What was that?

The last day of school was yesterday. Nathan and Papa went golfing to celebrate. First a dip in the pool to wash off all the school cooties (is that a '50's thing?) lunch and off they went. Jordyn and I had some lunch and I was finishing up when she went to play in the living room. As I was sitting on the stool at the counter, I felt the stool shaking! No large trucks going by, but the air conditioner had come on. (This was the first day this summer we have put it on). I peeked down the basement, heard it making its lovely wishing sound and made a mental note to tell the DH.

Now, I will admit that for a millisecond I thought "Earthquake", but my mind whipped right past that to a more logical idea "Air Conditioner is shaking the house!" Right.

Surprise, surprise. There was an earthquake in the Northeast of 5.0, epicenter near Quebec around 1:45 EDT.

Why I Love June

There are roses blooming........

and peonies, too.......

we have 3 birthdays in June, one of which is mine. That means I've made it through another year!

These are the best days. The kids are still in school but the anticipation of summer vacation is almost visible. We opened the pool last week and had a wonderful few days of swimming. The water is 80 degrees already but the last few days and the week end should see more rain than sun.

I am taking a lace shawl with bead knitting class starting next weekend so yesterday I purchased the yarn and bling, oops I mean beads! Lovely Misty Alpaca in a variegated peachy pink with some greys or blues. The beads are a sparkly peachy pink.

Lazy Days of Summer???

We have had a fantastic May! A week of wet cold weather in the middle but now it's hot, hot , hot. Being a fan of temps that don't go much above 72, I must say 90 degrees is way too much for me. Record breaking hot temps means that our little corner of the world really doesn't get this warm and it is unexpected. I am not a person who complains about the weather (what good does it do?) so I'll take this in stride and hope we get more normal temps soon.

The above average weather means the flowers are ahead of their normal schedule. My lilacs came and went way too soon. The roses are about to bloom. The irises are on their way out. The lilies are right in the midst of blooming. So instead of blogging, I have been enjoying my garden. The clematis on the swing are spectacular and one of my favorite garden space, the shade garden by the back porch is looking its best right now. The different shades of green and blue are lovely.

Had a Nice Trip

This past weekend we went to Connecticut to celebrate a brother and sister-in-law's 50th wedding anniversary. We left early Saturday morning and drove to Elmira, got there by 10:30 and met up with another brother and sister-in -law, drove to Connecticut in their car, which gave me a few hours of back seat knitting and talking. We checked into our hotel and joined the family for a lovely dinner and talking, went to B&S in laws house to continue talking.

On Sunday we left for Long Island for a celebration brunch, about an hour and 45 minutes of driving and talking. Had a lovely brunch which lasted about 3 hours and consisted of talking and eating. Drove back with a different driver and co-pilot so we could talk some more. Had a little nap and washup and went over the house again to sit around and have pizza and talk.

Monday morning we met up for breakfast and ate and talked some more before we reversed the trip and drove back to Elmira and then on to Buffalo and home.

We took Tuesday to recover from the trip, but honestly it has taken me all week to get my energy back.

Don't knit lace when you are tired because this is what you get: a pile of ripped out stitches!

Knitting and Finishing

Sometimes the change of seasons never seems to come and sometimes it happens so quickly you are caught unawares. This has been a year when we had a relatively mild winter compared to other parts of the eastern US, and we are experiencing the most glorious spring. Which means I have already mowed the lawn twice!

Some years the lawn doesn't get it's first mowing until mid or late May. The forsythias are almost done and the lilacs are opening. So it seems the project I'm working on this month is seriously out of step with the temperatures. I am on the last steps of the Central Park Hoodie and am itching to start work on a summer sweater. As I finished the knitting and began the piecing together, it was a real struggle not to just put it aside and wait for the fall to get this done. But I am determined to adhere to my new resolutions of sketching out a very modest To Do list for the month and sticking to it. This month was finishing the CPH, starting a lace project, another sweater and finishing one pair of socks.

Socks are done. These are the socks for the Toe Up sock class I took this month. I am glad I didn't try these by myself. I have a really good grasp of top down socks and maybe because of that, this was a little bit of a struggle. Quite a different process. It was good to have someone to walk through the steps with me and a nice group of knitters, who were having the same problems as myself. I may not be as proficient with this technique as I am with top down, but now I know I can do it and can make any sock pattern that appeals to me. Before I was automatically eliminating a pattern I liked just because it was toe up.

I started the Flower Basket Shawl by Evelyn Clark and the plan was to work on this during the hockey playoffs. The Sabres are flirting with elimination in the first round, so it really has been too intense to work on it during the hockey games (I'm too busy pacing and maybe swearing a little? how can you lead in every game and then lose?)

The sewing together of the CPH is complete and I must say it really is a very well written pattern. I love how well the cap sleeves fit into the armholes. The whole project has been a pleasure. I generally don't get on the bandwagon for the really popular knits on Ravelry, but there is probably a reason so many people have made this cardi.

I know a lot of knitters complain about the finishing of a garment. Sewing up is not something they want to do with their time and they will choose top down sweaters only, to avoid the process.

Me, I love sewing up a garment. I used to do for customers when I worked at the knit shop, many years ago. I understand the reluctance. It is an entirely different process, takes up a good deal of time that you could have been mindlessly knitting, takes patience and skill to do it right. And it can make or break the look of the finished project. Just like learning to knit, it really isn't something you should just jump into, without acquiring some knowledge through a good book on the subject or by taking a class at your local knitting shop. If you have friends who can share the techniques with you, so much the better.

It actually was good for my fingers to stop knitting for the last few days and just sew. My hands were hurting from the weight of the yarn, I think, and the workout I was giving them with the weeding in the garden.

Now I am off to finishing up the button band on my CPH and figure up what I'm going to start next.

Too Many Birds

I haven't been posting because lately, not because I have nothing to say (when has that ever been a problem for me) but because when I am in front of the computer I am completely taken up with the ongoing drama of The Owl Box. Molly and McGee and Carlos Royal and the four little fluff balls have become my obsession. I have the link up all day long and check on them throughout the day. I especially like early morning, because as they are in California, it is still nighttime there and you get to see Molly and McGee flying in with prey for the babies.

I totally have MOD which is code for Molly Obsessive Disorder. The cam was down Wednesday night through Thursday because Carlos was away. I knew it was down and would be until he returned which he did last yesterday, but that didn't stop me from checking dozens of time during the day. I actually was checking as the camera got turned back on and cheered. I must get some help!!!

They are really fascinating to watch. But if that isn't enough, there is the Phoebe Cam which is a hummingbird's nest. This has been a real nail biter as we watched her fight off a lizard, abandon her eggs which were not viable, then have the next clutch of eggs get eaten by crows. Nathan and I caught the lizard attack as it happened, because he checks out the nests as soon as he gets home from school!

There is also the bald eagle nest which has three baby bald eagles being raised in the Norfolk Botanical Gardens by their watchful parents. It was amazing to watch them being taken out of the nest and banded then returned. You could catch glimpses of the parents' shadows as they circled overhead until the babies were returned safely.

The beautiful weather we are having, so unusual for April has brought out multitudes of birds in my own backyard. The finches have their bright gold feathers already and are back at my feeders. There was a big, beautiful red headed woodpecker looking for suet yesterday. There was also drama in the pine trees, as a group of birds attacked a hawk in the back of my yard. He must have been after their eggs or babies.

I don't live in the country. I live in a suburban development at the intersection of two busy streets. With a few well stocked feeders, a bird bath and some trees for shelter, you can have a bird watching treat in your backyard.

Summer's Here

I know it is barely spring, but yesterday the temperature here was 77. 77! In April! In Buffalo!
Today promises more of the same and through the weekend. An Easter where we don't have to wear our winter coats over cotton dresses. Unbelievable. Ducks are back swimming in the pool
which still has the cover on. DH actually is thinking about taking the cover off. In April! Wow!
Of course, it could snow three feet next week but right now we are giddy and doing things like taking out the patio furniture (we actually had dinner on the patio last night), riding our bikes (have almost worked up to our summer time distance) and opening windows to air out the house.
The mail brought me a beautiful bouquet on Wednesday. When I opened the box, Jordyn gasped and said " Nana, it's a rainbow". Yeah, it is. Knit Picks new tonal sock and lace weight yarn. Beautiful.

So how come I feel like knitting with cotton right now?