If I ruled the world.....

If I ruled the world, there are more than a few things I would change but they are too numerous to go into now. I'll just expound on one of the things that really irritates me. Well, it's something that is irritating me at this moment.

Today is Friday. Not an irritating thing. In fact, since I don't work weekends, a rather good thing. I came into work today at 7:30 am and managed to finish my work by 10:00 am. I mean really finished. As in, nothing to do. Nothing. No extra paperwork or treatment plans or phone calls. I have been sitting at my desk playing on the computer and reading the newspaper and walking around visiting people and now I am sitting here watching the clock. Ok, it's now 1:15 and I have to stay here because I work for a place that believes that it's important for people to be at their desks whether or not they're busy.

This drives me crazy! So, when I become Empress of the Universe (maybe not in this lifetime), I would make it so that people were 1) paid fairly for the work they do and 2) when they were done their work, they could go home. I think it would encourage people to work more efficiently and ultimately get more work done. There are some days when I have more than enough work to keep me busy for the whole day and I work hard those days. But on days like this, it's like a punishment to have to sit here. I can play on the computer at home if that's what I wanted to do. If it were more private I suppose I could knit but I'd rather do that at home, too.
Sigh. So now I am waiting for Pk to tell me he's ready to go home and then I'll leave anyway (we drove in to the train station together. Rather nice actually). It's a holiday weekend here in the US and a long one. Lots of folks took today off so it's rather quiet. I took Tuesday off so I'm looking forward to a 4 day weekend and it's killing me to sit here. I feel like a kid.

On the knitting front, I finally finished the socks for my aunt. Plain stockinette socks with blue and grey self striping yarn. And I am almost finished a pair destined for someone's Christmas stocking. I wound three skeins of laceweight yarn into balls last night. Each one is just over 100 grams. It took a long time. There are a lot of yards in there. I am chomping at the bit to cast on for a shawl from Folk Shawls. I can't decide between the Japanese kimono shawl or the Fir cone shawl. Anybody ever make one of those? I'm forcing myself to wait until I finish the Wildflowers Shawl and hopefully I'll hear from Teresa this week with some more yarn.

Well, I hope you all have a good weekend whether it's a long one or not. Here in the US it's the unnoficial last weekend of summer because school starts and the pace of life picks up again. Parking lots at the train station will go back to being crowded and so will the trains.

Well, it's 1:30 now. Thanks for letting me spend some time with you all.

you are lightskyblue #87CEFA

Your dominant hues are cyan and blue. You like people and enjoy making friends. You're conservative and like to make sure things make sense before you step into them, especially in relationships. You are curious but respected for your opinions by people who you sometimes wouldn't even suspect. Your saturation level is lower than average - You don't stress out over things and don't understand people who do. Finishing projects may sometimes be a challenge, but you schedule time as you see fit and the important things all happen in the end, even if not everyone sees your grand master plan. Your outlook on life is bright. You see good things in situations where others may not be able to, and it frustrates you to see them get down on everything.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

I stole this from Joan who is away on vacation and used it as filler. I just thought it was interesting. I'm not sure what color I thought Iwould end up.

I just want to say something regarding televison because I made a comment on rosered's blog that caused some consternation.

It's true. I do not own a television and have not watched for almost 5 years. I know it sounds like we are Luddites but the reality is we have 5 computers in the house. There is access to information and entertainment whenever someone wants it. We didn't start out (nor are we now) anti-television. It was more of a gradual pulling away. The tv was never in a central location in the house. We wanted the girls to read books and entertain themselves. They grew up watching cartoons and other shows and there was never a limit on the amount of television they could watch each day. I love cartoons and would watch with them. We also enjoyed Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street and the Discovery channel and lots of movies. As the girls grew, they did more reading and less tv watching and when computers entered the picture, there was no contest. Why watch a static box when you could interact?

After a while, I noticed that I was paying what seemed to me to be an exorbitant cable bill to a company that I wasn't fond of for a service no one was using. So, I turned off the cable and when Em moved out last December, she took the tv with her. I can honestly say, I don't miss it. We watch movies on the computer monitor and I listen to recorded books on my mp3 player as I knit or I talk to Pk. We do a lot of interacting sometimes and others we are each lost in our own computer worlds.

I am not on a crusade to stop television watching. I only know what works for me. I hear about shows that people are enjoying and if I'm interested, I can get them on dvd and watch them at my leisure. I don't seem to have the compulsion to turn on the set and sit in front of it that I had when I was younger. I can't explain it but I know it gets an amazed reaction if I say it to anyone.

So, there you have it. One more weird thing about me.

I managed to work out the stress of work with crafts this weekend. It usually works for me. I spend some time with my family and then I spend some time with my wool.

Friday night, Pk and I went to the movies and saw The Mummy (part 3, tomb of the dragon emperor). It was entertaining. Silly but entertaining. It had yeti in it! And they have blue eyes and like to kick field goals. (who knew?) Like I said, silly. And they we went to our favorite pizza place and ate the best pizza and wings. It was a good date.

Saturday was the house cleaning and laundry day. There was some knitting on the Wildflowers Shawl. I am pretty sure the yarn will run out before the pattern does so I contacted Teresa and she will try to match it if I send a sample so I am sending it out today. I did some rows on the very red and very boring felted bag. At this rate, it will be November before it's finished.

And then Sunday, while Pk was at a galootfest (men with hand tools making things with wood), I pulled out Saraspunda and she and I got reacquainted. It's been a while because I hate the feeling of the roving in the humidity. I'd watched some more videos and did some more reading and since the weather was cooperating, I decided to try and spin. I started with this. It's one of the rovings that I got for Mother's Day. ( It's a club for 6 months and I have two more to go. August's arrived today and it's glorious fall colors of orange and red.) I pulled it apart until it looked like this and then I pulled it apart some more. I spun it and got through an entire bobbin without wanting to throw it out! And entire bobbin full. I was so excited. It's the first time I managed to spin more than I wasted. My foot was tired at the end and my hand was a little crampy but it was so worth it. It's fairly consistent in its weight and the colors look good. It took all my concentration and I had no time to brood about stresses at work. They have melted away.

Today I went to see the stomach doctor about the results of my endoscopy. I have severe irritation of the stomach and esophagas lining. She removed a lump which turned out to be inflamed tissue. The medication she gave me seems to be working and I'll keep taking it for now to promote further healing of the linings. There is too much acid in my stomach, possibly as a result of stress. Hmmm, anyone see a connection here? I need to make my life less stressful or I am faced with taking lots of medicine for the rest of my life. I don't want to do that so I will have to make some changes at work. Less on my plate will mean less deadlines and less stress. I just have to keep from wanting to volunteer to help.....

Back to work tomorrow. Time to put the new "no more volunteering for everything" ethos to the test. It's a short week and then a long weekend. Labor Day, which we celebrate ironically by taking the day off, is next Monday. Already.

This was a stressful week and mentally I feel very tired. I am the kind of person who when they see someone who needs help, they jump in and help. I can't help it. It's the way I am. I am just naive enough to believe that the person will be glad of the help.



Sometimes that works out and sometimes not. This week it did not. I didn't actually volunteer to help our IT dept. when they have a lot of people asking questions on how to access schedules in our new computer program. My supervisor told the IT person that I would probably do it if she asked. She asked and I said "of course." So, I decided to make sure that I could access the schedules and that I understood what I was doing (it always helps when you understand what you're doing) before the doctors started clamoring about access to their schedules. I tried but it didn't work. I couldn't access the data so I called the IT person and she was in the middle of another problem and got very upset. Just so happens that a "person in charge" was there in her office (the same person who made the comment about me having time to read a book at work). I quickly got a phone call from my supervisor saying "please don't call the IT person if you have a problem, just stay out of the program". Sigh, another wrist slap. My wrists are getting sore.



I felt hurt and angry and ready to give into stress tears but I managed to swallow this and get on with my day. Kate and Holly came over to Philadelphia and we had lunch with a friend. Good food and good conversation. I went back to work determined to keep my head down and just do my job. I finished and left to come home.



Of course when you swallow feelings like that they eventually come back out. And they did when Pk asked about my day. The tears starting rolling down my cheeks and I couldn't stop them. When I finished telling him all of this, I was so drained but felt better. I know that the stress will dissolve over the weekend and when I go back to work, I'll go back with a different attitude. On the plus side, the IT person called me to apologize and ask if we were still friends. I said of course. I do understand that she is under a lot of pressure to make this amazingly un-user friendly program work and the last thing I want to do is to add to her stress.



I do think of finding a different job. I am very good at what I do but this is not a good time to job hunt and I have such good benefits that it's hard to leave them. I plan to start looking but not count on anything happening soon.



In other news, I have been working on my Wildflowers shawl. I wasn't afraid of having enough yarn until someone (Roxie) put the idea in my head. Now I see she may be right. I contacted Teresa Ruch the designer of this lovely yarn and she will try to match the sample I am sending her so I can breath easier as I knit. This is what it looks like. The colors are not even close to being true. It's much more purple than blue but the camera can't pick it up for some reason. I stretched it out so I could show the flower pattern and how it looks in the shimmery bamboo. Isn't it pretty? It is an easy knit with enough yo's and k2tog and psso to make it interesting without being stressful or all that challenging. I need that this weekend so I will continue to work on it and try to finish the socks for my aunt that I put down to work on this. I also want to spin while the weather is nice and the wool doesn't stick to my sweaty skin.

Today's buddhist inspiration said "reach for your dream and it will reach for you". (hana rose zadra). What a pleasant and happy thought that your dream is out there reaching for you. Kinda exciting.

There is not a yellow tree in sight, yet. But it's coming. It's only the middle of August but already the weather feels like it's changing. Every day, ever so slightly, you can feel the difference. Usually by this time of year, we are all ready for the fall. This summer has been unusually wet and the temperatures have not been excessive. There were a few days when we needed the air conditioners in the bedrooms but those were very few. Most nights we get by with window fans which bring in the cool night air (last night the temp gauge on the fan said 54 (12 C)degrees. (Thank goodness for the online converter for temps! I can't do it in my head). I have enjoyed this summer. I like the unscheduledness of it. We are lazier and spend more time outside and just having fun. (Though, as I wrote that, I realized that I don't have kids in school anymore and so the schedule that ruled out lives for so long is no longer. ) I also like wearing shorts and having bare legs and feet and not having to put shoes on to go outside to get the newspaper in the morning. Once summer is over it seems the "holiday season" is upon us and it's nonstop for months.

I am working away on my Wildflower shawl and am loving the pattern. It's easy enough to be 'comfort knitting' but has a little challenge in there. The fabric is soft and drapey. It will be beautiful when it's finished.

I made a supreme effort to get myself into work this morning. It's predicted to be 80 (26 C)degrees and sunny. Just about as perfect a day as you could ask for. A nice day to drive through the woods and take a picnic. But I came to work. I had a conversation with a supervisor yesterday that made me depressed and not want to be here. He said that even though the head honchos know that I do my work and volunteer for everything that needs doing and all in a timely fashion, if I'm reading a book at 8:00 in the morning, why aren't I doing another social rehab group? In other words, because I manage my time efficiently and get my work done so that I am not frazzled and flustered, I should do extra work to keep myself busy. I should be punished because I am good at time management. I already do as much or more work than most members of my department. And if I'm reading a book at 8 in the morning, it's for a group I have to run later in the day.

This really demoralized me. I know that I am not the only one who feels this way and I'm not sure what to do about it. It doesn't seem to matter what I do or how much I do, it's not enough. I have toyed with the idea of changing jobs over the years but never seriously. I like the people I work with, I like my job (mostly) and I have great benefits which include 5 weeks of time off each year. That is almost unheard of around here. I can't go to the person who made the comment because I got it second hand and I don't want to get the person who told me in trouble. I just wish he had kept his mouth shut and not shared this with me. I know this feeling will go away and I'll feel better about everything again but I'm getting too old for this stuff.

But it's Wednesday and the sun is shining so it will be a good day. Well, I'll make it a good day.

Tired. So tired. It's Sunday afternoon and I am tired. I try to be a good person and to support my children in their lives. And because of this, today PK and I are beat.

Last December, Kate had a friend she met through the internets come and stay with us for two weeks. It went well and we enjoyed Holly's visit. She lives in Missouri with her father. Fast forward to June when Kate says, "Holly and I want to move into an apartment together and she is coming here in August. Can she stay here until we find a place?" We said yes. And then forgot about it.

A week ago, Kate informs us that Holly and her dad are driving across country and will be here on Friday and he will be staying with us until his plane leaves on Sunday. !!! Now, we expected him to stay overnight one night and then hop a plane home the next day. But, he wanted to stay the weekend and "get to know us". We were not amused. We have tentative plans each weekend to do something fun and relaxing to make up for the stress of being on the go all week for work. Hosting a man we don't know was not my idea of fun or relaxing.

But, I love my daughter and we prepared. They got in at 11:15 Friday night and we took them to the local diner for a bite since they hadn't eaten since the afternoon. Kate and Holly renewed their in-face friendship while we tried to get to know her dad. It was a little awkward and I was tired. Saturday, PK took him to the flea market for some 'rust hunting' and then they unloaded the truck and took it to the rental place. I went to the grocery store and did the laundry. We ordered a bunch of Chinese food and took it to a local park, one with lots of history, thinking it would be an interesting thing for him to see. He is not into history and just wanted to talk about the girls. Now, I am of the opinion that the "girls" are young adults now and they need to make the decisions about their apartment and living arrangements themselves. They will not grow into responsible people if we tell them what to do all the time. He is having some control issues with all of this. Maybe because he will be so far away and I will be only a town away. I am not as worried about the girls. I know that I have raised a responsible young adult and she will be fine. (and withing calling distance if she gets in trouble) After a beautiful sunset over the river, we went home and we entertained him by playing Trivial Pursuit while the girls went out. Three hours later, I was beat and went to bed.

This morning we got up early and went to brunch and then took him to the airport. I felt like I could breathe easier. I feel guilty about this feeling. I think because he changed his plans and didn't ask if it would be ok with us if he stayed longer and didn't worry about whether we had plans. He just assumed we would change our plans to accomodate him. He's not a bad man, just different from us and we were strangers thrown together for two days. Conversation was stilted all weekend and if you don't think that's exhausting, you've never tried to keep someone engaged for hours on end.

But it's over. I made my daughter and her friend happy. She is looking for a job and they already have a lead on an apartment. I may soon have a free room to turn into a long-desired craft room!

I have been working on my shawl and have really enjoyed the pattern and the yarn. You can just see the pattern in this photo. I am further along than this. It is 11" long from top to bottom now, almost half as long as it's supposed to be. The colors are pretty true in this photo and the subtle sheen is there. It is so silky feeling. I am loving it.

And a parting shot of Cape May beach from last weekend. It's funny. Last weekend was busy but so relaxing and wonderful. This weekend, well, it was different. And now I am going to make an angelfood cake for desert for dinner. We're having quiche, salad, a good bread and cake with fresh strawberries. It's making me hungry just thinking about it.

I hope you all had a good weekend.

I am cranky and tired and bitchy today. I woke up at 4:00 in the morning with serious cramps and a whopper of a headache. I love being a girl.....

I have slipped from the path of project monogamy. And this is what led me down the path of wip-dom.

This is the Wildflowers Shawl pattern (scroll down the link). It's not very big or even very complicated but I love the simple femininity of it. (photo stolen from Posh Yarns website). This story of failed monogamy started simply enough. I was working on plain socks for my aunt and I got bored. So, I started some lace socks for a Christmas gift for someone. I got bored with socks period so I put them down. Both pairs are 3/4 done. I started the felted bag that is an obligatory knit. It's boring to the nth degree. Just row after row of knit and purl. 168 long rows worth of endless red. I make myself do 8 rows each day and then let myself do something more challenging. I kept thinking about the beautiful bamboo yarn that Roxie sent me and I wondered how it would work for this pattern. So, without much thought, I wound the skein into a ball and cast on. It's a simple pattern and so far after 16 rows I am able to follow it easily. (SHHHH! You didn't hear that in case the knitting goddesses are listening and want to cast me down for my hubris! They are always casting people down for hubris.) The bamboo yarn, dyed in Oregon by Teresa Ruch designs, is interesting to work with. It looks and feels like embroidery floss but knits into a soft fabric. Everything I've read about bamboo yarn says it will completely soften once I wash and block it. I can't seem to find much info on blocking it but I'm going to give it a try. The colors are so clear and gorgeous. The stitch definition is amazing and it's an exciting thing to watch grow. I just can't figure out whether the pattern is from the top down or the bottom up. It's shaped strangely on the needles and the pattern doesn't say. I'm not good enough to be able to pick up a pattern and just tell by reading it. No matter. I am going to keep working away and eventually I figure it'll become clear.

I have two groups to prepare for today and don't have a single idea what to talk about. Sigh. At least it's Wednesday.

(edited to add: Right after I posted, I had thoughts of ideas for groups today. I like to think it's the positve effect of the internets! Thank you internets!)

If there is such a thing as a perfect day, then I'd nominate this one. If you think about the perfect weather, you might choose bright sunshine, blue skies with puffy white clouds, temperatures that top out at 82 degrees (27 C), and humidity that is low. And throw in a cool breeze . Today the weather was just like that. It was wonderful.


When I signed PK up for his flight back in June, I had no idea what the weather would be like. I only knew it was likely to be hot. It is August in the Northern Hemisphere after all. But we really lucked out. He was so excited as we drove down the Garden State Parkway to Rio Grande NJ and Big Sky aviation. He signed in and they put him in the plane. This plane. He took off at 8:46 am and flew around the area for a half an hour. I was so happy to be able to make this dream come true. He came down (landing safely,phew!) and just kept saying "I flew the plane! He let me fly the plane! And the barrel rolls! First I was up and then I was down and then I was up again. This was SO COOL! Can I go again?". He was so pumped full of adrenaline that it took a while for him to come down. I wasn't allowed to get close enough to the plane to get photos of the take off. The landing and disembarkation happened so fast, I only got one that I like. This one. Tom Cruise eat your heart out. Look how natural he looks up there.



After we finished at the airport (we purchased the video they took because PK totally forgot he had the video camera in his pocket. When it gets transferred to DVD, I'll share it if I can), we went to the Wildwood Naval Air Station Museum. They have examples of dozens of planes from Russian MiGs to the helicopters that flew the wounded to MASH hospitals. It helped PK to let some of the adrenaline wash out of his system and he was able to have a coherent conversation again.



We had breakfast at a diner and then went to spend a few hours here on the beach in Cape May NJ. It's on the tip of NJ and is a lovely beach. It was full of people but not overcrowded. The ocean was cold and the bottom was full of broken shells so I didn't spend a lot of time in the water. It was chilly under the umbrella with a wet suit so I sat in the sunshine for a short while to dry off and it was glorious. I had packed food and snacks and drinks but no one was really hungry since we ate breakfast so late. We snacked and talked and had a wonderful time. Em and Jim were with us and we all enjoyed the summer day.

Now we are home and thinking of what to eat for dinner. PK is having some of the shrimp salad I made for lunch (that no one ate) and I am going to scramble some eggs and make a sandwich. We have eaten like little piggies for the last couple days and are planning to go out and have a lavish brunch at Smithville Inn tomorrow so sandwiches for dinner is not a bad thing.

You know, when you plan a special day and it comes off well, there's almost no better feeling. I read a definition of love once that said it was putting someone else's happiness above your own. Well, today was all about love. It was about making a dream come true for someone I love. And I feel so good.

Look how beautiful that is. Just like fireworks. It's today's apod. I'm a sucker for a good star picture. This one just captured me and I have been staring at it on my monitor. Instead of working. My computer hasn't had an IP address for the last two days and it has been a pain in the neck (and other parts,too). I'm not sure how that happened. When I left on Friday it was fine. I was off on Monday and on Tuesday, I was IP-less. PK told me how to 'grab' one but I was afraid I would take one that belonged to a neonatal unit or something and mess up a whole department. I am part of the health system. I called the help desk yesterday and put in a request and called again today to reiterate the importance of my request. Make friends with your IT person. They can save your computing life. My IT buddy called and put the request in as high priority and by lunch time today, Voila! It works. So now, I will never turn it off again. The waste of electricity galls me but I have client treatment plans and other documents that I use every day stored there and I was going crazy without access.

The endoscopy went fine. I survived. I wasn't nervous until they had me lie on the gurney. Suddenly, my heart started to beat quicker and my breathing got shallow. My bp shot up to 175/110. I was scared. After a little bit, I calmed down and they poked and prodded and put things in my nose and mouth and then I don't remember anything. When I woke up with a mighty thirst and a sore throat, the doctor came in and told me that I had some gastritis(stomach irritation which everyone has or else they wouldn't be shoving tubes down your throat!) and there were some lumps in my stomach that she biopsied. The results will be back in a couple weeks. I see her on the 25th and we'll discuss it. I'm trying not to be anxious but I did a bad thing. I googled one of the phrases on the sheet that they gave me and the only references I could find were connected to stomach cancer. Now I know that the odds are against it being cancer but it's planted in the back of my brain and in odd moments finds its way into my consciousness. It's going to be a long three weeks.

Saturday is PK's day. He is going to fly in his T6 Texan (a WWII training plane) and do aerial stunts. Personally, that is my idea of Hell but he is as excited as a little kid at Christmas. He sent me the weather report for Saturday. It's predicted to be gorgeous, warm and sunny. Pk will fly in the plane and then we are going to the beach for the day. We are planning to go to Cape May. It's famous for it's "painted ladies", large Victorian houses that have mostly been turned into bed & breakfasts and restaurants. I'll pack a picnic lunch and we'll spend the day on the beach. Emily and Jim are coming and it looks like a good day is in store. (btw, I stole that photo from History Flights, the company that does the flights). PK has always been a WWII buff and this will be his chance to be one of the heroes that he has watched in so many movies. He doesn't have to fly a plane to be a hero. To me, he's the best kind of hero. An everyday one.

And Emily reminded me that I didn't post for Kate's birthday yesterday. Yes, my 'baby' is now 19. Her last year as a teenager. It's funny because Kate's birthday always creeps up on me. She is usually in the middle of preparations for her convention and we celebrate on the fly. Kate was born at 2:50 am on August 5. She weighed 8 lbs and 91/2 0z. She was and is a beautiful person. Kate is the light of my life. She is full of joy and cheerfulness and compassion. And has managed to hold her own in the family. When she was very little she came to me and said "Mom, they're lying to me again" When I asked what "they" were lying about, she replied "they told me I would always be the youngest". As I tried to explain (without laughing) that yes, she was always going to be the youngest but she was also the best. "After all, I had Elanor and then wanted another and then had Emily and still wanted more. Then we had you and that's enough. You are the best and so we stopped". That seemed to work and she was appeased. She is even-tempered and funny and smart and just plain beautiful. I love her with a ferocity that surprises me even after all these years. My Katiebaby.

So, I hope you are all having a good week. Mine has certainly been eventfull.......

Here I am in all my finery ready to go to the wedding. It was hot as all get out but I wanted to get a photo with my shawl. I wore it during the reception because the a/c was on full blast. This is one of my favorite dresses because it doesn't wrinkle, it looks colorful and it's generally flattering. The photo isn't the best but like I said, it was hot.

The wedding was outdoors and we were nervous for a bit as it looked like rain but the sky cleared and we were treated to a humid August late afternoon. We were at the Old York Country Club. Very swanky. You can tell we're close to Amish country. The barn on the club property has hex signs on it. You see them in Pennsylvania Dutch country although the Amish do not paint them on their barns. The grounds were beautiful and the ceremony was lovely. The groom is a friend of PK's. They worked together for a while and kept in touch. He met his bride while attending a Buddhist temple. She is Korean and their ceremony was a blending of the two cultures. There is no wedding ceremony in Buddhist traditions so they and their celebrant made one that fit them both. Their vows were beautiful and of course I sat there and cried. What little bit of makeup I had left on my face after sweating in the heat, just got cried off. I'm bad that way. There was a civil ceremony outside and then they set up for a traditional Korean wedding ceremony inside. The bride's mother had wedding costumes made for them and they were beautiful. (I'm using that word alot). I am uncomfortable posting other people's pictures on my blog so I'll have to settle for a shot of the silk screen with the table in front. You can see them in the background. The bride and groom are presented to each other's families. The family members throw chestnuts at them (for fertility) and the number of chestnuts that they catch is the number of children they will have. We lost count at 12.....It was colorful and happy. And the food was delicious. Unusual for wedding food.

We got home at 10 and rehashed the day saying over and over how lovely and moving it was.

Today, the grocery shopping got done and also some bookstore browsing. Pk is doing some woodworking and I'm getting ready to fix dinner. The weather was perfect today. Sunny, hot and no humidity. Tomorrow I have the endoscopy. The prep is easy, no food after midnight and I report at 6:45 am. I'll be done in time to get some breakfast and take a nap. And then the rest of the day is mine. And on Tuesday my baby is 19! How can Kate be that old? She and Elanor are going to an anime convention on Thursday and will be gone until Sunday. Emily and Jim and I am taking PK to Cape May for his airplane ride and a picnic on the beach on Saturday. Weather permiting. I'm crossing my fingers for a nice day. Of course that will make it hard for me to knit.....

Good morning! Happy Saturday to you. It's raining here so I think I'll put the grocery shopping off until tomorrow. I hate to lug bags into the car and then into the house in the rain. Today I am going to clean and do the laundry and then shower and get gussied up for the wedding of a friend of Peter kevin. It's a Buddhist ceremony and he said it's ok if I take photos so I'll try. I don't want to be obtrusive so we'll see.

On Thursday it was package heaven here. I got the most beautiful yarn from Roxie for commenting on her blog (something I do with joy anyway). The photo is darker than I'd like but with limited sunshine we do what we can. It's bamboo yarn died in deep purples and blues and there are some other colors snuck in there. It will be a gorgeous lacey something. Thank you Roxie!

Package number two contained a book I ordered from amazon called This I Believe. It's based on a series of essays written by some famous people and some not-so-famous people. Some are from the 50's when the series originated and some are from the present time. I have heard some of them on the radio on my local npr station and have always been entranced as I listened to people talk about things that are important to them. Things like courage, honesty, neighborliness and common decency. It's a great book. Short essays so I can pick it up and read one or two and then think about them or share them and talk about them.

And package number three contained this. Yay! My own copy of Cat Bordhi's sock book. There aren't enough exclamation points here for the excitement I felt. She is amazing. The designs are so clever. Kate and I are going to start some of them. We know some babies who could use socks and all of these techniques use baby socks to teach the new design and then you can apply it to adult socks. Currently, I am working on the self striping socks for my aunt, (my train knitting) and these. This pattern came from my 'pattern a day calendar' that my sister in law gave me. It looks an awful lot like the embossed leaves pattern (this one is called 'leaves of whimsy') from IK's 25 favorite socks book. I've made both and they are slightly different. This one has K3tog's which the other one didn't (that I remember). The yarn is yellow and blue. It's the Artwalk selection for July. I took the photo at night under a fluorescent bulb without a flash. The pattern shows up but the colors not so much. I'll do better when the sun comes out tomorrow. The yarn base for this is Louet Gems and I love working with it because the stitches look so clear and it is soft. But it is slippery and if it slips off the needles, the stitches uravel quickly. And then sometimes you have to rip out several rows to fix it.

Well, times a wastin and I have work to do so I'll say goodbye for now. Pk is off 'rust hunting' and I need to wash up a little before I get to cleaning and laundry. Have a peaceful Saturday.