Moving on from the Shop

As of the 1st of November, I have been layed off (temporarily) from the Shop. The Boss says she wants me back in the spring. I will have to see where my life is at that time. In the mean time, I keep getting as to fill in here and there. Also, I am knitting a cabled scarf for the shop...will finish today and be done with that!
Can't believe that the holidays are right here...wow, where did it go. I am ready for the cold...had my chimney swept and firewood delivered...now I just need the thermostat to drop! It is November by the way!!!
I have sorted my stash of yarn and am blown away by the fact that I have soooo much!

I made a pair of slippers, only I felted them too much and now they are too small. I am going to wet them again and stretch them out.







I am working on the next pair...they will be more colorful.

Time to get busy. Later.

Swinging through September

This month has flown by, in more ways than one.
My husband and I went to New Zealand for 3 weeks to celebrate his 60th birthday. His one thing he wanted to do on his birthday was to bungy jump! Not only bungy, but to bungy from the original Kawarau Bridge in Queenstown, New Zealand where A.J. Hackett started the sport. And bungy he did! When we got to the bridge, we watched other jumpers ahead of us and it looked so easy. My husband looked at me and said "you need to try this"...to which I responded..."I think I will". He just about fainted...I NEVER intended to jump...but like I said...it looked so easy!

Yes, that's me...dangling above the river current! I was petrified the entire time. Yes, I'm glad I did it...just to say I did. No, I would never do it again...the fear that shot through my body as soon as I got on the platform is hard to describe.
My husband on the other hand...loved doing it and would do it again. Now that he knows what to expect, he thinks he would enjoy it more the next time.
We had an amazing trip and saw a beautiful country...but it is good to be home.

Aw - August!!!

The emotions of August:
2nd - Pride that makes your heart want to burst!
My son graduated with his PhD in Chemistry Education from Purdue!

4th - Exhaustion and weariness:
Driving 11 1/2 hours from Indiana to Atlanta in a 22 foot moving truck and moving my son to Atlanta where he will start his post-doc at Georgia Tech!

5th - Relief:
Flying home for a day of recuperation after a day of unpacking boxes.

7th - Excitement:
Flying to Chicago to crew the 3-Day Breast Cancer walk.

8th - Exhaustion and enjoyment:
Working the walk in a Pit Stop where the walkers come for food, drink and potties. It is really hard work but such a thrill to be there for them and their weary bodies.

10th - Laughter and tears:
Being at the closing ceremonies for the walkers and survivors of breast cancer. It is so touching and heart warming and happy all at the same time.

11th - Worn out!
I don't know when I have felt so tired...2 weekends of solid, hard work. My bones feel weary.

13th - Back to normal...if there really is one!
Whew...I pulled through the last two days a bit slowly...but after a couple of nights of good sleep...I feel like myself again.

Now I have 2 weeks of doing my usual and then on September 1st, we leave for New Zealand!
What a way to end the summer.

Lordie beee...it's finished.

My laundry room curtain that is. I finished it over the weekend, blocked it Saturday, let it dry Sunday and hung it Sunday night! I love it. Although my husband didn't think that it would ever happen...waa laa!!

This is the Bubble Curtain from Mason-Dixon Knitting.
Basically I think it took awhile because it's SUMMER!!! 100 degrees outside is not condusive to knitting!

Now I am back to finishing a project I started some time ago...the plimico shrug from Knit 2 Together.
In the mean time...I am doing my best to stay cool.

Much better now.

It has been 4 weeks and my knee is doing really good. I finished my physical therapy yesterday and now that is behind me.

My knitting has slowed a bit...just that time of year...I spend more time outdoors fussing with things. As the weather gets hotter though, I come back inside. I am really hoping to get my laundry room curtain finished today. My husband is convinced that is never going to happen since I have been working on it for some time...but I am determined.

Our neighbor and friend put her 15 1/2 year old dog to sleep last weekend and it was very hard for her. "Lady" had a casket and was buried under a big tree in the yard. There was a rememberance gathering and it was really touching. She was sick for so long...it was time but never easy to say good-bye to an old friend.

As I sit writing this, I look out my back window and see my old friend "Joey". He is a young deer that comes each day to eat the apples that have fallen from my neighbors tree. He is quite brave, comes down the hill and looks at us like we are in the wrong place, not him. He is always alone, stays for a bit and then moves on.

Ah life in the early morning!

My my where does the time go???

It has been ages since I have posted and I have been using my time both wisely and unwisely...so it goes.

I am recuperating from arthriscopic knee surgery. I fell in November while in France and didn't take care of it and so it resulted in surgery. I am getting around really well. This whole process has not been too bad. Should be back out doing my walking thing again in another week.

I have been knitting on my shrug and have started and about to finish a lacy curtain for my laundry room. Same pattern as in "Mason Dixon" on page 43. My husband is convinced I will never finish it...as I have spent a good deal of time cursing the missed yarn overs, etc. But I am almost there.

My unwisely use of my time has been too much time wasted on the computer...playing dominoes and scrabulous!!! How ridiculous. I am going to start limiting my time for such frivolous stuff.

Our trip to New Zealand may very well be switched from September to July...won't that be a hoot. Less than 2 weeks away and I may be leaving for 3 weeks!!!

That's my update for now.

They do grow up...whether you like it or not

Yesterday was my youngest's birthday...she turned 24 and is a beautiful, happy young woman.
Now married and teaching in elementary school, she is out on her own.
But you just love to go back and remember all those 24 years. We laughed about them over dinner last night.

• The many times she sat on the floor kicking and screaming because the seam in her socks weren't right and they hurt her feet.

• The fact that every time we got in the car...somewhere in our travel time...she removed her shoes and socks. So upon our arrival we would be redressing her feet!

• When she was grounded from the trampoline at 3 years of age, because she wouldn't stay on the blue mat.

• On and on.
  

Just out of curiosity, I asked her to tell me one thing I did as a parent that she hopes not to repeat whenever that time comes. Her response was "no, why bring up things that can't be undone". So now I am left to ponder just how bad was I!!! I won't spend much time on that thought...because the living proof sat beside me...
- a beautiful, happy young woman.

It's spring...but where is the sun?

We are all about to scream from the chilly, windy, cloudy uck! It is suppose to be warm and sunny so all these spring flowers can bloom.
My boss ask me to knit a lace wrap around skirt for the shop and it just about did me in...the yarn overs were so tricky, the yarn kept slipping off the needles-which then would create a dropped stitch and in order to figure it out...I would take out 2 or 3 rows!!! It was 2 steps forward...3 back!
I was gritching so much about it...that as I got close go finishing it...my husband brought me home a dozen roses!!! He too felt my pain. It is now finished and I am not looking back on that one.









So in order to calm my knitting fears...I decided to knit a baby sweater and hat for some friends of ours that just had a baby girl. It only took me two days and was such fun - wonderful yarn, fun pattern...all the ingredients of a fun knitting weekend. Aaaahhhhh!








Now I need to get back to my shrug. The weather is going to turn warm tomorrow, the purple martins are here and life is good. Thanks for letting me vent.

Happy Easter

Where the heck did March go?

We have our usual 12 coming for Easter dinner today and I am ready. Got the table set.
Yes, those are napkins in the shape of bunnies! No, I am NOT Martha Stewart! We just have little ones coming and since I don't normally have little ones around...I like to do something fun.
I know you all have done it...green pancakes on St. Patricks, birthday hat breakfasts before school...any number of things to make special days specials!
Tomorrow is my 29th anniversary...haven't decided what I will do as yet!!!

My son is selling his house and I spent a week getting this:









to look like this:









and this:










to look like this:










and so on. We worked like dogs but it has definitely paid off. Their house went on the market Tuesday and as of yesterday they had two offers. So we are keeping our fingers crossed that the Easter bunny will deliver them a SOLD sign today!

Have a great day....

BRRR--Baby It's Cold INSIDE!!

Yes, we did it, we finally did it! Some of you may remember that a night in the Ice Hotel was part of my birthday gifts. Well here it is.


These are just a few of the amazing pictures we took of the Ice Hotel in Quebec City...and there is no way to fully capture on a camera the adventure it was to spend the night here!

This is the entrance into the lobby and on back to the N'ice Bar where you can have a drink out of a glass made of ice!

You have instructions on how to sleep in and deal with the extreme cold:

• First you get in the hot tub to warm up your body heat.

• Second you COMPLETELY dry every imaginable crevice on your body...between your toes, behind your knees, everywhere...you do not want anything wet when you get in your sleeping bag.
• Third you put on your dry, wicking long underwear...NO cotton, because it gets wet and stays wet. After you pull on your wool dry socks....
  
• Fourth you stand on your bed...because the floor is snow and that will make your feet wet...and pull up your silk inner linear that is to wick away any body sweat in the night...again, you don't want moisture in your sleeping bag.
• Fifth you wriggle your way down into your sleeping bag-good down to 40 degrees below-and zip yourself in...these bags come up over your head in a cocoon style...until only your eyes and nose are exposed...you do not want your nose in the sleeping bag - WHY you ask? That would cause moisture in your sleeping bag and - say it with me - "you don't want moisture in your sleeping bag!

You are now ready to hunker down for a very warm and cozy night's sleep...and surprisingly enough...it is very warm. You don't want to go sticking your arm out in the night or anything...but I was too claustrophobic to cocoon myself so I just pulled the sleeping bag up to my chin and slept with my hat on. I'm sure I was quite a sight.


Yes, this wonderful fireplace is actually in our bedroom...but besides adding ambiance, there was very little heat coming out of it to overcome the 15 degree temperature of our room.

Right outside our bedroom door we had our private hot tub and sauna out in a private courtyard...it was great.


The wall carvings in both the ice and the snow were absolutely amazing.
It takes 6 to 8 weeks to build the Ice Hotel and Chapel and then in the spring, it is bulldozed down.
It does have electricity but it is just for ambient lighting...not for personal use.
You literally go and have a drink, walk around and head to bed...when you are in the hotel, you are always in your full winter wear...coat, gloves, hat, and boots...until you go to bed.
The public can tour the hotel until 9 at night and drink in the bar until midnight.

This was truly an adventure of a lifetime...even though it is over in one night.
To add to this adventure - the next morning we went dog sledding...I rode on the sled while my handsome musher husband drove the team...we did have a 15 minute lesson on just how to do that. It snowed on us the entire time...and it was magnificent! What fun! I would recommend this trip to anyone daring enough to try it.

I realize it is not everyone's cup of tea to go to the frozen tundra in the middle of winter...but if you ever want to buck the system of going somewhere warm - this it the place to be. A winter wonderland at your fingertips.

Somebody's gotta do it!

Oh my goodness...I decided to clean out and organize my "bonus"* room yesterday.
Yes, that mostly means my yarn stash and projects. I had
-baskets of finished projects:
2 sweaters and a vest,
-sacks of in the process projects:
a scarf and a washcloth
-bags full of projects to be started
-bags of works in progress:
a shrug and 2 sweaters
-bunches of yarn that I have no idea why I bought...but there must be a reason.

So I bite the bullet on the scarf and washcloth and took them off the needles...I was never going back to them...never. I will do washcloth again...just not the one I had started.
I packed up 2 of the sweaters I had finished and put them in the "give away" pile. I thought about unwinding them...but decided that I was not going to do anything with that yarn...I was sick of it from when I knitted them. Both sweaters are like wearing a box...no shape, no form...ugh!
I did decide to undo the vest and start over with it eventually...I like the pattern, I love the yarn and I will make it bigger next time.
I took the project I have in the works (or waiting to be started) and hung them in my closets in individual bags...gets them up off the floor and organized.

I then started on my yarn...I emptied another drawer so that I now have 3 drawers of yarn. I started out organizing by brand...and almost filled one drawer with Noro...I must have a thing for Noro. I whole drawer is nothing but left over yarn!!! Yarn that I had too much of when I finished whatever it was I was working on.
Can you believe it...this entire drawer is full of incomplete skeins.







The 3rd drawer is my other yarns...oh my...I really never need to buy any more yarn for about 5 years!!

The organization is not complete yet...that is my goal today...as well as taking some time to actually knit.

*Bonus room...an extra room in your house where you can stash all of your stuff and no one cares what it looks like...I have my knitting supplies, my ironing board, a jigsaw puzzle going, my books and a reading chair, my desk and a Mac computer.

He still topped it!

As a continuation of my birthday celebration...my husband continued with the daily gifts. Where did I leave off...oh right, Monday, the 14th...my gift was a squirrel baffle for my birdfeeder! He knows how much I cuss at the darn squirrels for eating my bird seed.

The next day, Day 15, I received 12 15 inch taper birthday candles! Not sure where I will use them...but they look great.

Finally, my birthday arrives and my husband is in New York. I turn on my computer and he has im'd me to sing happy birthday (barks included)!
He then asks if I will do him a favor - I said yes - he says go to the downstairs bathroom and you will find your last birthday present.


I walk in the bathroom and find these!!!
A dozen red roses in a beautiful vase!
He is such a romantic!

My birthday celebration has now come to an end...I know my husband is worn out...but it sure was fun.

You are all thinking...well what can she do to top that? We already have his birthday planned...he turns 60 this September and we are spending the month in New Zealand! I think that may be pretty "even Steven"! Or maybe not...oh well, there is always next year.

How does he do it???

My husband has a way with surprises...thus the build up to my birthday:

It all started on the 30th of December when I made the remark that I didn't get a 2008 calendar for Christmas and that I needed to go buy one. Well, we get home and he goes downstairs and brings up a package for me to open. There is my new calendar...wall style...for me to write down all birthdays.

The next day he has another gift...this time it is the one day at a time calendar that sits in my kitchen.

Next day it is an ice scraper-I couldn't find mine when the first ice storm hit this year.

Next day - a set of box cutters...I lose the main one we have all the time. I actually keep one in my car for recycling day.

Next day - a Fodor's book on New Zealand...we are going there for my husband's birthday in September.

The next day, a small bar of soap from Thailand - he was there in December for business.

Now let me interject something here...the gifts have all been wrapped and piled in the front room and I have picked which one I want to open . Each gifts comes with our 2 golden retrievers (Norm and Phoebe) sitting and speaking (barking) at each pause of the song!

Ok...next was a map of New Zealand...I didn't know there were 2 parts - North Island and South Island.

Let's see -what day am I on - the 6th - he gave me a leather coat. It did happen to be too big and I returned it and got another one...but it was a wonderful gift.

The 7th was the biggest shock of all...a trip to Quebec City to spend the night in the Ice Hotel!!! I have wanted to do this for over 20 years and I am finally getting the chance. We are going over Valentine's Day. What fun...can't wait.

The 8th gift was 2 cute little Calphalon appetizers pan...for cooking appetizers.

Ok...remember now...the dogs are now just coming and sitting in front of me...ready to sing! So funny.

The 9th gift-a digital frame...you hook it up to your computer and download the pictures and then do a slide show on the frame...it is great.

The 10th gift - 6 beautiful glass votives to burn candles.

The 11th...yes, I am getting to the end...my birthday is the 16th...a crock that holds utensils in the kitchen.

The 12th gift was a BRAND new computer...I have never had a new computer...I always get his hand me downs!!! It is a beautiful Dell Inspiron 1520. Big , bright screen...it is great.

And finally - up to now...the last gift was a glass cake plate with cover.

It is now Monday, the 14th and so far...not a gift...but there are still some in the pile...I'll keep you posted. Better go, Norm and Phoebe are warming up....