Town meeting

Old business:

(IF you squint really hard and look slanty at this, you can see the crab and seahorse. You can!)
Creatures of the Reef shawl as left off last summer. I thought that I kept good track of where I had left off but some time spent with it the other night revealed 3 extra stitches in each of the repeats. Rats. No, rats aren't in the reef, are they? What's the water equivalent of a rat? Shrimp? OH, SHRIMP!
I stared at the lace charts for more hours than I'd care to admit to here, even among knitting fanatics like you. I cannot come up with WHY I happen to have 3 extra stitches per repeat.
SHRIMP!
More Old Business:

Aran Braid socks in Trekking yarn, picot edge. I'm not sure the picot edge makes a smooth enough transition to the cable, but it stays.
New Business:
I need help. There! I said it. That is not easy for me to do. I need help figuring out the web ring for the Saturday Skies. I have signed up, set up a homepage blog, Go ahead and see it here. In fact, see the ring thing on the bottom of that page? Go ahead and hit JOIN. Let's see if it works. If it doesn't, then I will be the one crying in the corner.
I am off from work for the next 4 days. Bring it on, weekend!

Creatures of the Reef, revisited

I wonder. Where did I put that?
Is it here?

Nope. Not there.
Here?

How about back there? Way in there?

YES! There it is. Under stuff.

There is something about summer that makes me wish for lace knitting. Which is weird, since I really don't LIKE lace knitting. But I love this shawl. This was last summer's knitting. I guess it was a "to be continued" kind of piece.
The challenge? To make heads or tails of where the heck I left off. I did clearly mark the row, but I have to figure out if I'm on a right side or wrong side. Garter stitch. Geez Louise. Right or wrong?
It's enough to hurt the brain.
~~~~~
Saturday Sky update:
103 people signed up. You could blow me away with a fiddlesticks shawl. Seriously!
I am working on setting up a web ring for the sky blogs. I'll let you know when sign ups for that begin.
For now, let's see where we will see the Saturday skies! Go sign the Frappr Map. Be sure to leave your blog address so we know who you are! (It's awfully hard to plug a name with a blog randomly)
http://www.frappr.com/saturdaysky

Saturday Sky

I find Saturdays around blogland to be a bit blah. It's hard to post when so busy with life. Wouldn't it be nice to have something to quickly post,keeping your blog active? And wouldn't blogland be dressed up a bit by beautiful sky pictures? Remember, it's not only blue skies that are beautiful! To be able, one day a week to see what the sky looks like around the world?
I'd love that.
Saturday Sky is born.
~Snitch the button (saving to your own server, of course. Don't make me come after you. If you don't know what I'm talking about, ask)
~Every Saturday, walk outside (or point your camera out the window) and shoot
ADDED LATER:
Yarn contest is now over. You are still invited to join in the fun, though!

Every new beginning needs a celebration. This one is no different. If you are going to participate, leave me a comment so we can all find your blog and you will be entered into a contest to win yarn. Mystery yarn at this posting, but yarn nonetheless. It will be nice. (most probably some appropriate sock yarn) I'll let you know when I decide which yarn. Yarn winner to be drawn at random from participants on Saturday, July 1st.
Without any further ado, here is my Saturday Sky~ Rain and clouds

How about yours?
Spread the word, let's fill next Saturdays blogs with our Saturday Sky!

G is for Great summer meal ( or Sandy is so far behind on the ABC along that people forGot that she was doing it)

You may have to refresh this page, I changed my mind after posting. Good ideas don't always come in a timely way!

Don't you just love summer eating? My favorite summer meal is a salad with a piece of grilled chicken on top and a bit of feta cheese.
Now, I know that this is a stretch for the letter G. You've Got me there. I am helpless with a G. I have nothing. Literally. I have been poring through the dictionary trying to come up with an idea. And really, how sad is that? Reading a dictionary. So, you get a Gigantic stretch of my imagination.
I suppose I could have hunted down some >gorillas.

Show and tell used to be fun. Let's do a blog version

Clever ideas should be shared. Abigail has started an August Birthday Swap. If your birthday is in August, consider signing up for it! If your birthday is not in August, I'm sure this idea can be adapted very easily for other months, don't you think?

Aren't these the cutest sheepy stitch markers? Katie makes them. You can buy some too. Because can you get enough sheep? Or stitch markers? Pinksheep Etsy shop, all sheep all the time.
And while we are showing and telling, I could show you a picture of the picot edge trekking socks. But it would look like a crappy picture, kind of like this:

And I can't show a picture that looks like that. I have some standards after all. That picture is just not good enough for the blog. But, believe me! There is a picot edge going on. Even though you can't see it.
That's all I have to show today. Now, I'll show you the door. Thanks for stopping by. See you soon!

When the cows come home

Did you realize that I knit? I know. It's hard to believe, isn't it?

One sock is not a pair. But it IS something off the knitting needles. This is the conwy sock from Knitting on the Road in Socks that Rock, marbles colorway that was gifted to me by the wonderful Cara. You DO know that I love the conwy sock pattern, don't you? I could knit that pattern until the cows come home. Believe me, the cows won't be coming home any time soon. (It's an idiom, Norma's favorites!)
I plan to leave this as a lone sock for a while more. I need to start the trekking socks or I may be booted out of the trekalong.
Randomness in pictures:

Pink Peony. HUGE pink peony that has been assaulted just about every summer by Andy's weedwacker. It's a miracle that this plant lived to tell the tale. This year, it is rewarding us with super huge blossoms. Perhaps it likes to be cut down to the soil. Who am I to judge?

Bethany's dogwood tree. She brought this tree home from school in 5th grade for arbor day. We planted it in a pot for the summer, finally deciding upon the perfect spot. It is a happy dogwood with plenty of blooms. Not blooms,bracts. I learned this from knitbloggers. They are a smart bunch.
And finally, one more from graduation day. Harold the gnome got in on the act.

Harold is a good host.
~~~
Anyone that loves the heat and humidity is welcomed to my share. 2 days worth and I've already had it. Come on autumn!

In which Sandy makes a list because she can't write for beans today. Or yesterday. Or the day before. etc.

~My blog words seem to have left me. This is not good. I hate that.
~Week 2 of Weight Watchers. This is a necessity. I would love to say that I need to lose 10 pounds. And I do. But I also need to lose many 10's more. I am doing the at work program which is like god himself coming down and putting WW right in front of me. How could I not? Realy.
~It's going very very well.
~The sky is blue
~The sun shines
~Twizzlers were the big favorite at the graduation party. I bought 5 pounds of them. They are almost gone.
~I hate twizzlers, which is why I bought that particular candy
Pictures:

Bethany and Derek: 2 of the loves of my life

Look! Andy is almost smiling! He is one happy daddy! (me on the right, don't say I never post a picture of myself. I believe this is 2 recently. Enjoy it)

Prom with boyfriend.

Huge limo and limo mates (white dress/white tux so you can find them!)
~Maybe someday, I'll talk about knitting again. Or be funny. I like to be funny. Or someday, I'll be able to write something coherant.
I aspire to this.

Pomp and circumstance

We have running water and a functional sink!

We have skies that are not raining. It's been quite a while since I've seen this:

We've got a cap and gown waiting:

Graduation day is here. After today, I will no longer have children in high school.
Hope there's a bit of pomp and circumstance in your day!

Can that ant move a rubber tree plant?

You know what the good thing is about having a non finished kitchen complete with no sink? It takes my mind away from the fact that my baby is graduating high school and leaving for college in a short couple of months. I'm sure I would be a basketcase if my mind were not occupied with the anxiety of sink-less worries.
See? There is a silver lining in everything. Being an optimist really pays off sometimes! Soon, this will all be behind us and I will run water over my hands. In the kitchen. And life will be good!

UGHLEE!
It was suggested that I do before and after pictures. Well, I did not take one of the old sink, although I could take it's photo of it sitting on the porch. But I won't.
Let me just say this: Pioneers had it tough, baby!
~~
And Pretty!
Rhododendrum in the rain:

Time is not on my side

I am beside myself today with.......hmm...what is IT? Worry? Nagginess? Hope? Not sure.

~Backstory~
About 10-ish years ago we had a major water leak from the washer happen while we were gone on vacation. Water poured into the kitchen for 2 days before it was noticed ruining the cabinets under the sink. They were taken out and in all our Yankee frugalness, we were not about to hire anyone to put new ones in when we could do it MUCH cheaper, you know? SO, in the meantime, we propped the sink up on sinkstilts and it sat. And sat. I ended up putting a curtain around the edge hiding the under the sink ick. And it sat. 10-ish years. I am a patient woman, I'm sure you'll agree!
Well, lately, I get that INKLING that this is not acceptable. And I say it to Andy. I want cabinets. And I want them now. (You know, NOW meaning SOON). THAT SAME WEEKEND, Andy goes to the stores and purchases cabinets and countertops and a NEW SINK! (Be still my heart) and it goes in the basement. I give him a deadline: Bethany's Graduation. June 11th. Next Sunday in case you've lost count. SO, the cabinets get stored in the basement and then the great flood comes. I warn Andy that if my NEW cabinets get wrecked because of a basement flood BEFORE I even get to use them I will be unrecognizable, it will get ugly. So, he and Derek lug them up the stairs and PLOP them into the room formerly known as the dining room, now Derek's computer room/catch all. But not hidden away from any of the other rooms in the house. We have 3 big rooms downstairs and they all lead to each other, making one giant circle of family.
So. Busy with the basement, yadda yadda. Time slips by.
Andy calls his cousin Jay. Jay will help him on weekends. Last weekend, the nice long weekend? No Jay. None. He's busy of course, who isn't? SO here it is. Saturday, almost 11 am and there is no banging or moving or ripping going on in my kitchen. I asked him and I got a vague answer. But all I can think is this: GRADUATION is NEXT SUNDAY. And let's face it. Saturday will be a day spent in the kitchen for me. Cooking and such. Will I have a kitchen? Or will we be eating deli platters (CURSES) Will it be homemade food or supermarket fare?
Time will tell. Time will tell.