Tuesday, October 30, 2012

On the Other Side

We're here.  Pretty much intact--we haven't lost power so far.  The kids are getting restless from being cooped up.  I'm no fun because I won't go joyriding or taxi them back and forth to friends' houses--friends who do not have power.
 
The school district's website won't pull up.  That doesn't bode well.

See that bag of yarn?  On one of my many runs to the grocery store over the weekend, I stopped by Michael's to pick up Christmas gift yarn.  After thinking that I just might not make knitted gifts for the nieces and nephews this year, I came to my senses.  I'm staying busy.

And housebreaking a dog during a hurricane?  I can cross that off my bucket list!

Stay well, and stay warm!



Friday, October 26, 2012

Right now

I am listening to four very rowdy boys jump around in the family room while they play video games.  The dog has been crated for her own protection.
I am wishing I were upstairs (or anywhere, for that matter) knitting away at my latest endeavor--with my yarn purchased in Rhinebeck. 

I am already blocking off next year for a return trip!

I am trying not to worry too much about the impending storm.  The kids have that distracting habit of needing to tell us everything on their minds as soon as we tell them we'd like to listen to the news report.  The gas station and the grocery store were crazy today.

 
See that?  I knew that all along!

Friday, October 19, 2012

Third Weekend in October

On the third weekend in October, puppies commit mischief,
 
 
Goodies get packaged up for a Yankee Swap,
 
 
 
and I wonder whether there is such a thing as too many handknits.
I'm catching a bus to Rhinebeck early tomorrow morning.  I fully expect to be in Yarn Overload mode.  I'm so excited!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Happy Fall

I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves.
 






Friday, August 24, 2012

A Finished Object! And a New Family Member!

Finally--a finished knitted object!  This is the Belfast Hoodie.  It still needs buttons, but it's ready to be worn.  I think I started this last December, and I got sidetracked with other projects.  I definitely put it aside when I started the sleeves.  Sometimes it's hard to get excited about sleeves.
 

And for the really exciting news, meet our newest family member, Honey.


 She came home with us on Sunday.  She is adorable.


She is exhausting!  We're keeping newborn hours around here.

She is keeping us all on our toes.
And we just love her so!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Summer Reading

Summer isn't over yet, but I was inspired by Erin's post to share my summer reading list (so far).  Here's what I've been reading:

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson (also saw the movie--very cute)

French Kids Eat Everything by Karen LeBillon

Bring Up the Bodies - Hilary Mantel

A Long Shadow - Charles Todd

Hurt Machine - Reed Farrel Coleman

On Writing - Stephen King (This is the only Stephen King book I've ever read!!)

The Body in the Library - Agatha Christie

Bowling Avenue - Ann Shayne

Murder is Easy - Agatha Christie

Anne of the Island - Lucy Maud Montgomery

The Uninvited Guest - Sadie Jones

The Dressmaker - Kate Alcott

A Surrey State of Affairs - Ceri Radford

The Expats - Chris Pavone

The Red Book - Deborah Copaken Kogan

A Jane Austen Education - William Deresiewicz

The Lifeboat - Charlotte Rogan

Whew!  I've been having a really good time.  And because I use the library, I have no problem starting a book and then putting it down if I don't enjoy it.  Here are some of those titles:

The Starboard Sea - Amber Dermont
Prague Fatale - Philip Kerr
Trapeze - Simon Mawer
Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
The Innocents - Francesca Segal

And I'm off to the library again this afternoon.  Happy reading!

Monday, July 30, 2012

Still July...

I could have called this post, "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," but that's not entirely accurate.  It's more like, "The Delicious, the Delightful, and the Disgusting."

Let's move on to the Delicious, shall we?

I borrowed this book from the library.  After making a couple of recipes, I was ready to press "order" on Amazon.  Last week, I ordered it. 


I'm so happy to have my own copy to write notes in.  I've made pasta and pasta sauce, ravioli, pizza (and pizza sauce), pancakes, waffles, homemade pop-tarts, hamburger buns, and the best yellow cake ever from this book.  I am burning through flour, buttermilk, and eggs like nobody's business.

The Delightful:  I am on my last round of the Granny blanket.  I am going to ignore the fifty million ends that remain, because I'm on the last round!



As my title says, it's still July.  Some days, you'd think it was late August.  The children are all done with being nice to each other.  They are tired of looking at each other--and they tattle to me when they do look at each other!  It's tiresome. I know I'm not alone because I can see other moms and kids out and about, and it's the same everywhere.  I've been seeing this in Target lately--which brings me to the Disgusting:

This was the boil on Bobby's arm last Monday.  The doctor drew the ring around it to show me that if the boil gets any larger than that, to bring him back in.  Yesterday Bobby finished his course of antibiotics (from the Target pharmacy), and the boil had not resolved.  We went back in this afternoon.  The examining room was full--Bobby, the doctor, a PA, a student, the girls, and I were all crammed in there watching the doctor slice open the boil with a scalpel.  I was not expecting blood; I was expecting pus.  Bobby was very brave.  The doctor drained it, cleaned it, bandaged it, and sent us back to Target with another prescription to have filled, and told us to come back tomorrow.

So as July comes to a close, I'm optimistic that we can buckle down and really enjoy our last month of summer break.  I plan on taking the kids to the pool as often as we can (once the wound has healed); I'm going to read as many books as I can and cook as many tomatoes as the garden will give me, and we may be adding a new family member next month.  The children are clamoring for a puppy, and we think the time may be right.