Socks and Sneezes!

I did finish the socks I was working on in Apopka, but I also came home with a nasty virus;  attacking both my throat/nose and stomach!

I wasn't the only one who came down with symptoms on Saturday morning-

all of us except my son have this lovely virus.

Let's just say, most of the time, I hold my knitting while I sleep.

And I do mean sleep.

And eat ice cream.

And sip my raspberry tea.

Yawn....time for another doze!

(Stats:  Opal Yarn

size 2.5mm needles

cast on 60 sts

And pattern:  The Hermione Everyday Socks 

for the wonderful texture!!)

Rock Springs Adventure

I'm showing the end of the day at the beginning of this post!

Grandpa took Will and Ella for a pool/hot tub dip just before bedtime while I watched and cheered! 

We spent the day at Kelly Park, where Rock Spring is the highlight of the day! 

When we got suited up, we got the gang together for a photo....they were thrilled with the delay! 

I couldn't get a photo of us in the tubes floating down the spring because I didn't have the camera with me at the time!  I ran ahead and got it for this photo as they tossed the tire tubes on shore and played in the lagoon area! 

After lunch and before the next tube float, they played on this big rock;  remember that rocks are in short supply in FL so this was good fun! 

While they played, this little guy was sitting on his rock watching the kids...it was so cute! 

After a good number of floating down and running back to the beginning and doing it again and a long hike, we packed up and stopped at the playground for a good wind down. 

It worked.  We had a quiet drive to the hotel where we had dinner and then...

go back to the top photo!

It was a good adventure according to the kids!

No Words...

I know that one of the symtoms of MS is the limited socialization due to the immense amount of brain power it requires.  A morning at church, or a day with friends talking and laughing, a morning at art class are all a big drain because it is so much for action for my brain;  all that firing up just uses me up physically. 

 I don't know why this is and either do the doctors but all MS patients deal with the same impairment.  How do I work around this?

I plan off days between the busy days and that usually keeps me going.  Unless life spins into full gear and I can't do anything but hang on for dear life. 

 I say all this to explain my lack of posting.

I am lackluster at best right now.  I putter a little, do my housework because that makes me happy, too,  and then I rest.  Boy Wonder is here and he talks a lot;  I love hearing how he looks at life and how he has it all worked out at 3 3/4 yrs old!  He is busy all the time in a good way.  I am able to keep the house clean-he is not a lot more work-I just  have a constant output.  

I am out of words.

  Really. 

 Each one is like an extraction. 

 I will share a bit of the miniscule creativity I have to show.  

I know you are more understanding of my absences than I am on myself.  That's a fact about most of us.  We are so giving and forgiving of others but we are too hard on ourselves!

Enough of the blather....here are some pictures!

I had a visit from this doll named Shaanti-she is lives with BasicallyBenita.com

but has been on a world tour with people on the Ravelry group FiberPusherPodcast.

I added a sun hat and beach mat to her collection and sent her on her way! 

\

Sissy had a bit too much fun and I had to intervene! 

I have my watercolor homework set up so when I walk by I can add a little bit each day.

We had to draw and then paint a Middle Eastern tea set in class. 

I sit in the studio and spin for a few minutes while Will plays with his train set. 

When he napped yesterday, I made this little cross-shoulder purse for Ella. 

 I tried out a new technique for putting it together and I think I have it!  It will make working on the full sized ones much easier and faster!

Do you see what I bought?  Labels to add to all the projects I make!  

I have this laid out by the sewing machine so I can sew on a few corners to add for the next row on the medallion quilt. 

Speaking of that quilt, it is on my design wall.  I walk by it many times a day.

This morning I notice this: 

The top row, which is sewn in place by the way.... 

                                                                     Is dead wrong.

  The vines should visually go AROUND the corner. 

 Another project to rip out and re-do.

Another day....

The close of each day....me stretched out in knitbed with Nyki on my lap.

Is it bedtime yet?

Work 'n Play

I am adding stitches here and there and they add up!

These are my first pair of The Hermione Everyday Socks and they will not be the last.

I love how they add texture to the self-striping yarns. 

Bill does yard work for a neighbor;  she wants this large clump of bamboo removed.

Not an easy task!

The tractor could not dig it up so he cut it all down and Will and I helped haul it away. 

He cut and we hauled. 

It was steamy work and we built up a sweat! 

Bill tied a rope to our piles of bamboo and hauled them to our house. 

It was good to see the whole clump removed and a job well done.

(She had to hire someone with a big scoop bucket to remove the rhizomes and fill in the big crater or these things would be back to full size in  year!) 

On the golf cart ride home, we saw this gathering of vultures.

(called a committee or a wake!)

We look tired but we aren't ready for you yet!

We revived our weary bodies with a swim and then took our 

Boy Wonder back home!

Fast Track!

Look who's here for a visit!!

Monday we went to a Labor Day picnic at church.

Tuesday we attended a funeral and then went and collected Will for a 

vacation at our house! 

He's learned how to swim and he is 90 mph the whole time he is in the water! 

He still likes Grandpa to throw him 'verry, verry far!' 

All available floor space looks like this!

He is very imaginative and we have lots of fun here for as long as my joints can bear the flooring!

(The cushions are for me!) 

When in the Studio, he loves to drive the spinning wheel.  It is a pirate ship wheel but most often he is the engineer for the Polar Express and drives the train from there! 

And when he has to blow off steam, we take the golf cart out to the newly renovated pond and he runs and throws dirt clods.

A great boy place.

(all gator presence is checked first;  the water is only 2' deep so it isn't of interest to a big gator anyway!) 

We brought some of the orphaned bananas in and I will be popping these into the freezer sans peel right after this picture!

(yes, I did a little knitting....I will post it another day!)

Fernandina Beach After Hurricane Hermine!

I finished the SU socks for Jared, my WA state son, on the way to Fernandina Beach to visit Caleb and family!  We waited until the storm was past us and then drove north to spend time with them during the tail end of the storm!

These are size 16 socks-they used almost all of the 100g ball of Opal yarn!

I have just a small ball of yarn left for my sock yarn blanket! 

They are playing in the shallow area the sand bar made so all the waves and riptides were far out beyond them!  The water was warm and inviting. 

It was even more invigorating being by the ocean after it has been kicked up from a storm! 

We visited at low tide;  enjoying the remains of beach erosion and the shells and shark's teeth left behind! 

The waves weren't as big as expected but still beautiful!   

Besides the shells, there were starfish to collect-they took a beating in the surf. 

And there were quite a few horseshoe crab shells-the seagulls pick them clean very quickly! 

This one was as big as a helmet!  

Unfortunately, they stink so we left the it for someone else to collect! 

Here are the few treasures I collected;  it was a great beach time! 

This morning we took a walk on the local greenway.

It was pretty steamy and didn't take long for us to head back to our air conditioning!

It's always nice to go and visit. 

And it is always nice to arrive home again and check out the grounds after the storm.

We had 2" of rain is all....disappointing but a fact.

Bill had scraped out our pond  when it was so dry in anticipation of the mega-rain we hoped for. 

The rain smoothed out most of his tractor tracks and filled up a little.  If 2" can do this, can you imagine the hoped for 15" would have done?! 

The banana grove didn't fair too well .  Two trees with fruit collapsed-I hope they will ripen okay on the counter because that is where they are headed! 

My wonderful 'drive' up the oaks was clear and unscathed which was wonderful news!

We are grateful that we didn't get hit with the damage that was possible in a hurricane.

This season isn't over until December so there's always the next one!

Spiffing it Up!

This is the new and improved model of the cross shoulder purse!

It is 1/2" wider to accommodate the side seam bulk and I added two pockets!

I am encouraged by how easily it went together the second time around even with all the changes. 

Even the lining was improved so there are no exposed seams!

I added the second little pocket to the front for coin or credit card easy access. 

And an open pocket on the back for quick access, too.

This one is on its way to Marsel! 

We did the annual mulching out front!  I can't believe how much it defines and accentuates the flower areas....why do I let it get so glum between re-mulching?

Never again! 

It also is better for the plants because it holds the morning watering so much longer than the sandy soil does!

It's hard work but we are pleased with the sweat of our brow when we are finished!