Dogs, Horse, Goats and a Bear

I love visiting my mom and seeing the cutest dogs in the world (don't tell Stanley). Above is Josie. She is the sweetest pitbull/border collie mix. I love the way she prances around.

Especially when wearing the sweaters I make her. She may be an old bitty (about 14 years in human years), at times like this she's like a young pup.

And of course Joche (foreground), he's a big lab mix, and ignited my love for big dogs all those years ago. in the back there, waiting for the toy to be thrown and to then pounce on Joche, is Tasha, my grandparents corgi.

But the point of the trip wasn't just to see these pooches, but their owners too. My mom, grandma, grandpa, my sister and her husband Jeremi.

My family is pretty chill. We just hang out, share meals and chat. There were a couple of highlights. Like meeting the newest addition to my sister's menagerie, her horse!

He's short compared to ones my sister used to wear and he's a moutain breed, so he gets shaggy in the winter. But he's a cutie and best of all, she is partnering with Jeremi's grandpa, so he's cheap!

I really liked his little buddy goats. This guy literally followed him around. love it.

But by far the best part was our mini fish fry.

This is a quick and dirty shot of the remains of my salad and a fresh round of fish fillets. Grandpa caught, cleaned and cooked the fish for us. Not all in one day, but it's still a far cry from my usual grocery store fair. It's even better with grandma's fridge salad, which is pretty much everything in the fridge, plus some stuff from the cabinet, too!

And I finished one of my knitting projects too!Pattern: my own (looked at various for guidance)

Yarn: 2nd Time Cotton in natural

Start:

Finish:

This was made for my sister's friend whose expecting. She sent me a pic of a baby sweater from online and This is what I came up with. Her objectives were 3 mo. old size, cotton and cream with green accents, namely a four leaf clover.

Thanks to mom's Pooh for a little help with the modeling. It took a couple times to get the clover petals up to grandma's standards, but I am pleased. Kelly doesn't know whether she is having a girl or a boy, so I wanted to keep it minimal and unisex.

I was so happy to find a button that went with my yarn so well. This cardigan has just the one, but its decorative, there is a nice big snap underneath it, a feature my grandma liked.

This cardigan has seed stitch edges, which is cute and make the edges lie nice and flat.

Love this sweater and my sister for supporting me and giving me the chance to knit such a cute piece.

Love My Lacey Duo

And my new Obama shirt. Bought from the campaign so my money goes for the cause, I think it's cute and also comphy. Too bad I can't wear it to work. Oh well, I did wear it to a kid's play to influence the young. Speaking of, real quick, Emerald City's "If you Take a Mouse to School" was a really good time. Very high energy and lots of engagement of the audience, I had a great time and so did the kids surrounding me.

Back to my Finished Objects.
Pattern: gloves are "Wine and Roses Mitts" from Interweave winter '06
scarf uses the "hand" lace pattern from above on size 5 needles
Yarn: Knits Picks, Alpaca Cloud in Tide Pool
Started: June 28/October 1
Finished:October 1/October 18
I started this scarf a LONG time ago. I worked on it off and on for three monthes and I was very glad to have it done. But I still had yarn left.
Hence I returned to the original inspiration pattern and made the gloves. I finished this set at the perfect time, because the weather is perfect for them. I like the lace pattern knit on the larger needles better, it is more visible. But the tighter and therefore warmer gauge on the glove is probably better for the mitts anyway. I still have yarn left, maybe next year I'll come up with a matching hat.

This weekend was also exciting because it was Blessing of the Animals at HCUM. Stanley was his best behaved ever. I think it helped that Mike was not singing in the choir, which always used to freak him out. When Mike would leave, he would whine the whole song. This time he just layed down most of the time and watched the world go by.
This service is always one of my favorites. First of all becuase it marks my anniversary at Holy Covenant. The signs for a Blessing of the Animals was what drew me into the church. And every year it is a wonderful sight. Many dogs of all sizes. I love saying hi to all of them. And this year we also had a rat, a cat and a bird. It is always harder on the cats, stuck in their carriers and freaked out. But the rat seemed to do particularly well.

I was very disappointed I did not have my camera, thank goodness for technology and my camera phone. Otherwise I wouldn't have even gotten this pic from stanley's point of view.

And last night was also a beautiful pink and purple cloud sunset. Was loving these cottonball clouds on my way home from work, but once home they were painted georgous colors, as cannot be captured here. Don't you love those.

Red Rain Boots

I have had many sad wet feet on rainy days when I lacked the proper rain gear. And I vowed that when I found the perfect pair I would buy them, even at full retail price. This was a high order because although I find the trendy patterned boots appealing, I wanted a more classic solid boot. Something that would serve me well for twenty, even thirty years. So they must also be by a trustworthy company. And finally I am cursed with large calves, and so finding a boot that would fit WITH my pants tucked in was my final requisit.
And last week I found them.
I love my new rain boots. Red, just like the one I had as a kid. These are by London Fog, so trustworthy. They do have a decorative tie at the top, which I love as a touch of the unusual. So of course I have worn them every chance I get. First when it was barely sprinkling Wednesday night (although there were puddles to sloosh through from earlier that day) and Stanley and I had to go pick up our organic eggs and cheese.
Aren't these eggs beautiful. Brown eggs are so appealing. Sorry about the bad lighting, but it was late and dark, overhead kitchen lights were my only choice.
My boots have also gone to the park the past two mornings. They feel a little silly on the dry sidewalks on the way there, but are right at home in the dewey wet grass and keep my feet blissfully dry, my tennis shoes always come away a little squishy.

The park on a fall morning is truly beautiful. I love the trees, the mix of green, yellow, red, bare and every combinations thereof. Glad Stanley gives me the motivation to get out and enjoy the grassy parts of the city.

Farmer's Market Plenty

I think this is the height of the season for farmer's markets. The strawberries and peaches may be all but gone, but there is so much more...
I was absolutely thrilled that the tomatoes are still holding on, I have a recipe for a chippea tomatoe salad I can't wait to make tonight. And the apples are now in full swing and the pears too! And the gourds, potatoes, onions, greens, honey, and so much more.
This week I got Fuji apples (my fav apple variety), and Bartlett pears from a St. Joe farm, which just warms my heart. Last week I bought a gallon of their cider and am still working on it. Not pictured here are two bunches of beets I plan on cooking up. The first I have bought this season.
The plum tomatoes and mini pumpkins are both from a farm in wisconsin.

There are three more mini pumpkins of the more traditional variety not shown, but I just LOVE the mottled skin on these. And they way the look in my yellow and orange kitchen. These mini pumpkins are the first purely decorative thing I have bought at the market, even though the beautiful flower stall does temp me every week.

I am so afraid that one week I am going to show up on Tueday morning with my dog, my weekly budget $15 and my tote bag to find an empty parking lot. I know I should just ask or look up the last date, but I just don't want this weekly bounty to ever end. The market is so much more beautiful than the produce dept at the store. So lively. The temporariness of it makes it more vital. Maybe that's not the word, more enchanting. Oh there are so many things it is.

Last year I participated in a CSA, I still do, but only for eggs and cheese. It was always too much food, I couldn't get through it all, before it would go bad. But I did love the way it made me feel. Like I was supporting the farms directly. The little guys, like my grandpa. He had to sell his farm in around 1970, but I wonder if this movement had happened back then, if he would have been able to hold on. The market taps into all that too. Sometimes I wish I could buy a farm and get some sheep and go rural. But for now I'll just enjoy my little piece of country life in the produce the good farmers share with us.

Two Tasty Days Off

I LOVE baking bread. I have taken a break from it the past couple monthes for two reasons. First, the heat. I like to raise my bread in a warm oven so the kitchen gets warm. This is fine in cool weather, you just turn down the heat that day. But in the summer it can be downright unbearable.

Second, time. There are some recipes that you can raise overnight in a fridge or while at work if you so wish. And having the kitchenaid mixer helps too. But it still takes hours to mix, rest, knead, raise, shape, raise and bake. And of course you want that hot loaf to coorespond with meal or snack. When Mike is home we can eat almost a whole loaf fresh out of the oven.

I was thrilled this week when temps dropped just enough for me to bake bread on a day I had off and didn't need to run errands! Time and Temp came together to give me three beautiful wheat loaves.
And my new (to me) oven works great, this is by far the best rise I have gotten. I still need to perfect a beautiful glossy crust, but the crumb was the perfect amount of lightness for everyday bread, tight enough to make good toast and sandwiches, but light enough to feel airy in the mouth. And delicious. So glad I have three loaves, each cut in half, wrapped in foil and then a bread bag waiting in my freezer. One morning/afternoon of baking gives me bread for three weeks.

I had another afternoon of good food on Saturday, but this time I also had good friends too. I made my favorite veggie chili, we watched college football and even got in a game of scrabble.

From about 3 to 10 that night people came and eventually went partaking in conversation and food and checking out our new place. It was nice to get some positive reviews on the new place. And nice to see friends I haven't in a few weeks. Three of the ladies were formally in a church knitting group and showed interest in having some social knitting get togethers. I would like that.

Thanks for coming over guys.

Done Unpacking

It only took a month and a week! Well at the end there, it was basically one box. That stupid "Crap, Crap, Crap" box was a toughy. It is hard to find places for all those odd items. In the kitchen I don't have enough drawers for a junk drawer so I have a crap shelf-open for all to see. Can't wait to get to Ikea and get a solution for that!


This is our box tally. The rule was when you broke down the box, you marked a tally. So we had 109 boxes, when I had guessed 63 and Mike 58. WOW!!! is right. That's a lot of boxes. And a lot of stuff. But I knew we had a lot of stuff.

So now I'm just enjoying being home on my days off and doing normal upkeep things. Like laundry, making bread and cleaning. Although, there are still apartment things to be done. But I think anyplace I live is always going to be a work in progress. Like today I turned one full length curtain into two half length curtains for the front windows. I love working on my sewing machine that sits out in my Sun Room...

This is my favorite room. Partially because it has all my stuff in it. But REALLY because it faces south and so gets sun ALL day, unlike the living room that is dark all day. The room that had my stuff in it before was dark all day and I never wanted to be in there and so was always trucking stuff out into the sunnier dining room. Not anymore.
Now I have a sunny room and so I can't wait to get my chores done so I can retreat to my room with a book on cd and my knitting.
The best part is looking at this crazy bunch of stuff and feeling inspired. Even if it looks a little chaotic, I love it. Especially the Tower-O-Yarn.

In Case You Were Wondering...

I do still knit.

Maybe not as much and too many things at once, hence little progress and fewer FO(finished objects). But more on the knitting later.

I had a very busy morning. Three hours of weeding, but these are JUMBO weeds so it was more like digging. Burr plants, rag weed and a few others. I just concentrated on the big ones, that was enough to work on.

And this is the mountain is what I ended up with.

Plus a sore back, dirty feet and burrs ALL OVER. Here is a bunch of them on my shoe. I was glad that I wore two layers on my bottom half, but the long sleeve t-shirt didn't give so much protection and I ended up with little scratches all over my arms.

I also transplanted some of the raspberry plants along one edge and from around the rhubarb plant to make the planter easier to get around. It doesn't look pretty, but in the spring I can plant black eye susans and other hardy big pretty plants to fill in the gaps. And maybe make a path so the berries on the inner part of the planter can be reached more easily.

Stanley had a GREAT time running around the yard. I think he would be happy to spend that much time out there everyday. I caught him eating dirt at one point, so I am going to keep an eye on him. Seems like that would give a guy a sore tummy.

And now I will spend the rest of my day inside knitting...

This is going to be a baby sweater. Commissioned by a friend for a friend. This will be a fast project, I love racing through these kinds of projects, it feels so good to watch it grow and complete.

Scarves can be fun to watch grow, but boy do they take a long time, especially lacy ones...I finally blocked this recently finished scarf, which I have been knitting on for awhile. I only realized it was finished when Shannon told me it was. Okay, but what will I do with the extra? Why not some lacy gloves? she said. DUH! The lace pattern was originally from the palm of a glove pattern...

I hope to have enough yarn to make them too. I love Interweave.

So these two patterns are taking priority and the two sweaters for myself a backseat. The one has hit a , do I have enough yarn to finish? road bump, so a break from that is welcome. The other is going fine, but I just started the second front panel and getting bored. Hopefully these two relatively shorter projects will help be reinvigorate. Time to knit...