I Shall OWN This Town One Day...

...so says the sweet BTU:

...more photos and stories to come...

Visitors!

It's been a rough week at work, but when I get home tonight we'll have California visitors! Whooot! The last time they visited was...er...here. Wow, it's been a while.

So here's to a weekend of great friends, good food, and not getting whacked!

This May Be My Favorite Yet...

...catching up on DVRs, so please forgive me if I'm the last to the party:



I have *such* a crush on both these guys - Colbert AND Cookie Monster...

Things That Grow!

...besides my waistline, my addiction to yarn (and food, sloth, booze, ravelry, goofing off at work...), and my love for my husband...

Look what Joe did last weekend!

He planted purty thangs that the groundhog doesn't like to eat! I did chores in the house (and A/C, thankyouverymuch), knowing that I would only be a pain in his arse if I worked by his side that day.

He also worked on the area by the shop...

...and transplanted a bunch of vinca minor, which is already pretty intense ground cover at the edge of our property...

Plus, we got goodies from the farm!

These strawberries taste like sunshine.

Plus, kohlrabi and lettuce. Last year was the first year I'd ever had kohlrabi. I dig it - not only is it good, but I bet it could have made a great Muppet character...

Hey - How Was That Wedding...?

After some fast-and-furious storms, the Powers That Be decided that Saturday night would have some perfect weather...

Eagle's Nest, in all its glory. We figured anyone living nearby (1) didn't like people, (2) didn't like pizza delivery, and (3) had a contract with a good snow plow guy.

Day-ummm...I work with some handsome fellers...Sharon - you or your friends might recognize the stud on the right - that's Dale, from MCC Gainesville.

Every bride deserves to be a princess...with a martini. Debra had a martini-themed reception (gawd bless her) - complete with martini bar, martini candles, and martini centerpieces. That's one of her daughters with her - Matt and Debra had a beautiful ceremony that included both of her daughters.

Here's the only decent picture of me (and my shawl). With John G and his wife. It was a perfect evening filled with love and fun. Yay, love! :)

More pictures once they're all uploaded. But in the meantime, hooray for love!

The Long Week That Flew By

Sunday, Joe left for St. Louis.

Tuesday, I left for St. Louis.

Two totally unrelated business trips - Joe worked at a project site near the airport, and I got psychoanalyzed for management potential in Clayton. No worries - I'm not sold out to The Man yet - not only did I make sure to talk to the voices in my head throughout the interview, but I remembered to answer all the "do you like to harm small animals" and "are you fascinated with fire" questions affirmatively. Besides - rumor has it that The Man is selling out before I can.

Fun trip (hey - it was 3 days out of the office) with lots of knitting time in airports and on planes. Met up with Joe for dinner, came back Thursday, and have been exhausted ever since.

One bit of fun news - finally blocked the shawl last weekend, and here it is:


Made with Brooks Farm Primero (100% kid mohair) that was given to me by the lovely Lorena after Rhinebeck last year. Pattern: Blue Jeans Lace Leaf Shawl.

All ready to go for a wedding tonight, even though it's hot and humid out. I sooooo hope the wedding will be indoors. In the frigid A/C. But something tells me it won't be. Regardless, it'll be a lovely event - two wonderful friends (one a coworker of mine) finally tying the knot. I just love a good wedding...that I'm not in...and open bar is a plus...

Opening Windows, Closing Windows...

Last weekend was so delightful and perfect. Late May in NY is gorgeous, and I thought it was a perfect time to take care of our seasonal windows...

Our house faces West/Northwest, and we get all that bone-chilling Canadian air pounding through the front windows during the winter. So a few years ago we got wise and put storm windows on the front of the house. Every spring and fall I change them out.

I can now have a nice cool breeze in the living room...

...as well as the front hall. The groovy part about having screens on the front storm doors is that not only does it sweep the breeze into the whole first floor, but the second as well, since the stairs are right behind the front doors. I love this time of year.

But not two hours after I'd done all the window cleaning and swapping out with screens, did I see this...

Impending Storm of Doom on the horizon. Coming quickly. If I don't shut the front windows during a storm, we could have lamp and picture casualties. I kid you not - the winds are that strong.

And as quickly as it blew in...

...it blew back out.

This weekend, however, I'm keeping the windows closed BECAUSE IT'S TOO DAMNED HOT. It's 80 in the "cool" part of the house, and it's 85 upstairs. Mid-nineties and HUMID with a capital EECHHHHHH outside - and for the next few days. And so here I am, fan pointed at me, cold beer in my hands, doing the one thing that won't make me sweat too much. Blogging.

In knitting news, I have a bit of progress to share:

I have ALMOST finished my Blue Jeans Lace Leaf Shawl (Brooks Farm Primero courtesy of dearest Lorena at Rhinebeck last year). All I have to do is weave in two ends and block. But the thought of even touching the mohair while sweating gives me the hives. I have to do it this weekend, though - I'm planning on wearing it to an evening wedding next weekend. Then again, if it's this hot, I'll just wear it to Rhinebeck this year. It's very lovely - I did enjoy knitting my first ever lace shawl with such a precious.

And here we have Joe's Dark Lord Socks - Sunshine Yarn's Colorway That Shall Not Be Named. Simple garter rib, and such an easy, quick knit after the Monkeys and shawl.

And I received a lovely package in the mail this week...

From knittinkitties, my Ravelry not-secret swap pal in the Fiberflix group - basically it was a "vacation" themed movie and yarn swap, and she gave me some awesome movies that I don't have, some popcorn, beautiful yarn, and a book to read (funny parts only) to help me through the loss of Coz. She's such a sweetie, and I thank her VERY much.

My downstream pal evidently liked what I sent her - she was the organizer of the swap, and it was such fun - she is so sweet and lovely.

That's about it - today has been catching up in blogland (and Ravelry), as well as finally reclaiming the den. Most of the big stuff was already out of there, but this morning I finished with the decluttering, set the Roomba in to do its thing, dusted, washed windows, and now I'm about to mop the floor. Before you get too impressed, I think I've done this only once before in that room. I certainly don't make a habit of it.

And now...for mopping and mojitos!