Alicia,

Alicia in college, 1989

or as my daughters call her, "Miss Lish", came down for a visit on Sunday. Alicia and I met many years ago while waiting for the mail in our college residence hall lobby. We've been friends ever since.
Some Lish facts:
~ She doesn't like catching nightcrawlers, but she'll fish.
~ She grew up in Toppenish, WA
~ She's the youngest of four children, but two of her siblings have passed away
~ She moves... a lot. As a result we've lost contact on several occasions, but she always tracks me down.
~ She does amazing bead and leatherwork.
~ NOBODY can stack wood as fast or as neatly as Lish
~ She's funny, but quiet. If you don't listen carefully you're bound to miss something funny.
~ We've always had the most fun just "doing nothing" ... It's a Pooh sort of thing.
~ She will give you the shirt off her back, and her pants, and shoes and coat. Heck, if you asked she'd probably even give you her underwear... I've never asked.

Anyway, she drove all the way down here just to check out our new digs and say, "hey." She brought her friend, Becky along for the ride. While she was here we drove down to the Pendleton Mill outlet in Washougal. Pendleton wool is amazing, but I've never been able to afford it... Until now.

I was introduced to the tables full of mill ends and blanket remnants. And even though it wasn't yarn I felt the same rush of excitement a fiber addict experiences in a yarn store. These were very long strips of fabric. And the reason I only purchased two bags of remnants was because my youngest daughter played Houdini on us and disappeared. She hid in a circular clothing rack and pulled her feet up out of sight. Shopping was halted while everyone frantically searched in vain. Finally my eldest daughter found her. Once the felon was apprehended and restrained in her car seat she was assigned a full time warden, me. I think that poor Becky almost had a nervous breakdown.

Upon returning to our house Lish pulled this out and presented it to me! This is a very beautiful and very large blanket. It was only put on the table for this picture, it's been on my bed ever since. I was and still am speechless. I love it.


The afore-mentioned scraps were wound into large balls. I'm attempting to crochet a rug. A1 says it's the tackiest thing she's ever seen. I'll have her know that I'm capable of much tackier.

And in the meantime, I'm bugging the heck out of Lish. She's been in one place for far too long and I think she needs to move to the Portland area.