Wow! What a Week!

We’ve been home from our whirlwind, sad, wonderful, family-filled trip to New York City for almost a week and it’s been a super busy (almost) week. I was glad to be there for my daughter when they had to say goodbye to my first grand-dog and it’s always wonderful to squeeze all of my kids and their significant others in person. AND bonus we get to spend quality time with our granddaughter.

I love seeing my other kids, now aunts and uncles, with Sylvie. They all adore her and are so supportive of each other which is exactly what I hope would happen when they grew up. Sibling relationships are difficult and require acceptance and flexibility and we all go through our own “stuff” … it’s wonderful to have siblings to share life with. On Mabel’s last morning on Earth, we took Sylvie to the playground for a couple of hours so that her parents could focus on Mabel and not worry about the baby. We walked up to the playground and played and then stopped at a local restaurant (ostensibly for lunch but Sylvie wanted no food) and home for a nap. It was a beautiful NY day and it was wonderful to be outside. Monk is always tired out after his visits to NY but he loves being included and staying with his nephews, Gus and Picasso, and all the sniffs he gets there.

When we arrived back home I was delighted to see the developments in our garden. We are growing TULIPS! We also have daffodils and some hyacinths coming up … well the mini-daffs are in bloom and the big daffs are coming soon. I’m super excited about the tulips, though. I’ve always had to NOT plant them because critters eat them. So far, we’ve been lucky … and I hope I’m not speaking out of turn because this is the exact moment that critters will eat them to the ground. I’m crossing my fingers.

Yesterday, we took a ride to Popham Beach State Park. We ran a few errands on the way there, took a long walk on the beach, gathered a few shells and then came home. It was a gorgeous day to be outside and I am so glad we went. It’s lovely to be by the ocean and I loved spending the time alone with my hubby. We tried to take a selfie but we both looked grumpy so I deleted it – we were not grumpy and I’d rather remember the day than see an inaccurate depiction. Ha! Ha!

I have been knitting! I really have! On the way to New York, I cast on a little cotton sundress for Sylvie in bubblegum pink cotton. Sunbeam Kids Dress in Jody Long My Little Sunshine organic cotton yarn. I like the yarn and the color will be great on her this summer. I’m babysitting at the end of May and will make sure the length is a tiny bit longer than perfect then and we should have a lot of fun watching her run on the beach in September.

I’ve got my second Emotional Support Chicken ready to seam and stuff. I love the colors of this one and I hope that my friend and former camper will love her, too. If all goes well today, I will finishe her … and since it’s raining, it looks like I’ll be spending the day in my atelier!

I’m also working on a pair of socks. This yarn has been in my stash for at least a decade. My daughter bought two balls of it for me back when she was still living in Chicago. I made one pair of socks from the first ball before I was on Ravelry and chose this yarn for my next pair because it’s pink and I seem to be in a pink phase. I’m knitting the Hermione’s Everyday Sock pattern by the Crazy Sock Lady on US 1.5 DPNs. The pattern is easy to remember and makes good car knitting. I’m ready to start the heel of the first sock today.

I’ve been working a very little, tiny, incy wincy bit on my Jelly Roll Blanket. I have a basket full of scraps of sock yarn next to my desk chair so that I can knit on it during zoom meetings. I missed a couple while we were in NYC but I’ve got more coming. This blanket will be a long-term project for sure but it’s grown a little bit.

And last but not least, yesterday on our way home from Popham Beach, we stopped at Mother of Purl in Freeport where I had ordered a Lumos Lumos, aka boob, light. I have thought about buying one of these lights for a while and LYS Day was yesterday and they had a special promotion for the lights. When we went to pick it up, I had to buy a bit of yarn, too, to make a sweater for Sylvie for the fall/winter. The pattern is Binx and it’s knit in a DK weight yarn. The store sample was in Patagonia which is currently one of my favorite yarns. I don’t seem to be allergic to this yarn and it get so soft when worked/washed/worn. I have at least one more sweater worth in my stash … maybe two. Ha! Ha! I will make myself finish at least two projects before I can cast on a new one.

Gone knitting.

Sunday Fun Day!

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Yesterday morning, we woke up to a little fog on the ice and more open water than we’ve seen in what seems forever! Knowing that it was going to be sunny, we figured that the fog would go away and we’d have less ice at the end of the day.

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Before we left to go take a Sunday drive, this is what it was looking like. There were a couple of times when the ice came right up to the land and sounded like crystals being rolled around. The sound was so unique! I tried to get a video of the sounds but I didn’t think any of the three were audible enough to translate. Suffice it to say, it was really great!

We wanted to head to Skowhegan today to see if the Maine Grains “cafe” was open and if we could get a bite to eat and buy some oatmeal. It was not open, but it was a pretty drive.

My husband heard about a sculpture at his volunteer job at Colby College Art Museum. Colby Art Museum has a few pieces by this artist. Apparently when he died, his widow spread his works around the state and two are found in Skowhegan!

The Indian statue is HUGE! He is easily the world’s tallest Indian. It’s sixty-two feet tall atop a 20 foot tall base, He was erected in 1969 and dedicated, as you can read in the picture above, to Maine’s Abenaki Indians. The play area, which they now ask you to stay off of, is a two-sided stair-step of farm animals. Please don’t climb on them! These sculptures are a little gem of art and Maine history along the way. You can find this guy on the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and High Street behind the Cumberland Farms food mart. It’s free and worth a detour!

When we got home (after a stop at Giffords for a bit of ice cream) the ice was moving by our house again. And before sunset, it was gone. Ice out!

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We heard our first loons on the lake, too. It brought tears to my eyes. I love living in this place and feel so fortunate to be here.

Gone knitting!