family,

Fall

Posted by

22

It is officially fall around here. I know the calendar would have something to say about my proclamation, but I have seen the signs and summer is over. That can mean only one thing – Fall has begun!

Sign #1 – we spent yesterday getting the pool ready for winter – this involves a thorough cleaning, a filter disassembling and then wrestling with the gigantic cover, all the while screaming at the pugs to get off of it. This happens every year and every year about halfway through the process I corral them back into the house (another process that involves screaming) all the while muttering that I should have never let them out in the first place and why don’t I ever learn.

Sign #2 – alarms went off early this morning and D#2 is off to start her Junior year of high school. The college selection process is on her horizon – egads! There was a flurry of phone calls last night as outfits and hairdos were discussed.

Sign #3 – talk of upcoming Rhinebeck fun is reaching a fevered pitch! Outfits and hairdos have also been discussed. I am campaigning for capes.

Sign #4 – did you check out my new banner image?

In my last entry I promised you pictures ……

New_table
new kitchen table!
it has a distressed pine top and a maple bottom painted with black over red. Also has extender boards for either end which make it fantastically big. You can sort of see the matching bench on the far side. The hunt is on hunt for new chairs.

Raindrop_lace_socks
Raindrop Lace Socks
yarn: Cherry Tree Hill pattern: Evelyn Clark

Dish_cloth_001
FA in PA gets the last laugh – a dishcloth!
between those Mason Dixon girls and now Vicki, who can resist?

excuses, excuses ….

Posted by

21

A game and some explanations – pick the lie ……..

I have been oddly absent from the blog because:

1. The third and final season of Arrested Development came out on DVD. I am a rabid fan of this show and have spent countless hours memorizing lines I find especially hysterical. I insert them into daily conversations and laugh wildly at my cleverness. Naturally the release of this final DVD is tantamount to a high holy day in my house and everything came to a screeching halt as I committed these episodes to memory. Stay tuned for more hilarity!

2. With summer winding down and all the gray and rainy days we have been having, I have been very low key and not felt like blogging.

3. Julia invited me to join her in a game. Not realizing what I was getting myself into, I accepted. So did Cara. After reading both of their entries for this game, it dawned on me what a boring life I have been living and I became vocally paralyzed. No tales of breaking and entering from me folks. I have too much respect for our judicial system for that! No hair raisers about my naked ta-ta’s on exotic beaches. I have enough freckles thank you very much. What could I possibly write about? That time I got the bad grade on my english paper? How about when I skipped class with Tina that one day and we hung out in my back yard pool floating on rafts and feeling very Thelma & Louise? When you are a GOOD GIRL like me and your mother raised you RIGHT, there is very little adventure with which to entertain. ~sigh~ being a pillar of the community can be such a burden at times.

Posted by

19

Today we are off to take D#1 back to school for her sophomore year. She had a campus job for the summer and spent all of June and July on campus. The job ended early in August and she has been here with us for the past three weeks. It has been so, so nice to have her home and I am going to miss her! I shall concentrate on all the car knitting and try to ignore the fact that my children are growing up and leaving me. wah!

In news from the wood shop ….. John and I churned out three chairs yesterday. I started the day off making a tutorial, complete with pictures. The minute the carpenter’s protractor came out, my confidence began to flag. I persisted. Pictures were snapped, notes were taken. Then the angles and bevels came into play. holy cow.

Is this something you guys would really make? The rip cuts? The angling of edges? We used the following: a table saw, jig saw, radial arm saw, router, nail gun and electric drill. And of course the absolutely indispensible Boar. Have you got yourselves a Boar?

wouldn’t you rather the secrets to my fabulous marshmallows? for those you will need a candy thermometer and a mixer.

Darlings, if a tutorial you want, a tutorial you shall have. I am here to do your bidding.

well, you know, I mean most of your bidding – at least as far as wood shop is concerned. For all that other stuff, I’m gonna need wine. Lots of wine. and maybe some shots.

Intarsia and the Old Lady

Posted by

17

Today is D#1’s birthday! Her 19th birthday. Since this is my blog and it’s all about me, let’s take a moment and focus on the birthday mother.

I cannot believe this. I am a cliché. The woman who cannot fathom her childrens’ ages and the mathematical implications for her own chronology. How has this happened? She’s nineteen. And I am not. ~sob~

It’s probably a good thing then that I am busy boning (tee-hee! am I ever too old to get a kick out of sexual innuendo?) up on my mad intarsia skillz. In dinosaur years, I am a heartbeat away from grandmahood and will soon be churning out Peter Rabbit nursery sets and the like ….. so with that in mind, I present to you something I call Pug Pillow …..

P8150084

This is another Christmas gift – one I can show on the blog because the recipient (Mr. Boar) does not read purlingswine. Can you believe it?? If I had to guess, I would say that he would tell you he doesn’t read my site because he gets enough of my lips flapping in his ears in real life. A virtual me would put him over the edge. La? you’re on notice my dearest cheese, I see a logcabin square for the back of this on the knitting horizon.

Once this pillow is complete, I am casting on for one of these. Unlike the lovely Rachel, I will not be using my own handspun but I did pick up some Noro. I cannot wait to get started. Vicki darling, I hear that you have your eye on this too!