perigee moon

picture from nasa of the moon rising above the Lincoln Memorial I use this because my own picture isn't that good and it was later and not nearly as large.

Tonight our great friends came for dinner... Manicotti (or canneloni) with homemade crepe shells some with vodka sauce, others with puttanesca sauce and some with cheese and spinach filling with alfredo sauce. For dessert just see the pics below. To say I'm stuffed is an understatement.

alfajores











ricotta pie






tiramisu

After it was all said and done and everyone (well almost everyone) had gone to bed, the middle child and I spent some time writing notes to each other. Then we spent another hour talking. I wonder how long he'll put up with doing that with his old fart mother.

This is my pathetic shot of the moon last night...



A local photographer Hub Willson has a WONDERFUL photo that he took last night with a 900mm lens... breathtaking

what have i been doing?

well mostly getting ready for school. The month of August has FLOWN by. My SIL left at the beginning of the month. It took a couple of days to recuperate from all the running. We're not so used to late nights and then being out all the next day and we (and the kids) were tired... so we spent a couple of days just getting our legs back, so to speak.

That next weekend first a little rest and relaxation and renewal with two of my best friends from college... it was WONDERFUL. We picked up just where we left off over 20 years ago. I can't say how good that was for my soul. Now we're staying in touch with facebook, although I may drop them a text message now and again, just to haunt them!

Then I got home and one of my dear friends and colleagues passed away from cancer. It was a shock to all of us. It was merely one month from diagnosis to death. I spent that week in a fog. I still can't believe she's gone.

The rest of the time was spent in full steam preparation for the kids and myself for school... uniforms - check, school supplies - check, open house at the kids school- check, meeting the new teachers- check, get my classroom in shape - check (or thereabouts) lesson plans - ongoing check (which is why I've been awol.... it's a long story that I'm not ready to complain about now, because there is no time to do so)

I was really leary about this year and was in my principals office my first day weeping a bit. Of course some of that could have been because my baby went to kindergarten that day and I didn't even get to say goodbye because I have to leave before the kids are awake.
But then last Tuesday as I was driving to school I saw this:

I took it as a sign that things would be OK this year....And for the first inservice day I knit the wallet in the Cat Bordhi book A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting. So I learned the invisible cast on and can now use that to knit toe up socks!

The baby still doesn't want to be at school although I picked him up after his first day and he was all smiles... but he doesn't like the fact that he's learning Mandarin Chinese. Well we're all doing things we'd prefer not, and we have to do them the best that we can. I remind him of that daily.

My first 3 days with students was fine... I hope it continues that way. I know it's the honeymoon, but......
The schedule is nuts. I meet with each class for about 90-100 minutes for 30 consecutive days, then don't see them the rest of the year. So I need to cram a lot of stuff into a small time. I'm still waiting on the recorders to be delivered. I have some really fun plans with those!

The kids and I visited mom today with the sheer intent of finding her hearing aid. It's been lost for a month. THere was an angel on my shoulder because I found it after about 4 minutes of searching. SO Mom left for church and we stayed and I cleaned out a little more... could you find everything mom? I tried not to put too many things in new places. Cleaned the cat litter since she can't. Today I also started the winter sling bag from the same aforementioned Bordhi book, on the way home while DH drove. I want to put the wallet in the bag so I'll be felting them at the same time. That möbius strip takes forever to knit! I'm hoping the end result rocks.

OK that's it for now... I'm beat and have to pack my lunch and finish some school work and be out of the house by 6:15 tmrw...

yay! the olympics have begun

picture by Clive Rose, Getty Images
found at Kodak's Olympic Picture of the Day site



which means TONS of knitting for me :-)
I cast on in the morning of the 8th. And here's what I have accomplished since then (in reverse order):

pattern: Iceland Printed wool Baby hat
Knit 2008 pattern a day calendar Feb 16/17 by Cathy Campbell
yarn: Patons shetland chunky tweed
color: medium blue
needle: US 10.5 dpn
recipient: DH’s cousin’s baby to be (September)


pattern: Angora baby booties from Last Minute Gifts by Joelle Haverson
yarn: Brunswick Eleganza 80 Acrylic/20 Kid Mohair
color: white
needle: US 5 dpns
recipient: friend's baby to be (September)
these start at the toe and the foot is double knit then separated for the heel and joined in the round for the cuff. Clever pattern. Took me way longer than the hour the book suggests. Of course had I read the pattern through before starting gangbusters in, I could have saved myself some time (and frogging.mohair.not.fun.)



pattern: Bright Tweed booties for Baby
Knit 2008 pattern a day calendar June 2 & 3 by Wooly Fatty Knitters
yarn: Paton's Shetland Chunky Tweed
colors: ice blue and biscuit
needle: US7
recipient: yet another friend's baby to be (September)

are you noticing something.... I have too many people that are due in September.. and this isn't all!

I did the knit in the stitch below incorrectly in the hat that follows, and thought I better do it wrong in these booties that the hat was planned after. I eventually WILL learn to do it correctly though ;-)



pattern: umbilical cord hat from stitch 'n bitch book
yarn: Paton's Shetland Chunky tweed
colors: biscuit and ice blue (yes to complement above booties)
needle: US7
recipient: same friend as the booties above

I changed up the pattern to include the knit in the stitch below as a band so it would have some similarity to the booties

YIKES! I've also worked some on the wips but nothing worth pictures.



So far, I've received this

and I'm sure there will be more to come


We've been enjoying Olympia, the new camera, and DH has signed us up for the beginning DSLR class for the Olympus Evolt 510 at our nearby camera shop Dan's Camera City

I found this interesting fungus growing on the tree in the front of our house. Looks like a scone with jam, doesn't it?


I have class on Monday and Wednesday this week at school. Wednesday's is a book discussion (actually 2 books) and I don't have the books yet! Love my school district! In the afternoon after class, I plan on painting my classroom. My dear friend P gave me 4 gallons of paint (yes all the same color - yellow) so there should be more than enough. I'm so psyched!

My buddies came to visit me this past Wednesday. We went to lunch at Jumbars which is within walking distance of my house. It was so much fun for me. And the food was so yummo! What more can you ask for, good food and good company. :-)

Thursday evening P and D and I went to the Lehigh Valley knitter's guild meeting at the Whitehall public library. What a nice bunch of ladies there. The topic of the evening was sock knitting... so I was prepared.


Other than that, it was a quiet week, the beginning of which totally slipped by me. The summer is rushing by with a speed that is frighteningly fast. I'm so not ready to go back to school!

happy memorial day.

time to get out the American flag, I suppose... take down the pointsettia... what will Mrs. M say? LOL

We spent Sat evening and all day today with our dear friends in Plainsboro. In the afternoon, we took all the kids to a park nearby and in the park were many trees. On one tree were many flowers (I know this sounds like the rattlin' bog song... I promise it stops soon) which were falling off the tree along with at least a pair of leaves and hitting me in
the head. I brought some home to photograph so I could determine what kind of tree it was. So I've posted a picture of the flower and the leaf as well. If you can help me in my search, thanks!



I finished Lizard Ridge square 8. It's really pretty.

I'm becoming addicted to knitting this thing. As soon as I bind off, I want to cast on a new square. I think it's going to be so incredibly beautiful when it's all finished.

I had to rip back on Rachel's cloth KAL, cuz I goofed up something in the lace. That's what I get for trying to knit lace when talking to family. So I cast on another garter slip stitch cloth for the way home and am about 40% through it. This one will be gifted to another colleague who seemed a bit pouty about my last gifting. Seems more of my friends than I realize like to wash their dishes with homemade cloths. ;-)

Have to post these gorgeous iris pics. We had a stormy week and my garden iris were beat up. So rather than let them die rain trodden on the ground, I cut them off and brought them indoors to decorate a bit. I think this small one is a Japanese iris, it's a volunteer that every year gets more blooms...
Love it! The other 2 are bearded iris that were gifted to me from my next door neighbor (who can also enjoy them while they are in my garden!)

DD had a school project to interview a character from a book she read and make a face of that character. She chose the some Barbie character from Mermaidia (not that book but one in that series) and here she is being that character for her interview:




I leave you with more flower pictures... happy crafting on memorial day. Make something for a vet!

YAY!

the PSSAs are over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hip hip hooray!

the knitting was really a success. I was much more laid back this year and the kids really enjoyed it. We'll see how much of a blanket we get made. But I have some that I think will be lifelong knitters...so I am happy. I'll post pictures of them all later. They're in my other camera.

I finished another LR block today. This is Noro color 102Y. It's really more subdued than this picture more pinky and less orangy.

I also fixed my friend's Louis Vitton bowler's bag today. The handles were coming off, so at lunch I grabbed a needle and some 8 pound fishing line (that's all I had at work.. well actually she had it in her desk) and fixed it. She's thrilled.. glad I could help!

It was a beautiful day and the kids and I sat outside for quite some time after I got home from work. While we were outside, my long lost friend K and her dd stopped by. It was so good to see her... wow a sight for sore eyes. It really made my day! Thanks K, if you ever read this and let's not stay away from each other for so long anymore! While they were here, I actually looked out front (boy do I need to work in the garden) and saw that there were grape hyacinths blooming... so cute and petite. Like perfect little bells.


am so tempted to cut my daffs and bring them in and shoot proper pictures of them. And I am reminded that I MUST plant more bulbs this fall, because I love them so much in the spring. I'd also like to get some of those miniature ones.. they are so cute. Our neighbor has them in her backyard (which is an impeccable garden) and they take my breath away every day!

I'm going yarn shopping on Saturday morning to a listing from craigslist. And I can't wait. I know I'll get some amazing bargains. I'll be sure to tell all about it later.

Oh and say a prayer that I get the taxes done on time. Why do I always procrastinate so long?????