Pieces

My pieces are coming together. Soon they will be connected and on the road to becoming this. Hopefully, I will be able to wear this before summer ends. If not, it will be packed up for the season and pulled out in the Spring. Sorry about the colors. I lost my light this evening while reading blogs. opps.

I'm anxious to start knitting for Fall, but will be sad once the cooler weather arrives. It was a quick Summer, due to the cool and rainy July that we endured. Many knits are on my to-do list: this and this and both of these to name a few. My goal is to work through some of my stash, however, I'm on my way to New York City this weekend and that always means a stop at Purl and they sell Spud and Chloe. Let's see how good I can be.

5 Things....

1. The boys and I went blueberry picking this past weekend. Twenty minutes is all it took to pick four quarts. I froze most of them for a taste of summer in the middle of winter. We will go back to pick more.

2. As we were picking, I looked over the countryside and was thankful that my husband could find a job around here. I would miss looking at this beautiful land each and everyday.

3. After picking we went here. Not the actual show but for the massive flea and antique sale along the road to the show. Dealers set up a week in advance and you can shop until you drop. This is where you find your best deals...if you can beat the dealers to it.They tend to buy on the outside and then resell, at a greater price, on the inside.

4. I'm reading this. The recipes look good and very simple. As I have not been to Paris, the culture and food that he relates to goes right over my head. Someday, though, I will get there!

5. Ta DA! The finished treehouse. Here are a few pictures for now. I have a ton of others that I need to edit. As soon as they are done, I will put them all up for your viewing pleasure. The boys are super excited as is my husband. My family room didn't get painted on his stint at home, but this is much, much better. Well done big guy!

Back to the Basics

Well, I finally got off my lazy behind and took a few pictures of my latest project. As I said before, this was a very basic knit, yet very satisfying. Blue Sky Organic Cotton is simply yummy. I have already used this wrap/shawl/rectangle to cover my shoulders while I took a ten minute nap in my favorite chair. I know, very old ladyish. I think that I might use this yarn again and again for the many baby presents that I need to knit. It comes in wonderful colors and knits up perfectly. I have heard that it sheds, but have not seen any evidence of that yet.

I can't believe it's the middle of August already. Of course, we didn't get to half the things on our list and the boys are now screaming boredom from every pore in their bodies. Here are a few pictures from the boring summer that they have been declaring that they are living....enjoy and oh yeah...that last picture of my husband...way too relaxed for not having a job! Thank goodness we received great news today and he will be dutifully employed come September 14th!

To Die For Muffins

This is to make up for my granola fiasco last week. Go, hurry use up those blueberries that you have. These muffins are "to die for" or at least that's what the recipe says. Who am I to argue? But just for the record, the three that I ate yesterday and the one that I'm about to have for breakfast were "to die for," seriously!

5 Things...With One Extra!

1. My plan to post three times a week isn't going very well.

2. I tried to make granola bars from here. It didn't work too well. They look good, but had a terrible aftertaste. I think the honey was old.

3. But then I made this blueberry tart and all was good again. Recipe is from this month's Real Simple. Doesn't look much like their picture, but it was declared very good by Ryan and he should know...he's our dessert expert!

4. The tree house is coming along nicely!

5. Ryan's team won the championship for summer ball in our area! Yay Ryan!

6. Saturday evening was spent with 100 of our closest friends. Well, we didn't know everyone, but many we did. It was a wonderful night to be at the lake.

Have a good week everyone! I can't believe it's August already!

5 Things...

I love my kindle reader app for my iphone.

I could eat pizza every single night.

My boys make me laugh and...cry.

Currently, I'm reading Bad Mothers.

image courtesy of daisy jane

and I found this new site.

Happy week everyone.

It's a Wrap...and a Sock!

A while back, my friends at flickr got to see a peak inside my knitting bag. Thankfully, knitting has commenced once again!

After, my husband was "retired" I sorta lost my mojo for knitting and had a really difficult time finding motivation to choose a project and stick with it. One day, as I was cleaning my desk, I found a long lost gift certificate to Jimmy Bean's Wool and decided to spend it recklessly on something that was, by far, the easiest project that I have ever made. Just a long rectangle with a seed stitch border. Easy, yet I know I will use this all the time during the summer and at the beach in April. The cotton is heavy like a nice warm beach towel. No kid prints will be allowed!

This will be all mine...ahhhh...

Mac and Me

Summer Wrap Blue Sky Alpaca's Dyed Organic Cotton
Honeydew

I plan on showing the finished project next week!

And finally, another set of socks are in production.

Sknitches

syncopation

mint mocha latte

5 Things...

I love my zinnias in my garden.

Princess Diana walked five feet in front of me. Probably one of the highlights of my life!

I like to read predicable detective novels.

Wish I took this photo...but it's my son's.

I hate to fly.

photo courtesy of inklore

I've discovered inklore.

Friday Round-up

Thanks for all the well wishes about my return. When the boys are kicking my butt, I'll be sure to pop in and re-read all the comments, a sure way to boost my self-esteem!

Summer camps started this week with something new: Crew! And it was a success! What a workout the boys gained from this experience. They came off the lake tired, hungry and very happy. They were together each morning-no old friends, which worried me a bit, since they tend to fight when there aren't any buffers. But, they surprised me and actually got along.

Mornings provide a bit of quiet time, which I wasted away with errands and cleaning. The key word here is QUIET! So, it really didn't matter what I was doing!

My friend Joslyn of Simple Lovely has started a new blog, Raising Foodies. Go check it out. She has two little ones that have documented cases of being a bit picky with their eating habits. My boys tell a great story of one of these cases...which we have many giggles over, then I remind them that not so very long ago they were on the hot dog diet and not the champagne and caviar diet that they have discovered this summer. Anyway, she has great recipes and is honest about her trials and tribulations of raising kids on healthy foods.



Have a great weekend...and have fun!

Happy Summer!

Summer is in full swing here at Upper Pond. Late nights, sleeping in, golf, friends, hiking, boating and a very relaxed home has helped up to start the summer off with a bang.

As soon as school ended (and let me tell you, it seemed as if it would.never.end) we hopped in the car and made a mad dash to Washington DC. This destination has been on our to-do list for a very long time. We stayed in Alexandria, VA and made the short trip into (via the Metro) each morning. The boys loved every minute of our adventure.

Fourth of July turned out to be pretty cold around here. In fact the whole summer has been below average in temperature. But having good friends around, helped make the festivities warm in spirit!

My husband is still home, but has mellowed a great deal. He has been able to relax, do projects around the house, enjoy the boys and best of all smile again! I haven't seen his smile in a very long time and it reminds me of our earlier days together. Job offers are beginning to come in and it looks like we will not have to move. A welcome relief for the boys and quite frankly, us.

I've even picked up the knitting needles again, making me quite happy.

Not sure how often I will be around, but am working on some ideas for the blog once I find myself alone again. Enjoy!

Taking A Break

If you haven't noticed, I'm taking a short blogging break. Having the husband at home has upset many routines. Not sure if the big corporate guys understand how laying off the employee, can causes ripple effects through the whole family. My little guy, who lives by structure and routine, has had a hard time with all of the changes. I need to focus my attention on all the "guys" in the house and try to find a little "me" time for myself. I'll still be at Flickr and Facebook and will stop in here from time to time when I have the chance. Enjoy the rest of Spring and I will see you soon!