came out and had a lot of fun with it. I think I’ll have to do another one for us!

The completed embroidery.

The embroidery framed and ready for display.

Surface Cover

I recently replaced my old computer with a Surface. This meant that I needed a new laptop case. However, I decided to go in a different direction than my usual quilted case and made myself a crochet tote bag.

The bag is made as two rectangles: one large rectangle for the bag and one smaller, narrow rectangle for the strap.

The body of the bag in two colors. I really enjoyed coming up with the design for the front of the bag, Although, if I had to do it again, I wouldn’t have split up the orange blocks.

The rectangle for the strap in a single color.

The completed bag.

This bag uses only two crochet stitches: chain and double crochet so it is simple to make up. It also gives my computer that extra bit of padding so that I can put it in my messenger bag to take to campus. Or, if I just want my computer, makes for a comfortable bag to carry by itself. This is a project that I am definitely happy with!

This is a really comfortable way to carry around my computer.

3 Person Bridge

When I was back at my parents’ place in North Carolina, I played a fair bit of bridge. Bridge is a fun game and, when Tyler was home, we could play with four people. This went very well for myself and for Tyler, as we got all of the cards all night long, as the scorecard will attest.

Bridge time! I have lots of memories of playing bridge growing up.

Disregard the first two columns from a previous game. The cards were certainly in one team’s favor.

However, we only had three people the next night, so we came up with a solution that I thought might be worth sharing. You deal out 4 hands with the extra hand sitting directly on the dealer’s right. Everyone bids as normal, then the 4th hand is flipped upside down and the table bids together for the 4th hand with perfect information. And when dealing is over, the dummy is already decided.

Dealer is #1.

So, all in all, a little janky, and it works better to learn and have fun than to be competitive. But I enjoyed it and it is a great leaning experience to see multiple hands when bidding.

NC Visit 2016

After we got settled into California, I decided to go back and visit my parents in North Carolina. It was a fun time to see family again after living in New Zealand. I had a good time in North Carolina, mostly hanging around and swimming in the lake. We also played some bridge, I smoked some brisket, and I fixed a kayak. But for now, enjoy some pretty pictures. I need to get some photos of jumping off docks while catching tennis balls with Tyler from my parents to add below.

The flight out to NC was pretty.

And my parents dock is pretty.

The flight back, in a unsurprising turn of events, was pretty as well.

Neither Rockets nor Robots

Lets hope they don't start another fight