Too Much Perfection

Once again, we had a perfect weekend with friends - this time we did the traveling. Amy (with Craig & BTU) was in town visiting family, and Jane recently had some major sinus surgery, so it was only natural for us to go down there, pamper Jane, and hang out with the gang.

Friday evening, we all met at Greenwood's, an awesome comfort-food restaurant in downtown Roswell. Forgive the blurry shot - didn't want to blind folks with the flash. Also note that Jane is recovering so well that we forgot she'd been under the weather!

On Saturday, Joe and I just toodled around the city-that-we-no-longer-know. First, we went to the GT bookstore, which we discovered had sold out to The Man.

We did a quick walk around the block, marveling at how much we didn't recognize. I did, however, have to have the requisite skyline shot. One day, if you're lucky (and I'm drunk), I'll tell you about the significance of that hotel in the background. But this is a quasi-family blog, so no dice.

Then Joe drove us over to Virginia Highland, where we had a crunchy Presbyterian snack.

Actually, no. Joe let me wander into (and spend money in) Knitch!

Which is where I ended up buying a couple of skeins of Lotus Yarn goodies before I realized it was dyed by my Rav pal! In my hometown!

Here's little BTU, stylin' the superfly jacket that is the hands-down Most Awesome Jacket Ever. We were wolfing down Taco Stand burritos when not admiring his handsomeness.

And then the girls (half of whom have kids whom they left with the menfolk) headed out on their own, with only a British-frog-GPS to guide them.

Pammy is ready to be without a toddler for a few hours.

And here are the three best girlfriends in the world, at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. They had a very cool large-bugs-made-of-wood exhibit, and the pictures will be posted as soon as I upload them.

I have always loved the Atlanta skyline.

As wonderful as this weekend was, I am now completely exhausted. Two weekends in a row, we've had nonstop fun and love and giggles and hugs. I took Monday off because we'd had a late flight Sunday night. Fortunately, we caught an earlier flight (and were able to watch the Red Sox win - woohoo!), but I'm still recovering today and waiting for the furnace guy. And trying to find out where the heck that funky smell is coming from in the kitchen.

May you all be as lucky as I am to have such wonderful friends!

An Empty Porch is a Sad Porch...

There are moments in your life that you remember with a knowing smile. There are memories that you cling to like a warm blanket, holding them to your heart when you need them. And then there are memories that you want to wrap up in a box with a bright, sparkly ribbon, knowing that every time you open it, there will be laughter and fireworks and giggles and love. This weekend was the brightest, shiniest box of those memories.

This past Thursday, seven people (only one of whom I'd met) came to visit our home, and today they all left with a piece of my heart. From the first moment, anyone witnessing our knitting on the porch, sitting in a restaurant, or piling into the-most-user-unfriendly-minivan-ever would certainly look on with envy. Here are the bookend pictures of our weekend...and yes, every moment was as wonderful as it appears...

Early morning, Rhinebeck Day 1...we were so excited and naive...


End of Day 2, with our goodies.

Just to make Joe feel better, here's what I brought home...

And this is what was given to me. Yes, GIVEN. My friends rock.

Of course, the only fee to staying in the Weismann home is a tacky magnet or two. My friends did not disappoint...


The photos from the weekend are here.

Thankyouthankyouthankyou to Lorena, Sharon, Kelly, Ginger, Jacquie, Sophia, and Paul! You have an open invitation at any time, but we expect you back next October!!!

OMGPONIESANDZOMBIECHILDRENATPLAY!!!!1!

Next Up - Rhinebeck!!!

What is it about taking days off that makes managers think you should work more before and after? Fortunately, this is my last day. They might squeeze every last inch of life out of me today, but NO MATTER WHAT, I'll be going home tonight and not coming back until Tuesday.

TUESDAY!!!


For my Rhinebeck wardrobe, I was aiming for Tubey completion, but that's a long way from happening - plus it's going to be abnormally warm this weekend. Then I was thinking about a shawl my mom made me a few years back, but even that will be too warm (it's a very cozy shawl).

In the meantime, for you Rhinebeck Blogger Bingo players out there, I'm probably going to be wearing my yellow Rasta Hat, and maybe some socks with birks. I'm a big-n-tall gal with big hair (unless it's really hot, then it's tied up in a knot), and I will probably be with or near a half dozen very cool knitter-friends, and two husbands of knitters, probably looking lost and a little overwhelmed.

I look forward to meeting everyone!

I'm Ready for That!

Last night, I attended one of my various Village Committee meetings, when the subject came up about one particular Committee Member's house (long story short, we're putting together a Master Plan, and this Member noted that her house - in an historic district, and very beautiful, I must say - should have a picture in the Plan, much as other historic residences do). No problems there - it's certainly a show-stopping house.

Then we as a Committee were joking about when to take the picture - just playing around, mind you - should we postpone our progress until the spring, when the flowers are in bloom, and we can get a good picture...? Then another member chimed in and said, "Yeah, and you could be sitting on your porch!" Then she started cracking up, "Yeah, in a rocker, knitting! I don't think I'm ready for that yet."

I almost stood up and screamed I'M READY FOR THAT!!! I'm ready to have a few days off and spend time with my friends and sit on the porch with a whole lot of other knitters, and wave to the people who will no doubt stop and stare at that crazy Weismann lady again, many of whom I hope are the Committee members in question!

Thank you. Rant over.

Diary of a Mad, Cluttered Knitta...

Okay, so going in to work both Saturday and Sunday did NOT help things...

Joe and I are pretty awesome cleaners. Not in the daily, weekly, or even monthly sense. But in the holy-crap-real-live-people-are-coming-over-this-week sense.

You see (and here's where I justify it), we have a big, old house. With lots of rooms only the cats use. And lots of construction going on. So we tend not to care about the spiderwebs in the corners or the boxes in the middle of a room we never use. But with guests? Overnight guests? Seven guests for a long weekend? Yup.

I'll never be Martha Stewart. Heck - I'm lucky if I'm Jon Stewart. And the things I notice in my own house (dust, clutter, etc) are things I tend to really overlook when visiting someone else - aren't we all overly critical of ourselves? But...? Still...

Off I go to clean...

Secret's Out!

You all (well, all two of you) have been reading about the socks for my sister. Well, they weren't for my biological sister (she doesn't read this, so I doubt she'll be disappointed - they weren't really her color anyway) - they were for Miss Snark.

You see, she was hosting a knit-a-long of socks for about a dozen people, giving away her priceless hand-spun as awards for finishing. Her friend (and wonderfully sneaky person) Sharon contacted us to see who would be interested in making the socks for HER, surprising her with our boundless love and affection, and possibly making her cry.

It worked.

We love you, Lorena - we know you've been working yourself batty each night, and although the trip this week (egads! THIS week!) probably puts a huge dent in your time to get the shop ready, Joe and I are very selfishly happy to get to see you again. Joe was even asking all day yesterday, "Did she get the socks yet?"

We hope your Birthday Week was perfect!

Random Pictures

Well, Fall has consisted of one weekend so far. It's been so dry and warm that the leaves aren't turning - they're just drying up and falling. For this, I apologize to everyone visiting in two weeks (TWO WEEKS!)...it just won't be as beautiful as it normally is.

Tonight I wandered around the house with the camera, looking all kinds of wacky to the neighbors walking by.

Here's tonight's hazy sunset...

A few turned leaves...

A neighbor's maple through stained glass...

Of course, I had to include some Home-Grown Cute that CO would be proud of - here's my Dobbs, sleeping in his favorite warm spot...

And the Extreme Close-Up (XCU)...

I'm feeling very tired and non-creative. I'd best go to sleep.

Dear Upstate Mom:

I'm very, very sorry that Jenn will be a wee bit zombiesque when she and E go up to visit today. It wasn't our intention to stay up drinking with her and Todd until 4:00 this morning - it really wasn't. The good news of her new job warranted a certain level of celebration, and due to her travel plans this weekend, Joe and I basically invited ourselves over with wine, beer, and vodka in tow. After a lengthy game of Cranium and some lessons from E on how to play Guitar Hero, we just lost track of the time. If it makes you feel any better, Joe and I have just been staring into space ever since we got back.

I'm glad to hear you're moving around better and better every day. Take care, and we can't wait to see you again really soon. We promise to go to bed when we're supposed to next time.

Beth & Joe

Day Off!

This is my first day off in a loooooooooong time where there was nothing scheduled.

This morning, we woke up, and Joe went into town and brought me some breakfast back (Joann - Brian was asking about you Georgia ladies). Then I spent 4 hours on the couch reading. Finished the book, looked at some email, and now I'm having wine with lunch. Still not out of my pjs.

I loves me some days off.

We Can Flush!!!

...of course, we can't wash our hands or shut the door (it's off the hinges right now)...

But we're getting there!!!

Note the really cool shower seat...and the blue is just tape holding the trim until the adhesive sets. This is starting to look like a real room! Yay, Joe! And the plumbers!

Good Times with the Ladies...and Socks!

I'm a bit tired, since taking a day off last week obviously meant working 12-hour-days this week. Arg. But I wanted to make sure and get a few pictures up from the weekend...

Mom, JoAnn, and Nancy came up Thursday, in the midst of a hot, humid, freakish September night. Some rain came through, then it was suddenly a perfect weekend.

There was knitting on the porch...

JoAnn couldn't keep her hands from getting dirty in our yard (she's a Master Gardener)...

Nancy and Mom certainly did their fair share...yes, we had embarrassing weeds in our oak barrels.

We hit a few local shops, including Montgomery Mills, where we all bought some very pretty, soft yarn to make shawls/wraps. Winding balls of yarn goes hand-in-hand with drinking wine, methinks...

We did a little bit of this...I think this was during the Florida-Auburn game (sorry, Gators)...

And of course there was even more of this...

JoAnn is starting Clapotis, and Mom is working on the Harlot's Snowdrop Shawl. I'm not sure what I'm doing yet with my new yarn - maybe something from the new Knitty. I have a sweater to finish.

But guess what I did finish...?

They're a wee bit tight on me, but I finished them on the way back from the Rhinebeck Crafts Fair. Yay! They were so fun, and I LOVED the Paca Peds yarn. SO soft.

Totally copying from Jacquie's Socks of Knowledge, I name these Socks of Enlightenment. I tried and learned the following:
- 2nd toe-up socks, first with a magic loopy start (1st were short row, provisional cast-on)
- 1st time two socks at once
- 1st time socks on circs (at certain points - toes and heels)
- 1st time Widdershins Mod, courtesy of Jacquie's brilliant eye...and I must admit - this is the PERFECT SOCK PATTERN! Never have I stitched the gussets so beautifully - and it's totally not me - it's the pattern!
- 1st time with picot bind-off, since Miss Snarky has raved about it so (the first few were after a bit of wine, so they're not exactly...er...uniform).

This was so much fun, THANK YOU to Mistress Snark for hosting this little sock party, and for the lovely handspun!

Lastly, our weekend involved this...

What's not to love about cats in the early morning sun...?

Soon - but probably not tomorrow - I'll post about Greedy Groundhogs, Munchy Marmots, and Wanton Woodchucks...

In the meantime, enjoy a sunbeam! Thanks, ladies, for being our sunbeams for the weekend. We had SUCH fun and wish you could stay for MUCH longer.