We’ve been away for a week and that means that I’ve done precious little knitting and absolutely no baking but I sure have enjoyed living for a week with all of my kids and their families. We were eight adults, one toddler, and only five dogs. We’ve been renting a wonderful cottage in Weekapaug, RI called “The Nest” and it has another little house called “The Perch”. Together the two houses have five bedrooms and four and a half baths. It’s an easy walk to the Fenway beach which is very child-friendly with a sandy beach that has a gradual entrance into the ocean.

September is our chosen month and we have loved being there outside of the high season when there are many fewer people on the roads and on the beach. The one downside is that a lot of restaurants and shops close but we still can have fun visiting the Annex in Watch Hill for some peach ice cream, watching the carousel (Sylvie isn’t quite big enough for it yet!) and we have gone to the Ocean House for a cocktail (or two) for our “fancy” night out. Most of the time, though, we spend on the beach and this year the weather was perfect: sunny but not hot and with a nice breeze. We all spent a few hours daily on the beach.

The older folks among us had a couple of “issues” this year. My sweet hubby tripped with the cooler while we were unpacking and badly sprained his knee. We had to visit the urgent care clinic that, thankfully, was nearby. He was told to ice, elevate and rest which he did. I went down to the beach on the first day for a couple of hours without sunblock. Just because it’s September doesn’t mean the sun isn’t strong and I got a good sunburn on my chest and left shoulder. I spent the rest of the week with a shirt over my swimsuit. Regardless, it was a wonderful week with lots of time to laugh.

I brought three projects with me: socks for my brother-in-love, a Musselburgh hat for my son in two shades of worsted weight yarn and some Remix Light to knit my second Lane’s Island sweater. I did knit all the way there and back in the car but didn’t knit much there. I had a little (almost) two-year-old who demanded a lot of my attention and I was only too happy to oblige her. She was afraid of the waves (“bubbles”) and was very fearful the first day. Her daddy arrived on the third day and she let him carry her out into the water and had fun chatting with the surfers and snorkelers. “No sand” and “no bubbles” was the favorite phrase every time we went to the beach but she adjusted more quickly each day. We don’t put her face on social media so you’ll have to believe me when I say that she’s the most adorable, social, happy little kiddo and it was fun to watch her with the family. She loves her parents, her aunts and uncles, her grandparents and her dogs.

It’s now Friday evening and I’m just finishing this post. Re-entry has been a little bit tough but it’s nice to be home. I’m missing my family and looking forward to seeing them in October. I hope to get some sleep caught up this weekend and maybe even get one more project finished. I’m close on my son’s worsted Musselburgh. I worked at the shop yesterday and was super busy and then taught three classes today. I’ll be glad to sit and knit this evening and go to bed early.

Gone knitting.