The official end of summer deserves a beautiful sunset, don’t you think?  Have a terrific weekend and enjoy those cook outs!

You remember my new bike, right?  I’ve started calling her Betty and she and I have been having a bit of fun together.  I haven’t gone on any more long rides but I’ve ridden around town for errands a few times and that was my intention when I bought the bike.

I’ve ridden to the post office twice, once to mail the MS Prize socks and once to mail the dish rag I knit for Dish Rag Tag.

I’ve ridden to get a pedicure.

And I’ve ridden to Town Hall twice, once to pay our property taxes and once to pay our water bill.

I’ve been too chicken to try riding to CVS but it’s on my list and I’m sure I’ll just do it one of these days.

My point in this post (other than just coming up with something to say because I really don’t have anything to say) is that it’s fun to ride!  I really do feel like a kid again with this bike and I get compliments on her everywhere I go.

There is one hill that I face when going “downtown” to the PO or nail salon but I think it’s gotten a bit easier to climb each time.  Either that or I’m just getting used to it because that first time was a killer.

I’m looking forward to riding more as the weather cools down and I know it will be heartbreaking to put her away when the ice and snow arrives.  Just another reason to hate winter.  Heh.

First of all, let me say that I’m sorry for the recent blog issues. I am very frustrated by the current situation and am working on a permanent solution. In the meantime please know that I post Mon-Fri morning and if there isn’t a post when there should be it’s because the server is being bitchy. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to email me comments and questions – I really appreciate that extra effort! Okay, back to regular blogging.

As much as I love summer I can’t deny the feeling of fall that has been in the air lately. And with that feeling comes a renewed focus on being organized and prepared. I’ve started planning meals again and have been cooking things like chicken-and-rice and American Chop Suey rather than things on the grill. I’ve taken Hannah back to school shopping (she started her junior year today – eeek!) and I’ve actually had to close the windows some nights.

Fall is definitely coming and that means I need to finish Twist. This sweater has been on the needles since April and my intention has always been to have it finished when the weather turned cool. I had the back and one front of the cardigan mostly done when I set it aside because it was too hot around here to have that thing in my lap but I picked it up last Saturday and I’ve been making steady progress ever since. As of last night the back and both fronts are finished and I’ve started a sleeve – woot! The end is in sight!

Of course you know that just about the time it’s finished Indian Summer will hit New England. Honestly, though, I’m okay with that!

I have another finished pair of socks to show you and the title refers to that teeny problem of flashing and pooling because it happened again.

I’m just not sure I like these and I considered abandoning them more than once but I didn’t because of the name of the yarn. It’s called “Beach House” by Great Adirondack and I bought it from the Loopy Ewe way back in the winter with plans to knit the socks while we were on vacation at our Beach House rental.

I started them on our first day at the beach and by the time we went home I had finished one sock. The second sock knit up quickly last week and they are done. This makes my 5th pair of socks for the Summer of Socks ‘08.

And I don’t hate them but I don’t love them either. Ya know?

Oh, and many of you have recently asked about how to do a picot edge on a sock. I happily direct you to this tutorial at Claudia’s Blog. She explains it quite well and if you follow these directions you’ll have no problem with this technique.

And there we have Beach House Socks. The name is great but the socks? Meh.

Whooosh.

That is the sound of my weekend flying by. I honestly can’t believe it’s already Monday morning and not still Sunday. It’s not like I did anything all that great this weekend, either. Mostly it was taken up with errands and back-to-school business and family stuff. There was a trip to the dentist and some school shopping and knitting and a wee bit of family drama. I did manage to squeeze in some time with friends last night and that was great.

The sad thing is that I didn’t take any pictures of any of this and I thought I’d have nothing. Then I remembered that we went to the Marshfield Fair the other night and I took pictures there. You’re going to love these pictures. They aren’t of sheep or knitting crafts or food. They aren’t of people or rides or attractions. Nope, they are all of something very near and dear to my heart

I just know you all understand.

You knew today’s photo would be from the beach, right? I hope you have blue skies this weekend!

Like any good vacation there was a fair amount of knitting. Not as much knitting as I thought there’d be (there never is, right?) but I did manage to finish a pair of socks.

These were knit as a prize for Claudia’s MS Raffle and they are on their way to the winner as you read this.

No big surprise that they are picot edge, I’m sure. The yarn is Sophie’s Toes in the colorway Autumn Leaves and I hope the recipient likes them – she said she likes browns and reds and earth tones. I think this yarn fits the bill but I always worry when knitting a prize, you know?

I worry about fit, too. This person has pretty narrow feet but these look really narrow to me. They fit Hannah, though, so I’m hoping they’ll be okay. But again, I worry.

I’d be pretty happy if someone knit me a pair of socks so I suppose I shouldn’t worry. I’ll take any reassurances you all have to offer, though.

Prize knitting. It’s not for wimps. Or worriers.

Let’s face it, the one thing that can truly make or break a Cape Cod vacation is the weather. We have been lucky to have pretty good weather for our vacations and this year was no exception. While the weather people predicted rain and storms a lot, they only actually materialized twice. And when you’re a sky watcher and camera toter like me that can be a good thing.

There we were at the beach on Tuesday afternoon. The water was sparkling, the sun was shining . . .

The clouds began to thicken a bit but the sun was still shining and there were martinis and life was good.

Dale and Patrick went for a walk along the shoreline but as they returned I noticed the sky really beginning to change.

It wasn’t long before the clouds became really dramatic and created quite a site up in the sky.

The temperatures dropped and things got pretty chilly but it was worth it for the photos I got.

And you know what they say about the weather in New England, right? If you don’t like it just wait a few minutes and it will change. By the time we got back to the house the sun was shining again and all was right with the world.

I love the feeling I always have at the beginning of our vacation on Cape Cod. The week stretches before me and I imagine the ways we will fill our time. Trips to the beach, cocktails on the deck, walks around the neighborhood, special meals in special places we only visit once a year . . . the possibilities are endless and it feels like there will be time for everything.

And then before I know it the week is over and I look back and realize that I didn’t have nearly enough time. Even though I try to savor every moment it still feels like it’s over in a flash. Thankfully I have lots of memories of everything we did and I can enhance those memories by looking at the photographs I took.

Photographs of the beach.

And my family enjoying themselves.

Photographs of delicious drinks and food.

And glorious sunsets.

I think it’s pretty obvious that we had a great week! Sharing my photographs and vacation memories with all of you is something I truly enjoy and I hope you enjoy them, too.

And now for something I don’t enjoy . . . going back to work.

I’m back from our week on Cape Cod and it was wonderful but it’s great to be home. I missed my house and I missed the internets. I missed all of you!

Today I will finish unpacking, pick up the mail, catch up on email and blogs, and upload my photos. I will have a real blog post for you tomorrow but for now just know that it’s good to be home.