Here today . . .

But I'm gone tomorrow! Actually it is tomorrow because it is after midnight! I have had a busy week. First off, I had to work 2 days, which probably doesn't sound like much to most people. For me, though, it is difficult in the middle of the summer. Why? Because I allow my natural body rhythm to take over. That means I go to bed around 3 a.m. and get up around 10 a.m. If I'm working then I have to get up at 6 a.m. The problem is that I cannot go to sleep at 11 which is when I need to go to sleep in order to get up early. So I flood my system with extra caffeine and pray that I won't fall asleep while I'm driving. Tomorrow--or should I say later on today--I'm leaving for Boston. This is my annual week in New England to do genealogical research. It is always too short. I hate to leave there. It would be nice if I could just pick up my life here--home, family, job etc.--and just put it there! I'm going to lunch with Ems and one of her friends at noon, running a couple of errands then leaving. I typically leave around 3 p.m. which gets me into my hotel room by 11. It's a great time to drive as I hit no traffic whatsoever plus I'm well rested.

I'm one of those nut cases who cannot go on a trip until my house is totally cleaned. I'm not sure why except that I feel a lot better when I come home to a clean house. I always feel like I need a vacation after a vacation and the last thing I need is to walk in the door and feel like I have to clean! I got all that done this week--stuff I only do once a year like washing walls and cleaning curtains. Speaking of curtains--here is a shot of the little country curtain I made for the kitchen. It's hard to get a good shot of this window because the sun is always direct there.

Nothing fancy--just some homespun plaid lined with bleached muslin!

Another FO--I finished Labyrinth! I'm very pleased with it. I will try to get some modeled shots in the morning. Here's a little teaser of the sleeve:

I went ahead and cast on for the Dayflower Camisole so that I could bring it with me. Funny thing--the Classic Elite Premier feels like rope after knitting with the Handmaiden Double Sea Silk. That stuff makes it really hard to knit with anything else! It just slides through your fingers and it feels so good! I always thought Premier was a nice soft yarn--particularly for cotton. It just cannot compare to the Handmaiden!

That brings me to the Secret Pal Question #6.
What is your favorite type of project to take along on holiday/vacation?
I bring whatever I happen to be working on which is usually a sweater of some sort. I will often throw a small project in my bag. When I am visiting research libraries, I carry my laptop and I like to be able to throw a small project in my laptop bag. Sometimes I just need a break and it is nice to be able to pull out a hat or scarf to work on!


I will have another FO in the morning as well. I decided at the last minute to make this top:

I wanted to use a cotton spandex to make the sleeveless knot front top but I didn't have any in my stash. I went to Joann's and the selection wasn't great. They did have some in red, so I bought the rest of the bolt which was about 2 and 3/4 yards. I figured I'd make the sleeveless one to see how the pattern fit, then I'd make the same one with the long belled sleeves. I'm doing this one on my sewing machine in case I have to rip anything out. I'll serge the next one. I'm almost done. From start to finish, including cutting, this should take no more than 90 minutes total. I did stitch the center front seam about a half in higher to make the neckline opening a little higher. Other than that, so far there have been no modifications.

We've had some visitors lately:

This family of deer has been frequenting the blackberry bushes at the edge of the woods. I would go back there to pick some berries, but knowing that there have been deer there means that there are probably deer ticks there. I've had a couple of friends/relatives that have had Lyme disease and it has been brutal. One has Rheumatoid Arthritis now as a result. She's been on intravenous antibiotics for about a year. It's nasty stuff! I don't want to risk that!

I guess I better go so I can finish up my top!

I'll post from Boston and I will share some more nostalgia then!

Bushism of the day:
You never know what your history is going to be like until long after you're gone." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 5, 2006

Kitty Cam: I decided to reload the kitties' turbo scratcher. Here are the boys waiting in line to get their catnip fix:

Here they are after. An intoxicated kitty is a happy kitty!

On the road again--almost!

So I leave for Boston on Monday which means this weekend will basically consist of preparing for my trip. There's actually not THAT much preparation for the actual trip--it's more like doing stuff around the house so that my family can survive! I like to leave a clean house when I go away so that I don't come home to a disaster area. Since Bird is working most of the time, there's a limit to the amount of destruction he can cause! I figure that I'll leave an empty dishwasher--of course I'll come home to a full one: clean floors etc.; plenty of frozen food items and a crapload of kitty food. Of course my main worry is that Mikey gets his shots and I know that Bird can only give him one a day. DH will be at home until Thursday afternoon when he flies into Providence to meet me. Providence is one of my favorite cities. If it had better public transportation it would be worth considering as a retirement city. It has everything else--It's in a blue state, it has world class colleges and universities, arts and culture; historical significance and it's surrounded by water! That's just about everything I desire lacking only in good public transportation. Of course Boston pretty much meets all my criteria! I actually feel like I belong there when I go!

I may take a small knitting project for a break from Fifi. My secret pal had given me a lovely almost black skein of Malabrigo which is begging to be made into the One Skein Wonder, so I'm thinking I may just do that!

I have to vaccuum and clean floors. What fun! I will leave you with my Bushism of the day!
"They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program." --George W. Bush, Nov. 2, 2000

Kitty Cam:

Bar found DH's junk pile! Perhaps he's trying to be incognito!