Weekend with my Knittin' Buddies

I haven't gotten around to writing about our camping vacation last week yet, but this weekend I am at Bonnymill Inn Bed & Breakfast in Chesaning with 4 members of my knitting group. Here is where I laid my head for 2 nights...what a cute, comfortable room.




Sharon A. and I drove together, and stopped at a great yarn store in Davison on the way. When we got to Bonnymmill, Pat had already arrived, but Sharon and I both needed a little snooze (I had been up since 3 am....don't ask...) Dozed for a bit then met with Sharon A., Pat, and Sharon H. (who arrived while we slept) for dinner in the Bonnymill dining room. Then we knit for a while, and after Sharon A. went up to bed, the rest of us headed down to the Malt Shop for some ice cream. (Seen on the left in the photo below. On the right is the Showboat Restaurant where we went for lunch on Saturday after Tam arrived)



We took over the corner of the very large wrap-around porch for most of 2 days. We had a nice breeze, but unfortunately we were very close to the road and it was quite loud at times. As you can see in the background, the scenery was not the best either, but we didn't really care about that. We had knitting to do and fun times to share!




Many stitches were knit, many laughs were had, a few cocktails were consumed.




Yesterday afternoon there was a wedding on site and we saw the bride and her bridesmaids come out the front door and head down the porch to the back, where there is a gazebo and to where her guests (and groom) were waiting for her. The weather was perfect for a wedding. I didn't take photos to respect their privacy.

We ordered pizza for dinner and it was wonderful. After several more hours of knitting on the porch, we called it a day and headed up to our rooms.

After breakfast this morning, we checked out but stayed on the porch for a while yet, knitting and enjoying the beautiful weather.

We are thinking about the next time we do this...maybe in the winter...maybe somewhere we can sit around a fireplace and knit....what a fun time we had!

Happy, Happy, (I got my) Joy, Joy!!!!

Yesterday was a good day! It started out a bit busy (and way too early, after a very long, hot, eventful weekend with not enough sleep) Jake had an early ortho appt. (He's at the end of Phase 1, yeah!) and then I had a PT appt. I have been hobbling along on a sore knee for 5 months. I finally decided it was not going to get better on its own so I'm hoping the therapy will help. Otherwise I'll have to explore other options. I kinda need to walk (AND SPIN) for the rest of my life.

So around 1:00 pm, Debbie and I headed out, got some lunch and drove 2 hours to Threadbear. It certainly goes faster when you have someone to talk to!

When I was almost there, Rob called to ask where I was, and told me my friend Rebecca was there in the store (neither of us knew the other one was making the trip over there). When we got there, she and her friend Jenny were pulling up again (they had gone out to get some drinks). They came back in the store to hang out with Debbie and I for a while.

I was there to pick up my spinning wheel....I was so happy to finally be getting it...just in time for vacation. Yeah!

I also had a credit at the store so I picked up Nicky Epstein's new book Knitting Never Felt Better. It is such a great book! She is so darned creative... I'm in awe. I will get much inspiration from this book, I just know it.

I had enough credit left over to buy one of the last skeins of Rio De La Plata sock yarn that Rob and Matt had scored. In fact there were only 2 left (on the face of the earth maybe?) in the store so I took the other one for Diane. Cuz she deserves it. Aren't these skeins gorgeous?


I knew some of the yarn stores had already received their shipment of the Interweave Knits FELT magazine, even though the release date was supposed to be July 17. However, Threadbear hadn't gotten theirs yet. BUT.... When Rebecca and Jenny left to go to Little Red School House, they came back with the magazine in hand. Rebecca handed it to me, and I was practically begging her to tell me what page the ad was on as I was frantically flipping through it and then...I saw it....my B4 Bag and my name...right there in an Interweave magazine. Dang! That felt GOOD!






I don't know what was the best part of the day...getting my wheel, seeing my name and design in a magazine, bringing home a new book and sock yarn and not having to spend but a wee bit of money cuz of my credit. It was all good!

Here's Joy in her new home:



And some practicing with roving that Sabrina left in the bag for me:

Off to play some more!

Happy Anniversary to US!

Today is our 28th anniversary. Wow! Who knew, through all the trials and tribulations, we'd make it this far. Here's a photo of Mike and I on our wedding day...Oh, the 70s...weren't fashions grand? At least in this picture I am not wearing my big floppy hat! (I do, however, have my lovely parasol to block the sun)



Today is a BIG day for weddings....being 07-07-07 and all. In fact, we are going to a wedding. Oh yes, I mentioned it in my last post. At some point during the evening, I will have the DJ play our wedding song, and dedicate it to my dear hubby, Mike.

I just googled the song so I could link to it, and found something I didn't know before. Paul Stookey has donated all profit from this song to charity...almost $2 million so far! Wow! Read about it here.


Promised knitting content....


I'm working on a secret project which I am totally in love with. I can't wait to finish it and present it to its recipient. Of course it's in my favorite color which doesn't hurt. It's not the same secret project mentioned previously, (May 5), though it is for the same recipient. Unfortunately that project will be frogged. This one is better anyway, so I have no regrets. And that yarn will be used for something equally as lovely.


I'm knitting another Garden Gate Scarf (available over there on the sidebar). This one is in SWTC's Bamboo for the scarf portion, and the stems, leaves and flowers will be in Karaoke. Some of the flowers will be felted, some will not. I'm sending this to SWTC and I think Jonelle said it would be part of a Karaoke trunk show. I hope to get it in the mail to her very soon.


I also have a pair of socks on the needles, though it's slow going on those. I only pick those up occasionally. I'm about to turn the heels and then I have to decide what I'm going to do on the cuffs. It's not my favorite sock yarn, so I'm kind of anxious to have them done so I can knit with some of the wonderful Rio De La Plata sock yarn I got from Threadbear recently.


Speaking of Threadbear, I am headed there on Monday with my friend Debbie. The purpose of this visit for me is to finally pick up the Ashford Joy spinning wheel that I am buying from one of the gals who works at Threadbear. It is barely used, and I have been making payments on it for a couple of months. Unfortunately, finances on the homefront have been pretty tight, due to several recent layoffs for Mike. Thankfully they were temporary, but even still, put a halt to any frivolous spending. (Not that I consider buying a spinning wheel frivolous, by any means.....)


ANYWAY.....


I was hoping to have the Joy to take with us when we go on our camping vacation starting next Saturday. I had been picturing myself at the campsite, sitting under the awning of our camper, spinning away. It didn't look like this was going to happen. When I mentioned it to my sister the other day, my dear, sweet, wonderful, generous sister offered to loan me the money to pay it off so I could get my wheel. (THANKS DIANE!!! I LOVE YOU!) So Deb and I are going to head to Lansing. I know Deb....she's going to spend a lot of time shopping. Me? Well, remember that halt to frivolous spending I mentioned? I can't do much shopping. I do have a store credit I can possibly use. But while Deb is browsing (we spent about 6 hours in the store the first time we shopped there...to give you an indication....) I think I will spin some roving I will bring along with me, and get acquainted with Joy. I can't wait! Ever since I borrowed a Joy to spin on while I was visiting my sister in February, I have wanted my very own and in 2 days it will happen. Yeah!



I found this on Jane's blog, and thought it would be fun to play along....


Scattergories


Here are the rules:
~Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following.
~They MUST be real places, names, things…NOTHING made up!
~If you can’t think of anything, skip it.
~Try to use different answers if the person before you had the same 1st initial.
~You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Have fun!

Your Name: Trish

1. Famous Singer/Band: Tim McGraw
2. 4 letter word: Tool
3. Street Name: Tienken
4. Color: Teal
5. Gifts/Presents: Toys
6. Vehicle: Train
7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Trinkets
8. Boy Name: Tyler
9. Girl Name: Tina
10. Movie Title: Titanic
11. Drink: Tequila Sunrise
12. Occupation: Teller
13. Celebrity: Tom Hanks
14. Magazine: Time
15. U.S. City: Tampa
16. Pro Sports Teams: Tigers
18. Reason for Being Late for Work: Tired!
19. Something You Throw Away: Trash
20. Things You Shout: Time Out!
21. Cartoon Character: Tinkerbell

Tom is home

My nephew, Tom, arrived home from his tour in Afghanistan this morning. A bunch of us went to the airport to welcome him safely home. Here we are with our flags and signs, etc.

Tom's brother Jason is getting married this weekend. We're so glad he was able to be home in time to be his little brother's best man!



We were waiting for Tom for about 45 minutes, and many people came by and looked at our signs, asked where Tom had been, how long he had been gone, etc. It was really touching. All 8 in the picture below are Tom's cousins, from 4 families, and these are only about 1/3 of the cousins on our side. Too bad they couldn't have all been there!


I was able to catch this shot while he and his daughter were walking to the luggage carousel. I'll have to be sure to send this picture to Tom.

As happy as we all are to have him home, what really brought a tear to my eye were the older men who would stop and shake Tom's hand, saying what war they were in, thanking him for his service. Or the moms who have recently sent their boys off to war, coming by to say how glad they were that our family member was coming safely home. I'm getting a little weepy right now again, typing this. It was really nice.

Back to the regularly scheduled knitting content in my next post.... I promise!