Cleveland . . the tour

Our tour will start WAY WEST of downtown Cleveland. (By the way, if you click on the pics, it should link you to the website of where we are visiting . . . "should" being the operative word here).

We are going to trek out to Birds of a Feather in Avon, Ohio. Birds is a grand place. The downstairs is a quilt/rug hooking area and the upstairs is yarn . . . lots and lots of yarn.

are you all done drooling . . . great. We will stop for tea at the little tea shop just to the left of Birds. In fact, when the weather is lovely, the knitters sit in the patio area between Birds and the tea shop and knit.

Now we will head downtown:

For our tour, we are going to use several modes of transportation. First and foremost we will be using Lolly the Trolley. Lolly has been doing tours of Cleveland for 20 years.

Later on, we will board the Goodtime III for a sunset dinner cruise. The Goodtime III has been part of Cleveland for years. It is a great time and it does other tours besides dinner tours. A favorite with gradeschool children.






The first place that Lolly will drop off is at the West Side Market. The West Side Market is a combination open air market and enclosed market. It is the American Dream of owning and managing your own business. There aren't any franchises allowed in the West Side Market. When my Mom was a girl, she would
work shelling peas and beans at the West Side Market for $.05 a pint. That is a lot of peas! While there, we can pick up some homemade pastries and cheeses, along with some fresh fruit, the pears I bought there last week were delicious!

Our next stop will be Browns' Stadium. While the Browns are getting ready for the upcoming season in Berea, we can have a grand time in wandering the field.





Oh, and lets not forget the Cleveland Cavaliers. They are currently playing down the street at the Quicken Loans arena. Of course, Lebron isn't in residence right now because he is getting ready for the Olympics.

Maybe we will catch up to him next time.




Since he isn't there, lets go back to the lakefront and visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Cleveland is considered the birthplace of Rock and Roll so it is only right that the Rock Hall would be built on our lakefront. Phew, we could spend DAYS there. It is amazing the history and fun stuff that can be found at the Rock Hall. Maybe someday we will even host the induction ceremonies on a regular basis . . . .


Severance Hall is probably considered the jewel by many Clevelanders. It is the Winter Home for the world famous Cleveland Orchestra. The summer home is at Blossom Music Center (south of Cleveland).



This is my library. It is about 2 miles from my home and is only four years old . . . of course, they are already beginning to remodel . . . go figure.





We are fortunate in Cleveland that we have TWO major libraries. There is the Cuyahoga County Library which is the one closest to my home and has branches all over the county except within the City of Cleveland limits.

The City of Cleveland has its own library. This is the downtown branch. Fortunately after years of dispute, the two libraries started working closer together about ten years ago and developed an interlibrary loan service. If one of the libraries doesn't have a book, chances are pretty good that the other one will (of course, neither has Plains Crazy . . . go figure).


And before I forget the Cleveland Museum of Art has reopened. After years of remodeling and limited exhibitions, the museum finally reopened on June 29, 2008.



And as we cruise along on the Goodtime, enjoying our dinner and a glass of wine or two, we can watch all the bridges light up . . .

As my husband has said on more than one occasion, if we didn't have kids, we would live downtown. There is so much to do and all of it is relatively close.

So, there you have it a very brief visit to Cleveland and I didn't even touch on many of the other things you could go see. We have the Botanical Gardens and Cuyahoga River. There are fabulous churches and synagogues. We are lucky to live in an area where medical services are abundant and some of the best in the country.

If you want to learn more about Cleveland, you might want to start at Cleveland+

Thanks for visiting and I look forward to visiting your home too!

Quote for Tuesday, July 29, 2008:

The holy passion of Friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money.
-- Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson

I love Mark Twain.

Flash *** FLASH **** Flash *** FLASH **** Flash *** FLASH **** Flash *** FLASH ****

Knit Witch is having a Grand Opening Contest . . . but hurry it ends on July 31 which is Thursday, like in two days . . . .

You should be able to click on the pic but if not you can try here.


And if neither of those works, cut and paste this link:

http://knitwitchblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/contest-time-again.html

Simple Woman's Daybook~15

FOR TODAY ~ July 28, 2008

Outside my Window... sigh, I still don't have a window at work . . . not until Thursday when I move into my new office.

I am thinking... that I got quite a bit done this weekend . . . playing with Zachariah . . . going to a graduation party . . . cleaning the office . . . cleaning the kitchen . . .

I am thankful for... my husband and kids and that when the deers jumped in front of Sarah, she wasn't hurt nor was her car seriously damaged.

From the kitchen... it is too hot to have anything from the kitchen.

I am creating... a bowl out of Knitpicks Memories (old yarn, wonderful yarn, no longer available).

I am going... to Birds of a Feather today after work to see if I can find white lace weight or fingering weight yarn.

I am wearing... navy blue slacks, stripped shirt (even though you aren't supposed to wear stripes . . . sigh, I just love this shirt)

I am reading... Simple Genius by David Balducci

I am hoping... to have my desk totally cleaned off by the end of the day.

I am hearing... WMJI 105.7 in Cleveland, OH

Around the house... we bought new placemats (cork-backed) to replace the old cork-backed placemats, cleaned off the back counter and put mucho stuff away

One of my favorite things... snuggling with the kids

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... out early today since it is "golf outing day" and I can leave work at 12:30 . . . but will leave around 2:00 . . . meetings on Tuesday (2) and meetings on Wednesday (3), oh and only ONE meeting on Thursday and did I mention that I'm moving my office on Thursday?

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you... Zachariah took this picture at Niagara Falls (American side) while we were there on July 5, 2008.

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,

How great thou art!

Swedish writer Carl Boberg and English translator Stuart Hine.

A Saturday post . . . how unusual

Today's quote:

The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him.
by Stanislaw Jerszy Lec

Wooo hoooo . . . a post on a Saturday. It has been a busy day. I am moving into my new office space on Thursday so Lindsey and I spent today doing fun stuff like moving my personal stuff into my office.

Found some yarn that I forgot about . . . nothing like having stash EVERYWHERE.

I have felted a couple of things and will post pics on Monday or Tuesday.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Friday Fill In - 7/25/2008 with PICS!!!

Quote of the day: A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the word you first thought of. -- Burt Bacharach

1. I believe whatever doesn't kill you was probably good for you in the first place.

2. If you're good at something, you should share your talents

3. Why so much yarn and so little time?

4. Something is out there, it's usually my son standing in the bedroom hallway and whispering "Mom, are you awake?"

5. If my life were a sitcom, it would be titled "crazy days and lazy nights."

6. Sitting on my back porch, I see trees, plants, kids play area, kids playing and our in-ground pool. See:

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to doing nothing, tomorrow my plans include moving personal stuff to my new office and Sunday, I want to relax!

SP 12 Question #7

Question of the Week #7
We are all creatures of habit and when it comes to sitting down to knit, it’s no different…

What is(are) your favorite place(s) to knit?

I have actually, three places in my home that are my favorite places to knit. In the evening, I will sit in my overstuffed chair (it is called a chair and a half). I sit sideways in it with my back against the arm rest. It is very comfortable and is where I usually knit.

If the weather is grand, I will knit on my back porch. I have three rockers and can keep an eye on Zachariah while I knit away.

If it is a winter (or cool Fall or Spring) day, I will knit upstairs in the open area at the end of the staircase hall. There are four windows in the area and it is just great to have all that wonderful sunlight streaming in.

What supplies (besides yarn & needles) make the setting perfect for knitting?

Sunshine and light
Fresh air
Comfortable surroundings (including a footstool)
Pillows to tuck underneath my right arm (it eases the carpal tunnel)

Tuesday

After posting FOUR times yesterday, I thought I should post something today.

I am in search of fingering or lace weight silk/mohair or silk/merino yarn in white. Not cream, not natural, not offweight, not just about there white, but WHITE.

This should not be this hard.

I'm thinking of something like Bob & Weave or Cozy or Ella - they all seem to be lovely and relatively simple.

If I had time, patience and energy (and thought I could pull it off), I would do Laminaria. I don't so I won't but then again, I may never find the most perfect yarn to do any of it with!!

Ravelympics2008

Ravelympics2008
Originally uploaded by jinniver1996

Pretty awesome . . . I am participating in the Ravelympics 2008 over on Ravelry . . . in the Bag-n-tote Backstroke and Felted Freestyle event competing for Team Ohio!!!

Swap Package from Cindi

Swap Package from Cindi
Originally uploaded by mlj1954ohio

As many of you know, I participate with a KAL called WhoDuKnit. We had a one skein swap this spring/early summer. Cindi Unmack was my partner. She really went totally over the top with this package and sent to mysteries (Still LIfe and Club Dead) and a Murder Mystery Crossword puzzle book. She also sent a skein of Merino Lace yarn in a dark fabulous green. It is truly wonderful. She also knit the yarn I sent her into great slippers that fit perfectly. I love slippers, wear them even in summer. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Simple Woman's Daybook~14

FOR TODAY Monday, July 21...
Outside My Window... nothing . . . I am sitting in my office and I don't have a window . . . but I am moving in a couple of weeks to a space that has windows
I am thinking... about my to do list and the things I can cross off and those that never leave
I am thankful for... my husband and children and the laughter we share
From the kitchen... I would have liked to have remembered my lunch
I am wearing... brown jacket, aqua shell and beige slacks
I am creating... this new Monday bloggy thing
I am going... to be looking for white fingering weight silk yarn to make a shawl
I am reading... Darkfall by Dean Koontz
I am hoping... to finish felting two items that I did yesterday but have decided that they need another dip in the hot water
I am hearing... the laughter in the hall
Around the house... we are cleaning as Easter Seals are coming on Thursday
One of my favorite things... tomatoes warm from the garden sun
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: clean my office (in prep for the move), clean my closets (in prep for Easter Seals)
Here is picture thought I am sharing...just joy:

And, if you are interested in participating in this Monday posting . . . go to the link on my sidebar or, you can click here. I learned about it from Shelly and you can read her blog, by clicking here.

Grammieknits: 400th Post Contest - Go Hug a Tree!#links#links

Jane, a grand friend that I met through One Skein's Secret Pal thingee a couple of years ago is celebrating her 400th post with a contest. As a recipient of several things of Jane's, I know that whatever she does is totally awesome! So go follow this link and enter her contest:

Grammieknits: 400th Post Contest - Go Hug a Tree!#links#links

Friday Fill In - 7/18/08

1. If I could be a fly on the wall I would probably regret it.
2. Jealousy is so damaging and draining . . . spiritually, personally and is such a waste of time.
3. When I see a shooting star my wish would be that my children become happy adults.
4. I'd rather be normal and boring than eccentric and crazed any day!
5. Certain songs when I hear them make me wanna cry.
6. If time were in a bottle, I would try to figure out how to slow it down .
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to a picnic at Dave's principal's house (NOT), tomorrow my plans include the Greater Cleveland Irish Festival with my kids and Sarah's beau and Sunday, after Church, I need to go to the office, pick up some stuff (I am moving from one office to another office - same company just moving space - but I get windows - woo hoo), have breakfast with Dave, go shopping with Sarah and Lindsey, swim in the pool with Zachariah and, oh yeah, relax!

did you ever just have a feeling . . .

. . . that something important may be happening in life

. . . and that maybe if you start now, you just might be prepared

. . . so, I have ordered some fingering weight and beads and

. . . am looking at patterns for a shawl, a white shawl, with beads

. . . even if this mother's gut isn't right on

. . . I will be prepared for whenever so that I will be prepared

Besides which, if I am knitting a lacey thing,

I will not be able to eat which will also aid

in my ongoing battle with my weight . . .

which wouldn't be a bad thing if my gut is correct or not.

Oh, and did I mention that my nephew is getting married.

He just got out of the Marines, proposed to his girlfriend at an Indians' game.

And may be re-enlisting but in the Air Force.

SP 12 Question #6

Questions #6

What is your favorite type of project to take along on holiday/vacation?

We drive most places and I have learned from experience that I should bring a project for "drive time" and something different for "sitting around relaxing time." Anything to be felted will generally hide any errors (more or less) during the felting process. Anything that is a simple pattern is okay to knit also during the "drive time." But, I have a real problem working on any kind of complicated patterns or things that change colors or other things while driving. I end up spending more time frogging.

Although this last trip, I discovered that a really good thing to do while driving is to wind yarn. I don't have a yarn winder or swift so when I get tired of knitting, I ball yarn.

If you’d like to share a story…Tell us about a time that you packed too much knitting or were stranded without knitting.

In 2006, we left Ohio for a three week vacation, driving down through Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington and back across the northern band of states, catching many of the national parks and many beautiful cities (San Fran, Portland, Seattle), camping at some great places (north rim of the Grand Canyon being the bestest of all).

9,000+ miles. I did not run out of projects. I took too many and too many reference books and needles and what not. If I had thought about it, I should have planned substantially better and taken up substantially less space in the van. LOL. However, I was so afraid that I would be left high and dry without any knitting to tide me over.

Scattergories - something fun

SCATTERGORIES ...it's harder than it looks! Erase my answers, enter
yours and post it on to your blog. Let me know when you have done it and I will come check it out!

• Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following.
• They have to be real places, names, things. Nothing made up!
• Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial.
• You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.
  

WHAT IS YOUR NAME? Mary Lynn

4 LETTER WORD: more
VEHICLE: moped
TV SHOW: Miami Vice
CITY: Middleburg Heights
BOY NAME: Michael
GIRL NAME: Marnie
OCCUPATION: Marine
SOMETHING YOU WEAR: Muir (you can find the pattern here)
FOOD: Milkshake (preferably chocolate malted)
SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Mirror
REASON FOR BEING LATE: Mystery reading
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: MOMMMMMMM!!!!

My husband is a saint . . .

On Sunday, the guy that does the scheduling for the scorers for the local softball leagues called Dave to find out if he would score six games on Saturday. He asked me what plans we have for this weekend and I said that the only thing I and the kids were planning on doing was going to the Greater Cleveland Irish Festival on Saturday. Dave does not go to the festival. EVER. So he said that he could work the games on Saturday.

After the call, he asked what else we were doing this weekend.

On Friday evening, his principal is having an adult only picnic that we are attending. To be honest, I would prefer to rip out my fingernails than go to this event but . . . .

Saturday is the Festival . . .

Sunday I was planning on washing windows. We lots of windows (21 windows and two sliding doors) and it will take all day. All day.

Anyway, when I got home from work yesterday, the windows were all washed. Dave had gotten up around 6:00 a.m., it was still cool out and he figured that he would wash at least the front windows. And he just kept on trucking and did them all.

Besides a two hour break (he had to go to the doctor and WalMart for school supplies), he worked on the windows all day until he had to leave to score some more softball games (around 5:30). [Note to all: at least at our local WalMart, the annual school supply sale starts this week. Spiral notebooks are $.05/each and boxes of crayons are $.22. He buys the crayons, pencils, paper and scissors for his students. The spiral notebooks are for the girls and for our use at home.]

Anyway, back to the windows. To have them cleaned and sparkly is wonderful. And, the fact that I didn't have to do them is really truly wonderful.

Vacation pics (minimal) and some finished things

Some pics from vacation, taken by Zachariah at Niagara Falls. The day was beautiful but he also did a really good job, especially with his really cheap (I mean inexpensive) camera

Saturday, July 5, 2008,

The Horseshoe Falls from Goat Island

Friday, July 4, 2008,

The American Falls from the Canadian side

Actually, shortly before he took the pic of the American falls from the Canadian side, he had been pouting about it being hot and there was nothing to see . . . then I dug out his camera . . . after I took this one with my camera:

And here is the lace scarf that I did while on vacation.

And while I was adding photos to Ravelry, I realized that I never posted a photo of the complete Fetching. It is done in Kaleidoscope by Dave Daniels. This isn't the best photo of the completed project but such is life

SP 12 Question #5

1) Where is your favorite place to go for vacation/holiday?

Anyplace that is quiet and relaxing. I just got back from Collingwood, Ontario which, since we were there about 12 years ago, has changed from a quiet little backwater to the vacation area of choice and the plan is for continued development and growth. I guess that is good for the area but not for those of us who liked it for the peace and quietness.

2) Where is one place you’d like to go?

Ireland -- Mayo County, Achill Island, the village of Pullach -- It is where my grandmother was born and raised.

A contest . . . from Aunt Kathy . . . and other things

If you like contests as much as I do, please go visit Aunt Kathy. She is running a simple contest between now and August 31. Let her know I sent you and I get an extra chance to win . . .

Thanks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You remember this from yesterday? Well, I forgot to mention that I had posted about this earlier. You don't remember that? Sure you do, it was to frog or not to frog.

And this is what I frogged to get the lace thing. Much better, dontcha think? And I tell you something else. It took TONS of time to do these short row triangles. The lace is not only much prettier but it was much happier knitting for me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now for my public service announcement. A little less than a year ago, I went for a colonoscopy. My doctor had been after me to have one and I put it off and put it off. The horrors of it all. Finally, I had it done and beside having to drink the god-awful potion, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought and, thank God, I am fine and don't need to do it again for another 10 years.

The reason I went last year to have it done was that while my doc had been after me to do it, it was a co-worker who pushed it. Earlier last year (January 2007 ish), Larry finally had his first colonoscopy. He was 55 at the time. His doctor had been after him to have one done. He had no symptoms just finally got tired of his doctor giving him the "over 50 and this is a test that could save your life" talk. The cancer was so advanced that surgery was not an option.

Larry's funeral was at 9:30 this morning. I had worked with him for 36 years. He was the first openly gay person I ever met. He was hard-working, dedicated, funny and irreverant about most things. He despised the term "gay" but if you really wanted to get him started, mention "alternative lifestyle." He laughed about all the years of being careful with his relationships and lifestyle (although he did smoke and did enjoy drinking but had seriously cut back on both until last year and then decided it didn't really matter now did it). He also laughed about the fact that he wasn't sick a day in his life until they diagnosed him and then it all went sliding downhill.

The worst, absolutely worst part of this disease for Larry and those of us who loved him, was when Larry asked, his doctor confirmed that a colonoscopy earlier on his life would have most likely identified the cancer at a treatable stage. Larry asked us to pass along that message.

So, if you are over 50 and have never had a colonoscopy, please do not hesitate. Speaking from experience, the procedure is relatively painless and lifesaving. According to Larry, he had no symptoms that would have sent him to the doctor and it was only his doctor's nagging that sent him for colonoscopy.

I'm on a roll . . .

As I discussed in yesterday's blog, Lindsey wants to make a bag. We saw one at Blue Mountain, Ontario, which cost about $70. It was simple and, frankly, I thought butt ugly but then again, I'm the Mom. Anyway, the "in thing" for the girls in her school is to carry cloth bags. They are not allowed to carry their back packs between classes but these cloth bags work really well. Many have, including Lindsey, Vera Bradley bags. They suit the need but she really liked this other $70 one but not the colors.

They suit the need but she really liked this other $70 one but not the colors. It was patchworked with a variety of fabrics. Anyway, it sort of looked like the canvas tote below:

When we went shopping at Joann's we found this pattern the one in the middle (blue one). She bought seven different fabric pieces and one solid one. She is going to make it patchworked on one side, solid on the other side and with two different handles short and long that will attach with big white buttons. I know that we didn't spend more than $70 but with the time involved it will end up costing as much. Fortunately, the pattern was on sale for $3.00 (usual price $20 . . . isn't that a crime). The fabric pieces were $.99/each except for the solid, which for 1 - 3/8 yards cost $2.00. The buttons were the high price items with the total of three costing $5.00.

The really cool thing is seeing her getting excited about this. She is very artsy, has an incredible sense of style (seriously, look at the pic at the top . . . who else would go to the beach with the "right" necklace, matching head band and sunglasses) and will have a total blast with this. I hope!

SP 12 Question Week 4 - one week late - oops

1) What yarn (that you don’t have/haven’t used) would make your stash “complete”?

I have some really wonderful yarns. I would love some seacell . . .

2) What yarn do you never want to be without?

Wool . . . any kind of wool.

Vacation . . . knitting . . . Learning how to block

Finally, we have returned. It has been a wonderful vacation. Beautiful weather (actually, mostly hot weather). We were in Collingwood, Ontario. There were only two days that it rained during the day. On the first week, it rained on Thursday afternoon (around 4:00) and on July 1, Canada Day, it rained and was cool in the morning but was about 75 degrees by 1:00 p.m. and the sun was shining. In fact, it was soooooo nice so much of the time by Tuesday evening (July 1), I told Dave that I would really like a day that was gloomy and rainy so that we couldn't go swimming or practice our putting or play on the playground or shuffleboard. So he said, tomorrow you can pretend. So Wednesday, I stayed in all day (I did put a beer bottle in the recycle bin which was right outside the front door . . . but I'm not counting that).

Anyway, I did manage to finish some lacy stuff . . . I also have a bowl mostly finished and ready for felting . . . and I finished the clutch which needs to be sewn up and felted . . .

When we got home on Saturday, we unpacked and sat on the back porch sharing some brews with Cortney's parents. (Cortney is Lindsey's friend who went on vacation with us).

Yesterday, Lindsey and I went shopping for fabric so she could sew up a bag. We spent HOURS in Joann's. Lindsey is very artsy and saw a bag in Canada that she really really wanted and "Gee, MOM, what a deal, it is only $75!" It was nothing. A square tote with 4" quilted squares and the whole thing was absolutely nothing to write home about. So we bought quilting fabric (in various shades of blue), a Vogue pattern (regularly $20 on sale for $3.00). I also bought mucho other things (they had Debbie Munn yarn regularly $5.99 on sale for $2.00) and another pattern for me (regularly $15 on sale for $2.00). The store is doing inventory today and they always have great sales before inventory.

When we got home, I cut Zachariah's hair, plopped him in the tub, cut Lindsey's squares and started blocking the lace. Zachariah wanted to help . . . and here he is learning how to block knitting . . . he kept dropping the ruler and finally informed me that if he keeps everything lined up with the lines on the mat, he doesn't need a ruler, thank you very much.

some other time I will post the photos of the vacation! It really was great fun and very relaxing.

SP question of the week - 3

What would you consider the perfect amount of stash?

Probably about ten more skeins than I currently have! LOL!

Actually, the perfect stash is when you want to work on something and can go to your stash and find something to do without having to go to the store. I often will put sticky's with notes referencing what I think the yarn would be good for, including the pattern and/or book.

SP 12 Week 2 Question

As a kid, what did you look forward to most about summer vacation/break/holiday?

The freedom! We (my closest sibling is 19 months younger than I) would leave the house at 8:00 in the morning (most summers riding our bikes to the swimming pool for 8:30 a.m. lessons -- I think we did this for four summers). Ride our bikes to the library. Playing in the sprinkler. Going to the parks and being outside from morning until dark. Playing softball in the street and SPUD and hide and go seek. And after dinner, our parents would generally sit out on the front stoops and watch while we continued playing until it was too dark to continue.

On rainy days, we cleaned the basement or counted the money in the penny jar. My Mom taught us Canasta and rummy.

We had tons of kids on our street. Blackburns had five (2 of whom were Jacquie and my age); Zerns had five (3 of whom were our age); Rezeks had four (1 of whom was our age); Taluseaks had three (all of whom were our age); Wetzels had three (1 of whom was our age but their cousin came almost every summer); Nalaborskis had five (2 of whom were age); Koopmans had five or six (2 of whom were our age). We all went to school together and belonged to the same church.

We also did competitive Irish step dancing . . . and went to feis (dancing competitions) on the weekends during the summer. There were held all over. We went to Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, Rochester, NY, Youngstown, OH, Detroit, MI, Cincinnati, OH, Buffalo, NY and, of course, the feis of all FEIS was in Cleveland and my parents volunteered and we worked all weekend to make the event a grand affair.

We learned early on to NEVER EVER tell Mom we were bored . . . boredom led to weeding the garden or yard or cleaning the garage or our bedrooms. Or, worse yet, tell her that we had NOBODY to play with . . . there were seven kids in my family. She hated it when we would say that.

My father could whistle . . . and when it was time to come home, he would stand on the front porch and whistle. If we didn't hear it, one of the neighbors would and the message would go down the road that the Nageotte kids' Dad was whistling for them and we would all come running.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks so much. These are things that I haven't thought of in years. I wonder if my kids will remember their youth as being so fun.

Franklin, my Mom and socks

If you haven't read Franklin lately or ever, you need to go over and read this post of his. It really made me think about our knitting, talents, passions. It also got me thinking about my Mom and Grandma (her Mom).

When we were young, my Mom sewed and knit and crocheted out of necessity . . . seven kids . . . need I say more. Then as we grew older she continued to work her crafts out of passion. She sewed beautifully and made all of our first communion and wedding dresses (5 daughters, 1 daughter-in-law). When I was planning on making my oldest daughter's first communion dress, she asked if she could. She said (and please wait a minute while I wipe my eyes, gulp, okay), she said that wanted to do it because "she wouldn't be around to make her wedding dress." It is beautiful.

My Mom was an artist. Now, as an adult, I wonder if she was ever frustrated with her "lot." I think not because she often said that Dad was her passion and we, her children, were the blessings of their love. But, she was brilliant. She was smart and artistic and funny. My Dad worked in machine repair at Chevy. He could fix anything but it was my Mom who would take apart the toaster, iron and any small appliance and fix it. Actually, when they first came out, my Mom got my Dad an electric screwdriver because she would install things but didn't have the hand strength to tighten the screws.

I cannot tell you the number of times that she replaced the tile and flooring in our kitchen/dining room.

And she knit and crochected and did hand-hooked rugs (shopping at goodwill for 100% wool garments to dye for her rugs).

But she knit when we were young because she had to. And I, being a normal child, was embarrassed over our hand-knit hats and mittens and socks. I remember being in 5th or 6th grade and begging her for knee socks (ours were always fold over socks). That Christmas she knit me knee socks and was so excited and I was appalled cause I wanted store-bought socks. I hope she never knew. The only thing to my credit was that I did wear them.

It wasn't until years later (and my first sock knitting fiasco) that I realized that the reason she didn't knit knee socks was because she had so many damn socks to do and, probably to add another three or four inches to each pair (and there were five girls) would take too much time and too much yarn (neither of which was in great supply).

I am so blessed because I can knit just for the joy of doing so. I have access to a couple of good LYS (although I could probably open one myself from my stash). I have needles and patterns and the ability to do anything I want. I can buy fabulous yarns. And I knit because I like it.

The one thing I don't make is socks!

It is frogged

I frogged the scarf.

Sent an email to Cindi. She is cool with it and, frankly, it gives us both some breathing room since she is working on another project too!

So, silly me, I almost posted what I was going to do instead. Oops.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We leave on vacation on Friday. We will be gone for two weeks, spending them in at the Georgian Manor Resort in Collingwood, ON which is about 2 hours driving north of Toronto. On the return, we have reservations on the Canadian side of the Falls for the night of July 4th. Partly because we don't want to be driving on the 4th with those who may have enjoyed their celebration too much (or is that just an Ohio thing) and partly because we want to spend time at the Falls with the kids.

For the first time, Sarah will not be joining us on vacation. She has two classes that she is taking this summer (med. terminology and biology) and has classes four days a week. Since these are condensed classes (15 weeks jammed into 10), she cannot afford to miss one week, much less two. Actually, we were surprised that she wanted to go with us last year, but then again, we went to Florida and Williamsburg last year and she LOVES vacations like that. This vacation would not be high on her hit list of things to do. It will be, hopefully, quite a bit of laying around, reading, knitting, sleeping, eating, drinking (both alcohol and non-alcoholic stuff . . . Dave and I usually go through two pots of coffee every morning).

We are allowing Lindsey to bring her bestest friend in the whole entire world. Cortney is a great kid and they have known each other since second grade, talk to each other daily and spend as much time with each other as possible, a mean feat sometimes considering that we live about 25 miles away from her. The girls are already planning their days: Breakfast, sun, lunch, sun, dinner, movie, sleep. I keep telling them that we are going to be TWO HOURS NORTH OF TORONTO. Right now, it is 54 degrees there.

Zachariah is bringing his PSP (playstation portable). He is limited to 60 minutes a day, except in the car. Any arguments regarding PSP playing time and I take it away.

Dave and I are bringing books, knitting, books.

It should be a grand time.

Meme

If you read this,
if your eyes are passing over this right now,
even if we don't speak often,
please post a comment with a memory of you and me.
It can be anything you want -- good or bad.

When you're finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people remember about you.

And other stuff

So, you might wonder what this is, hmmmmm. It is my ponytail. While it may not look like it, it is 11 inches of hair.

And this is Lindsey's hair. We donated it to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths because they will take as little as eight inches which is just about all Lindsey was willing to part with. Unfortunately, the young lady cutting her hair got a little carried away and probably cut off about 10 inches. For her, they put her tails into four bundles.


Oh, and because this is a knitting blog, I thought I would include some knitting. We are doing a one skein swap at WhoDuKnit. And I have this grand skein of yarn. Now, I started this as a scarf and really liked it but have decided that I didn't but I had put such a commitment into it (there are lots and lots of stitches in this baby) that I couldn't stop now. So, what do you think? Triangles, a scarf it is warm but skinny (about 4 inches).

But then I was sitting at a meeting at church on Wednesday evening, cheerfully knitting away, the envy of a bunch of other people who wished they had remembered their knitting or crocheting. When I looked down and had a stupid realization that I had made a really stupid mistake. Can you see it?

Oh, here is a close up: Yeah, it isn't supposed to have an angle. For some reason, on the last triangle, I didn't go to the end of the row and start the next triangle, so my triangle turned. Piss on it! You have no idea how irritating I find this. I did not use lifelines, why would I. Its a scarf for crimminy's sake. And, I have to be totally honest here, I am not really good about being able to pick up stitches when I rip.

Therefore, the question is do I try to rip it back to the error OR, since I'm not too terribly fond of the thing anyway, do I rip the whole thing out and start over? Decisions, decisions. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Friday Fill In - 6/13/08

1. A cruise is high up on my bucket list.
2. My favorite quote is "put on your big girl's panties and suck it up"; don't know where it's from.
3. Knitting inspired me to start blogging.
4. Strawberries are best freshly picked and still warm.
5. My kids were all babies at the same time in the last dream I remember having.
6. The most enjoyable time to go for a walk is early morning.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to folding clothes, tomorrow my plans include a friend's daughter's graduation party (which is being held at our house) and Sunday, I want to relax!

SP 12 Question of the Week

My most favorite summertime beverage is brewed iced tea. Right now I am on a Green Tea Iced Tea binge. I make regular tea and green tea in one cup in the morning. Leave both bags in the water until after lunch. Dump the 12 or so ounces of "tea" in a 24 oz cup. Fill with ice, top off with water and yummy for me!

So, what is your most favorite summertime beverage??? hmmmmm??

weird and weirder

So, I fell down about three steps at work on Wednesday and, let me tell you, I have the bruises to prove it. Now, it may bizarre but I generally don't fall down steps, I fall up steps. I fall up steps on such a regular basis that I have very specific criteria for going up steps.

• I do not go up steps if I have anything in my hands (almost a guaranteed tumble in that)
• I do not go up steps in heels
• I do not go up steps (except at home) anytime after about 3:00 p.m.

Actually, I was quite proud of myself when we went to the Captains game and I managed two sets of steps (48 and 41 steps each) and didn't take a tumble. On the other hand it really helped that there were a lot of people there so I didn't have to worry about going overly fast.

Anyway, last Wednesday, I'm trotting off to lunch. I currently sit on the second floor of our building and make it a point of going down the steps on a regular basis. I even take the elevator to the third floor and take the steps down to second . . . I do get some queer looks with that one but, what the heck do I care. So, off I go to lunch. There are 26 steps between each floor (13/landing/13). I get to the bottom three and in slow motion start falling. I have a chipped bone in my big toe on my right foot. I may have a fracture in my foot but they told me that it often doesn't show for up to 14 days. He thinks not and considering the fact that the swelling is mostly gone, it is a good thing.

On the other hand, I have bruises that keep appearing. I have bruise that runs from my waist to my upper thigh on my left side . . . don't ask how it happened. I vaguely remember thinking that it felt like my pants and panties were having a fight with the steps or wall and I was getting burned. My ribs hurt (nothing cracked or broken, just sore) and my left shoulder and, of course, both of my hands. Again, nothing but bruises but they are those wonderful deep purple ones.

The course of treatment is ice, ice and ice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But today is Sunday. It is a beautiful day. It is especially beautiful. I woke this morning around 6:00 a.m. and took my coffee and book to the back porch. We spent this morning swimming in the pool before the heat got too horrendous and it did wonderful things to cool us down. We have been breaking temperture highs since Wednesday. Actually, I think today is the coolest and it is 95 degrees on my porch.

It is the kind of heat that just hangs there. After cleaning the house yesterday, I was drenched and looked like I had taken a shower. In fact, the princess asked if I had because, you know, she was going to take a shower after lounging by the pool all afternoon, and she knew that she had mentioned that to me before she went out and hoped that I hadn't used all the hot water. Yeah, like I was going to use hot water anyway!!! I have to say it was especially funny when she came downstairs to discover that Dave was in the shower . . . of course, he had been working on the lawn mower all afternoon. He and I were going to a retirement party later in the evening.

The princess of course, needed to shower because she was going to church and youth ministry function and needed to be at her best and not looking sunblocked and windblown. Poor thing.

The princess: Don't be fooled, she isn't really working . . . she went over to change the radio station!

Zachariah was wondering what she was up to.

Friday Fill In

1. Idle hands are bored hands.
2. I love "soaking" in the shower (unfortunately my dermotologist says no more than five minutes).
3. My favorite time of the day is when the kids are all in bed and I know everyone is home where they belong.
4. The last tea I drank was Tetley . . . yesterday afternoon.
5. I like to relax in the pool in the Summer.
6. My mother always said wrong side of your work should be as neat the the right side of your work . . . which explains why I like to sew using french seams.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to doing as little as possible, tomorrow my plans include a retirement party for the LD teacher at Dave's school and Sunday, I want to relax!

Zachariah

This is St. Stanislaus Elementary School in Cleveland. The first floor left corner (four windows) is my husband's first grade classroom. He is just finishing his tenth year teaching at St. Stan's.

Last year, one of his students was our son Zachariah. Zachariah loves reading. His sister, Lindsey, loves reading too but Dave really believes that Zachariah loves reading more than Lindsey does. Even if he is playing on the computer, he loves those action games that have themes and story lines!

The chair he is sitting in is my kids favorite chair all variety of activities. It was my Mom's and the frame is broken on one side but the kids love it for reading or sitting or when they don't feel well.

And sometimes it just gets too hard to keep that book up while you are reading it and you have to lay over the arm of the chair . . .
oh, but I'm getting to the good part . . . that Junie B. Jones . . . what an exciting read!

On Sunday, May 18, Zachariah made his first communion along with five of his classmates at the Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus. St. Stanislaus is in the Slavic Village area of Cleveland. Slavic Village has really taken a beating in recent years, both literally and figuratively. If they could afford to, many of the residents would move away. However, many of the residents who have moved away from the area continue to support the church and school. When Dave first joined the staff at St. Stan's he taught one of the second grade classes. There were 42 students in second grade and 40 of them made their first communion that year. This year there are 26 students in second grade and only six are Catholic.

One of the Church's claims to fame was that a Polish born cardinal came to visit . . . shortly before he became Pope John Paul II.

It is a beautiful church and school.

Here is a picture that I took of some of the group.

Before the Mass started, Zachariah had to deal with his tie. And, no thank you, I can do it myself!

Lindsey took this pic in front of the Church doors.
And here is a pic of the main doors and front of the church. It is only a small piece of the entire campus which consists of the church, rectory, convent, elementary school and high school, filling one city block.

And here is Zachariah's GQ pic.

And finally, the official photo as taken by one of the parishioners. Zachariah is and probably always will be the smallest in his class. Of course, he is also the youngest but I don't think his age will make that big of a difference in comparing the sizes of all the kids.

It was a beautiful day. Many family and friends got to join in on this beautiful celebration!

Secret Pal 12 Questionnaire

SP 12 Questionnaire!!
1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I love natural fibers. I am currently lusting after anything silk/mohair type yarn. Given what I learned to knit with (see #3), I have never had a desire to knit with mohair but geez the stuff they have out now is super fabulous! I despise acrylics and fru-fru yarns . . . eyelash yarn is the work of the devil.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I have Knitpicks Options and have the original binder. I also have this wonderful cloth-sided zipped craft binder that easily holds all my bits and pieces.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
My gram bought me yarn (mohair), needles and a pattern (a sweater with cables) for my 8th birthday . . . what was she thinking??? I like intermediate stuff but could do advanced with just thinking about it for a little bit but, frankly, I like my knitting to be fun and not something where I am telling my kids to leave me alone because I'm concentrating on it! LOL!!

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
I do have a wish list on Amazon and there is a link in the column to the left. Thanks for asking.

5. What's your favorite scent?
Chanel #5 but alas, my darlin' hubby is allergic to everything.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Of course I have a sweet tooth which explains the size of my butt! My most favorite candy are Heath Bars.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I scrapbook and make cards (not well but enjoy doing it). My sister just gave me a drop spindle. It keeps rolling across the floor which is very entertaining for my hubby and kids.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like rock, mostly classic rock. My IPOD has a very ecletic blend on it right now, including Rod Stewart, Queen, Il Divo, Tony Bennett and the Cleveland Orchestra, go figure.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
Green. I love green and greenish blues. Oh, and red. I live in red and black (my most favorite jacket for work is reversible . . . black on one side, red on the other). I cannot stand yellow. I look hideous in it.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Married for 28 years, three kids (22, 14 and 7 -- girl/girl/boy). We do have an outdoor cat. She is ten and very mellow these days.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I do. I live in Cleveland. We have two seasons: road construction and winter

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
one or two skein projects. I have serious knitting ADHD . . . I am currently working on, oh, look something bright and soft and . . .

13. What are you knitting right now?
A secret thing for another not-secret-pal thingee. My son's sweater (a never ending project since the little rug rat keeps growing) and a hat for the 14 year old that I hate. I also have the Mystery Stole 3 mostly done but just got too distracted and need to spend too much time concentrating on it to make it pleasurable. Oh, and a clutch.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Circulars. I am currently in the process of collecting all of KnitPicks Harmony tips. They are lovely, truly lovely. I am also lusting after the Harmony DPs for those projects where I do need them.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
No, but I have kids and so far the 7 year is still fun enough that he doesn't mind being a swift.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
Remember the sweater from my Gram? Just kidding . . . that is one that I did finish. I have a Kaffe Fassett sweater that I have been making for years. It is just something that you cannot knit in the summer since it is heavy and complicated . . . again, the ADHD kicked in.

18. What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
My husband would say yarn . . . actually, I don't collect anything.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Any one skein or quick knit books. I have subscriptions to Interweave Knits and Cast On.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I cannot do the two socks thing. Actually socks just bore me but I do like sock yarn for other projects (100% wool because I also like to felt)

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
See 21.

23. When is your birthday?
October 9

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
Yes. mlj1954

ah, Monday

Why is it that we can have weekends that we do absolutely nothing and then there are the weekends that we hop from one thing to another.

I had a baby shower to attend on Saturday, a 70th birthday party for a friend (held at the Captain's game -- The Captains are a minor league team for the Cleveland Indians), friends over for dinner last evening and Dave spent all day Saturday from about 7:00 a.m. until 30 minutes before we had to leave for the game at school fixing the report cards for the entire school (there was a computer glitch that forced him to go in and manually fix each teacher's grade books).

Sunday morning at church, Mass had just started, Zachariah pulled at my sleeve and said I don't feel good. One look at his face and we left. Shortly after we got home, he announced that he felt better and could he get out of bed (my solution to any child who informs me that he or she is sick at church or school is that they immediately go to bed and have some quiet time . . . if they are really sick, they generally fall asleep; if they are only slightly ill and this worked to get out of doing something they may not have been to keen on, they aren't doing anything fun either). Well, while he laid down, I ironed Dave's shirts and then started working on my closet. Just the bags and totes that I have accumulated and generally get drop kicked into my closet. What a mess. I think I have enough yarn to open a shop. I also discovered some yarn and craft things that were my Mom's. I didn't even get to the clothing.

Later Zachariah and I spent time outside playing and planting green peppers. And then we relaxed until our friends came for dinner. I am exhausted.

Friday Fill In - 5/30/2008

1. For me death is the opposite of creativity.
2. My Sister's Keeper was the last excellent book I read.
3. I like fill-ins because it makes me think outside my comfort zone.
4. In nature I like looking at sunsets.
5. John Edwards should win the US elections. SIGH.
6. The last time I laughed with all my belly was May 3 when my sisters and brother and his wife came for dinner.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to spending one-on-one time with Zachariah, tomorrow my plans include a baby shower and 70th birthday party and Sunday, I want to finish the garden!

300 hats for children of the Ukraine -- HELP NEEDED

Kristy is collecting 300 hats to take to children in the Ukraine. Yes, I said 300 hats. Oh, and did I mention that she is leaving in September?

If you want information about the project, please click here.

So, who will be getting these hats, this is a pic of some of the potential recipients:




So, the thing is, how long does it take to knit a hat?
And, if you are like me, you have yarn in your stash.
And, you don't even have to go looking for a pattern cause there are many online . . .

Knitpicks has a page of free patterns.
Knitting-and.com has more free patterns.
and, of course, knitty.com has even more free patterns.

So, go check it out . . . please . . . with sugar on top.

Friday fill in - 5/23/08

1. On my laziest day I like to read books and drink tea or coffee!
2. Checking things off my "to do list" makes me feel like I'm being productive.
3. I love little kids and big hugs.
4. This summer I want to ride my bike at least three times a week.
5. Knitting made me start my blog.
6. Red and gray and orange and black . . . my high school colors and the colors of the high school in my community.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Dave, Zachariah and I having some time together, tomorrow my plans include 15 teens at my house and Sunday, I want to recover!

Worldwide Knit in Public Day 2008

So, the worldwide Knit in Public Day is scheduled for Saturday, June 14. Unfortunately, I have plans for that day and won't be anyplace with a group of knitters. BUT, I will be knitting anyway.

If you are interested in finding out if there are any organized WWKIP events scheduled in your area, go to the website which can be found HERE!

Friday Fill In - on Monday - 5/19/08

1. There is absolutely NO way you can get me to eat raw fish!
2. The opening of our pool reminds me that summer is almost here!
3. I cannot live without my family.
4. Yarn spinning and quilting are two things I'd like to try.
5. When life hands you lemons, put on your big girl panties and suck it up.
6. Our loud (7 kids) boisterous house is my favorite childhood memory.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to cooking, tomorrow my plans include cooking and Sunday, I want to enjoy Zachariah's First Communion!

Friday Fill in - 5/2/2008

1. Two of my favorite ingredients in a drink are spicy bloody mary mix and vodka!
2. My kids often amaze me.
3. You can keep doing that forever, the dog is sleeping.
4. Ground meat, chopped cabbage, chopped onion and rice, mix it all together and voila! You have stuffed cabbage casserole!.
5. If I had a yard with a garden, I would love to grow flowers. Oh, I do have a yard but I also have a husband with horrible allergies, so we grow veggies, lots and lots of veggies
6. Fresh from the garden tomatoes are best au naturel.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to finishing laundry, tomorrow my plans include dinner with my sisters and Sunday, I want to celebrate Sarah's 22nd birthday!