Sand, Yarn and Local Food

Another quick trip to the coast this week for beach-sitting, local eating, and knitting, not to mention 99 (actually got to 100 on Saturday) degree weather-avoiding. I left early Friday afternoon. I was inordinately happy driving to Manzanita - tuna sandwich, bag of fresh cherries and an iced latte for lunch en route, windows down and sun roof open. I was on my own this time. Grady had to stay behind to do his neighborhood civic duty on Saturday morning (innoculating elm trees in Ladd's Addition). And Molly was not invited. With guests coming to use the house Sunday morning, I didn't want to spend any extra time cleaning the house since we had already done a thorough cleaning the last time we left.It was actually HOT at the coast the past couple day - in the 80's. (This is unusual in case you are not familiar with the Oregon coast.) So, it was a great time to sit on the beach and read or nap, and I did plenty of both. On Friday, there was a pretty good breeze, so we had lots of kites and kite surfers. Today, it was completely calm.
Friday evening I went to the farmer's market in Manzanita to get dinner. Wow, talk about crowds! I got there about 20 minutes after it opened and it was already getting crazy. I got my dinner items and scooted on out.
So, I had a nice simple local meal for myself. Broiled ling cod, mixed salad greens with a bit of hothouse tomato, and roasted red fingerling potatoes, plus a sauvignon blanc from our neighbor state to the north.

I first started this blog to write about my experiences with learning to make local foods a regular part of our diet. This was one of the things I wanted to learn about and do in my retirement. Among the other "new tricks" on that retirement "to do" list is learning to knit. It just happened that a brand new yarn store opened up in Manzanita recently and they were offering a one-session introduction to knitting beginner class this morning. So, I signed myself up and drove down to attend. Lou, our incredibly patient teacher, got us started with two ways to cast on and the basic knit stitch. And, "TA DA.....", here is my first effort (well, actually second, but the first one looks pretty much the same, except even more uneven.)
The store is called T-Spot Yarns, Teas, and Chocolate. Doesn't have a website yet. But, if you like any of those three things and find yourself in Manzanita, I would encourage you to stop by and see Olga.