Mamascrapalota-Blogga

A Little Visitor

I walked into the bedroom which looks out to our very expensive Target swimming pool, and what did I see?  This little fawn playing away the day.  He was splashing with his front feet, dipping down to drink a little, then splashing again.  He'd take a few steps, look at his mama who was right at the edge of the pool, then do a little prance.  His fur was all wet, so he had been at this for awhile.... Of course I had to get a picture. Then a sound that only the deer could hear had this little fawn up and out of the pool with all four feet at once, as if someone had lifted him out with a sling and flung him out of the pool. That was the end of that little idealistic moment.

Three Forty Five

The night moves fast
when slept 'till morn.
When woken early
stretches without end.

Three Forty Five
tap on the hip.
Cold touch on mine
pure terror in mind.

Nothing but a child
wanting held, wanting help.
Climb in my girl,
You'll be alright.

Move over, mind working
What needs, what cares?
Three Forty Five
Sleep gone, night done.

                                      Mary-Kay 3:45 AM

I've Been Bitten

 

I've been bitten by the vampire of my dreams. So far, he's honest, honorable, careful, only loves ME, and is, of course, beautiful beyond all my imagination. 

His name is Edward Cullen, and I think I'm in love.

My knitting group on Tuesday nights at Colorful Yarns told me about these books. Two of the girls said I wouldn't like them.  Oh how wrong they were.  I said sarcastically, "Will I get bitten, if I read them?" and one of the ladies said, "No, but you'll wish you had been!"  That intrigued me so I got all four in the series.  The first being Twilight, and HELLO!!!!! They are making a movie out of it coming in December- check here.

They are written for High Schoolers, which explains the wide margins, and huge font size in these thick tomes. Which in turn, explains why I've read three already since Wednesday (that's 4 days) and that would have been faster, but you know.... responsibilities and all.  But DANG they are good - I cannot believe that I LOVE these books.  No, I won't let my kids read them until they are in High School, which is when they are intended to be read.  These things usually scare the crap out of me, and still these are a little creepy, but have a 9 and 11 year old read them?  No way.  They are scaredy cats and I plan on keeping them this way for as long as I can.  When they are ready, if ever, they can read them.

So, I've been bitten, and it is sooooooo good.

No Guitar Today

Well, I've disappointed my kids once again this week.  We are starting guitar today, but we haven't had time to make the trek to the music store to buy 3/4 size guitars.  So, that got canceled. Yesterday was book pickup at the Arvada Campus, and we were going to go to the pool afterwards but our carpool ride up there couldn't, so Kid 1 and 2 were mad at me for that.  The day before that, their gymnastics coach canceled due to illness.

The life of a child is full of disappointments.  Guess what, kids???  This state of being continues into adulthood.  And, for some reason I'm able to control myself a little bit better.  For instance, tears, jumping up and down, burying your head in the pillow on your bed and screaming, are all things that 9 and 11 year olds do.  Oh wait...... I guess I do that too.

Did I tell you guys we are home schooling? We are approximately 4 weeks into it and we are all very happy doing it so far.  (except for the afore mentioned disappointments.) The kids are loving the Sonlight History we are using, and the Abeka curriculum we have for the rest of it all. The very best part?  Not having to get up and be somewhere first thing in the morning, not fighting about making lunch, not having all the paperwork come home everyday.  Anyway, there you go.  It's fun so far!

This little twin with her spots still on is hanging out in the backyard and checking out our pool while her mom and sibling were hanging out in our lower backyard.  When I opened the door to take these pictures, she heard me and went bounding away on all four feet to where you see her now.  Man, I love Colorado.

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The yarn above is 50% silk/50% Merino heavy laceweight, 665 yards per skein.  I've got three dyed up in Gold Medal. I MIGHT be knitting the mystery stole, but I MIGHT not.  Don't even get me started on last year's debacle. 

On the knitting front, I've got the ribbing done on Mr. Greenjeans, and have started on a sleeve.  I don't think I'll be getting the gold at these Olympics, but I just might! Sorry, no pictures of that yet, it looks the same as last time, but now there is ribbing around the collar and down the front. 

That's all she wrote! Knit on Sista's!!!

Mr. Greenjeans

Ok, this is gonna be quick.  My friend at home in San Diego has completely out-done me and many other people with her beautiful Mr. Greenjeans (and, THAT is what the cables are suppossed to look like!)  It is remarkable in its simplicity, and for all the other reasons I'm going to list.... Sheena has her own sheep.  She had them sheered, sent the fleeces away to be processed into roving (NOT yarn), spun up enough yarn for her sweater, and then she knit Mr. Greenjeans. I'm so very impressed!

Go here, to "Love to Spin and Knit" to check out her sweater, and her VERY cool blog.  You can even see her sheep and some bitty chickens. 

So....very.....jealous!

Good job Sheena!

"Limp-ics" Watching

Thanks Michelle for my title.  For the Olympics, I'm limping along on my Mr. Greenjeans.  I'm not all that excited about how the cables look in the Manos del Uruguay.  Duh, it's a thick and thin yarn, Mary-Kay!!!!  So, last night at knitting group over at Colorful Yarns, I asked most of the ladies what they thought.... Rip?  Or keep going.  The general idea was to keep going.  The cables are little, but they sure look messy, and I think I'm past the point of no return.  Ah well..... it might not look too badly at the end of it all.  I guess I'll wait and see.  What do y'all think?

And, here's a little summer fun in the back yarn taken with my new camera Byron bought me today. 

Here's my new toy....

It's a Canon EOS 40D 10.1-Megapixel Digital SLR Camera with a 28-135mm Wide-Range Lens. This lens is amazing.  It has image stabilization!!!  That helps with taking photos in low lighting and speediness.  Ok,  so I'm back in business with this camera. Yea!

That's all for today, folks.... That's also all she wrote....

Knit on sistas!

Mary-Kay

Wow, I didn't mean to take such a long break....

...But, here I am at 4:00 AM since I can't sleep and I thought I'd say a quick Hello and tell you what's been going on since I last talked to you.

• I've been to a weekend long dyeing jag with a new friend down in New Mexico.  I learned a LOT. More to come on that - later.

• I've spent a week with our San Diego friends in Wyoming, checking out Yellowstone and Cody.  In a word, AWESOME.  And, we did it in a trailer, and now I want one.

• I've dyed, re-skeined, labeled, and sent out huge yarn orders to Colorful Yarns, and Knitting in La Jolla. So head on over, or give them a call to see what they've got!
  

• I've been in my hometown of Newport Beach, and San Diego for most of July and the beginning of August.

• We started Home Schooling on Tuesday and had a week of fun.  Of course, it's only been a week, but things are going smoothly and we are starting slowly...

• The Olympics started last night in Beijing.  Very cool opening ceremonies. I've chosen to finish "Mr. Greenjeans" from Knitty.com.  I'm starting the lace pattern today. It's been sitting looking pretty for about 6 months now.  We'll see how far we get!

Above are some of the yarns sent to Knitting in La Jolla.  Yes, that gorgeous fuzzy stuff at the top is 50% silk/ 50% fine soft yummy laceweight Mohair.  Wow, that stuff is soft. The next three are Merino Laceweight and the last is in my very own stash and is Merino/Cashmere/Nylon Worsted  being knit into my February Lady Sweater.

OK folks. it is now time for bed again seeing that it's 5:00 AM and I'm about to crash.

Tell me what you've been doing, knitting, seeing!