adventures in retail therapy

need i say more???.....

vest project

check out Lynne's Rectangular Vest Challenge and get your knitting needles going!
www.handspuncentral.blogspot.com

Now i just need to finish unraveling a sweater disaster so i can use that yarn (which i love!) and get my vest started. wheeee......

in the meantime, i've been working on a quilt for my sweet grandson, Alex. tried the "quilt-as-you-go" method, which seems to be working out well. will have to reserve final judgement on this until the quilt is finished!!

back from Boise

I know the dogs have gotten a lot of space lately, but they are so damn cute i just can't help myself... or as my granddad would say.. "Ah cain't hep it". I bought each of them a bright little scarf at the Boise Saturday/Farmers' Market esp. for them to wear when they go on their morning walk with Jim.





i had a really lovely time in Boise with Anna.. and the time just flew by and in no time at all we had used up a whole week. now i'm home and exhausted... marathon shopping and good times will do that to ya! will elaborate tomorrow, but for now will crash and sleep.

from Boise

I will do a "catch up" when i'm back home at dome central, but for now....
-it's getting hotter here (was comfortable the first day)
-Boise Saturday Market yesterday was fun and provided good shoppin', not so good for my wallet
-we watched an unforgettable movie last night. if you haven't seen it yet, please watch "Freedom Writers". it was truly a powerful message of the impact that one person who cares can have on young people who really need someone to care about them. Anna and i both had tears.
-being able to spend time with my best friend is incredibly sweet and priceless!

fiber

today i got to have my "reward" for all the backbreaking labor with the bricks and the patio! the re-setting of the bricks is far enough along that the patio is usable, so there i sat to start spinning the BD fiber that Lynne gave me:


there are 2 bundles and this is the one that grabbed my attention the strongest. it's merino and bamboo (60%/40%) and is a delight to spin... so soft and shiny!!

and here's a couple of shots of the patio. you wouldn't believe how happy my back and hands are to not be lifting and re-lifting and fitting and re-fitting bricks today!! those damn things are heavy to repeatedly lift with one hand... and my joints and knuckles suffered. ice packs and Tiger Balm helped a lot tho. The logical and practical way to approach this would have been to remove all the bricks, put in sand, level it and tamp it down, then re-lay the bricks. the problem with that being that the bricks are an odd assortment gathered from friends and here and there till there was enough. and then Pam and i spent hours arranging them... into the dark of night several summers ago... while Jim and Merle sat around and drank wine and made suggestions. however, it was our project and we finally told them to fuck off and let us do it the way we wanted it!! and we were quite pleased with the outcome. so... i had no desire whatsoever to arrange all those bricks again... and that is why i did not do it the logical and practical way!


there will be no close-ups as it is still a bit wonky looking.... but _so_much_better!!!