As my final entry about our vacation on the Cape I’m going to tell you about a little touring that we did. Then I’ll move on, I promise!

We visited Falmouth one day and shopped and walked around a bit. We also visited Hyannis one evening. It was okay but Hyannis isn’t as fun as I remembered. My favorite day of touring, though, was the day we went to Provincetown. I haven’t been to P-town in the summer since I was a kid and, unlike Hyannis, it was even better than I remembered.

We did some shopping and walking around, of course. The stores are fun and full of unique and funky stuff. We didn’t buy too much but we did all manage to find cool sunglasses.

The beaches and beach houses are beautiful!

We had a terrific lunch at Waydowntown. The beach was literally on the other side of our table. And the Mojitos were the best I’ve ever had.

It’s sad to say farewell to such a wonderful vacation. At least I got to bring one of these two home with me. The other is spending the rest of her summer on Martha’s Vineyard. The little brat.

Knitting was the only thing I did on vacation that even remotely resembled work. And we all know that knitting is not work so I think you can safely surmise that I relaxed a lot while at the Cape. Here are some photos of the things we all did to relax.

Ahhh. The beach again. You’re probably sick of beach photos by now but I can’t help myself. The beach that was closest to the house we stayed at was private and relatively deserted most days. I love a beach without people and so does Dale so this was the beach we chose most days.

There was reading. Hannah finished To Kill a Mockingbird and Dale almost finished Mayflower and I made some good progress through Under the Banner of Heaven.

We walked around our neighborhood a few times with the dog. We let her swim once or twice and one night witnessed a really pretty sunset.

We collected shells to bring home to remind us of our week at the beach. This was my idea and, while Dale and Hannah resisted at first, they finally got on board and started picking up shells with me.

We relaxed on the deck with martinis. It’s pretty rare for Dale to drink a martini so I had to take this photo. I, on the other hand, had a martini every day. Ahem.

Of course we went out to eat. This lobster roll is absolutely HUGE and it’s from a legendary place called The Raw Bar. This restaurant was 10 minutes from the house. TEN minutes. It’s a true testimony to my incredible will power (and frugality) that we only went there twice and not every day.

So, for those of you concerned that I relaxed enough on my vacation, I hope your fears at put to rest now. My family and I relaxed very very well.

I overpacked for this vacation at the beach. I didn’t overpack clothes. I overpacked yarn. Do you do this? What is it about knitters and the time/space continuum? I always think I can knit way more than I actually can so I overpack the knitting. Because a panic would occur were I to run out of knitting.

So I brought along the Mountain Dew Trekking socks in progress, yarn for my Toasty Toes socks, Hannah’s birthday socks, plus two extra skeins of sock yarn for Justin Case. You all know him, right? I also brought the Adamas Shawl and some cotton for dish clothes.

The reality? I finished the Mountain Dew socks and got about 2/3 of the way through the first of Hannah’s birthday socks. That’s it. But I had a lot of fun and the socks went a lot of places!

The beach. Do you know what you wind up with when you sit on the beach and knit for a portion of every day?

Knitter’s Tan. Your arm gets all tanned up, except for where you keep it bent to hold the knitting. Sort of like Truck Driver’s Tan without the diesel fumes.

The socks went to dinner at The British Beer Company.

And they begged to pose with Dale and Hannah while at the BBC.

They were finished and worn by Hannah by the end of the week. Yippee!

Hi there, everybody! I’m home. It’s good to be home, too. In fact, I was ready to come home. I mean, how much sunning, knitting and beaching can one girl take?

Please do not construe this to mean that I am also ready to go back to work. Because I am so not ready for that. And yet, that’s where I’m headed tomorrow morning. Blech.

I promise real posts about our vacation adventures in the days ahead. In the meantime, this photo will have to hold you over.

Because, right now, I have 367 emails and 343 blog posts to read.

On vacation . . .

Picture me, right in the middle of that photo, for a week. I wish you were all going with me. See you when I get back!

There are all kinds of pizza and everyone has a favorite. Mine is bar pizza because it’s the pizza I ate when I was a kid. And, if I’m going to be really specific, my favorite is bar pizza from The Cape Cod Cafe in Brockton. Nope, it’s not on the Cape but they’ve been in business in the same location since 1939 and I think it’s the best pizza in the world!

I have so many memories associated with this pizza. When I was growing up, Sundays meant church, dinner (which was always a roast of some kind) and then pizza for supper. We always got it from “The Cod” because it was the closest to our house but also because it was my parent’s favorite. My mother used to say that when they were really poor they used to count their pennies on Sunday nights to see if they had ten cents to buy a plain pizza. Things were much different by the time I came along and we pretty much bought a pizza per person. Mine was always pepper and onion.

Nowadays The Cod is a respectable family style restaurant but years ago it was basically a dive and we always got our pizza to go because my parents wouldn’t have brought my brothers and I there to eat. We would phone in our order and my dad would go pick it up. In fact, the phone number to this restaurant was probably one of the first phone numbers I memorized other than my own! And I still know it by heart and I still call in the order only now it’s my husband, not my dad, who goes to pick up the pizza.

P is for Pizza. It’s more than just a food, it’s a memory!

One thing I’ve discovered while being on vacation is that blogging takes discipline. It’s almost like work, for crying out loud. You see, I generally write my blog posts in advance, either first thing in the morning or in the evening. I schedule my writing around my work day just like I schedule food shopping or running errands or other tasks. But on vacation the schedule gets blown to bits and so does blogging.

Today’s post, therefore, is simply a few pictures I’ve taken so far this week.

More spinning with Abigail. This is a merino/tencel blend. Mmm. Mmm. Good.

The sock and I just couldn’t resist this sign at the Brockton Rox Stadium. I mean, really, it’s just so true.

The wool chart at Plimoth Plantation is slightly more detailed than the one I posted from the Brockton Fair.

They also have a very cool madder chart with yarn samples.

Cooling off!

Sandy toes.

O is still for ocean. Sigh.

Hope you liked my photo essay. Today is going to be about staying cool, getting a haircut, and making lists and starting to pack for next week. Weeee.

I’m on vacation, did you know? It’s great! This week I’m home, hanging around, knitting, spinning and relaxing. Next week we’re off to Cape Cod for the week. Me, Dale, Hannah, Mason and Dixie. You’ve got to love a rental where you can bring the dog and cat!

So, I have some spinning to show you. Abigail is truly settling in now and we’re getting along well. Dale cleaned up the bobbin and flyer a bit for me with some very fine sandpaper and she’s spinning beautifully since then. Here’s the first skein she and I have made together:

It’s Coopworth, nothing special, just what I had brought with me when I went to try her out. I think there’s about 140 yards there and it’s probably the finest yarn I’ve spun yet. Here’s a close up:

Truly, not bad. And if it was anyone’s but my own, I’d say it was great.

I’ve also been spending some time with Rosie. After spinning that Romney for so long I decided she needed something colorful on her bobbin so I’ve been spinning the batt I bought from Indigo Moon.

The colors are gorgeous and this stuff practically spins by itself. And Rosie and I have a wonderful relationship so it’s a real joy to spin with her.

My other goal for the summer was to knit with my own handspun and I finally am doing just that. It’s just a simple scarf and the yarn is pretty thick/thin (which was actually what I was aiming for when I spun it) but I’m really enjoying the handspun! It’s about time, eh?