Memorial Day

May 30, 2011 - Memorial Day 5K
We ran in the race this morning! It was my first race since December. All that work to come back from calve pain and knee trouble was totally worth it! I had a great run...ran the entire race and my time was 36:26!! Mike ran with me and his time was 28:20...fantastic! This was a new course for this race and was it ever nice...mostly shady and few hills. There weren't too many runners either. Sometimes there are so many runners that maneuvering around people can be kinda scary. Mike had a tougher time with that than me, so next race he's gonna start more toward the front of the pack. I like to start in the back, it forces me to stay slow and steady, that way I have some energy left at mile 2 to push ahead toward the finish.

And my number? 747...I was destined to run like a jet plane!

The rest of Memorial Day was spent relaxing, knitting, going for a drive and swimming in the pool with the family. A great day! Hope your holiday was fun too.

Oh Baby!

This baby was roaming around the church where I work. He (or could be a she) is no doubt the product of two much larger gopher tortoises that live on the church grounds. The parents have dug three or four holes that lead to their home underground. This little one was so cute! He sat on my desk and other than having a pee didn't do much, but the minute he was picked up he poked his head out and started waving his legs around. We all just cracked up. Hopefully we'll get to watch him and his siblings (if there are any) grow up. That is if my job and their lives hold out!

Spiffy

All dressed up for the band banquet Friday night.
Sharp lookin' bunch!

HELP!!!

HELP! It's happening again! You know, this obsession/possession problem I have with knitting. I just bought another pattern by Vanessa Smith called Sarai. I have some yarn in my stash perfect for this project...Malabrigo Sock in a deep olive-y with a few other dark colors thrown in (colorway called alcaucil, if that helps). I'm gonna wind it up today and get started...help! No way can I knit this beauty in a weekend, not this weekend at least. I have alot going on, thank God, otherwise my hands might fall off.

Here's a picture of the shawl. The solid parts will really show off the beautiful colors of the Mal Sock. I'm hooked on this designer!! Her patterns are extremely well written, charts are beautiful, too. Love the way they drape on the bod, too! This shawl has choices for different borders. Woohoo!!

Pretty huh? Gotta go get by swift and ball winder and get going!! HELP!

Charlize

It's probably no surprise to any of you that I have an obsession with knitting. Sometimes I'm so obsessed, I'm possessed! I saw this pattern while browsing around Ravelry on Friday. Well, I'd seen it before and thought it looked nice...but when I saw it on Friday something snapped in my brain. I bought the pattern, grabbed yarn from the stash and started knitting. I knit most of the day on Friday (my day off, and I also catch up on my shows on Fridays). Then a little on Saturday night...it was family movie night which meant pizza and The Green Hornet...more knit time. Then I finished it Sunday night watching the finale of Survivor: Redemption Island. My hands were hurting on Saturday from my feverish knitting, but I couldn't stop! So I popped a few Advil and kept at it. Believe me, no one in my knit group will be surprised at the speed in which I knit this...they'll probably ask, "What took you so long to finish?"

The pattern is called Charlize by Vanessa Smith. It's very well written, includes both written instructions and charts (which I prefer). I knit mine with Pagewood Farms Denali (sock yarn) in the colorway called Woodsy.

Charlize has beautiful drape...just hugs the shoulders perfectly.

I'd cast on another again in a heartbeat. Don't pass up on this one!

Garden Tales

Can you believe this oak was a volunteer? Our neighbor has a huge live oak tree and a little sprout (ok...a million sprouts) come up yearly in our yard. A couple years ago Mike planted one in the other corner of the back yard. Amazing how big it's grown in such a short time.
Justine's tree, his name is Andrew. He seems to really like that corner of the yarn, by Justine's fort. She just loves to watch him grow...she puts flowers from the garden in his branches and also decorates him with her wooden jewelry.

The garden is growing! We've got tomatoes, green beans, peppers and crook neck squash. Nothing is ready for pickin' yet, but we're watching and waiting. Hopefully, Gracie won't eat the tomatoes before we get a chance to pick them. Or any other critter for that matter.

Pickin' weeds and fertilizing. Gracie is supervising.

Squash growin'!!

The weather has cooled a bit here after a big storm blew through here yesterday. This next week should be beautiful! Good running weather, too.

How are things in your neck of the woods?

Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

The cucumber was wonderful!

Socks and The Future

I cast on a new sock this week...well, two new socks, but I only have a picture of this one. It's knit with Malabrigo Sock...one of my favorite sock yarns. It's a darker color than I usually knit, but I find myself drawn to the "darkside" lately. The pattern is Monkey by Cookie A., well not exactly...it's the no-purl version of Monkey.
This is Hayrick by Anne Hansen. This sock fits so well, and the pattern was easy to follow. I plugged in my own heel (eye of partridge) and toe (regular toe). I think the pattern has a short row heel...not my favorite.

So I was thinking today. My job might not last too much longer (reeeeeally long story, not worth the time to share) so I was thinking about all the things I could get done this summer if I wasn't working four days a week. I thought of quick easy projects, long involved and expensive projects, things to knit and/or sew, etc. I thought I'd make a list to remind me, just in case the time comes where time is something I have alot of...

re-do the hall bathroom

finish my Bridgewater Shawl

organize the roll top desk

go through the "craft" shelf in the garage and get rid of/give away/organize stuff to keep

paint the trim of the house (ok, this REALLY is out of my realm of possibilities)

organize the stuff under my bed

organize the hall closet

organize my stash (again)

rearrange the furniture

clean my bathroom cabinet

clean/organize my bedroom closet (jeez...I thought I WAS organized!)

teach myself to draw (a book is involved)

paint on a regular basis

get a cool sewing book and start sewing cool stuff (provided I get a new sewing machine)

How many months is summer anyway?

Cummer

The Cummer Museum and Gardens

Just go...it's so pretty!! The museum part is good too. :D