Wonderful Trip

We went on our first trip to Boston last week. It was a fun, event filled, action packed 6-day visit to see the sites, experience Fall color and spend some time with M & J.

The first day we borrowed a car and drove to have lunch with relatives in Conn. I discovered that there other knitters in my family. We also had a lovely home-made apple tart. Thank you Aunt Dot.On the second day, Greg and I borrowed the car (pre-programmed for the trip) for a stop at a wonderful diner in Watertown for breakfast and then to Old Manse in Concord and Powell Flutes in Maynard. No pictures were allowed at Powell - but I shot the outside of the building.

On Friday we met one of Greg's former students (who is a student at Harvard) for a bite of pizza on Harvard Square. His parents joined us as it was Parents' Weekend and they were in town, too. Then we went in search of Woolcott and Company. Sadly, as you can see by reading the link, they were in the process of closing their doors. Over the weekend we stopped by Windsor Buttons for another yarn fix. When we arrived there, it was almost closing time....they are doing well it seems and have an overwhelming collection that I will have to visit again, and again.

The view from M&J's apartment is spectacular. They are living on the Charles River, in East Cambridge. The location is convenient to their labs and near rail lines that take them around the Boston.

Views from the apartment (the Museum of Science is on the right)...

I have many wonderful pictures of the city and will post just a few here...

We had a lovely lunch at the Boston Public Library-

Visited a museum....

visited graveyards....

walked around Walden Pond ....

and watched the sun set...

We had both history ....

and nature lessons...

Thank you M&J for the wonderful look at your new home. We will definitely come back again in the near future to experience more of this beautiful area. You are the best tour guides we could have had!

Back to Blogging

Yes, I know it has been quite a while since typing here. Things have been sporadically busy over the past few months. I went to Sock Summit in Portland. There was the whole thing of our daughter moving to Boston. Poor thing, she lived among the craft paraphernalia (her old room) here after closing up her apartment and before embarking on a cross-country road trip. Then Greg and I went to Cabo for some R&R. What's not to love about snorkeling,

sailing

and deep sea fishing?

Sock Summit Week

It is finally here! I am leaving from Burbank early on Wednesday and will meet up with KnittingSuzanne (on Ravelry). We are not only on the same flight - but also booked into the same hotel. The Wednesday afternoon luncheon is another activity that we both signed up for- another very happy coincidence! Many pictures will follow post-summit, no doubt.

Some of you know my daughter is mid-move. Currently she has bunked into her old room (my craft room) on an aero bed, surrounded by yarn. Thank goodness it is mostly wool. We are spending time revisiting some favorite SoCal places before she takes off for Boston. Last weekend we visited Pismo and Santa Barbara.

Our favorite breakfast spot-
A really great market in Pismo - Shell Beach

and a crazy, wonderful lunch on the pier in SB...

SS09 Countdown

I am in serious countdown mode to Sock Summit. The group on Ravelry dedicated to this glorious event is quite active, as you can imagine. The thread about the Sock Museum inspired me to finally attempt The Mermaid Sock and my version is humming along nicely. In the process, I have learned a new heel and how to graft stitches more efficiently. GrammaK (on Ravelry) is submitting a Mermaid Sock to the Sock Museum project and she faved mine. What an honor!

As I mentioned in the previous post, we celebrated an anniversary. That evening we picked our daughter up at the airport and she surprised us with a container of live (thank goodness) lobsters. We enjoyed them for lunch yesterday. Yes, they were quite tasty.

Happy Anniversary

to us! Today is our 36th Wedding Anniversary we are celebrating with wonderful left over chicken, salad and white wine. I also was gifted a beautiful necklace of labradorite from the Gold Bug

A Special 4th!

My DH has decided to take today off to celebrate the 4th. This afternoon he is watching the History Channel special on the Revolutionary War and I am attempting a Mermaid Sock. He has a kit rifle of the period in progress, too!

Over the past three years I have been able to take classes from Lucy Neatby at Stitches West. Her teaching style is to be admired and the patterns are interesting. Her Mermaid Socks have called to me and (until now) I have resisted. Then I saw the perfect colorway sitting on the shelf at Skein the other day...another project underway. Our daughter left for Boston last night on Virgin America with a whopping 10 pieces of luggage. It turned out to be an efficient and inexpensive way to move certain items. Who would have guessed that? She plans to see the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular this evening in person. We will watch it on TV.

Happy 4th of July

Summer has officially arrived in SoCal. Tomato plants are full of fruit and the temperature is rising. Our first 4th of July fireworks will be observed at the Altadena CC Thursday (the 2nd). We will park the big blue truck on the southern border of the golf course to enjoy the display. It is always a treat! We may even purchase tickets and attend the Rose Bowl extravaganza!

I hope to have some exciting knitting news about my Central Park Hoodie in progress in the next few days. Exciting for me, that is. My current dilemma is which pair of socks to cast on. Should it be the Orion Socks (the official sock pattern for Sock Summit) or Lucy Neatby's Mermaid Socks from her book Cool Socks Warm Feet? Suggestions/advice will be cheerfully entertained.