A tisket, a tasket
A cotton loaded basket

Yes, it’s true, I’ve been bitten by the Mason Dixon dishcloth bug. They’re useful! They’re quick! They’re cotton so they don’t stick to me in all this humidity!

They are my knitting of choice these days, my friends. If you haven’t tried one yet, I think it’s about time.

Y’all know that I don’t generally post on Fridays. But this idea of Sundara’s of just posting a pretty picture on Friday? That’s something I can certainly do.

Have a great weekend.

My name is not Mary but I do have a vegetable garden and it has been growing all sorts of things.

It’s gone from this:

May 31, 2006

To this:

June 29, 2006

To this overgrown mess:

July 26, 2006

We’ve had loads of cucumbers and squash. But lately, I’ve noticed some rather, errr, strange vegetables.

I don’t recall planting pumpkins.

Or peas.

Or eggplants and radishes.

They sure are cute, though. And they’ve been sent off to Ilene at the WIC Office in Brockton for distribution at their nutrition classes during the month of August.

I can’t imagine what will turn up next.

Martha’s Vineyard

I have always lived near the ocean. Well, near enough, anyway. We can be at a couple of different beaches within 40 minutes. And we can be on Cape Cod in under an hour. I guess, when you spend your whole life living near the water, you take it for granted. So I want to use this post to write down what I love about the ocean.

Plymouth Beach

I love to listen to the sound of the surf. When I was a kid, I used to spend a lot of time on Orr’s Island in Maine. And I loved falling asleep to the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks.

I love walking on the beach and finding beautiful shells and unique rocks and sea glass. Years ago I found a rock that’s shaped like a heart and it’s been sitting on my bedside table ever since.

Old Silver Beach, Falmouth

I love to swim in the salt water and ride the waves. A couple of summers ago Dale and I spent a day at Goosewing Beach in Little Compton, RI. The waves were fantastic and we had a blast in the water that day. I was exhausted by the time we went home.

I love to eat at restaurants that are on the water. There’s nothing more relaxing than drinking a cold beer and admiring the ocean view.

Nelson Beach, Plymouth

I love to knit on the beach. It’s relaxing and soothing and a great way to pass the time.

I love the availability of fresh fish. Lobsters and clams and fish aren’t always cheap around here but they are always available and they are definitely fresh. We had someone give us two freshly caught stripers a couple of weeks ago and we had a fantastic meal of fish cooked on the grill.

I guess mostly I just love being at the ocean. Whether it’s eating or relaxing or knitting (or all of the above) I truly love the ocean.

How about you? What do you love about the ocean?

This was the sky at the start of the Rox game on Friday night. Grey but not rainy. However, by the middle of the 5th inning, the sky had changed and the rain had arrived. Sheets of rain, to be exact.

The field was covered in the hopes that this would turn out to be just a rain delay and not a rain cancellation. However, see how wet this kid is?

Yeah. The game was called due to the weather. And the rest of the weekend pretty much followed that path. There would be bright skies for a while and then it would rain.

I spent all afternoon Saturday watching 24 and alternating between spinning and knitting. This was the first real quality time Abigail and I have had together. We are getting to know each other but she is taking some time to adjust to her new surroundings. The orifice opening is exceptionally small and that can be frustrating for me. And occasionally the newly spun yarn doesn’t want to wind onto the bobbin. Any of you CPW owners out there that are willing to share advice, I’d love to hear it.

Sunday we had a bit of company from Brant, Heather and Ambrynn. The weather wasn’t very cooperative and we were forced indoors for most of the day but Ambrynn had fun playing with some toys and reading books and walking around. Yes, I said walking! We did manage to cook on the grill and had some of the most delicious chicken kabobs I’ve ever had. Even Ambrynn got to have some! There was also hot Italian sausage and potato salad and hamburgers and corn on the cob. We ended with pineapple upside down cake for dessert. Yumm.

When I went outside to wave goodbye to the kids I had to take a sky picture. It’s much prettier than the one from Friday and a fitting end to a great weekend – in spite of the weather.

It’s been ages since I’ve done a Good, Bad and Ugly post. Really, I’m way overdue with this. But here you go. Hope you like it!

Good: Summer driving. The top is down on the Jeep and the wind is blowing through my hair and I’m loving it.
Bad: The wind is blowing through my hair. I spend most days at work with Jeep hair and it ain’t pretty.
Ugly: Unexpected thunder storms while the top is down on the Jeep. We drove home with puddles under our feet the other night.

Good: I’ve won a lot of prizes lately! There has been yarn from Karen

and stitch markers from Cece. And I’m expecting a prize from Christine, too. There was also the Amazing Lace Poetry Challenge win.
Bad: You know all this winning is bound to come to a screeching halt at some point.

Good: Eating locally. This is something we do quite often since our beef and pork is raised by Blogless Sharon. But now the garden is exploding and we’ve had our own squash and cucumbers plus local corn, too. It feels good to eat the vegetables we have grown!

Bad: Garden pests. I’m worried about slugs chomping the squash plants now.
Ugly: Weeds. Why oh why are there always weeds?

Good: Skinny-dipping. Remember skinny-dipping? It felt good. It was fun and freeing and just a little bit wild.
Bad: Opportunities for skinny-dipping these days are pretty rare.
Ugly: As my dear sister-in-law Jen (picture below on the left, Dale’s sister Lisa is on the right) pointed out recently, when you’re our size, you can’t really call it skinny-dipping. For us, it’s chunky-dunking

Good: Birthday socks for Jessica.

Bad: I have lots more socks to knit for upcoming birthdays. Hannah’s birthday is right around the corner. As is my daughter-in-law Heather’s. Plus the Toasty Toes swap. And then it’s Christmas knitting. Ugh.
Ugly: Deadline knitting.

Good: Speaking of socks, hand dyed sock yarn is pretty good. Mine looked like this, if you recall.

Bad: This is how it looks knit into socks, however.

Ugly: Is this a sock only a mother could love or what? I’m thinking it’s pretty ugly. I’ll leave the yarn dyeing to the experts from now on.

So, ummm, what did you do last night?

I went shopping and bought an original Canadian Production Wheel. You just never know what you’re going to find on sale, eh?
ETA: I didn’t mean to be so cryptic! Here’s what happened. Last week there was an email sent to the listserve of a local spinning guild on behalf of someone selling a Canadian Production Wheel. While I’m not an official member of this guild, I do belong to the listserve and I have some friends in the guild. The woman who sent the email actually owns the wheel that Dave Paul used as his prototype for his CPW reproductions. And this woman, who I know and trust, said that the wheel being sold was beautiful and in wonderful working condition. She also said that if she didn’t already have the wheel she bought from Dave she would be buying this one.

To make a long story short, emails were exchanged and last night Dale and I went to look at the wheel. I checked it over and spun on it and found it to be exactly as described. The price was very fair and she came home with us. I have named her Abigail because the woman I bought her from is a docent at the Abigail Adams house. And I cannot wait to get home from work today and start spinning!

During these dog days of summer, I feel it necessary to remind you of what we have to look forward to in just a few short months. Remember this?

Yeah. That’s a picture of our house from a Nor’Easter that hit in December of 2003. It dumped over 2 feet of snow on us. You know what a Nor’Easter is, right? It’s basically a blizzard and it’s a particularly nasty type of snowstorm we mostly get here in the North East. Lots of wind, piles and piles of snow, power outages, and days off from school.

I have great memories of the Blizzard of ‘78, one of the most powerful blizzards in my area. The storm took everyone by surprise. I was actually at school that day and they let us out early because it started snowing so furiously. And it just kept snowing – for 32 hours. People were stranded trying to get home from work. Snow plows were unable to pass on the roads. I remember when we finally got the driveway shoveled and we had to literally step up two feet to walk onto the road. I also remember walking to the grocery story with my parents, pulling a sled to haul the groceries home. People were friendly and helpful and it was a really pleasant time once everyone was safe.

And we have the fabled Blizzard of ‘78 to thank for the present state of panic that everyone feels around here once the least little storm is predicted. It’s been nearly thirty years and grocery stores still run out of bread and milk right before a snowstorm! Frankly, I have never understood the urgent need for bread and milk when a snowstorm is predicted. Me, I buy cookies and potato chips and booze. But, whatever. To each his own and all that.

You won’t hear me complaining about the heat. Especially after looking at these photos and remembering just how cold and miserable it can here when a Nor’Easter hits.

My father-in-law, Jack, turned 80 last Friday. He was the guest of honor at a party held at his very own establishment, Jack’s Service. I may have had my reservations about throwing a party in an auto garage, but Jack’s friends at the shop knew what they were doing. It was relaxed and fun in a very retro kind of way.

Now, Jack has a way of bringing together all kinds of people – and this party was a perfect example of that.
There was family. LOTS of family.

And friends. LOTS and LOTS of friends.

There was the band, of course.

And food. Cooked on a very nifty (and borrowed) grill by the coordinator of this whole she-bang.

Like any good birthday party, there was cake.

And the biggest birthday card I have ever seen.

Finally, there was a major surprise. This is Sleepy LaBeef.

Have you heard of him? He’s also known as The Human Jukebox and he’s a very good friend of Jack’s. Sleepy was flown into town by the organizers of this party. His plane was delayed several hours but he finally arrived at about 10 pm. The look on Jack’s face when Sleepy strode into the garage and walked up to the microphone and started singing and playing was priceless.

Most of us were rocking and rolling into the wee hours.

The title of this post, by the way, was inspired by Sleepy’s closing song of the night. Yup, it was “Amazing Grace.” And it made me think how we were all together due not only to the amazing grace of God but also the amazing grace of my father-in-law. A man who loves everyone and everything and always find joy in life. Happy Birthday, Jack. And many, many more.

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who voted in the Amazing Lace Poetry Challenge. You guys are awesome and many of you had already voted for me before I even asked. Love you all! And guess what?!? I won!! Not only do I get 3 entries in the grand prize drawing but I also won this great little bag from Robynn! Thanks again to everyone who voted.

My weekend was busy with a family party (details later) and errands and shopping. But Sunday was all about this:

I parked my ass in that chair for about 4 hours. I did get up to eat a sandwich and swim a bit.

I also got up and took a sky photo for Sandy.

And a flower photo for Cara.

But mostly I just sat in that chair with my knitting. Sometimes life is really good.