our little world

socks are done! zombies are going to mom- she says they're a perfect fit, and these are so cool they look like self-striping, and i wasn't even trying, glad they're done, and look forward to the next installment of the punk rock sock club- stay tuned.















next up, the spicy socks- finished these in boston, didn't have as much on the second sock as i thought, aren't they lovely!!!
















ladies and gentlemen----elvis has left the needles!!! love everything about these- the yarn, pattern, the fit- can't wait to wear these.






















yes, that's pj with his permit and mohawk- a vbs challenge, thank goodness it's just hair. no, i have not lost my mind, and pj can keep this look until school starts, but it is not permission to engage in counter-culture, social deviant, rebellious behavior!!! he also got his permit a couple weeks ago, and he's been behind the wheel of a car, but he's got a long way to go before he's really ready to hit the streets.


saturday was total fun with mary and sara, we also did a little nostalgic tour through old roswell before they tear down my childhood- then sunday was quilt square pick up with kathy and lunch at the marietta diner- spinach pie and stuffed grape leaves- knitting, some grilling and enjoying the day- looking forward to a 3 day weekend and the road race- stay tuned

adjust-adapt-move forward

today's theme-- indicated by the title, and my attempt to connect this post
with the blog name--♥

adjust-in knitting if you have a pattern you're dying to try, and you have yarn you want to use- an adjustment may have to be done-needle size, etc. that's why gauge (even though we hate it) should be done- ranks up there with blocking.
adapt-in the same vein as stated above because we're not all the same, and patterns are often designed with an "average" figure in mind, we have to adapt the pattern to our size-thanks to the extensive amount of time mary spent with me at knitch a while back, i have a better understanding of what really fits me and what to look for in a pattern, so that my knitting time is productive time.
once the above 2 goals are met- you can move forward with your project......

okay, so with that brief intro, i'll get the point which--my carpool went bust, i'm back to doing the whole bus thing. it didn't even last 8 hours! while we were discussing details for meeting up for our return trip-turns out they wanted me to be at their location at 3:00-dude- i've already change my departure time once, and told you via email and phone-at 7:00 am you're telling me you changed departure times without saying anything till now?????
sooooo, that leaves me with doing the bus, 'cause any day steve will have to turn in his city car, and that'll leave me with either busing it in, or driving the "tank" which i'm not doing, all that to say, i've got to adjust, adapt my morning schedule and move forward.
adjusting to getting up earlier so i can depart my house for the park and ride by 5:40 to get the 6 or 6:10 bus, adapt to not having "extra" time to get things done before i leave, and adjusting my exercise routine, so i can still do my devotion and check emails before i hit the shower at 5:05 --i love doing the bus thing except for how my morning has to be re-arranged, but it guarantees me about an hour and a half of knitting time 5 days per week, and someone else takes over the driving, so if i do fall asleep-it's okay. i don't save any money doing this as i have to drive 7 miles to the park and ride, pay my fair, $6 a round trip! and then i have to catch the train, and then walk about 3 blocks to my office, which is great when it's not raining or below freezing!
so moving forward has been okay so far, but once the weather gets cold-hmmmm me thinks more adapt/adjusting will be required also, thinking-leg warmers, and more praying there's no rain until i'm inside my office--
that's it is a not so small nutshell how between life and knitting one must adjust, adapt, and move forward- thanks for hanging out with me----

next update with photos- 3 completed pairs of socks!!!!! AND my ravelry stash is being updated with my new purchases- check it out this weekend.

boston

totally loved this place, don't know if it was because the weather was just perfect, or what--but was able to spend a few hour in the downtown area, well after the celtic victory parade, but there was still plenty of green to be seen, and was enchanted by cambridge. here's what i went, and what i did--woolcott & co yarn shop-literally 150 feet from the hotel- great selection even though the shop was very small, still love the one's at "home" better. Also visited mind's eye- another very small shop about a mile from the hotel, the owner was very nice, and i bought some of her very own dyed yarn. i went here and here- and saw phenominal art- some of my favorite pieces that i studied at ksu were on the walls, this and this and this are but a few of the paintings.

dining included lunch from here, here, here, and here - caprese sandwich on baguette (oh my!), dessert here, dinner here, here and here-this place was just okay. my travel mate doesn't do seafood or red meat, so in boston that drastically limited us. there are some places near paul revere's house that looked wonderful, very "one of a kind" places. starbucks was not as plentiful in cambridge as nyc, but they do have peet's coffee, 1 starbucks- i did spot another starbucks on our last day that was tucked wayyyy back in a corner- several tea shops, and
also some very neat little shops tucked here and there. harvard's campus was beautiful, the subway and trolley very easy to use-- learned on this trip it pays to arrive a day early to scope out the dining opportunities, and that i really love indian food! me thinks an indian cookbook will be on my shelf very soon!

other than walking around that was pretty much what i did from tuesday-friday besides sit in training/meeting, and work on my sock!

definately would like to go back, and would also like to visit chicago, bowling green (ky) not sure why, and salem (mass)-- i'll leave you with a mosaic of some of the sights.

1st blogaversary

hard to believe i've done 165 blog postings in 365 days! which one is my favorite, that would be tough since most of the post have been about something i love, or i found fascinating, so this will probably be the shortest posting for a while! one of the great things i love about keeping a blog is that it forces me to be positive ♥ , i can keep in touch with my family and friends, especially the grandparents--they can keep up with what we're doing with just the click of a mouse! it also serves as a reminder about the important things in life, and those things are all around us if we'd take the time to look--- here's to another year

next up: boston

lazy days of summer???

NOT!
friday was the last day of soccer camp, and andrew represented england in the "world" cup- they came in 4th (i think)----how about this get up for spirit! he really enjoyed the camp which was totally different from last year, and we'll probably do this one again.


















that night mom and i hosted a movie night for some ladies in the neighborhood, no photo-sorry, but some yummy snacks and pinot grigio while we watched the full monty, it was a hilariously good time- thanks amy, ann, diana, and jane for coming, and we hope to do this again.

saturday was another "girl" gathering for my southern living at home "show", more great ladies to hang out with and enjoy some time together. then off for a pedicure for mom before her lions and eagles gathering--cute toes- cute flowers- blurry photo.















the rest of saturday was spent grilling and cooking for the next week, burgers for the youth dinner sunday evening, and father's day lunch.

sunday- up and going early, exercise-coffee fellowship-church-father's day lunch for steve (again no photo, sorry) sausages, pasta, and turtle brownies (courtesy of lions and eagles) and ice cream- steve spent the day working on his mid-term, and i worked on getting ready for boston, youth dinner, planting hostas, and chauffeuring the boys to their youth activities, and checking on the moller's dogs.
i think i finally "sat" down about 8:30- looking forward to relaxing on tuesday and exploring boston/cambridge (flight gets in around 12:30 pm)- once i get back i'll have the habitate 4 humanity project, i've been looking forward to this activity. think i'll have a chance to relax when i get back?!!!

a boston post hopefully on sunday

ttfn

dads

this may be a tough post to do, but here goes ----was thinking about my dad the other day and had a good cry. he's been gone for 8 years, and i do miss him. i know i'm not alone when i say that there are many occasions in life when we wished we'd said certain things. . . or spent more time together doing . . . or whatever----that's where i'm at right now. i'm just hoping that maybe there's a portal in heaven, and he can see this post, and he will know how much i love and miss him. there are many things i admire about my dad, but never told him, and even in a very strange sort of way i want to wish him a

"happy father's day"


there really wasn't much my dad couldn't do, in my eyes at least- he wasn't highly educated, but had a "smarts" about him that comes from life experiences:


he drove stock/race cars-was a life guard-could fish, hunt, camp,and boat-was a bartender, met howard cosell, jerry lee lewis, roy orbison, and probably many others during his bar days in atlanta. he could build, repair and remodel anything, when home depot opening he was a happy camper indeed. golfed, loved sports. landscapedlike a pro. and gardened like a farmer. pinstripe a car with precision, was a shade tree mechanic--loved cars-drove a motorcycle-with all three of the kids on it!, he was in cuba, on a boat in the water, during the missle crisis-- really wish i had learned more about this. loved God and country and his family in his own way really loved his children. so with all that . . . . happy father's day, daddy
On a happy note . . .
i have a wonderful father in law, so to roy i'll say a very special happy father's day to you, i'm sure mary will have a wonderful post wishing you a happy father's day as well

my number's up . .

actually it's here! i'm certified for the peachtree, i'll have a much earlier start time, so that means since i'll be walking!!! i should finish by about 10. . . now i just need to figure out how to park at my office before the race begins, 'cause this year the last bit of the race will go in front of my office on juniper street.. ya'll look for me now

what do you get when you add . . .

rhubarb, strawberries, a handful of brown sugar, a few shakes of cinnamon, a splash of oj, some thawed out scones leftover from a birthday party, this was the KEY ingredient, melted butter, and some HEATH toffee bits . . .











well one yummy dessert- rhubarb and strawberry surprise!

other weekend stuff:

the boys and i got the pinestraw done in just a couple hours- here are a few shots of what 50 bales looks like, the boys will get a bonus with their bi-weekly allowance, and they got to eat lunch at Moes, i know- cringe, but they enjoyed it so it's all good! the front and back definitely look better with the pinestraw.

marked several summer projects as "done"-yea!

did some serious grilling- 3 meals on this baby- and the steak fajitas with the vidalias-mmmmm




Here's a glimpse at the hydrangeas- yes, i have more than one bloom this time-

on the front porch i went with a container of mixed sun loving plants near the steps, and at the door two pots with caladiums and ferns- we'll see how these do-should be getting our porch and step railings soon.



the weekend was jammed packed, but i did manage to get to the pool for a couple hours on sunday, gave me a chance to do some magazine reading. is it just me or was bon apetit a bit skimpy this month?

diggin' the weekend

saturday started out with some homemade blueberry muffins- yum, i added some cinnamon and vanilla- just to see what would happen.











finally getting to some much needed landscaping. this entrance way has needed some work, i put a ton of different stuff here, annuals, perinneials, herbs, tomatoes, a couple rose bushes. plan to include some bulbs for spring and summer blooming. added mushroom compost, top soil, and other soil enchancers, so hopefully this will pay off in the long run.
before









after









this took about 6 hours which included buying the plants and getting everything in and cleaned up, mom and i enjoyed a light dinner of veggie omlets and salad-then we watched The Queen which i got for mother's day, helen merrin goes a wonderful queen elizabeth.

post compost and top soil hands, really go them dirty, but make the perfect excuse for a manicure next week!










on friday i went to why knot knit-they are closing- and pick up this and this, and lace circular needles- can't beat 30% off, will go back in a couple weeks to see what they have at 50- got my eye on a couple things!

will have updates on the containers, just a bit more, and then I can mark 2 things off my list-