Veronica's Prom Pics...

 Veronica and Alan...and the gang!  Pictures were taken at Alan's house.

 All the girls!

 Their home was lovely...even a beautiful staircase, which made for great prom photos!

 This was in our front yard.

There were still a few missing from the group when this was taken.  I think they had about 20 in all.  

Emma for Becky

I finished Becky's shrug for her son's wedding!  Christine was nice enough to model it for me at knitting on Wednesday.  It's Emma and the yarn is an alpaca lace weight yarn, doubled.  Very easy and fun to knit.

It's going to be sent on it's way to San Diego tomorrow!

Happy 20th Anniversary

Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens

 Our day at the Jacksonville Zoo was awesome!  It had rained all morning, so when we got to the zoo at around 1:00 pm, it was damp (not raining) and empty!  This was taken in Butterfly Hollow. 

 You can't tell, but the Trout River is in the background.  Lovely spot.  The jasmine was in full bloom and smelling wonderful!

 Emile and Justine enjoying the Florida section of the zoo.

 The big kids got to play on the elephant statue!

 A little zoo humor...very little.

 In the aviary this bird decided to nest right next to the walkway so cones were put up to keep visitors away.  Can you see her? 

Giraffe viewing/feeding area.  The newest baby giraffe was there...so cute! We didn't feed them...having fed giraffes on the Wild Animal Park's safari ride, it just didn't compare. I guess that park is now called San Diego Zoo's Safari Park.  Oh brother.

In the ape enclosure, all three mothers were laying huddled together in the grass with their babies.  Just hanging out...it was very "human" like.  The only thing missing was Starbucks and sippy cups.

This was my first trip to the zoo and I thought it was very nice.  Small compared to SD, but beautiful, well kept and lots of beautiful plants and animals! I felt somewhat closer to the animals than the SD zoo, too.  Smaller enclosures and all, I guess. 

Mike and I decided we can't wait to visit the National Zoo in Washington DC!

Manatees!

Tonight Mike, Justine and I went to Clark's Fishcamp for dinner and as we were leaving we saw a family of manatees in Julington Creek!  They were just over Mike's right shoulder in the photo.  One was SO huge, we only saw a fraction if it's fin (flipper...whatever it's called) and it was at least three feed across. 

Then the storm started and we high-tailed it to the car.

Hope your evening is just as eventful.  

Let it Marinate

I love to use marinades. Here's the marinade I used tonight for pork tenderloin. Super easy and really delicious. Give it a try!

Marinade for Pork Tenderloin (from Everyday Food magazine)
1/4 cup soy sauce (Tamari, if you have it)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (one lime should do it)
1 tablespoon veg. oil
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger

Mix together and place in a gallon zip lock with one pork tenderloin cut into 1 inch medallions (remove excess fat and any silver skin). Marinate at room temp for 30 min. or up to over night in the fridge...I usually do a couple hours in the fridge. Cook pork out on grill or grill pan on the stove top. The medallions cook fast...maybe 5 minutes on each side with pan nice and hot.

The Count Down...

Nothing but the Knit

Yeah...nothing but knit stuff today. Just move along if you're one of those non-knitter type persons.

I knit these AWESOME socks from some red-red (as opposed to orange red or cranberry red, etc.) Cascade Heritage. The yarn feels like a fine cotton, not the merino/nylon blend it is. Anyway, the stitches just pop! The pattern is Polly Jean...another fabulous freebie on Ravelry. I love how the mini cables run down the heel.

I started these socks last week with a yarn called Superwash Me - Sock by J. Knits. The color is called "Wisconsin"...so cute! Anyway, the pattern is another beauty from Corrina at PicnicKnits.
The pattern is named "Munchinland Socks"...how on earth was I expected to pass up on these?! The pattern is wonderful...curves, twists and mock cables. Fun to knit!

Here's the bottom corner of my Brandywine shawlette. The yarn is Knitpicks Stroll Heathers. I love the shawl...but I have to confess; I made to blaring errors in the pattern (and didn't catch them till I was blocking it). For shame, yeah right. Because the pattern is geometric in design, they really show up. Of course, when it's gathered together and wrapped around my neck, you can't tell, so who cares! I'm keeping this one for me. I've also finished many other shawls but they will soon be leaving as gifts...birthdays and holidays around the corner in May.

I was taking this photo of my "vanilla" socks and caught Gracie napping in the background.
I don't think she finds knitting as exciting as I do.

Honey Do

A couple things got done this weekend (so far)...woohoo!!

Does this ever happen to you? You ask your helpful husband, "Honey, can you paint the outside lights (insert your own DIY here)?" You're thinking it'll just take a few hours, not too big a deal. Then you realize he didn't have the same vision of how to complete the DIY project as you did? I thought, just paint the lights, tape off the glass parts, some spray paint later...and Viola! it'll be done. Wrong. He took the lights totally apart, cleaned the glass, spray painted the metal parts, re-assemble then re-install to house. It took about a day. Totally worth it, I must admit...they look BRAND NEW!!!

BEFORE...
AFTER!

I love that he is such a perfectionist and does such a wonderful job on this and all our home improvement projects. I just need to learn patience. You'd think all that knitting would have taught me SOMETHING! lol

Last part of the bathroom re-do...framing the mirror.

I love it!!

Joey's room is next...spackling, sanding, cleaning, taping, painting...ugh!

Maybe I'll start a new pair of socks...