7/30/08 Part II

Macklin in his hiding place guarding his bone. The pile on the drawer is my magazines that I need to go through!!! Why am I always behind?












On the Reading front, I have gotten a lot done, I finished the Septimus Heap book. They are much like Harry Potter, a boy wizard in a magical world. I have one left to go in that series of the ones that are out. Not sure how many there will be in total. Then I read the Araminta Spookie series by Ange Sage (same one that wrote Septimus Heap). This is a little girl who lives with her magical Aunt and Uncle (vampire). Cute quick read. Young Adult kind of stuff.

Then I read Andrew Gross's second book, Dark Tide. I think I liked it better than the first one. Murder mystery, set against a background of the diamond districts (NYC) dealings. Very good.

Then came Killer Smile by Lisa Scottoline. It is the first of her books I have read and it certainly won't be the last. Legal drama, all female law firm. Verges on Chick Lit, but not really. Had more substance than what I usually put in that catagory.

Now I am reading Another Shop on Blossom Street. This is from the knitting series by Debbie Macomber. Haven't really gotten into it good yet. But the others have been very good.

Big news on the reading front is that I bought a Kindle. E-book reader from Amazon for those that aren't familiar with it. I love it. I can carry 250 books in the size and weight of one paperback. It is tied to what they call the Whispernet, so I can download a new book in about 2 minutes. It is amazing. A whole book downloads faster than one song from iTunes. Can't wait until I get some reading time in my swing.

I almost forgot the Stitching Weekend, here at the house. It was great. I think everyone had a ball. I know I did. We will do it again, someday, but not until my life settles down a little!! Just too much uncertainty right now!!!

Now for some puppy pictures. Of course, Chad and Chelsea are NINE tomorrow, so they really aren't puppies anymore!!! ;-(



The trio guarding their toys and milkbones. From left to right, Chelsea, Macklin, and Chad.













Chad in "his snack corner". They have all chosen their own special spot to eat their treats.













Chelsea guarding her "rescue puppy". She loves her balls and stuffed animals.













Macklin, in his "treat spot". This is the step between the kitchen and the den. He can keep track of both places from here. Yes, there are more pictures of Mack than the other two. I am not showing favorites, it is just much easier to get a cute picture of a white dog than a black one. So many I take of them, they just look like a black outline.

That should get me all caught up for July. Hopefully it won't take a month before I get time to post again. I really am enjoying all the time with my nephews and I will miss them a bunch when school starts back up, but I get NOTHING done when I am running them all over the place all the time. I need to treasure this time and not feel guilt about things like blogging, not getting done!!!

Chat later
Susan

7/30/08 Part I

July has been one of the craziests months in history. Thanks to those who sent wishes that all was well. It is as well as it ever is, so thanks. Just a long line of craziness. Early in the month, my sister had a week on the Outer Banks. I was supposed to go for the week, but with one of my nephews playing All Star Little League Baseball and my parent's house on the market, I ended up going down Monday morning, coming back Tuesday night, going back Thursday morning and coming back Friday night!!! I should have known that with the first day of the month going that way, that it was going to be a crazy month.

My parent's aren't able to keep the house in "showing" condition, so I go clean twice a week. My sister's two dogs stay over there almost every day. Both of them shed like crazy, so I have to vacuum twice a week to keep the hairballs to a minimum. Do you think I clean my house that well? NOT!!!

The third week in the month my brother-in-law had to go to Georgetown for CyberKnife radiation treatments. It was a weeks worth of treatments. Nephew and I went up on Monday and stayed until Wednesday night. Then my sister came up and stayed the rest of the week. Nephew and I went to the Smithsonian and the zoo and the Spy Museum while b-i-l was doing the medical stuff. The Spy Museum is great by the way, I had never been. Lots of interactive stuff.

While all this was going on. DH tore the front porch off the house and replace it from the ground up and screened it in. I LOVE my Screened in porch, with a swing. Fabulous place to knit and read!!! IF only I had time to do that!!!

And of course the Tour de France was going on. I am not a big sports watcher, but I do love the Tour. I got to watch all of it thanks to DVR's. When I got back from Georgetown I had 20 hours to watch, not counting others programs that were taped. I am still not caught up and they are replacing my DVR on Friday, so I have to watch all I can or they will be gone.

On the exercise front, I am bike riding with my nephew and still walking trying to get ready for the half marathon. Nephew and I are doing a 50 mile bike ride early in September. I can ride way better than I can walk. I have a lot of pain after walking. I am afraid I will have to give up the half marathon. I don't see much point in doing something that I KNOW is going to hurt, a lot.

Now on the knittingcrocheting front:


This is Poppy be Elsebeth Lavold. Knit in Cotton Patine. I love it. It will look way better after blocking and finishing. One day I will get that done.












This is a ripple afghan I started in April 2007. It was SO BORING. I finally finished it during the Tour de France. It is not large, just enough to snuggle under on the couch. But I don't have to have UFO guilt about it anymore!!!

This is the Tidal Wave pattern from SWTC. I did it toe up instead of by the pattern, but used the "wave" pattern on the cuff. I really like them. The yarn is Sockmania. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her stuff!!! The second picture is the whole pair of socks.

This is a kitchen cotton wash cloth. I like them for face clothes. They exfoliate gently, not like the scratchy pads they sell for that.

This is the Lacy Little Top knit from hemp, from Hemp for Knitting. I really like it, but I have to reblock it wider, to see if I can get a little more "boobage" room. Hopefully it will relax a little with wearing.

Noro sock yarn, knit two at a time on two circs, toe up using WendyKnits basic pattern. 3 x 1 rib on the cuffs. Not sure I love the Noro yarn. Not sure the thick/thin nature is going to hold up well in socks, but LOVE the colors.

Check Part II for further update. This is just getting too long for one post

Chat later (or right now)

Susan