The Scottish Lamb

Major Fun!

Okay.  I know it's been two weeks but that's not to say I didn't have a blast meeting up with Jennifer!  I did.  In fact, I hope there are many meet-ups now that we're only an hour and a half apart.  Plenty of knitterly joints in between and around us both.  We've been web pals for quite a while.  It's so funny to walk into the coffee shop and spot her immediately.  I got to see her beautiful sample of the Dale baby sweater class she's going to.  So fun to be with people who understand your passion.  It's even funnier when people are looking with a crooked eyebrow trying to figure out what's going on.  lol.   Just as many of you promised, Morehouse was FABulous!  It's very dangerous that it's only an hour and twenty minutes from my door.  As you can see, Jennifer did some damage:

I put myself on a small budget after the shock of the move and finding out exactly how much wool I already have.   I bought some gorgeous soft pink merino for a hat and booties for my neighbor (due with her 5th in a week) and two different varigateds for scarves.  One for me and one for my Gram.  The one for Gram is a simple Feather and Fan pattern but it's kicking my butt.  I've had to rip back about five inches once already and last night I found another big mistake about the same distance down.  Tried to just rip down the stitches that were messed up.... yeah... made a bigger mess.  I finished the hat and booties within a couple of days of getting home.  I forgot to take a photo before giving it to my neighbor so I'll try to remedy that by the next post.  I'll hopefully have Gram's scarf done by then to show that to you as well.

I think my favorite part of the visit with Jennifer was sitting down and really getting to chat over lunch.  It's fun being around all that wool but a little distracting and SO overwhelming.  What the heck am I going to do at Rhinebeck in two weeks?  I still can't believe I get to go finally.  I've wanted to for years and now I'm so close to it I can drive each day to visit.  Wheee!!!  I'm not going to buy much (really) but I just can't wait for the experience.

Have I mentioned that I love the Hudson Valley?  It's gorgeous here.  The leaves are really starting to change.  I went apple picking here with my neighbor.  So much fun.

Speaking of my neighbor... she has these flowers in her flower bed:

You all came through for me so I thought I'd give it a shot for her.  Anyone know what these are?  She wants to find out if they are perennials or not so she doesn't yank up something she shouldn't.   I planted over 350 bulbs the other day.  After all that work and the blisters on my hands now, our flower border better look like the Keukenhof next year!! lol.

I hope you all have a great Columbus Day weekend!  Dan has tomorrow off so we're going to head to lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.  I've gotten very into Puerto Rican cooking (been watching Daisy Cooks on PBS) and I want to hit some of the Latino markets down there.  Then we're taking the boys camping right near our home for a couple of nights.  Sunday night we have a camp cabin mini reunion for Daniel in Connecticut.  He can't wait to see his pals again.  He's been having a pretty hard time here at school so far but the school is wonderful!  They have a great team working with him and helping him through things and most importantly, keeping in constant contact with me to let me know what's going on.  Have a great long weekend!

A Win's A Win...

The picture is awful but it's the best I have.  Next time I'm bringing the good camera.  We had a blast at the game.  It was hotter than hell but we had a great time.  Army had a tough game.  They came out as a new team after Half Time (I think they got a "pep" talk) and then the heat must have gotten to them again because they weren't playing their best.   We wanted to get out of the heat so badly that when it went into overtime, we were worried we'd be there a while but they scored a touchdown on the very first play.  Hooah!

I would have posted yesterday but our internet and phone have been on and off since Thursday.   Thank you, Time Warner. Not.  The tech was supposed to come after the game on Saturday, but he came during it and now won't come until tomorrow.

I finished the sock and cast on another.  I also cast on an afghan for Joe.  I bought this yarn in Germany probably close to 20 years ago.  It's so soft and cozy.  The pattern is from the Morehouse Farm Merino Knits: More than 40 Farm-Fresh Designs book (I had no idea they are right up the road from me - definitely time for a road trip soon!).

There are some plants in my back yard that I have no clue as to what they are.  Gardeners, can you help?  I'm a veggie gardener but our back yard is all shade and woods.  Gotta make it pretty next year but I'd like to know what's already there:

Love these little trees.  There are two.   They look very oriental.

This vine like plant is very prickly along it's stem.  Is it a weed?

Finally, I love this ground cover.  It's all along the side of the house where it gets some sun.  Looks like it flowers at some point but I'd love to know exactly what it is.

Glorious Sound

Click Click Click.  Hear it?  It's my needles! 

seems my knitting is back.  I'm whispering that because I don't want to scare it away again.  It's like having an old friend back.  I love the sound the needles make.  I pulled Birch out of my basket and have been working on her while watching season 2 of Grey's Anatomy on dvd.  I already saw most of it but figured I'd re-watch since they are finally going to start showing the third season in February on Armed Forces Network over here.

I forgot to show you all the sock yarn I scored at the Rothenburg Christkindlmarkt before Christmas:

Yea... I know what I said about getting rid of stash but I don't really think sock yarn counts, do you?  I still have a sack of yarn that I bought just before we moved back to the States the last time.  That was six years ago, folks.  Back then, Regia was harder to find in the States and twice as much.   With the exchange rate, it's not so cheap anymore.

Dan got word a few days ago.  He should be home on February 7th!  That's five days earlier than we thought.  That's LESS than a month!  Being a seasoned veteran at this deployment thing though, I am not telling the boys until I know Dan is on the flight.  We've had an extremely mild winter (I don't even think you could call it winter) here in Germany.  It's snowed twice and both times melted within an hour of hitting the ground.   The pessimist on my left shoulder is whispering in my ear that Feb 7th is the day the snow will finally come in the form of a blizzard.  The optimist on my right shoulder has reached around and smacked Lefty upside the head.

Thanks for the prayers and kind words about Dan's soldier.  She did make it to her father's side in time and so did her husband and kids here in Germany.  They are all with her dad right now and he's actually improved.  They are optimistic.  She's going back to Afghanistan so she can come back to Germany with the team.

Last October I planted a bunch of bulbs in baskets to force and give out to friends in the gloom of February.  The thing is, it's been so warm they sprouted early (even in a dark garage) so I figured what the hey and brought them in the house.  I really didn't expect them to bloom because they didn't have any dormant time but this morning I found a lone red tulip starting to bloom.  Made me smile.

If you actually come to the blog and don't just read it on bloglines you'll see I made some changes right after I did the last post.  I was looking for a cleaner, more open, updated look.  Seems to be a trend in Blogland these days. Let me know what you think.

I also took off the list of links for supporting soldiers and replaced it with a link to America Supports You.  It was getting hard to keep up with the links that no longer worked and this way you know they are legitimate organizations.  Don't forget our troops.  Check out the web site and see what you can do to support them!