Communing with nature

So as many of you probably know, the Banana and I went to Lake George with our lovely neighbors John and Regina, who were very kind and generous and let us stay with them at their lake house. We had a great time!

We got to go out on the lake three times. The first day we went out on the Mohican, which is one of several larger boats that give tours of the lake. We went on the Morning Discovery cruise, which lasted a good five hours, and showed us pretty much the entire lake. It was gorgeous, and even though the clouds were threatening, we never got rained on while we were on the boat.

We communed with nature. Great blue herons were everywhere! This one landed on the dock at Blackie and Martha's, and we enjoyed watching it walk about before it took off again.

We got to go out with Wes and Charlotte on their boat. That was really, really fun. Wes is John's brother, and Charlotte is Wes' wife, and they are super people. The Banana was pleased to be wearing her Cinderella life vest.

After boating with Wes and Charlotte, we went to the Algonquin for dinner. I have seen this scene painted many a time: on the wall in Regina's classroom, as a pastel, on Regina's cast when she broke her ankle. It was wonderful to actually see it in person, and it is just as gorgeous as one would expect. We ate al fresco and enjoyed the fresh air along with our food and drink.



Here's another lovely view of Lake George. It is about 32 miles long (who knew?), and 3 miles wide at the widest point. It's easy to see when John and Regina go up there every chance they get.

The Banana enjoyed swimming as well. This little beach just opened up in Ticonderoga, and we went there several times. It was quiet, clean, and, as you can see, picturesque. I was happy to just sit on a bench and watch Banana splash and collect snail shells and build sand castles.

This is the Mohican. There are two other steamboats: the Minne-Ha-Ha, which is a bit smaller, and the Lac du Saint Sacrement (the original name of Lake George, by the way [original in that is was the first name given to it by Europeans, but I digress]), which was larger than the Mohican.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

We went for a walk behind Wes and Charlotte's house, and Charlotte showed us this charming little waterfall. The forest floor was covered with ferns and the air was clean and fresh and all was right with the world. The only thing that would have been better is if WT was there and not in Pittsburgh on business.

Upon our return, Banana started camp. I love her little pooky head, but it sure is nice to have some alone time. My dad and I took advantage of this and went to the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia, which is a stunningly gorgeous public garden.

The trees are beautiful, the flowers are beautiful, everything is just beautiful (sensing a theme?).

It is relaxing and serene, and we had a lovely day to boot.

I even got to visit the Eiffel Tower! In spirit, anyway.

There is a lot of statuary at the Morris Arboretum; Dad and I think this is Jizo.

And of course, the flowers are not to be missed. Actually, you couldn't miss the flowers if you tried.

Like this one...

... and this one.

And quite honestly, what's a lovely outdoor trip to an arboretum without a few of the girls in tow? Here's Hibou admiring the roses.

Poppy felt right at home in the Fernery. Everything was her size!

Hibou found Mercury to be quite charming.

Poppy spent a few quiet moments with Buddha in the grotto at the Fernery.

All in all, this past week and a half has been refreshing, renewing, and relaxing. And I still have seven weeks of summer to go! I'm off to spin and knit and crochet and dye, and and and ...

Meme and Blythe dolls

Hi! I haven't posted for a while. So here I am! Here's a meme I found on Raining Sheep:

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

Well now, let's see. It was June 1998. I was working as a temp in downtown Philadelphia, having just extricated myself from a horrible work situation as a nanny for a terrible family (parents, really; the kids were fine). I was broke but happy because I had many friends. I went on a boatload of dates with guys who had real jobs and took me to nice restaurants. They called me after the first date. It was 3 months before I met WT. ;o)

2) What are five non-working things to do on my to-do list today?

Oh hell, let's see. What the hell are 'non-working' things? Hm. I have to register for fall classes, sign up at the swim club, pick up or actually make an appetizer for Sip -n- Knit tomorrow night, put away clean laundry, and clean the kitty litter box. What fun.

3) Snacks I enjoy:

Where do I begin? Doritos, chips and dip, spinach-artichoke dip, cookies, chocolate, cheese. You get the point.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire.

Quit my job. Buy a house for me and WT and the Banana, and for my brother, my dad, my close cousins, and anyone in WT's family that he wanted to buy a house for. Pay off all of my debt. Buy a flat in Paris. Travel extensively all around the world. Start two community centers for disadvantaged kids - one in North Philadelphia and one in Camden, NJ. Buy a loom and weave. Hire a private yoga instructor. Plant a vegetable garden and a flower garden. Travel some more. Buy more yarn. Buy more Blythe dolls. Give money to any of my friends who needed it. Help people who need help paying medical bills. Have a lot of pets. Adopt some kids.

5) Places I have lived.

In order from birth to now:

Lindenwold NJ (23 years)

Vancouver WA (one month)

Middlebury VT (six weeks)

Paris France (ten months)

Philadelphia - downtown (1.5 years)

Philadelphia - Roxborough (one year)

East Norriton PA (8 years)

6) Jobs I have had.

Kids' shoes salesperson, movie theater concession salesperson, British Airways customer service agent, human resources adminstrator, travel specialist at a dot com, waitress, nanny, candy shop girl down the shore, remedial reading and math tutor, ESL teacher, C-print captionist, mother, wife.

7) Peeps I want to know more about.

(In no particular order) Jesus, Gandhi, my dad, my mom, my brother, my husband, my daughter, Picasso, Buddha, myself.

***

I know all of you have been going through Blythe doll withdrawal, so here you go.

Hibou, Twyla, and Dulcinea are showing off their new accessories. Aren't they just adorable?

Wait just a minute, who in tarnation is this little tart?

Bonjour, je m'appelle Capucine!

Hello Capucine, and welcome!

One big happy Blythe family. Aw.

Quite a long post

Like everyone else, we've been quite busy around here chez DaisyFrog. We've gone through an expensive, harrowing ordeal with one of our cats, but I'll save that story for another day. Or maybe I won't tell it at all, because the little bastard now appears to be fine after eating something that disagreed with him.

Anyhoo, how about some FOs?

This here is a lovely tea cozy crafted for my brother. Being the Renaissance man that he is, Glennjamin enjoys his daily tea, and so I made him a tea cozy. The gray is Plymouth Encore Worsted, the red is Malabrigo, and the pattern is from Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. I crocheted it instead of knitting it because it needed to be finished in a timely fashion. I am fairly pleased with it, although it is a bit large. Whatever. Glennjamin seemed pleased.

Here is the same thing, this one for my father. This was also crocheted (hdc) in Plymouth Encore Worsted, and the size came out better on this one. I created a very subtle pattern by crocheting in the round in one direction for 3 rows, then reversing for three rows, and so on. I am pleased with it! This was a quick and easy project.

This here is a bear for my cousin's son who is about 17 months old. The head and body are done, I just need to crochet the arms and legs and sew it together. This is loosely based on Camilla Engman's Bedfellows pattern from The Happy Hooker. I think it's going to look pretty dang cute when it is finished.

Here is my first Bainbridge Scarf, pattern by Minty Fresh. Again, it is crocheted instead of knitted. I created the ribbed effect by crocheting through the back loop only on each row. I'm happy with it except for the little tassel-y things at the end of the ties, but I broke the yarn too short, so I didn't have enough to weave it in. Stupid on my part. I am making another one of these in dark green mercerized cotton. Please excuse my waddle in the above picture.

Tis the season to treat oneself! These books were availabe on Amazon.com for only $10.17 each; how could I resist? The patterns in Lacy Crochet are really pretty and not too futzy or prissy in my opionion.

The patterns in Amigurumi appear to be well laid-out. I need practice in crocheting various shapes, and this book will most certainly provide me with that practice!

My family was waaaaaaay good to me at Christmas this year. I got some music - if I weren't married, and if Eddie Vedder weren't married, I would marry him based simply on his cover of "Hard Sun". Holy moly, that is one mighty fine song. And who woulda thunk that Robert Plant and Allison Krauss are a vocal and artistic match made in heaven? Not me, but that they are. Whoa. And I haven't listened to Gomez or Norah Jones yet, but honestly, how bad can they be?

And of course, I got me some booky-wookies. (Not like Chewbacca, no.) I love Crochet Me. It is one mighty fine book. I am definitely making the Victorian Shrug/Wrap from the cover. I also love Amy O'Neill Houck's Babydoll Dress. *Le sigh* So many patterns, so little time.

I think Annie Modesitt is brilliant. I don't like all of her patterns, but I admire her creativity and lack of attention to the rules. This book is gorgeous. There are about 10 patterns in here that I want to make.

My neighbor Anne Marie gave me this book, and it friggin' ROCKS. It basically gives you recipes for eighty bajillion sweaters, with different options for sleeves, bodies, pockets, cardigans, pullovers, collars, and whatever else you can think of. I will be using this A LOT.


This here is Dulcinea. You may remember me mentioning that my dad has a Blythe doll named Bridget. I knit her an outfit. When Dad first got Bridget, I really thought he had gone around the bend. But the more I looked at her, and the more I looked at other Blythe dolls, the more I realized that I actually kind of liked them. A lot. So my dear Dad surprised me and got me Dulcinea for Christmas. She is a Medieval Mood reissue, just in case you were wondering. She is pictured above with Hemingway.

Dad also got me this Jizo statue. Jizo is the protector of women, children, and travelers; coincidentally, I happen to be all three of those things. Neat, huh? Isn't he cute? He will be residing next to my happy fat Buddha.

And now for the piece de resistance. Oh yeah. Those are roller skates baby. Quadline Dominions with 100 mm wheels. Are they sweet or what? WT got these bad boys for me for Christmas, and I LOVE THEM. I can't wait for the weather to get nice (oh wait - I live on the eastern seaboard. That won't happen until June) so I can skate my ass off. Literally. My ass needs to be skated off, as well as my waddle and my spare tire. So not only am I going to kick some retro 70s ass, I'm going to look good doing it. Okay, maybe not look good WHILE I'm doing it, but I'll look good AFTER I do it. I'm sure I'll look like a moron while I'm doing it. Because that's how I roll. Ha! Get it? Roll? Roller skates? Tee hee hee!

I need some sleep.

***

So you may or may not have noticed that my yarn diet ticker is missing from the top of my blog. Yeah, I blew the diet about 10 days before it officially ended. Whatever, good enough. I will probably start a new diet shortly. So you wanna know what I bought?

• Cotton Ease in Almond for Zephyr Gal's Juliet
• Cotton Ease in Indigo for Zephyr Gal's Tree Jacket
• Red Heart Soft Yarn in Off White to make a layette for my cousin's wife
• Red Heart Heathers in Blue to make a layette for our pregnant lesbian friends
• Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy in Vivid Green and Cool Blue (blue in stash) for Edna Hart's Marly Boatneck from the latest issue of Knitscene
• Casco Bay Sport in Pale Blue and Brick Red for Regina Rioux Gonzalez's Singular Tee, also from the latest issue of Knitscene
• Classic Elite Four Seasons in Barn Red and Natural to make Cathy Carron's Cabana Tee, also from the latest issue of Knitscene (can you tell I like this issue?)

I also at some point want to make (from the latest issue of Knitscene) Katie Himmelberg's Phiaro Scarf, Kathy Zimmerman's Wildflower Tee, Ann Budd's First Time Tube Socks, and Cecily Glowik's Pebble Hoodie. Because, you know, I have all the time in the world.

***

I can't believe that Christmas break is almost over and it's almost time to go back to work. I am going to see friends this weekened, and Banana and WT and I are going to Longwood Gardens on Monday. Monday night we are hosting our annual New Year's Eve bash, where Anne Marie comes over, gets drunk, laughs silently, and slaps her knee. A good time is had by all.

I wish you all a lovely rest of your holiday season, and a wonderful 2008, where all of your dreams come true. :o)

Thanks for stopping by.

Bridget wearing her new duds

Progress (in a way) and paternal idiosyncracies

The Summertime Tunic has been frogged. The Zen Garden Stole has been frogged. I have cast on for a new project, which hopefully will be quick: a shirt, skirt, and cloche for my father's Blythe doll, Bridget.

Why yes, you did indeed read that correctly: my father's Blythe doll. Dad's always been a smidge quirky, but now that he's living on his own, the quirkiness (read: utter weirdness) has exploded exponentially. I generally get a heads-up when Dad says, "Well I was on the Internet the other day, and I got to thinking about [Blythe dolls/circus throwing knives/didgeridoos/fire hydrants/hurdy-gurdies], so I went on Ebay and I bought one."

And yes, he has at least one of each of the aforementioned things. Actually, he made the didgeridoo out of PVC, and he is currently making the hurdy-gurdy. I'm sure you can look them up on Wikipedia if you truly want to know what they are.

Now, my dad is truly a cool dude. This is the same man that worked in a flight simulation lab for the last 16 years of his career, and he also took a trans-Pacific sailing trip at the age of 65, and he did tai-chi before any other people I knew did it, and he built a grandfather clock by hand, and he does the New York Times crossword every day (and finishes it), and he's one of the best cooks you'll ever meet. So I'll sigh and nod and make clothes for his doll, because it makes him happy and I love him. :o)