Away....and back

For Christmas this year our children gave us a weekend away at the beach.  Oh my.  I don't think they could have given us anything better.  The beach, my favorite place.  With my husband, just the two of us.  Peace.  It was wonderful.  The weather was typical for this time of year, nice with good doses of rain.  But a minus tide exposed tide pools below Haystock Rock and despite the wind and rain, we explored them and found over 20 whole sea dollars along the beach.             

 Our hotel had this delightful courtyard where we would have stayed had the weather been better.

 Ahhh, a latte from Insomnia Coffee.  I took it out to the beach and sat on a rock and enjoyed the sites and sounds and the coffee.

 There was a great circle we walked:  down through town and back along the beach.   A few of the stores begged to be explored and explore we did and kept the economy on the up swing as well.

 After dark in our room while the movie played, I knit this necklace.  It's Kenzi from the Yarn Fairy.  Details on my ravelry page but I will say I love it and I want to make another!

 We got home and guess who came to town the next day?  Stephanie Pearl McPhee!  Better known as the Yarn Harlot.  This is the third time I've been to her book tour and she has yet to disappoint.  Her new book promises to be as entertaining, thought provoking, and laughter encouraging as all of her previous ones.

It was also Dr. Seuss' birthday when we returned home and there was the obligatory serving of green eggs and ham and pink ink yink drink but the pictures of that will be in the next post.  I think spring has sprung!  Windows to wash, car to wash, anything to be outside!

No tricks, just Treats!

It's a treat to be able to share the following...First up...another knit finished! I'm going to beat last year's number for sure. This is project #20. Doesn't matter that it only took about 3 hours...it's still a knit project and a fun one. More details on ravelry but more pictures below because it was part of the treats we had come to our door.
Another treat was to introduce, proliferate, convert, etc, my granddaughter to a gathering of knitters. We ladies went to listen and meet the Yarn Harlot! We laughed until we cried and our cheeks hurt. The lady has a way with words. And yarn!

Miss R got her Mommy's book signed. 9pm, no nap, running on adrenalin, and she was so polite and well behaved. Very proud of this little girl!

My Mom went. And my sister, who refused to be photographed. Both enjoyed it as well even though one has not knit for awhile and one has not knit at all. Wonder if my Mom would take it back up if we introduced her to merino wool? She knit with scratchy acrylic.

And here we all are! With the Yarn Harlot! It was a treat of a night!

To be followed several nights later with the real treats of the season....Trick or treaters in the form of grandmunchkins!

Mr. Banana

Super girl!

Aurora, aka Sleeping Beauty

Woody

Buzz

Getting ready to trick or treat at the mall

And Soup met us at the mall (See the hat? It completes the costume)

And she treated us later at the door with her adorable little grin and her Mommy and Daddy.

Aren't they the best treats ever? All of them!

More treats at our door!

Well, there was one trick. The weatherman said there may be showers around but you'd have to look hard to find them. Um, we didn't!!! And it wasn't a shower! It was a downpour! Still, it was a treat to see the adorable kids in their element. Candy and kids go hand in hand

That which makes us smile, and that which does not

Our church has a resident counselor, if you will, that flies in from Arizona to teach some classes and counsel those that want it at a reduced cost. We availed ourselves of it this time and learned some things and techniques to help with our youngest daughter. The counselor also advised that I seek some personal time. So with my husband's blessing and encouragement, I took some me time and went to Stephanie Pearl McPhee's (aka the Yarn Harlot)book signing for her newest book. Now I enjoy reading her books and they make me chuckle but to sit and listen for an hour to knitting humor? Who would of thought...it was very enjoyable and I laughed! I'll admit I was looking more forward to knitting time and quiet solitude. I know what you're thinking...quiet solitude in a room of 500 knitters?? Yep. I am in introvert and love quiet alone time. My husband has told our children that if he dies first they are to come pry me out of the house once in awhile. So, in a room of 500 knitters, I knit, I thought, and just enjoyed being me. I joined in on the laughter however! And it didn't hurt too bad when I had to rip out everything I knit when I got home.

One cannot have to much poetry and one should avail themselves of some prose (paraphrased from Persuasion by Jane Austen). This describes my reading. Read some deep things but put in some light reading and humor. So I enjoy the knitting humor.

Blue Moon Fibers from little ole Scappoose, Oregon put on the event were selling a new lightweight colorway. Think black cherry vanilla ice cream since my coloring is off.

So what doesn't make me smile? Ravelry yesterday! I like American Idol. As Simon would say, "sorry". So I joined the AI group on Ravelry and mostly check the posts on Wednesday to see who is predicted to go home, who sang badly, etc. Well, I opened a can of worms. I posted that I thought Carly had gone home on Wednesday not because she sang badly, but because of her song choice. I was personally offended by Jesus Christ Superstar and surmised others may have been also and not voted for her. The posts started flying and words were used such as: ridiculous, ignorant, fundamentalist, etc. I was called on to defend and state my faith as were other Christians. Whew! The last post to me stated that I had started an interesting discussion but had treated others with respect while stating my opinions. Perhaps I planted some seeds?

And I leave you with this...sure to make you smile?

Oh, and another thing that makes me smile...I've converted my daughter to the "dark side" and she now is on Ravelry and has a blog: http://chrissmarie5.blogspot.com/ Check it out...lots of cute pictures of cute little people!