Da Bears!

Continuing the 'bear cracker' saga of the other day, despite repeated launderings--even with baking soda and white vinegar--the clothes continued to smell delightfully fishy. Oh joy! Especially exciting given that we were headed right into bear country in Yellowstone! In fact, just minutes before we checked into the Madison Campgrounds in Yellowstone, the rangers had chased off a black bear who had come wandering into camp. Yikes! Nevertheless, I kept reminding myself of how FEW people actually get eaten by bears on an annual basis, so what are the odds that it would be little ole me (even if I did reek of salmon)?

We did get our own chance at a bear sighting yesterday, although happily it was not in our campsite. We spied two cubs on the side of a hill and took our photos (and quickly made our getaway). Lacking the fancy gigantic lenses of some of the photo-tourists, our bears are a bit blurry but were nonetheless quite clear and close!

We also saw elk, bison, pronghorn deer, moose, and even a coyote stalking its breakfast! The pups were watching the coyote with keen interest from the car, and were whimpering a bit with excitement (the way they often do when they see a pup they want to play with), but they kept it fairly subdued, apparently having a sense that this coyote was not the usual sort of pup!

Having only my knitting with me, I didn't make any progress on my sewing projects, but I did succumb to the smallest of fabric purchases . . . this fat quarter from Selvedge Studio in Missoula, MT.

They had such a gorgeous selection of fabrics, I just wanted to buy up the whole store! I restrained myself, however, and only left with this one fat quarter (and their business card so that I can go back to them in the future!).

In the meantime, I just keep knitting away at my socks and I am now nearing the toe of Sock #1. I did briefly lose my mind and skip a step, so I had to go back and rip out my stitches and then turn the heel. I use the same pattern time and time again, and so I should know by now how to make a sock, but it has been a while! In addition, a few socks ago, I jumped to the gusset before turning the heel, and ever since then I keep making that mistake--as if I've created a groove in my brain that remembers the mistake and not the correct step! Linking up with Lee for my Wednesday WIPs!

In addition to my yummy fat quarter, I also brought home these fabulous old Ball jars. We found them in a little antique store in Ennis, MT on our way to Yellowstone. I was so impressed by their great condition, particularly the zinc and porcelain lids, and I so so love the aged blue color of these jars! I plan to replace some of my newer jars with these, and to fill these with buttons, zippers, selvages, and such.

Bear Crackers

So friends, as you know, I've been in the wilds of Montana camping. Actually, because it's so cold we're staying at a campground where there is a Payless Shoes disturbingly close by, so I guess we're not exactly roughing it!! But I digress from my story!

A day and a half ago we did laundry and around that time I started to smell fish. Now we had fish in our cooler so I didn't think so much about it, and it was a subtle enough aroma . . . at first. But we are in Grizzly country and I must admit I was just a wee bit worried about a possible encounter in the wild with these gorgeous but deadly critters (as some of you may know, I spent a summer in the Arctic years ago and saw polar bears from far, far away -- and that was just close enough!). I've been trying to be an intrepid camper, put off by nothing, but the thought of a bear nosing its way into our campground and bothering our pups has been worrying me a bit. So when I began to think I was smelling fish, well, it didn't ease my anxiety any!

And the smell didn't seem to get any better! Karen didn't seem to notice the smell, but I felt as if I were swimming in fish!! We finally decided to throw away the salmon just in case it had gone bad. Too bad, as it looked like it would have been mighty tasty, but the car seemed kind of stinky! Even out of the car, however, as we sat in a local diner, all I could smell was FISH! I put the sleeve of my polar fleece shirt up to my nose and, sure enough . . . FISH! I smelled like FISH!

"I'm a BEAR CRACKER!" I cried. "Bears will take one whiff and they'll come a running for their little salmon snack!" It was only a little while later that Karen realized why exactly it was that I, in my newly laundered clothes, smelled so much like FISH. It seems that SOMEONE forgot to take her fish oil pill out of her pants pocket when she put said pair of pants into the laundry with the rest of the clothes. And so it was not the poor salmon fillet that was causing the stink, but instead a tiny little fish oil capsule that violated an entire load of laundry and made me smell like a tasty bear treat.

And can I tell you, my friends, just how much fun it is to get fish oil aroma out of polar fleece?! We are about to approach our third attempt at washing, this time with baking soda and a 2 cups of white vinegar. Fingers crossed everyone! Otherwise, we're not going anywhere beyond the town limits in these clothes!

And yes, I realize the photo above is of Nutter Butters, but you have to be resourceful when out in in the great wild woods of Montana!