gee it's good to be back home again

but I miss BA. This is a picture of the woman's bridge in puerto madero. Our real last evening out to do something on the town. DS was so cute last night as we were going through emigrations he pulled me down to whisper in my ear "mommy, I miss apo, aba and VV already" and started to cry. My heart broke for him... of course now, he's back to playing the Wii so I think he's OK.

We found out tonight that they closed all the schools in BA province for a month and we checked out the cost of flight tickets comparing them round trip from here and round trip from there. Right now, it's 50% more expensive to fly from south to north and return then from north to south and return... and at Christmas vice versa. We were thinking about making a trip at Christmas, but I doubt that will happen now with the cost of the tickets.



My list for today's 10 on Tuesday 10 Guilty Pleasures on TV:

• House, MD
  
• CSI
  
• Law and Order
  
• Burn Notice
  
• NCIS
  
• In Plain Sight
  
• Friends
  
• Gilmore Girls
  
• Dirty Jobs
  
• Unwrapped
  

Not that I get to watch that much TV but when I do.....

and there you have it 30 posts in 30 days... whew!

I'll post some pictures over the next month of the trip... and perhaps a video or two.

don´t cry for me argentina

we leave this afternoon... well actually the flight leaves this evening.

All the bags are packed.. .everyone is bathed and now the wait to leave for the airport. The kids can´t wait to get home to eat food that they´re used to. I want a HOT shower in my own bathroom and of course to use my own laptop so I can post pictures from the trip and my knitting.

It was probably the best trip. I think the length was a help. It´s nice to leave a place wishing you were staying longer... makes return trips more likely ;-)

OK... well expect a picture or two or even three tmrw...

see you in the northern hemisphere!

election day

in Argentina... so there´s nothing to do.... it´s grey and cold and well winter!
I didn´t even go out of the house. All the extended family and friends came by to say their goodbyes at tea time, so of course I ate like a pig... I should have gone for a walk this morning.

Instead, I ate, knit, packed and talked.....

not too exciting

Tmrw the flight leaves at night... home soon!

saturdays

are for fairs... but san telmo was a bit of a disappointment. The last time I was there, there were lots of tango dancers, bandolino players and human statues.... today... there were some artisans selling their wares but none of the rest of it. And no antiques in the square. I was hoping for lots of cool pictures...SIL tells me we should have gone on Sunday...but tmrw is election day here and I´ve been told that almost everything is closed.

The cathedral is beautiful. There were a few babies being baptized when we went in, so I didn´t get many pictures there either.

The HUGE houses were originally owned by rich aristocrats but when the yellow fever came they flew to sections of BA like Palermo. Squatters came in and took over the properties often with one family living in each of the rooms. The quads were shared gardens, I assume... Now each room houses a different shop. Quite interesting and really beautiful architecture.

We visited the San Telmo market... where you can buy almost anything. Meat, veggies, fruit, clothing, antiques, toys... incredible all the little shops.

On the way back Puerto Madero... really beautiful at sunset. With its huge sailing ship that was used at one time to sail the naval graduates around the world.

Some gorgeous sights for another beautiful day in Buenos Aires... We´ve been blessed with terrific weather.

2 more days in the city then returning home... it went fast!

oops

we went out last night to dinner and the movies... and didn´t get back until very late.. so this post is for yesterday.

Went for a long walk, about 6 miles. Saw lots of stuff and enjoyed the exercise. All this was while the bookends went on a train to Tigre and DS1 stayed home with aba.

then we went out for dinner....and a movie. WE saw Angels and Demons Dinner started at about 10 and the movie at 11. When we were leaving the cinema, the lines for the movies that started at 1AM were incredibly long... it´s a lifestyle so different than I´m accustomed to.

Stopped at the store where the yarn for the endless cabled poncho was bought.. .was hoping to get a few hundred more grams, but they don´t have any like that now...guess I´ll have to finish with what I have and then try to rip back the first piece to a size that will be OK and finish the second piece with that... cables use so much yarn!

we´re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

how about you, you, you?

of course that was AFTER another trip to milana on scalabrini. I bought much more roving.... 3 colors and white and 3 skeins of manos for Christmas gifts.
Doing the happy dance now.

Then MIL and I met the rest of the animals at the zoo. It was the perfect day. Sunny, no wind, not too many people and a bit cool... really nice!

Time to put the kids to bed. I have no idea what is on the docket for tomorrow.....

avenida scalabrini

today was MY day. MIL took me downtown to the street with the yarn shops.

I think we hit every yarn shop there... and i picked my favorites

#1 favorite...Milana hilados
they have roving AND manos del uruguay... i thought I had died and gone to heaven. I bought some roving for me and some for a friend :-)

#2 favorite...hilarte
very nice yarn!

#3 favorite...yanabe they have looms and beautiful yarns cotton and wool as well as synthetics

and there´s a place with wooden buttons and shawl closures called arte norte. Very nice stuff.

there was one more shop that my MIL bought this merino/silk blend for about 70 pesos/kilo Really nice yarn....but the name of the shop escapes me.

I also bought about170 grams of black yarn.. .don´t know the composition, but me thinks it´s acrylic with maybe some silk... for like 8 pesos... unbelieveable the prices I tell you. I could have brought back mountains of yarn and wool... but DH would have had a fit... he started by saying you can go and look... just look..what´s the point I ask!

ok.. well this day was one of the best for me. I am a happy girl

temaiken

It was a beautiful day to go. Half price admission, sun, no wind and barely anyone there since all the kids are in school. Lots of deer like animals... but I enjoyed the tigers the best. 4 little ones.. 2 white and 2 orange and one big one. They are really quite beautiful.

Got some GREAT pictures... especially of the bats.

8 days until we return.. we´ve been so lucky with the weather. Sunny and cold tmrw.. I wonder what is on the docket.

Today I finished 2 more squares for the way afghan... I think that makes 8 since I´ve been here. It would be great to have it finished and ready to assemble when I get home.

monday, monday

DH is out with his buddies tonight.... so I am here with the kids and the ILs. DD ate and went to bed. DS1 fell asleep early. I was carrying DS2 upstairs (asleep) when he woke up. So back down he came... shortly thereafter DS1 woke up. Neither had eaten dinner, so they´re back to the movie with a plateful of noodles... the only thing they´ll eat here. It´s kind of maddening......

Today... hm well there was a walk to puerto olivos to take pictures of the boats... and a stop at the ice cream store for a coffee... and lots of knitting....

And that is all she wrote!

Perhaps if we´re lucky, tomorrow Temaiken

happy father´s day

and partly cloudy, but not too cold. The kids, abuelos and DH went to Parque de la Costa while Vivi and I walked puerto frutos... I bought a few things to bring back as gifts (yes mom, you included) and took some lovely pictures... wish I could share them. DH had the good camera with him so I had the little Polaroid, but there are some nice shots of the river anyway.

After we returned we went to his friend´s house for a little reunion.... lots of food. And of course I knit... seems to be a theme.

The socks were well recieved for which I´m happy.

I have no idea what´s on the docket for tmrw..... I have some plans depending on the weather in the morning though....

rainy days

+ Saturday = inside activity....

so we went to museo de los niños

The kids had lots of fun.... after it closed at 8, we went to the arcade and they played there a bit as well.

hopefully tmrw will be nice. I´d like to go to the nearby harbor and take some pictures.... in the morning... alone.

At night we´re going to DHs friends house for a little get together with a bunch of his friends.... I´ll take along some knitting!

The socks are finished with about 2 meters of yarn left.... so they will be given tmrw as part of a fathers day gift.. wish I could upload a picture... it´ll have to wait.

happy birthday DS1

I can´t believe he is 7 years old! Photo courtesy of abuelo!

We had about 25 people at the party... all family and one set of DHs friends.... 4 kinds of empanadas, lots of triple sandwiches (yummm) and little pizzettas.... and of course cake. As you can see from his picture he is so happy.

Earlier in the afternoon we went to unicenter again to go bowling. We used the bumpers so DD could do a bit better than yesterday. It was so much fun. I really enjoyed it.

Tomorrow´s forecast isn´t good.... which is stinky since the weekends is when all the outside stuff is open in the winter..... maybe we´ll get lucky and the rain will hold off.

I really wish there was more to tell.....

quiet

day here.... I couldn´t sleep last night until this morning at 4 AM... so I slept in late. Nothing really got started until after tea time. The girls went bowling at unicenter and the boys played in the arcade. I actually got 2 strikes... amazing.

after returning home the old girls (MIL, SIL and myself) prepared empanadas for the party for DS1s birthday tmrw... I can´t believe he´ll be 7. And I am still not using my computer so there is no way to put a proper picture of him up :-(

wish I had more to write..... i´m turning the heel of sock number 2 so it should be finished by Sunday....

sad to have such a boring entry while on vacation, no?

on the mend

we are.... the pediatrician came to the house to see the kids. DD is fine DS1 will be better soon and DS2 will get worse before he gets better. Cough medicine for the boys...

DH and Aba took the bookends to a plaza with a real merry go round this afternoon. DS2 got the key so he won a free ride.. he´s so proud of himself.

I went for another walk down past the hippodrome and around a bit... a little over 5 miles I guess...

Tonight is a reunion of DH´s high school friends... so we´ll go... I wonder if I could knit there?

and then there were 5

that got sick... yup all of us.. nice...........

DS1 is feeling a bit better, just coughing up a storm. the rest of us have fevers and cough.

Another day at the river and a walk through the reserva ecologica. I walked down while the rest rode... DD walked back with me, her choice but whined most of the way back.

what a vacation........

I did finish one sock... started the second between naps this afternoon.... maybe it will be finished by Sunday.

the bed is calling my name

caminar

what a lovely day for a walk... I started out with SIL and DD but DD really isn´t feeling up to snuff so she and SIL went back to the ILs to paint pictures with the ginko leaves we collected.

I walked down to the antique market at the train station on Peru (no not the country.. the name of the street) and took lots of fun pictures of old things... many trains, lots of vehicles (DS2 will be so happy), some sewing machines and some other stuff. The pictures are really fun. Then I came back ´home´ BUt on the way back I stopped at the confeteria del Sol and bought medialunas de manteca all by myself. I have to say it was a proud moment. First time for everything and better to venture into a place where I know what I want and the price is on the wall. LOL
I was out for 3 hours in the beatiful fall weather. TOok lots of pictures of doors and houses as well and some nature shots and one great shot of a bassett hound sitting outside his house. How I wish I could post them. Depending on how the kids feel tmrw, I may go searching Tues or Wed for a cafe that I can put pictures up on.

Later in the afternoon we met some friends and went to the river for a picnic... facturas and coffee.... the baked goods here are incredibly tasty and I need to watch myself that I eat very few.

if the kids feel better (I have a feeling they won´t though) we may go to temaiken tomorrow. Tuesdays are half price day and I could spend the whole day there with a big smile on my face!

I found out today that there was a case of swine flu at the kids school in DS1s grade. They closed the school early.... 2 days but I really need to watch him I think.

I hope to post pictures soon... I have so many delightful ones to share!

recoleta

fair has grown since last i was there. Many more vendors... although not much better quality.. a few very nice silver jewelry makers, a couple of nice leather vendors, and one very nice wood vendor (trays, bowls etc) and a lady with the dried orange boxes was there.... I should have bought one. I love them!

Got DH a nice leather coin wallet for the kids to give him next Sunday and a wooden shawl closure for me.

We saw some very good tango dancers in the square... very good and 2 of those human statues. I took pictures, but of course can´t upload them because I´m not using MY computer right now.

DS2 still isn´t feeling very well.. so the bookends went along to the museo de ciantifico... reminded me of an expanded DaVinci Center. It was in the center of the arts in recoleta. VERY crowded because of the holiday weekend I´m guessing, plus many schools have been closed for some time because of the flu. At any rate it´s a nice place that deserves more time to explain things to the kids.. it took me a while to understand the signs explaining the exhibits (remember it´s all in spanish)

Later we went to the primos for dinner... DS2 stayed back with my MIL but the bookends slept the whole time we were there... and now they´re not feeling well either.

So tomorrow could be a bust.... we´ll see... hope not. AND i hope to post pictures soon... There are some really good ones plus videos of the dancers....

the sock is coming along.. turned the heel and now am working the foot... this herringbone rib takes about 3 times as long to knit as stockinette... what was i thinking and I´m afraid I´ll run out of yarn b4 it´s done.. better start searching the net for more!

still no

way to connect my laptop here. I may need to go out to a wifi place.. .unfortunately my battery doesn´t last very long... what a conundrum

I took lots of pictures again today... of San Isidro, the cathedral, the artesanal fair, lots of architecture and some doors .... ok lots of doors... the colors are beautiful.

Ít´s been very sunny the past two days. But a bit chilly even in the sun and especially down by the river, where I´ve spent many hours. So in a down coat the sun feels great but my hands get cold to knit... I should make fingerless gloves LOL.

DS1 has something gong through him. Fever, cough (like croup) I feel badly for the poor kid... he never got out of his jammies today and slept most of the day (good for him I hope) I hope he´s feeling better soon.

As soon as I find a way to post some pictures I will...... tomorrow I believe is Recoleta... that should be fun. I love a good fair.

frustration abounds

although I thought everything would be fine for picture posting... my computer isn´t mixing well with my connection here.... I may be scouting for a wifi place I can use in the area.

Have some great pictures of the afternoon at the Rio de la Plata, but unfortunately can´t share them with you... neither the picture of my sock in progress.

argh... that´s all I can say

100 things

that I love not necessarily in any order:

my kids
the rest of my family
old friends
thrift stores
natural fibers
knitting needles
reeses peanut butter cups
peppermint soap
surprises
wooden toys
christmas trees
snow days
sound of the ocean
smell of the forest
birdwatching
old buttons
love letters
babies
falling snowflakes
summer
swimming
disney movies
daffodils
Christmas cookies
seaglass
cozy blankies
fires in fireplaces
homemade ornaments
rummikub
walking downtown
coffee with half and half
hearing laughter
wind chimes
a good book
waterfalls
starry nights
tangueray and tonic
hot chocolate with marshmallows
puppy kisses
backrubs
old jeans
real bargains
holding hands
stargazing
naps
fachwerk
fireworks
embroidery
knitted cables
chocolate
coca cola
ponchos
baking cookies
libraries
walk in the snow at night
craft notions
wool
spinning wheels
hugs
upcycling
romantic comedies
eyes filled with love
House (the TV show)
feta cheese
breakfast foods
sharing with the one i love
spanakopita
doritos
the sound of a purring cat
herbal tea
curious george
sledding
searching for seashells
laying in the sun's warmth
not dieting
body massages
a good cry
finding a bargain
singing
catching up with an old friend
quiet
cuddling in bed
sleeping in
love letters
moon
shooting stars
vanilla
listening to easy jazz singers
listening to Bach
handwritten letters
cashmere
my iPod - well I did love it now I don't have it anymore
lavendar
honey
nature
miracles
movie musicals
body surfing
new friends

there's more.. but really do you want to hear them???

field day

for the kids at school today. Didn't take the camera so there are no pics.

However, one of my colleagues from school sent me this picture of myself and my partner in crime in music from our Earth Day concert (the one which was rained out of the park)
We dyed the dresses together... The kids had tie dyed shirts which we then painted the planet earth on the front. The blue first from a circle stencil and the green land done by making a stamp they could put paint on and place on the earth. They really came out great I think.

a short one today... a little tmrw and then a surprise!

10 favorite things to do during 'me' time

i don't get much 'me' time so my list will be sparse

• shop at thrift stores (especially if I have a friend with me)
  
• knit
  
• spin
  
• frog
  
• dye fiber
  
• play with music
  
• craft some other way
  
• read
  
• surf the net
  
• facebook my friends
  

What do you know? I came up with ten. How about you? Play along! What do you do with your 'me' time?

I got the rest of the yarn for the way afghan... now there's no excuse.

great finds, great day :-D

the best find of the year!
Official Tour de France yellow t-shirt...


I am in love <3 new with tags for $3.50

It will adorn both me and louise during this year's tour... can't wait!

and what appears to be a black cashmere twinset in black for $3.50 as well FIber content tag was missing.. but it's got the feel and halo and says handwash or dry clean.

can you see me doing the happy dance????

also i got mom some photo boxes and when the cashier rung them up they were 50%off... YES! Truly it was my day of all days......

last night/this morning I made DD a hippie headband for her retro costume day at school


pattern: hippie
yarn: sugar 'n cream stripes
color: lime stripes
needle: US8
changes: 110 stitches CO, 3 repeats instead of 5

rock on!

lazy sunday

no pictures of the wedding couple today. Forgot the camera.

It was frog day today.. well deconstruction at the very least. All the sweaters from Friday are in parts and 1.5 are skeined and washed. More to come.

Joann's has the yarn that the way afghan is made of on sale this week. So I'll run and but the rest that I need. I think another 12 skeins should do it. That's a lot of yarn in that puppy! I think 6 pounds! It'll be cheaper for me to drive it up than mail it.

Went searching in the attic for pants for DS1 and found 8 pair that fit him :-D Love that I don't have to go buy him more... he grows so darn fast!

Need to cast on socks for DH for Father's Day. I'm thinking of the Interweave Knits Herringbone Rib pattern that they're offering for free right now. I have this really lovely wool, silk, cotton, cashmere, nylon, viscose blend that is super soft...a tweedy blue. I'd like socks from it. (of course it's recycled yarn.... and won't be going in my etsy store when I open it if I used it, but that's OK!)

back to work... whle the kids are away the lady needs to produce.

wedding bells are in the air

and the afghan isn't finished....the wedding is this afternoon... oh well..

I also have to buy more yarn Guess I underestimated since there isn't a pattern or anything

If you're in Palmerton and looking for a great place to grab lunch try the 110 Tavern at 110 Delaware Ave (the main drag) The menu has something for everyone and it's really tasty!

not much... I'll post a picture of the bride and groom tmrw!

thrifting rocks

i was thrifting today in a new to me store in Lehighton

boiled wool jacket for felting projects $3
Preswick & Moore 100% merino ladies mock turtle gray $2.50 will be lace weight
Chadwick’s 100% cotton bulky knit sweater.. pretty color… ladies L $3
Valerie argyle front grey back wool/viscose/nylon/cashmere/angora blend $3
St John Bay cotton/acrylic/rayon blend lime green worsted sweater $2.50
Abercrombie and Fitch 100% lambswool turtleneck $3 DK seems to be
Bonner of Ireland handloomed linen/cotten blend lacy pullover $2/.50 this will be really nice yarn

Old Navy black crocheted purse for my SIL $1.50

it was everything 50% off... what a great day to go :-)

i'm beat more later.....

last day

for teachers today. HOORAY!!

there was a nice luncheon at the blue ridge country club that included fresh fruit, cheese, cheese tortellini with pesto sauce, swedish meat balls, fried cheese ravioli, mozzerella sticks, bruschetta, wrap sandwiches and salad with brownies and cookies for desert. Beer, wine, soda and coffee were flowing freely. All this for $20 and you got to leave at 2 instead of 3!

I had 2 very dear friends that retired.... there were 10 retirees being honored. My friend Sam gave a great speech though... humorous as always. Nice afternoon.

Tonight DD flew up from brownies to juniors. She crossed the bridge... she was so excited all week. And we have our first project to do as Juniors. It will be one of our weekly craft projects that I'm planning for the summer. Keep your eyes posted. Every week will feature a new project!

Same girl has a sleepover at a friends tmrw.. I think her social life is better than mine...(well that wouldn't be too hard to do anyway)

I need to get more yarn for the blanket tmrw. I thought I had bought about 20 skeins, but I could have been wrong. So I'm on the last 2 with many more squares to knit. I figure I'll need one skein to sew them all up and 2 or 3 at least for the i-cord trim. I'm getting about 2 squares of stockinette from one skein.... and sometimes 2 with the cables... so I'll need 3 more for the cables and about 9 more for the stockinette... that should do it with the leftovers from each skein... i'll do russian joins on the yarn in the attached i-cord... it'll work out.

tmrw ds2 has his last day of day care.... then he'll be sleep deprived all summer cuz I'll be fit to be tied b4 I give him a nap.

see u tmrw.

'way' more to go

in order to finish the way afghan. But here's what's complete and unblocked.

From the Barbara Walker Learn-to-Knit Afghan Book

square 3: Basketweave


square 4: Lattice with Seed Stitch


square 5: Diagonal Ribbing... there are 2 of these so they can face opposite directions



square 6: Twisted and Crossed Ribbing


square 7: Garter and Rib Pattern


square 25: Wave


square 27: Wickerwork


square 28: Twining Rib pattern



square 30: Twisted Lattice



square 31: Twisted Panels


square 32: Assorted Mock Cables


square 33: Simple Cables with Moss Stitch


square 34: Double Cables


square 35: Lacing Cable


square 38: Open Cable and Four-Rib Braid


square 39: Cabled Lattice


square 40: Variation Cables

I have 3.5 of 25 plain stockinette done as well... and need to complete 5 more cables.... oh and the wedding.. yeah, um it's this Saturday >.<


here is DD at her piano recital last Friday... she did SO well :-)

i'm pathetic

this week's ten on tuesday is 10 best songs from last year.... i can't find ten best, but i found a few that i really liked. i guess i'm too old. 10 great standard would be hard for me to pick just 10. 10 classical songs same thing, but 10 new pop songs... just don't listen enough i guess. and the stuff my students listen to doesn't impress me all that much!


in no particular order

• john mayer..... say
  
• a fine frenzy..... you picked me
  
• paramore..... that's what you get
  
• colbie caillat..... bubbly
  
• ha-ash..... already home
  
• zoé..... nada
  
• jennifer hudson..... if this isn't love
  

and a couple from the year b4

• the last goodnight..... pictures of you
  
• the guggenheim grotto..... philopsophia
  

i grabbed a few cashmere sweaters last week at the boutique at the rink for me to wear and one for DD to wear. A cotton/poly/lambswool blend sweater to frog. Some knitting needles and some really nice silver stuff... a 3 pt water pitcher among other things.

happy JUNE

where has the time gone?????

I've been busy knitting on the way afghan... although apparently not busy enough because the wedding is this weekend and the afghan isn't even half finished. I'll soon post poicuters of some of the squares.

this weekend was the Moravian alum reunion. I got to see many old choir friends... and sing with our director, which is always an extreme pleasure. I absolutely adore Dick Schantz and he and Monica kept us in stitches as usual. I stoped at my old sorority house and reminisced with some of the sisters about the bygone days.

I must have picked up a bug at school becuase the rest of the weekend I was feeling rather poorly... fever... headache the whole nine yards. I'm still not myself. But the good news is tmrw is my last day of teaching. I really need a break.

And I'm off to South American for a bit. I'll try to post pictures to keep you up to date mom. I want to hit up some thrift shops before I go though to grab what could be the last of the wool for the year until the fall sets in ..
right now I'm frogging what I think to be alpaca. It appears to be handknit and extremely well made.. no tags... my guess is alpaca it's strange though the outside is fuzzier than the inside.. although when frogged it doesn't seem that the yarn is strange at all... such a pretty color. would make a lovely shawl... This one I may be keeping for myslef (or something for a gift... )


i'm going to attempt NaBloPoMo this month as a way to journal the trip. Wish me luck....

DD and i were out to buy paper for me to make my awards for school. We found some cute things for their teachers for end of year gifts.I have to get the daycare people something this week as well... it's all coming fast and furious to a gigantic halt.

OK.. signing off for now.. pictures to come!