FLINGING DISCS

I've been hopeful......and FINALLY I can say with conviction that SPRING IS HERE!!!! I can feel it in my bones, people! IN MY BONES!! Hehehehe.....

I opened my eyes to a magnificent Sunday, and I knew immediately that my butt needed to be outside, And not in my usual way, which is me dragging my patio furniture out and knitting while watching passers by. I needed to be active......and being such a couch lover, I needed to call on some friends to help me remember what "outdoor activities" are. ;p

We decided to go frisbee golfing, or as it is better known in my neck of the woods, "disc" golf. And I would love to explain this in a fashion that makes this sound extravagant and la di da.......but essentially, it's just like a golf game, but you're throwing a frisbee, instead of hitting a ball, and you're trying to get it in a chain basket in the fewest amount of throws. And instead of nicely groomed fairways and things of that nature, you are hiking through about three acres of woods. It's a nice way to enjoy nature and still be active and slightly competetive.

So, Sarah and I took off to the West Thompson Lake and met up with our friends Heather and Chris. Here is
what the lake looked like on this glorious morning:



Even though the ice is doing its best to hold on, it is clear that Mother Nature has smugly informed it that resistance is futile!










It's moments like this that I wish that Jeff and I had really looked into buying a house where this view would be the first thing we saw when we looked out our windows. But unfortunately, that's dicated more by what's in one's wallet as opposed what one truly wants.

No matter.......I guess I'm just going to have to do a lot more camping!



Chris and Heather finally showed up, and to commemorate our first offical disc golf excusrsion of the year, I had them pose for a picture. Chris thought it was important to hold the discs up so that in the future when I look back at my scrap books and photo memoirs, I will always know we were on our way to play.


But I already know that everytime I look at this photo, I'm going to wonder why I didn't ask him to hold the actual frisbees in a diferent place. Oh brother!


So now you've seen the frisbees, and just in case you're curious, this is what the baskets look like. Golf = 18 holes. Disc Golf = 18 baskets. (Or nine if you are on a smaller course.


The park was fairly crowded. A lot of people woke up thinking it was a good time to enjoy the fresh outdoors. However, I almost made one of these poor people regret getting out of bed, when I almost pinged him in the head with my very misguided frisbee.

In my defense, how was I supposed to know that I had to look out for teenagers sitting IN a tree?!! I apologized profusely and then in pure classless fashion, asked them if I could take their picture. Hehehe....they happily obliged, saying they were flattered. Ahh.....silly boys.

So after traipsing over most of the course, we decided that our hunger pains were stronger than our will to finish out the game, so we walked all the way back to our vehicles and drove home where Heather fed us this really fabulous seafood/pasta/cheese/sauce yumminess.

I am looking forward to more days like this.

~T

SATISFYING SATURDAYS

I enjoy Saturdays. It's a glorious feeling to wake up and know that the whole day is just a blank canvas. There's something gratifying about not actually having any plans. Last Saturday I went to go spend the day with Julie, who is a friend I met during one my knitting swaps. The day was spent giggling at the antics of her three year old twins, eating yummy food, watching Battlestar Galactica (which her husband had to kind of fill us in on the background story since I haven't watched the series), and of course, knitting. I taught her how to do cables, and by doing this, we came to the conclusion that the book she was using needed a new editor, because the instructions were unclear.

This Saturday, my hubby took me out to breakfast where we sat for an hour and talked over omelets and home fries and piping hot coffee. Following breakfast, we drove out to my local bead shop and I rummaged through all the great beads that reside there. Usually I go in there just to play. This time, my goal was to get an array of beads and findings to begin making the jewelry that my sister and my mother want for their birthdays. I made some earrings about a month ago, and then I couldn't wait, so I gave them to my youngest sister early. So.......more beads for me!

At this point, I have become really comfortable with the whole twisting and crimping involved with jewelry making, so it doesn't take me that long to make a pair of earrings anymore. SO, I got a little carried away. I ended up making matching bracelets to go with the earrings. I want to make a couple more sets.....one for every work day.







After making the earrings, I went back to work on the baby booties that I was inspired to make by a very talented young knitter. I can see myself making a large assortment of these cute little booties. I have already started making a large pair to give to some special family member for this coming Christmas. Never too early to start making gifts. They are ADORABLE!


For the evening, Jeff went to see Gordon Bok perform for a benefit for the Connecticut Audobon Society and because I wasn't up for the long haul, my friend Sarah and I decided to go to the movies to watch He's Just Not Into You.

If you're the type of person who loves chickie flickie movies that point out all of the slightly psycho, quasi stupid things people do concerning love and relationships, this is a good movie to watch. It wasn't a mind boggling movie, the plot line kind of slaps you in the forehead over and over and over again, but I enjoyed it. And because I have a strange mind and I guess easily distracted, I couldn't help but notice during the movie that my now completed Flat Feet sock were oh so comfy on my toes......





and that I need to go to my LYS and get a few more to throw in my sock stash........even though I JUST bought six skeins.........yeah, whatever! No one has convinced me yet that yarn addiction is a bad thing!

Now, I am going to settle in bed, and happily finish the second baby bootie.



I love, love, LOVE Saturdays. :)

~T

INTERPRETATION OF THE DANCING LADY

When Jeff and I first moved in with each other, our love for each other was abundant (still is) but our bank accounts were a completely different story. Let's just say that our house decorating capabilities were limited to who was able to give us what, and how much we were able to fit into the apartment. Needless to say, it was a mish mash of stuff, but we were comfortable. Come to think of it, everything we own is still a mish mash of stuff, and we're still comfortable.....I guess we're mish mash kind of people..........anyhoo!

The first piece of artwork we purchased together was a poster that we found at Kathy John's. It was ten dollars, and it was the first thing that was affordable that we both agreed was something we should have. And I guess it is something we both still agree on because she has moved with us ever since. This is the poster:


I always wanted to reproduce this image in a textured way. There's so much movement in the dress and the woman's body, every time I looked at it, I wondered if I could make it pop off the page. I didn't want to repaint it because the original artist did a fine job. I just wanted to interpret it. Tonight I tried.

I set myself up in my living room, got comfy and started painting a background for my dancer.

Then I got out all of the paper that I have collected over the years and just started tearing them, applying them to the canvas with some decoupage glue. I started with the lower part of her dress and just kept layering. I free form cut her legs, arms and head with scissors.


And this is my interpretation of The Dancing Lady, using ripped paper.



I painted a rough mouth and eyes; I didn't really want her face to be the focus of the whole piece. I think for a first try, I did OK. I'll probably wake up tomorrow and be overly critical of it, but for now, I think she's pretty neat. I now have to find a place for her on our wall. Looks like we'll be packing up two dancing ladies if we ever move again! :)

~T

THANKFUL T'WAS ONLY SCORCHED GLASS

Today I can say that I epitomized the word "stupid" to the fullest extent of its definition. I've always loved candles. I think that they give my house a warm and inviting vibe, and I always feel much cozier if I can curl up on the couch and knit by the soothing glow.

Well, tonight I went over to my friend's house for dinner and I had this nagging feeling that I had left one of the candles in the bathroom lit. Somehow, I talked myself out of worrying about it. My mental process went something like this:

'I think I left the candle lit in the bathroom'

'No......I'm pretty sure I blew it out the last time I walked past it.'

'Well, even if it is still lit, the bathroom door is shut so the cat can't knock it over, and it's in a jar, so it will smother itself and we will be fine'

'But regardless, I think I blew it out. Stop worrying.'

Here's what I found when I got home:


Not only did I leave it lit, the candle did not smother itself....it actually burned THROUGH the glass, cracking the bottom, oozing out all of the melted wax onto the counter. How could I be so careless?!!

It took me a long time to settle my nerves because all I could do was think about what might have happened if circumstances had been different. What if it was in the living room and the cat knocked it over onto the wood floors? Never mind the house burning down....all of my pets are in the house.....I don't even want to go there. I'm so grateful that everything was fine, but I have to admit that I am still a little flustered.

As I was pacing about, I noticed that my oldest cat Ivory was looking at me with her usual look of "I'm not sure why you think you're the smarter species......I think you're pretty dumb".



I'm inclined to agree with her.

~T

AN ODD SPREAD

So tonight I had a very interesting culinary experience. My friend has an Australian penpal (and by pen pal, I mean chat partner....everything is done via internet these days) and he sent her a small care package that contained a tube of Vegemite.

The only time I have ever heard of this mysterious Vegemite was when I would happen to be listening to the eighties band "Men At Work" who composed the very strange song "I Come From A Land Down Under", where the main character in the song apparently partakes in a Vegemite sandwich with a lady friend.

I come from a family where my parents told me to try things at least twice, once to experience it, and the second time to make sure I really loved it or hated it. So, I tried it. Um.....it's a bit strange. First of all, it's description on the actual tube says that it's a yeast extract. That didn't really sound all that appetizing to me. But again, I'm game for just about anything, especially if it's food. It's a very thick, dark, dark brown substance, a bit sticky, supposedly chock full of vitamin B, incredibly salty (reminded me of a bouillon cube), and actually not all that bad on a Ritz cracker if used in moderation. Jeff wouldn't touch it. I wasn't surprised.

I finally buckled down today and started knitting the first of the many baby sweaters I will probably be making in the next few months. The thing that I have noticed is that I can make plans on what to knit. I love looking through books and patterns, and I have purchased several cute patterns in the last week. But for some reason, once I get started, I just find myself changing the pattern. What is wrong with me?! I think that I get a bit irritated having to look at a pattern maybe, or I just get restless and start to wonder what would happen if I did it this way instead of how it was written. I haven't figured it out. But that is indeed what happened today. I started a Debbie Bliss pattern, realized that I didn't want to do it that way, and ripped it out and started my own design. Let's hope it works out.

I've opted to work with Dreambaby DK, which is very reasonably well priced, acrylic/nylon blend. Since I know that I'm making a full basket of knitted goodies, I didn't find it necessary to spend fifty dollars on a baby sweater. Here's what I have come up with so far. I apologize.....the pictures are atrocious and the color is nowhere near the actual pretty blue I'm using, but I'm still posting them. I'll take better pictures when the sweater is completed.


I love cables, but I get bored doing the same cable over and over again. But I also wanted to do something easy. So I I alternated the length of the cables to give the sweater a little interest. I like the effect so far.



This will be the front of the sweater because it seems to be the part of every garment that I don't enjoy making. So I figured I would just get it out of the way. Isn't that weird? Anyhoo, I can't wait to see how the rest of it comes out. I have a few more ideas that I am going to try to incorporate. I'm sure there will be a lot of ripping back......but that comes with the craft, right?

~T

THE BEARS AND THE SEA AND THE MOUSE AT CHUCK E CHEESE

Tonight was the grand unveiling of my niece Aubrianna's artwork at the Lutz Children's Museum. I guess several months ago her teacher had entered a few of her students' artwork to be reviewed, and her's was one of the pieces chosen to go on display. I'm not her mother, but I don't think I could be much prouder! The silly part about this whole thing was that my niece was completely oblivious to the fact that her teacher had entered it. So when I asked her what it was that I was going to see.....she informed me that she wasn't quite sure. Hehehe.

So Jeff and I hustled our rears to get to the museum in time, and it was pouring by the time we got there, which was a total bummer. The parking for that place is atrocious, so we had to park way out in the next solar system and walk through deep, fat puddles. I wouldn't have minded so much if my shoes weren't open toed and I wasn't wearing stockings. But moving on.

I want someone to explain something to me. If you're walking into a children's museum, wouldn't you want to see something a little more inviting than this?

Seriously, though?!! SERIOUSLY! And then there's a sign next to it that says "Please don't touch me. My fur will fall off"" Why would I touch that? It's a huge, dead, stuffed bear, for the love of Peter, Paul, and Mary!!!! But I sure didn't get the "Come on in, kids!" vibe. It's a frikken bear!

Again, moving on........

The place was PACKED. Being claustrophobic, this was not an ideal situation for me to be in, especially since there were like 100 children running in every which direction and screaming at the top of their lungs. The hallway is quite narrow, and I found it super amusing (?) that mothers thought that they could just plow through the crowd with their strollers. I wanted to say, "You could try slamming that stroller through the wall too, and I'm pretty sure that won't budge either." It was like they weren't even aware that they had BABIES in these strollers who probably weren't thrilled that they were being jostled into strangers who wanted to get out of the way, but couldn't.

My poor neice looked mortified. FIrst of all, we were making a big to-do about it, because we wanted her to know that we're proud of her accomplishments, even if she doesn't remember what they are....and she's not great with a ton of attention. Secondly, she didn't remember what she made, so we had no idea what we were looking for. And then EUREKA!!!, we spotted her name, and her beautiful seashell collage.

Maybe it's because I'm her aunt, but I think this is really awesome. I love her use of color and texture. There was a lot of oohing and ahhing and many hugs. I am very proud of her.

After we found the picture, Brie Brie loosened up a little bit and started exploring the rest of the museum with her brother. To stay true to the theme of the ocean, she ended up posing for this picture:


Now, if there was a picture of THIS at the entrance, I would feel like I had entered a kids' museum!

After the festivities and the ceremony, we treated the budding artist to a night out at Chuck E. Cheese. I have never been to this place. All I knew is that this was the place to be as far as my niece and nephew were concerned.


The minute I got out of the car, and saw this beaming face of this mouse that looks like he's totally up to no good, I knew that I was one hundred percent screwed! Children, children, children, EVERYWHERE! Running, jumping, screaming, kicking,......oh, brother! I like kids, but not when they appear to have lost their ever loving minds!

But I could understand the excitement. There were games everywhere. Chuck E. Cheese is a mecca of lights and sounds, games and toys. A child's dream come true. And Aubrianna was very comfortable, weaving through the colonies of children to get to her favorite games. An hour and a half later, the really yucky pizza was just about gone, every token had been played, and we were ready to go. I breathed a sigh of relief as I exited the doors of Hades.....I mean....Chuck E. Cheese, and headed home.

Now I'm in bed, popping another antibiotic for my tooth infection. Other than that, it's been a great day. I'm a happy auntie. :)


~T

FORGETFULNESS BEGETS SEEDS & CABLES

People who knit, crochet, quilt, paint, draw, whatever, have the tendency of having several projects going at the same time. It's this bizarre insanity that seems to come over us eventually. My reasons for starting projects vary. I usually have a project going where I know that I have to think about just about every stitch in order for it to come out right, and these are what I call my challenging projects. Then I have those projects where I can just knit away as I talk to friends, watch TV or listen to an audio book. These are my mindless projects.

Tonight, I went to my knitting group with the intention of finishing the second sock. If you've made a ton of socks like I have, it's safe to call it fairly mindless knitting. I had my lace scarf tucked into one of the bags, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to focus on the chart and still be an active participant. So, the sock was a sure bet. I got to my knitting destination, sat down and got settled, and realized I forgot the stupid sock at home. Hmmph.

Digging through my two bags, I had to then decide what I was going to knit. My friend laughed at me because she said that no matter where I went, every time she saw me, I always had a huge stash of yarn to knit with. Well, thank goodness, because I needed SOMETHING. I finally settled on working with the rest of the Sublime Extrafine Merino Wool that I had used to make the baby sweater with. I cast on 30 stitches, started knitting, and by row three of seed stitch, decided I needed to throw in a very basic cable and make myself a scarf.



I am using size five Harmony needles, and even though I wasn't planning on making another scarf anytime soon, I am enjoying it. I love stashes. That's all I've got to say about that.


I must have been talking about my experience of Fiddler on the Roof quite a bit, because my hubby came home from a visit with his parents bearing a gift. His mother just happened to be browsing (which means she was purposefully shopping for me) and she came across something she thought would make me very happy. Now, I have owned a copy of this movie pretty much as long as I can remember. I owned it on video cassette (it was on two tapes because it was too long to fit on one), I owned the DVD full screen, the DVD wide screen, the DVD with an hours worth of extra footage.....but I've never owned one with this particular cover. So JACKPOT!! Hehehe. That was very nice of her. I guess it's no mystery what I will be watching before I go to bed, huh?

Speaking of bed.................

~T