Speed Blogging

There's so much catching up to do, there's no space or time for details. So here is the past 2 months in a nutshell. A BIG nutshell with lots of pictures.

1. I've always considered Administrative Professionals Day (or whatever PC term they change it to each year) to be something dreamed up by Hallmark and the floral industry. Apparently it's kind of a big deal at my company. We got these:

And my boss gave me a gift card which I used toward this:

Hannah pointed out that the interior went perfectly with my work cell:

(Now I can sleep at night...)

2. A bunch of us left town for a girls' weekend in Tahoe. We shared a couple of heavily discounted suites. Which were nicer than my house:

Cushy

We got a...

little...

silly.

And we found time to get out a bit too:

And of course stop by a yarn shop. I picked these up in Placerville:


That gorgeous green stuff is alpaca/silk from Abstract Fiber, and the cream colored yarn is 400 yards of cashmere lace weight, just waiting to become a lovely scarf.

3. Brian has been insanely busy in the gardens:

A. Proof of growth: Potatoes

Citrus:

Figlets

Beets

Cherries

and Roses


B. Proof of Harvest:

Beets and greens

Fava beans

Broccoli and garlic

Apricots. Eight pounds in one picking. We have a lot of apricots.

Apparently Brian's plot at the community garden is well suited to grow Elephant Garlic. Freakin' enormous.

Actually, just about everything seems to grow well in that plot.


C. Proof of cooking (some of this we grew, some we purchased):

First batch ever of homemade sauerkraut. Yum.

Favas and greens

Greens (and purples) over rice

Beets, greens, and quinoa polenta

We didn't grow anything in this salad but it's one of my favorite summer combos; cucumber, tomato, feta, and kalamatas with a squeeze of lemon juice.

4. There has been entertainment of dogs:

They have enjoyed helping with the compost.

And went for a nice hike last weekend.

5. And there has been knitting:

A. Another friend had a baby so naturally I had to dress her (the baby, not the friend) up as a pumpkin:

B. I started to knit a wrap with this (Lisa Souza Silk Lace Weight in Sedona). I had to start over about 4 times due to a few errors and experimenting with needle sizes in my effort to get the fabric I wanted.

Miele decided the wrap was not meant to be:

Pretty, huh? It was even prettier festooned across the living room. Fortunately, shiny silk untangles pretty easily. It is now wound back up and waiting for me to decide what it's meant to be.

C. I finished the Lace Ribbons Scarf

Which I love.

D. Then I waffled for over a week over which yarn to use to make Madli's Shawl from Knitted Lace of Estonia. The cone on the top right is Colrain Lace Weight. The green below it is Hepburn (colorway - Alfalfa) from Abstract Fibers. The ball at the bottom is Graceful from The Yarn Place, and the rust-colored yarn on the left is Alpaca Cloud (from KnitPicks) in Autumn.

I opted for the Hepburn from Abstract Fibers in a lovely semi-solid green.

And it's going very nicely so far (and even better, Miele has left it alone). She is however, helping me knit this (F):

A Booga Bag in the girliest colors ever.

Trouble didn't think Miele should be the only subject of a gratuitous cute-doggy picture, and wants you all to know she's the best snuggle-beagle ever, even without modeling knitwear.

It's true.