Good morning, tree!

2009-07-28T05:22:00.000-07:00

Here's what I woke up seeing this morning, after the sun had risen. Didn't hear a crack, or a storm or even the dogs raising cain about it. Can you believe that? It amazes me that I wouldn't have heard something like that, or whatever caused something like that, during the night- and our bedroom is on the back, right beside this. Luckily, it didn't crush the girls' tree house and swingset; it only grazed the top. I called and called Jesse's dog and was a little worried when he didn't respond, but Dana went up to check on him and he was in the doghouse still. "I think he doesn't like to get his feet wet," Husband Dear told me. Stupid dog.

This is the yarn I'm using for Cozy. I bought it at SAFF a couple of years ago, enought to make a sweater, but it is not the softest yarn, and I decided it would bother my skin. So I gave up the notion of the sweater and went with the idea of a shawl. I've played with several different patterns but kept coming back to Cozy because I like the lace look of it. What you see here is the beginnings of the Bell Shawl, but I'm not so keen on the pointy end. The yarn is 2 ply sportweight yarn, color Thistle, 420 yards (it cost $8). It came from Bovidae Farm in Mars Hill, NC (828-689-9931). I really like the variety of yarns they had at SAFF.

Here's my Shiny Happy Face at Sullivan's Island in May. This was the first trip we took to the beach with both girls, and Jennie's first trip to the beach ever, and we had a great time. I forgot my bathing suit, but since we were only there for the weekend, I survived with just shorts and a tank top. You can see how windy it was, and you can also see the grey in my hair.

Must go now. So much work to do, so little time to avoid it.

Is summer already half over?

2009-07-27T10:54:00.000-07:00

Only because my friend Sandra hollered at me with an email, I decided to try writing again. There are always so many things I want to post, but then I think about what else I could add to make it a neat blog post, and then I end up not ever posting. I promise to try to do better. Or Sandra may thump me all the way from Croatia.

This April we went to Disney World. Though I'd come to dread the idea of the required Disney World trip (I don't like crowds), I ended up enjoying the heck out of myself. We took Dana's mom with us for Adult Backup; she's never been to Disney World so it was a treat for her also. We stayed in the cabins at Fort Wilderness Resort on Disney property- and it was so much better than a hotel.

This photo is right before we left. See? We don't look too haggard. Also notice that the Younger One doesn't have the ability to be capture in still life. She's apparently Dancing to the Beat of Her Own Drum here.

Here are Dana and Jesse swimming with a dolphin at Discovery Cove, a SeaWorld property. From the time you enter Discovery Cove, everything is taken care of- food, towels, snacks, wetsuits for dolphin swimming, snorkels...everything. This was a very enjoyable day for Dana, Jesse and me. (Jennie spent an extra day at Disney World with Dana's mom.) After swimming in the coves and floating down the temperature-controlled lazy river, I planted myself in a chair and read the entire day.

Here are my two nuts. I'm not sure I can explain what they're doing in this picture, other than annoying the heck out of their father, who was taking the photo. They did much better than I anticipated on the trip- they rarely fought or whined. And when they did we fed them something and then stuck them on a ride. That seemed to cure the whinies.

This is my favorite photo of all (without us humans in it, I mean). Dana took this at SeaWorld- it's a manatee, by the way. This particular manatee went around and around, top to bottom, stopping to look at us on each turn. I guess we were as interesting to her as she was to us. I could've watched her all day. Plus, it was in the air conditioning, always nice in Florida.

I've started knitting Cozy again. Before, it seemed like a pain in the butt, with it's eight row repeat. But I htink I've grown up some since then so I will try again. I'm working with some pretty purple berry heathered sportweight wool spun at a farm here in North Carolina. I'll upload a photo soon.

And now, I have to go back to work, Sandra. But here's one more summer picture for you....

Jesse and Jennie, Sullivan's Island, SC May 2009

Ethel Loves Talking

Good morning, tree!

Is summer already half over?