Overnight at Cocoa Beach

We went to Cocoa Beach to visit our friends Tom and Becki while they were on vacation there. It wasn't long before the weather changed our plans to sit in the sun while the guys fished. Becki and I went back to their condo for knitting and a movie (Pride and Prejudice) while the guys toughed it out and fished until dark. (No, they didn't catch anything.) We enjoyed a late evening swim and hot tub dip when the rain passed and the air was warm, humid and very tropical. The company and conversation was great!

This morning, we enjoyed a walk on the beach; flew Becki's kite, searched for just the right shells for my knitted wall art and fed the birds. It was a shorter visit this year but wonderful just the same. How can a visit to the ocean be anything but wonderful especially when it is with some of your favorite people?!

I finished the handspun sweater for Abigail while watching the movie. I need just the right buttons now...........

.....and started a 'gator scarf for David out of some camoflauge yarn!

I have been trying to find a local place to find the McCain/Palin signs and came home to find one in my yard! Mom found one and brought it over for us-she and Dad have been catsitting for us while away. What a nice welcome home surprise! ( I am also glad to report that most of my neighbors have the same sign in their front yards , too!)

Another Day Trip

The garage doors have their right and proper window inserts.........aren't they pretty?!
These are the charm squares I bought yesterday......another table runner .

I have washed the new alpaca fleece I bought on EBay. See how fluffy it is after I hand pick it and remove the debris. (Can you tell which pile is the before and after pile?) It still has to go through the drumcarder but it looks so pretty just as it is! The cats are very suspicious of the pile and give it wide berth!

We went and visited Matthew today so Mom and Dad could see him and his new house.

After lunch we went to this outlet store and gorged and stocked up on my favorite food group!(Matthew has aoways had a hard time behaving for pics and some things never change!)

Another car ride and lots of progress on the sweater for Abigail.

We had rain 2x in the last few days so Bill is doing this again-see how fast that pile grows but it burns right down low each time.

(This is taken from up by the house-the flames are about 15' high!)

A Trip for Lunch

I finished my two tablerunners! I did do them both by machine and I sure did better on the second one than on the first. I will use that technique again on small items.

This was our view while we had lunch at a restaurant in DeLand, The Mainstreet Grill. It is below ground level which is so unusual here in Florida! We walked the downtown area, window shopped mostly but went into the Quilt Shop of DeLand which was a treat in every respect! I bought a fall leaf charm pack and Mom bought thread and a seam press-they used to be wooden but are now a resin material. We also went in an antique shop and a book store. While we were having a sitdown on a park bench, we saw a lady go by with an icecream cone and so off we went to find the source! Success! An icecream was enjoyed by all.

Isn't the mural beautiful?! Water cascades down the face of it into a pool at the base-it was so relaxing. What a perfect day!

Is Wrong Better than None?

Our garage doors were installed today! They sent the wrong window inserts so the guy has to come back tomorrow and fix that and the fact that the locks didn't come as ordered either.....well, doors are a good start! (The doors are the same size, it is just that the wrap has fallen down on the door on the left so that it looks shorter than its mate!)
We also got our tv service switched 'cuz our phone company renegotiated a new package for bundling. Our dish has been sitting on the ground while they were working on the roof-

But now it has been reinstalled with the new carrier-sure looks high tech! (Downside-I have to learn all new channel numbers!)

Filled a bobbin of alpaca on the spinning wheel.

Sewed bindings on both of my tablerunners-will hand sew one and have tried to machine stitch the other one the Sharon Schamber way but it isn't quite up to par yet. I will try to learn the new way for small objects but will keep hand sewing for the quilts.

Mom and I loaded a new quilt on the frame! It is for a soldier for Quilts of Valor. We have chosen a complicated pantograph design but it will be worth it!

Artoberfest & Quilt Show

I did a marathon of quilting the tablerunners this morning...........sent two home with Mom for bindings. I have my other one to do still.

Washed my knitted bowl and set it out to dry.

In the afternoon, Mom and I left for Artoberfest! My quilt didn't win but I did get a good review with no negative grades so I am pleased and don't regret entering it. (Remind me of this when they have their next show in March!)
This one is the winner in my category-it is worthy of the honor. (I am sorry I didn't write the winners names down.)
This one took first place in the applique category.

Another favorite of mine.
We walked to the local quilt shop and then did a lot of this-knitting and people watching!

Here are a few pics for the car buffs........they were beautiful! Too bad I can't record the sound of the engines purring for you! We got to the show in the later afternoon and when we walked by all the cars the first time there were about 40-50 of them but I didn't take any pics then-look how many had cleared out when we walked back and hour later! Glad I was able to shoot a few pics then anyway. I tried to get one for each generation!

An excellent day was had by all............

Friday Finesse

We started the day with a delivery of asphalt millings to extend the driveway to the garage.

Bill got it all smoothed out and contoured so the water will flow off and not pool anywhere.

I finished knitting the bowl -just needs a good wash with the jeans!

My Dad cleaned all the 'rooms' and stacked all the left over building materials while Bill worked on the driveway.

During yesterday's car ride, I started a new sweater for Abigail. Yes, it is the same wool I had started a sweater with before but it bombed--so glad yarn is reusable! This is an old pattern that my Mom has knit for me as a child, I knit it lots of times for my daughter and now have the pleasure of knitting it for her daughter! (We had a great time with Caleb btw.)

Today, I finished Mom's quilt and it is off the frame and back in her hands to add the binding.

We also sewed two more tablerunners today .....I have the first one loaded on the quilting frame and will hopefully finish up at least two of the four tomorrow before we head off the the first ever Artoberfest in Palatka--where I will see my quilt on display. ( A ribbon would just be a bonus!)

Endings

We have doors and windows.........mostly. Two sliding glassdoors are still AWOL but that is Home Depot's fault , not the contractors! The men packed up and left for the last time today. We will miss their cheerful banter-they have done a superb job.

Mom and I had adventures today. We went and had a tour at a sheep farm. I bought some Florida Native sheep fleece-raw and unwashed, right off the sheep---it will be a bit of work to get it ready to spin but I wanted to try it. It was wonderful to have Mom with me to explore and appreciate the new sights. We did some shopping and bought some more tablerunner fabric-we just had too much fun to quit at one each! More on that on Friday.

I washed a bit of the wool and dried it ( love that Florida sunshine) so I could hurry and card some of the wool to see how it would feel.........I am on to something good is all I can say! This yarn is very springy and will be used for lots of socks!

When we got home, we had the privilege to go next door and bottle feed the triplets. They were so cute and cooperative! It was Mom's first time feeding a baby goat-you would think she has been doing it forever-it was so much fun!
After feeding, they were ready for a nap but we carried them back out to their mama. She watches the house until they are back with her.

And this is Mom's namesake-with so many goats, Millie (my neighbor) runs out of name's so with Mom's visit-she got the honor of a goat named for her! Aren't the two Janettes sweet?!

The felted bowl is coming along; I will finish knitting it tonight. It will not get felted until Friday 'cuz tomorrow we are going to take a trip to visit Caleb-my parents want to see where he is living now. Bill is glad for a break from the work schedule-glad to accomodate him!