Dashing Through the Snow...er, I mean Rain

No more work for 2013. YEAH!!!!! Yesterday was my last day in the office until January 2.  Now my attention is totally devoted to Christmas.

The hat for my nephew was finished last night.  I really like how it turned out.  It is thick and perfect for slogging across his university's campus. It comes down to just over my ears.  I really like how my homespun worked out with this.  The only note is that the yarn was maybe just a tad too thick for the needles I was using.  The yarn didn't have any stretch to it, so when I was doing the k2togs and ssks it was a bit hard to manipulate.  I can see making a few more of these in the future.

Buttonbox is moving along.  While watching It's a Wonderful Life, I got the right and left fronts finished.  The back stitches are now on the needle and awaiting action.  It is going to be a race to see if this can get finished by Christmas.  If I don't have it completed by tomorrow wet blocking is out of the question.   Ed and I have dinner plans tonight so I'm not sure how much time I'll get to spend with it today.  I'm not giving up hope yet.

Today is my day to finish shopping.  As soon as I sign off here I need to check my list.  We are supposed to get record breaking levels of rain this weekend so it is going to be a joy dashing from store to store.  The rain will be a nuisance, but if it were snow or ice my shopping plans would be cancelled. 

Coming Too Fast

Yikes! Christmas is in 10 days!  I haven't done half of my shopping.  The decorating isn't finished.  No cookies have been baked. No cards have been sent. The gifts for my siblings are still in only the starting stages.  I'm in bad shape! I really need to take a few days off work, but that isn't going to happen.  I have too many meetings this week.  It is time to start handing out assignments to the family.

As far as decorating goes, I'm done with what I'll do.  I'll hand out assignments to the kids.

The girls will have to help me with the cards.  I've scrapped the idea of a family photo.  The opportunity to do that went away after Thanksgiving weekend.

Fortunately Trisha likes to bake.  She has volunteered to do most of the cookies and treats.  That will be a huge help for me.

The remaining shopping isn't something I can assign to others.  I'll try to go after work a couple evenings this week.  I should be able to get my list checked off by doing that.

As usual, I've bitten off more than I can chew in the handmade department.  I don't think I'll get all of my projects finished by Christmas, so I'm going to have to prioritize.  

First priority are the gifts for my siblings.  That project is not portable so I need to devote my home time to it.  That is what I will work on today.

Second on the list is a hat. This is a hat that I'm making for Ed's nephew.  We will be with him on Christmas Eve.  This is a portable project, so I'll take it with me to work and spend some of my lunch hour each day on it.  That should be enough time to finish it.

I really hope to get Buttonbox done by Christmas day.  My plan was to wear it to my family party.  I need to get buttons purchased still.  I'll do that next Saturday.  If I work on this in the evenings this week, I should be in good shape.  My goal is to get the knitting done by Sunday so that I can block it.

I have the last skein of yarn ready to go.  This is a photo I took of it resting in the snow on my front porch yesterday morning.

Blake asked that I make Gladiator hats for two of his cousins.  Here are the beginnings of them.  These will have to wait until the hat for Ed's nephew is done.  These work up fast, but they are not at the top of the priority list.  If I don't get them done by Christmas day, I will finish them shortly thereafter.  I will be spending a couple days with my sister over the holidays.  Her boys will get them no later than December 27.

The last project is fixing a sweater for my mom.  One of my sisters knit this vest years ago.  Unfortunately it has gotten eaten by moths.  My sister no longer has the original yarn.  While out running errands last week, I bought a few skeins, hoping one would match.  The middle one below is pretty close.  I will use that to repair the moth holes.  This will be an after Christmas project.

Time now to get off of the computer and get moving with some of these things.  Times a-wasting!

One for the Record Books

Winter storm Cleon hit Ohio Thursday and Friday.  It started as freezing rain Thursday night.  All night long I could hear the ice pellets hitting the window.  School was cancelled, but unfortunately not my work.  The commute to work wasn't too bad.  The roads were wet but not terribly icy.  About noon the snow started.  When I left work the roads were beginning to get a bit treacherous.  Ed and I ventured out about 8:30 pm to bring Trisha home from work.  He drove me over to her work so that I could drive her car home.  She rode with him and they followed me. I'm glad we decided to do that.  Her car slid all over the place and could barely get up a small hill.  I had to put the car in low gear and inch it up the hill. She wouldn't have known what to do and would have ended up sliding off the road.  I'm sure the drivers behind Ed weren't pleased with the slow pace, but since all I could see in the rear view mirror was his truck, I didn't worry about the other traffic.

This morning we woke up to a record setting snowfall.  We have about 4 inches on the ground.  That doesn't sound impressive, but it is a record for this date.  The meteorologist said that it is unusual to get this much accumulation this early in the season.  It only happens about once every 10 years.

The view out my side window was lovely at sunrise.  (The checkerboard pattern is because we still have our screens up.)

I love the way the snow clings to the branches of the trees.  Many people are complaining already about the snow, but this is what I needed to get me in the Christmas spirit.  I'll pull out the decorations and get things going inside.  I'm just disappointed that we didn't get our outside lights up before this snow hit. By the looks of the temperatures forecaster for this week, it is sticking around for a while.

Buttonbox is moving along.  The waist shaping is done and I'll soon be at the armholes.  This is how far I got with the first ball of yarn.  I attached the second ball as the end of the previous row.  I still need to ply the yarn I spun a few weeks ago.  That may be on my agenda tonight as we watch Ohio State in the Big 10 Championship game tonight.

One last note, Blake wore his Gladiator hat to a football game last weekend.  His high school was playing his cousins' high school in the semi-final round of the state championship.  His cousins loved the hat and asked for their own.  Agreeing to make them hats has earned me the title of 'Best Aunt Ever!'.  

Evolution

The Buttonbox vest is evolving nicely.  The waist shaping is almost complete.  I am still using the first ball of yarn, but as you can see in the picture below, it is nearing the end.  The second ball is about the same amount of yarn.  It should get me close to the end.  I'm estimating that it won't be enough to finish though.  I spun a bobbin.  It is resting for a few days to let the twist set.  I'll wind it off into a center-pull ball and then ply it into more two-ply yarn.  It should be enough to finish this project.  I have enough top left to spin more if necessary.  I may try spinning it thinner and making a pair of gloves out of it.  That will be a project for another time.

Here is a picture of the evolution of this project.  This was inspired by the ape to man Evolution drawing.

My Buttonbox knitting was interrupted by a project request from Blake.  Last weekend he showed me a picture of a crocheted Gladiator helmet and asked if I could make him one.  A hunt around Ravelry gave me some ideas and I was able to improvise a pattern.  The project was completed last night.  If  I say so myself, it turned out quite nicely.  I need to write down the pattern before I forget.  I have a feeling a couple of Blake's cousins are going to request their own hats.

Here are pictures showing the movable face mask.

Ed has asked for a hat like this minus the crest.  He also wants it in browns and greens so that he can wear it hunting.  He also asked that the neck shield extend a bit longer in the back.  For his I think I will also keep the face mask wider on the sides instead of tapering it so much.  He'll need it to cover his cheeks and chin more.

Milestones

This year has flown by!  It is hard for me to believe that Thanksgiving is next week and then Christmas in less than a month after that.  November is always a count-down month for me.  My son's birthday is exactly 7 weeks before Christmas and my younger daughter's birthday is 6 weeks before.  After those two events, I feel like it is the home stretch for the year.

Blake turned 16 earlier this month and passed his driving exam last Saturday.  He can now legally drive by himself.  Last Saturday evening, he took his first venture alone, down to the pizza shop to get a snack for his dad.  Today he drove himself to school.  He was a bit nervous because it was raining this morning.  He sent me a text after he got to school to let me know he made it OK.

Trisha's was also a milestone birthday.  She turned 18.  She exercised her right of being a legal adult and went out and got a couple more piercings in her ear.  As long as she doesn't get any (many) more, I'll be alright with this.  

The Buttonbox vest is coming along.  I'm at the waist shaping section.  I decided not to do the pockets.  The color below is accurate.

I'm spinning more wool for the vest.  From my estimation, I'm not going to have enough with what I spun over the summer.  My goal is to get enough spun by December 1.  If I don't make that goal, it will be a struggle to get the vest completed by Christmas.

In the middle of this, I got a bit of a distraction.  Last Saturday night, Blake found a crocheted hat on the internet that he asked me to reproduce.  The hat looks like a Roman Gladiator helmet.  I'm making it up as I go.  He's hoping I can have this done by tomorrow night's football game.  That goal is going to be tough to meet unless I do nothing else.  The hat part is moving along quickly, but I need to figure out how to do the face mask and the horse hair ridge thingy.

On top of all this I have Christmas gifts to make.  I'm actually quite proud of myself for thinking of something this early and getting a jump on it.  I have all of the supplies purchased and some of the prep work finished.  Now I just need to sit down and do some assembly line style work.  Since I have a month for these gifts, I'm not pressured yet to get them completed.

Next week is Thanksgiving here in the US.  Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday.  Growing up is was all about family.  Most years it was at my family's house. My dad's side of the family would come over.  It was one of the few times each year that we would have a meal with cousins, aunts and uncles.  The kids were relegated to the kitchen table while the adults ate in the dining room. It always felt special to me.  Some of the most fun times with my cousins happened around the Thanksgiving table.  At Christmas and Easter, we wouldn't have a meal with our cousins but we would gather together afterwards.  Those holidays were special also, but it was more about the gathering together in the evening rather than the meal.  The concept with Thanksgiving is simple.  The minimal build-up adds to the holiday's charm.  It is a simple philosophy:  gather with those you love, celebrate life's bounty and show gratitude for the blessings in your life.  As I get older, this philosophy is most comfortable for me.  The challenge is to celebrate Thanksgiving all year round.

She's Hooked

Trisha is one of those kids that can entertain herself.  Once she gets focused on something, she's content to be off on her own.  When one of her ideas involves help from me, she is very insistent on having my attention immediately.

Last Sunday afternoon, Trisha showed me a sweater she pinned on Pinterest.  She said she wanted me to make her one like it.  The pinned sweater was a commercially produced one, so no pattern was available.  We surfed Ravelry and found a modified  version of this pattern that she liked.  Then she asked when can I start working on it.  She wasn't happy when I told her that it will have to wait until after Christmas.  I want to get my vest made by Christmas and I haven't even cast on yet.  She wasn't happy with the answer but accepted it.  She then asked if she could knit a scarf.  She had another pin from Pinterest that had intrigued her.  We went downstairs to the stash and pulled out some grey wool.  Back in the living room, I cast on for her and showed her how to knit and purl.  She took it from there.  Note the smile below.  The disappointment about not getting her sweater was forgotten.  I then left her alone to make dinner.

After dinner, she and I went back into the living room.  (I wasn't going to sit in the family with Ed and Blake while they watched a few horror movies.)  When I saw how much knitting Trisha had done, I was amazed.  She had knit almost the entire thing while I was making dinner.  She showed me how she had decided not to do the plain stockinette like the pinned scarf.  She created a sequence of purl and knit rows that would make the scarf reversible.  She finished off the scarf and told me that she wanted a little placket and button to go on it.  I don't have a substantial button stash, but she did find a big one she liked.  I helped sew the ends together and put on the button.  Before bedtime, she had a new scarf to add to her collection.

She wore the scarf to school on Monday.  She said five people asked for scarves just like it.  There might be a future fashion designer in my house.

The Speed of Time

There are several different theories about the speed of time.  One says time flies when you are having fun. Another theory seems to say the opposite.  It says that if you keep busy all day, when you look back at the elapsed time it will seem like time had progressed slower than normal in order to fit in all of the activities. (A boring afternoon at work doesn't prove the opposite!)  Another theory, known as the toilet paper roll theory, says that the longer you live, the faster time goes by.  I'm not sure which theory is true.  It seems to me that they all are depending upon the perspective.

Proof of Theory #1:  The anniversary of my dad's death was Wednesday. I can't believe it has been that long already. 

Maybe it doesn't feel like that long because I still feel his presence.  Things he made for me are all around.  He loved woodworking.  There is a large wooden bowl in my kitchen.  This whale was a wedding present.  He carved it from a block of cedar.  I'm not sure what kind of wood the base is.

He didn't sign it his usual 'RJK'.  This had signed 'Dad'.

After his death, one of my sisters and I were rooting around his workshop.  In a scrap bin, I found another whale of a different species. It was not finished, but looked almost done.  For a reason only known to him, it didn't pass inspection and he tossed it aside.  I claimed it.  That whale now sits on my desk at work next to the last picture taken of my family - all 8 children and Mom and Dad.  I look at it every day and hold the whale when I need strength at work.  He is with me in those moments.

The two years since his death have been crammed with memories, most of which have been fun:  Kristin finishing high school and going off  to college. Trisha learning to drive and now preparing for college herself.  Blake entering high school and growing out of his boy body into a man.  Vacations to Florida, Myrtle Beach, Tennessee and New York City. Learning to spin. Going to various knitting 'camps' and fiber festivals.

Proof of Theory #2:  Looking back at this past week, I have done a lot of knitting.  Nothing has gotten finished yet, but things are moving along.

The first of Ed's hunting socks is almost complete.  I'm spinning more wool on the drop spindle for the second sock.  It is a good take-along project.

The second block of Trisha's college blanket is coming along nicely.  Gotta love garter stitch for mindless knitting. 

Temperatures plummeted this week and Trisha's hands are turning purple again.  This will be finger-less mitts for her out of Malabrigo Worsted.  The fabric is so soft and dense.  And the color is divine!

I also worked on my Basic Socks during my lunch hour at work.  No picture to report.  A tube of 2x2 ribbing isn't that exciting.

In addition to the knitting, my friend has issued a challenge.  She and I both have FitBits.  We are competing to see who can achieve the most motion.  Our daily goals are 10,000 steps, 5 miles and 10 flights of stairs.  To reach 5 miles, I have to get over 11,000 steps because my stride is so short.  This daily goal along with my twice-a-week trainer sessions should get me into better shape.

In all, a lot of progress this week between the knitting and exercising.  It felt like a long week with a lot accomplished.

Proof of Theory #3:  My kids are almost grown. The Homecoming Dance was last weekend.  Trisha and Blake went.  This was Trisha's last high school Homecoming.  College applications have been submitted and she is waiting for the acceptance letters to arrive.  Blake will be taking his driving exam in a few weeks.  After that he'll hunt for his first job.

I can't believe how quickly they have grown.  In a blink of an eye Ed and I will be empty-nesters. I'm not near the end of the toilet paper roll but the rotations are going faster.

A Good Day For....

...kale, tomato, red pepper and onion crust less quiche. Kale has become my latest great discovery.  I had never tried it until a few weeks ago.  A soup recipe called for kale.  I was a little hesitant to try it because it has a cabbage smell when raw.  But after being cooked, I found that the cabbage smell is less.  I made a crust less quiche with the kale I didn't put in the soup and some onion and tomato I had on hand.  My son Blake loved the quiche and ate it as an after-school snack.  He asked me to make it again, but suggested I add red peppers.  This morning I made a larger batch with the peppers.  This should be enough to last us a few days as breakfasts.  This with a piece of toast topped with homemade blueberry jam is definitely a power breakfast!

...starting block #2 of Trisha's college afghan.  The college application process is winding down.  Trisha has submitted three applications and has one more planned.  Acceptance letters should start arriving in about a month.  I can't believe that she will be heading off to college in less than a year.  This blanket will let her know that her mommy loves her and wishes she could wrap her in hugs all the time.

...working on a pair of hunting socks for Ed.  This is my first homespun.  Around the time I bought my first drop spindle, I purchased two wheels of pencil roving from a LYS.  The wheel had about 1500 yards of roving.  I spun the first wheel and chain plied it.  It is now becoming a pair of socks for Ed.  I have started spinning the second wheel just in case I don't have enough for the pair of socks. The wool is coarse.  He will have to wear a softer pair of socks as a lining.  This isn't a problem because he says he wears three pairs of socks when he hunts.  I told him that he is not allowed to put these socks in the washer.  They must be hand washed.  I told him I would do it for him.  I don't want these to meet the same fate as the sweater I knit of him.

...knitting socks for me.  I frogged the Thelonius socks and started a pair of basic socks for myself.  I'm in serious trouble if I get lost doing 2x2 rib.  This is my take-along project.  It fits perfectly in the bag I carry to work.  A few rounds on my lunch hour helps make the day brighter.

Finished!

Since my last post, I finished the My Blue Loop and Taize shawl.  The Blue Loop took a soak and was blocked.  I haven't measured it but it can be looped two times and have a bit of drape. I am very happy with how it turned out.

I wore the Blue Loop to the high school football game Friday night.  The school colors are royal blue and white.  This isn't quite royal blue, but it was close enough.

I haven't blocked the Taize shawl yet, but that didn't stop me from using it.  The mornings have been a bit chilly.  I wore it to work the day after I finished it.  A friend who saw me walking into the building commented that it was too cold for something that light.  I just smiled.  It is alpaca and it was perfect for that morning.  I will take it to work more because the offices tend to be quite chilly.

Speaking of work, my company has been affected by the government shutdown.  A mandate was issued stating that we must take at least 8 hours of vacation before October 17.  I've had no problem complying because of a recent flurry of doctor's appointments for the kids.  Trisha also has a college visit scheduled for October 17.

I also dealt with the Thelonious socks.  I didn't finish them.  I frogged them.  Somewhere on the leg of the sock I unintentionally decreased too much.  I then set it aside for a couple months.  When I picked it up the other day, I couldn't figure out where I was.  Since I am not a prolific sock knitter, I decided to frog these and make a basic pair of socks with a 2x2 rib.  I'll let the yarn be the highlight, instead of the pattern.

Now that I finished these two items I should be guilt free to begin the ButtonBox vest.  However, I've gotten myself in a finishing mode and can't quite get motivated to start a new project.

Happy New Season

I'm one of those people that doesn't do very well with New Year's Resolutions.  Old habits are hard to break.  I have success for a few weeks, then life happens and I'm back to my old ways.  One of the ways I've developed to deal with this it to treat each new season as a New Year.  I then make a resolution or two and try to get as far as I can with it.  The Autumnal Equinox is the most recent 'New Year'.  

I celebrated the new season by going to Wool Gathering with a friend.  This was our first time there.  There were over 3 tents of vendors with lots of yarn, roving and raw wool to look at.  This fair didn't have as much raw wool as the Great Lakes Fiber Fair.  I considered this a positive because I have no desire to process my own raw wool.  Here are the goodies I brought home with me:

8 ounces of Merino roving from Ohio Valley Natural Fibers in colorway Chocolate Covered Cherry.

8 ounces of Merino roving, also from Ohio Valley Natural Fibers, in colorway Galaxy

2 ounces Angora roving from Sheephaven Hutchworks.  This stuff is so soft!!!!  My sister has recently spun angora.  I'm going to get her advice on how to work with this.

 A skein of Poems Socks.  I was dazzled by the long color runs.  This will become a scarf someday.  My friend was surprised I picked these bright colors.  I'm usually more muted.

Color Changing Cotton from Wolle's Yarn Creations. This will become a scarf or small shawl.  This color is more along the lines of my color palette. In fact, when I bought this I was wearing a top that was the same color as the center of this skein.

Like any good 'New Year's' celebration, the next day usually isn't too fun.  Unfortunately, I was hit the next day by some sort of stomach bug.  I spent all day Sunday on the couch napping or watching football.  It took about 3 days before I felt completely over the illness.

My resolution this time is to finish a few of my projects before casting on a new one.  I'm nearing the end of My Blue Loop.  I am doing the garter stitch border rows now.  After two more rows and then the bind off this will be ready for blocking.  I'll have to dig out my blocking wires to get this shaped nicely.

I learned a lesson with this project.  When doing a K2TOG on a knit and YO stitch, the position of the YO matters.  This scarf has 4 sections of these rows.  For the first two sections I must have had the YO sitting to the left of the knit stitch.  When I did the K2TOG on the next row, I first put the needle through the YO and then the knit stitch.  As you can see in the bottom of the picture below, the stitches are funny looking and lean a bit to the left.  Because I tend to let projects hibernate for a while, when I came back to this and did the third section, I must have had the YO on the right of the knit stitch.  It took me a few rounds to realize my stitches looked prettier and leaned to the right.  I made sure I did the fourth section this way also so that the scarf will look symmetric.  My hope is that when I block this, the stitches in the first two sections with lay a little nicer.

After I get this scarf off the needles, I am picking up my Taize shawl and getting that thing done.  I'm in the homestretch of it also.  Getting these two projects finished will give me liberty to cast on ButtonBox. I have a gauge swatch in progress.  It looks like I'm going to have to adjust the pattern because my gauge is larger than the pattern's.  I want to make this right so I'll be consulting a few of my expert knitting friends to get advice. My goal will be to have that vest finished by Christmas.

Longest Week

I swear someone added a few extra days into this week when I wasn't looking.  Thursday was especially long.  The excruciating slowness was due to the fact that there were lay-offs at work this week.  Rumors had been flying for about a month.  The general consensus was that the cuts would occur on Thursday.  Management would avoid September 11 and Friday the 13th for psychological reasons. As soon as I got to my office Thursday morning I knew that this was the day.  There were empty boxes and a cart in the conference room next to my office.  They hadn't been there when I had gone home the night before.  Everyone sat at their desk waiting for the 'fun' to begin.  Since my office is along a hallway with three managers, I heard it start.  Promptly at 8:30 one manager called someone into his office and shut the door.  About 15 minutes later the door opened and I heard the manager say "Let me know if you need any boxes." Victim #1.  About 9:30 an upper level manager told my manager to come with him.  Everyone's IM communicator lit up as the two walked past the desks of the group.  20 minutes later the two came back into the area. My manager announced that he was just let go and went to his office to pack.  About an hour later, one of the guys on my team was let go.  By that point we had heard of 2 others in the department and countless others across the company.  After it was all said and done, 10% of the positions at the company were eliminated.

When something like this happens, I have very conflicting emotions.  I feel bad for everyone who lost their jobs.  But, in some cases, I feel that the company was justified eliminating those who did not add value.  I won't go into details about each, but for those cuts that directly affected me, some were horrible mistakes (someone else should have been eliminated instead) and some were necessary. I sincerely hope each and everyone of them is able to find employment in a place where they can be a valuable contributor.  

Enough of this now.  It is over and it is time to move on.  I have a new manager.  He and I seem to be philosophically aligned.  I'm hopeful that that the future holds good things.

My evenings this week were spent trying to participate in activities that kept me from brooding over the events at work. Knitting didn't happen, except at work when I had to pull out my carry-along project to calm my nerves on Thursday.

My current carry-along project is My Blue Loop.  

Somehow when I was knitting the third section of lace, I reversed the direction of that the stitches leaned.  This was not intentional.  I decided that instead of ripping out, I'll do the fourth section in the same direction as the third.  I think it adds symmetry to the piece.  It turns out it was a happy mistake.

Sixth Time

Just home after completing my 6th New Albany Walking Classic.  It is a 10K walking event.  Technically it isn't a race.  I don't think they give out prizes for the first finishers, but they do track time and technique.  It is walking only, no running or jogging allowed.  I believe this was the sixth time I participated in this event.  I'm basing this on how many pieces of clothing I have with the logo.  Several years ago, the organizers included a half-marathon.  I did it that year, but decided never again.  I crossed that off my bucket list and decided I'll stick to the 6-mile event from now on.  After that year, the half marathon was cancelled until this year.  I'll admit enough time has passed that I did briefly consider it.  Then I started having pain in my right hip from spinning, so I figured I shouldn't tempt fate.  My friend from work signed up with me and we powered through this morning.  It was a lovely morning with thousands of our new best friends.  After an after-event refueling of bagels, pasta salad and fruit, we jumped in the car and came home.  The kids were just crawling out of bed when I came home.  Trisha asked me if I did my race.  I told her 'Yes' and I have a finishers metal to prove it.

Not 3 Bags Full...Just 1

 Last weekend Blake and I took a little trip.  We first visited my oldest daughter.  I took Blake, Kristin and her roommates out to lunch.  After that brief visit, we continued on the road to visit my mom.  A few of my siblings and nieces and nephews come by and we had a nice dinner together.  While there I picked up a bag of wool from another sister.  I can't wait to spin this.

Speaking of homespun, I started swatching the BFL that I spun a few months ago.  I am so happy with how it is working up.  It is just as soft and yummy as the roving was. I want to make the Buttonbox vest out of it.  My gauge is a bit bigger than what the pattern calls for, so I will try to convert it.

I have time for a new project now that Kristin's throw is finished.  I have to weave in the ends.  That won't take long.  I'll do that later today while I'm waiting for a cake to bake.  This will be delivered to her later tonight along with her birthday cake.

A blanket for Trisha has been started.  Trisha is a senior this year.  Since she'll be heading off to college next year, I want to give her a throw to use in her dorm.  This is the start of the first square.  It will end up something like this.

Meet Rhonda

Very soon, there will be five drivers in the house.  Blake has his learner's permit and will get his license in November.  After that he gets a job.  We were faced with five drivers and five or more jobs and only three vehicles. The girls each had two jobs over the summer so there is potential for multiple this winter.  Ed's coworker offered us his car at a very reasonable price.  After getting it checked out by a mechanic, we bought it.

This is Rhonda.

She gives the kids an incognito option for getting around town.  The first car we bought for them is a PT Cruiser.  Great little car that seats five people.  I thought the kids would love it because it was unique.  Well, it was not cool-unique.  Kristin complained that the PT was too conspicuous during Senior Tag. We will still have one car less than the number of drivers, but we like it that way.  The insurance is cheaper when the drivers outnumber the vehicles.

Thursday one of my friends from the gym gave me a sack of homegrown tomatoes.  I haven't planted any in a few years.  I had forgotten how absolutely delicious they are.  This was the first course at dinner last night:  Caprese salad.  The basil is my own.  This is my favorite way to eat tomatoes.  Unfortunately I had to share this plate with Ed.

This week's knitting was dedicated to Kristin's blanket.  I've made a bit of progress.

Almost 50 inches.  I have a little less than one and a half skeins left.  I definitely will get it done by next weekend when I plan to give it to her.

I did a little spinning this week also.  I bought a new chair.  This is my spinning corner in the sun room.  I figure I have a couple more months of using this spot.  Once the weather turns cold, I'll have to move Lena to another room.  The sun room is not heated.

Beginning in late September, I am taking a drawing class.  I have always loved to draw but never had any lessons.  My high school had a phenomenal art teacher, but since I was 'college prep' I didn't have time in my schedule for one of her classes.  I really regret that.  Years ago I bought the book Drawing with the Right Side of Your Brain.  I've started the book several times but never finished it. Last week, after I decided to sign up for the class, I stopped at a book store and bought myself a little sketchbook.  I found the book in the basement and started it again.  This is one of the first exercises.  The exercise is meant to baseline a person's ability.  This is Blake playing his PlayStation.  If I may say so myself, I think this is pretty good.  I'm going to try to work through the book before the class begins.