Hello there! Is it time for a nap yet? It has been a whirlwind of a year work-wise for SJ & me & it's not the end of July. Our Purlewe has a fabulous phrase (she has many, truth be told) that I use & give credit to her for: I am so behind I can see myself. Having said that, let me tell you what I hope to do over the next few weeks: work less, have some days off, exercise (the weight gain over the past couple of years just blows!), eat better portions of good food, knit as often as possible & knit well, map our garden which, while somewhat small-ish, is really sweet & will grow this fall w/ some new plantings, have time w/ my sweet partner, clean the dust bunnies that we may have to give names to if we don't sweep them up soon! Some friends are preggers & due in December. There's a baby quilt to make too. Knitting wise, I have a couple of socks in the line-up & I am starting, for the 2nd time, my Color Affection knit-along that some buds & I started last May. Also on my "I want to do ..." list is to have some photos on here so you can see some of what I describe in these infrequent posts. Hope you & your loved ones are keeping cool in this hottest of summers.

Don't you love the autumn?

Fall is my favorite season - for one thing, it means that our usually ucky Philly summer is over. We had a modest, pretty good summer. The cool weather means breezier days, wearing woolen items, hot cocoa & cups of my fav hot teas, snuggling w/ SJ, my g'ma's quilts back on the bed.

There has been some excellent progress on some projects:
~~ The top down V-neck is close to the end!! I am 1/2 way or so to the end of the bottom ribbing & due to the ab fab assistance from Mary & the Divine One, Diana, at The Tangled Web, started on the stitches around the V-neck. (Love that store - they are the best!)
~~ Have finished the top of one of the three baby quilts on my to-do list. Have the blocks for the "across" rows sewn together & will be sewing the balance of the "up & down" rows completed soon. Have the blocks for the 3rd one cut out & 1/2 way sewn together.
~~ Have the quilt top for SJ's daughter done! Have the blocks cut out & picked out for her son's quilt & have started sewing them together.
~~ Will work w/ a review lesson w/ the fabulous Purlewe for my socks on 2 circs after her wonderful wedding.

The fall also holds two of my very best week-ends: the New York Sheep & Wool Festival where I will work in Jen's Spirit Trail booth along w/ the glorious Lanea. Shelia is not able to be there w/ us & we know Amy will be a glorious Booth Babe.

And the 7th Annual Knitter's Review Retreat! Shall I say again how I love these people?!

It's been raining lots & lots ...
here in Philly. Luckily I weed-wacked the back yard yesterday, trimmed one of the butterfly bushes, weeded & helped my next door neighbor do some lilac bush trimming. Unluckily I hit a branch of the lilac bush w. my right eye. Jeez Louise, that hurt like a summabitch. My eye began immediately to water & got red. A friend & neighbor, M, is a pharmacist (& an excelent gardener & tree trimmer - he trimmed the neighbor's dwarf peach tree!) & he recommended a trip to the pharmacy for sterile eye wash. I did as I was told.
When SJ arrived for our evening together, I learned just how my eye really looked. Before the cataract surgery, I could take out my contact lens & get really close to something - i.e. the better to see it. No more since the cataract surgery & the lens placement. I need my reading glasses to see smaller things & how can I see my eye w/out my reading glasses - eh?
So SJ's eagle eyed vision told me how my eye looked close up & it was none too pretty. I was convinced to call my ab fab eye doc, Dr. W. About 10 to 15 minutes after I left the message w/ her service, she phoned back. (How I hated to call her on a Saturday night!) I told her of the unfortunate incident w/ the bush, the sterile wash, the arnica I had taken, the swelling, etc. She recommended cold compresses (which I did) & asked me a bunch of questions re my vision, pain, etc. Knock wood, I'm better today, still have some swelling & bruising, still have a bruised ego - a lilac bush for cryin' out loud.
Knitting wise, I am whalin' on a lovely simple shawl from a long ago KR pattern of the wonderful Miz Clara. It is the One Skein Shawl. Have made progress with the 2nd handle of one of the felted bags.
Quilting wise, I am looking toward two quilts (perhaps double bed size) for M & M & two baby quilts (1 for a baby-to-be & 1 for O).
There have been a number of house projects - cleaning out (we participated in a large, street wide yard sale recently!), cleaning up, reviewing chores & making biggie project lists.
Is it any wonder I day dream of time to read & knit & quilt and ...