The great Eucalyptus hunt!

"I've been looking for a source of eucalyptus leaves for so long! Could you gather some up for me?" It seemed an easy task.

My friend, Lorraine, recently read my blog post in which I mentioned we had eucalyptus trees near us. She sent me a text asking if I could collect some leaves for her. "I'd be happy to!" I wrote. ​

Lorraine and her husband, Gene, own Four Winds Farm in Crescent Mills, CA. They raise Jacob sheep, hand process the wool and hand spin it into the most beautiful yarn ever! (bit.ly/2oR8D1k) Stop by her website, she typically has yarn for sale, and you can read about the newest addition to their flock, ​Zephyr, on her Sheep Thrills blog. 

Lorraine hand dyes her yarn using natural materials. Eco dying produces a beautiful yarn with very subtle colors. I haven't tried it myself, but you can read about the process Linda, of Natural Suburbia took to dye her yarn. bit.ly/2oRjYyA Makes me want to give it a try!​

​There was a huge storm last night. The boat was jumping around so much, and wiggling in the slip. Everything on board was flopping around, if it wasn't tied down or stowed! And me, I just kept happily knitting away while snuggled up on the couch, giggling each time we sloshed around from side to side.

My social media was lit up because of the storm.  My friends kept posting things like "I heard a branch fall on the house!" "I sure hope the trees around us stay upright!" "It's going to be a mess in the morning!"

​This morning, before work, I decided to do a little collecting for Lorraine. My first stop. . .the little park I drive by.

This photo was from a few days ago, but compared to this morning, you really couldn't tell a different. Although it was full of mud and standing water, but no downed branches!

​Darn it! 

I'm sure my office will have something. We're surrounded by eucalyptus trees and there's always downed branches!

What the. . .Nothing! 

​I know!!! The path to the grocery store. It'll have something!

​I can't believe it, nothing!

Ok, the street. . .it's lined with eucalyptus trees! There must be downed branches there!

Not even a twig!

Man, for such a raging storm, the streets are clean! No downed branches, not even a clump of leaves! 

Sorry, Lorraine. I can't bring you bunches of leaves this time! But I'll keep my eyes out. Who knows, maybe a branch will fall from the tree soon! Let's just hope it's not on anyone's car!