When I first started reading blogs I remember seeing people post about gifts they received.  Little packages with goodies and treats were sent, randomly it seemed, to popular bloggers.  I wondered if I’d ever be the recipient of something like that.

I didn’t have to wonder long and over the years I have received some wonderful gifts from wonderful friends like Margene and Kathy and Norma and Hillary and others that I’m not mentioning here.  No matter how often it happens, though, it’s still a wonderful and thoughtful thing.  And when someone knits for you it’s even better.

Behold the tea cozy that Cookie knit for me as a birthday present.  I was so excited when I saw the box with the name Cookie! as the sender – I just knew it would be something fabulous.  I was right!

Cookie says to tell you that the pattern is called Rosy Posy Tea Cozy and it’s available free on Ravelry.  It was first published in The Knitter magazine and that’s when I exclaimed over it and apparently inspired Cookie.  She used Patons Classic Merino Wool from her stash in Olive Green, Bright Pink and Bright Red for the roses.  Less than a 100gr skein was used of the green.  And for the rest of the specs:  US 7/4.5mm needles for the cozy and a US 9/5.5 mm tip for the cast off, US 5/ 3.75 mm dpns for the rose bed and an F hook for the roses.

It fits perfectly on my favorite tea pot.  I’ve actually been meaning to make a cozy for this tea pot  and I’m thrilled to have this extra special one from my extra special friend.  Since this is the teapot I use when I brew a pot of tea for Dale and I, you know we’ll think of Cookie with each cup of tea we share.

Thanks, Cookie!  I love it.

I think this bee is waving at Kim.

So the theme for Ten on Tuesday this week is 10 Favorite Athletes.  Seriously?  I’m not sure if I can even name 10 athletes, never mind have 10 favorites.  But okay, it’s Tuesday and this is what we do.

1. Candace Parker.  She used to play for my beloved Lady Vols and now she’s in the WNBA.

2. Carl Yastrzemski.  My nana loved the Red Sox and she especially loved Yaz.  I grew up hearing about how great he was so of course he’s on my list.

3. Joe Namath.  I am no fan of football but he was the most famous football player of my childhood.

4. Bobby Orr.  The Boston Bruins won two Stanley Cups with Orr on the team.  Again, my childhood memories include lots of talk of Bobby Orr.

5. Larry Bird.  The Celtics were huge around here in the 80s.  I never got to go to a game back then but I sure wish I had.

6. Kevin McHale.  See #5.

7. Ted Williams.  My father was a huge fan of Ted Williams.  So is Dale and so is my father-in-law.  Hence, he makes the list.

8. Diana Taurasi.  She played for UConn the first season I started watching Women’s College Basketball.  I wanted Hannah to grow up and play just like her.  Ha ha ha.

9.Mary Lou Retton. 1984 Summer Olympics.  Need I say more?

10. Muhammad Ali.  He floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.

This was not an easy list for me to compile.  How come they didn’t ask for a list of my 10 favorite knitters?  Now that would have been a cake walk!

On Saturday Sharon and I headed to the Parker River Alpaca Farm for a day of spinning with our friends – the human ones and the alpaca ones.  It was a beautiful day.  The sky was deep blue, the sun was warm and the breezes were chilly.  As I sat in front of my wheel and chatted with my friends and snapped some photos I could hear Gale’s voice in my head telling me, “the biggest difference between amateur photographers and professional photographers is that amateurs take 5 photos and professionals take 100.”  So I took a lot of photos.  77, to be exact.  That makes it a little tough to narrow down which ones to share with you but I managed to find a few.

Alpacas pretty much eat and poop and that’s about it.  They are kind of noisy when they eat, too.  All that hay chewing creates quite a ruckus.

When they aren’t eating they are wandering around the yard.  They are curious animals and came right over to our spinning wheels to see what we were doing.  Some of them even let us hug and pet them.

I can never decide what color I like best!

Of course, Sharon had to hold a couple of the babies.  Laurie didn’t mind – it gave her a chance to pet them.  This little guy felt like velvet.

I just love to photograph alpacas, apparently.

This is Eddie.  Just look at that sweet little face!  I would have smuggled him into the car and brought him home with us if I could have.

It was a really wonderful day.  I made a delicious lunch, including this chicken salad, and had a fantastic time hanging out.

I think spinning (especially with alpacas) is good for the soul.  And the blood pressure.

Now that autumn is officially here, allow me to present. . .

the last rose of summer.  I’m so glad it’s pink.

Have a great weekend!

I have been knitting a lot lately.  Constantly, in fact.  But I can’t show you what I’m knitting because it’s super secret.  So what’s a knitter to do in  a case like this?  How about a video of her husband’s band?

can you find the spot where Dale takes some poetic license with the lyrics?

Dale and the Duds.  Live.  Woo hoo.

I took the photo of the chair by the pond that was  in yesterday’s post while at the birthday party of a friend last weekend.  He and his wife run a local bed & breakfast and it’s a beautiful spot, nestled among a pretty little pond and some cranberry bogs.  I took quite a few photos and would like to share some of them with you.

Isn’t it lovely?  So peaceful.  I could sit on their deck and knit all day long.

Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes!  I loved reading every comment and you all made my birthday a terrific one.  And now, on to this week’s Ten on Tuesday, 10 Things You Need to Plan For.

1. Retirement.  I’ve been paying into the same pension plan for my whole adult working life.  I hope this works the way it’s supposed to in 15 years or so.

2. Dinner.  I find I do best when I plan a weekly menu and then shop accordingly.  It helps avoid take out and it saves money, too.

3. Knitting.  I honestly don’t buy yarn without a plan.

4. Gardens. I’m still paying the price for some of the decisions I made when I started my perennial garden without the proper planning.

5. Holidays.  Thanksgiving dinner needs to be planned, Christmas shopping needs to be planned, holiday scheduldes need to be planned . . . and that season will be here before you know it.

6. Vacations.  If I don’t plan for them I don’t take them.

7. Health stuff.  Eye exams, mammograms, annual physicals . . . planning is what makes them happen.

8. Blog posts.  My weeks goes much easier when I have my posts planned.  I think it probably makes this a more entertaining blog to visit, too.

9. Parties. I’m already planning the one I’ll be throwing for Hannah’s high school graduation.

10. Meetings.  I hold regular meetings and they go much better when I’ve planned the agenda and considered the options.

This was a lot easier than I thought it would be.  I think I am truly a planner at heart.

A post written by my husband, Dale . . .

A few years have come and gone since last I was a guest blogger at Carole Knits.  The occasion then, as it is now, was to give Carole a day off and wish her a very happy birthday.  So here we are again on September 21st to do just that.

We have many ways of marking a year for different purposes.  We have the calendar year, the fiscal year, and the school year.  We can mark a year by the four seasons or the moons or a blogaversary.  All of these methods are, one way or another, shared by all.

There is one yearly measurement, however, that is yours and yours alone.  I think of it as the “birthday year” and it’s a very personal way of marking the passage of time.  Just like a calendar year, it’s a time to celebrate, a time to reflect, and a time to look forward.

Carole, I do hope that this past year was everything you hoped it would be and as years go, in your personal collection, I hope it was right up there with the best of them!  No need to recap the year’s ups and downs, adventures and accomplishments, that’s the beauty of your blog’s archives.  But now it’s time to think about your upcoming year.  I wish for you a year of love, happiness and fulfillment.  A year from now I hope you can say that this was the best year yet.

And since I do read this blog, and I even sometimes pay attention, I want to start this birthday year off right, and do something special for you.  So I’ve written you a poem.

Ode to Carole

When you asked if I would be a guest on today’s blog

I will admit that my mind was locked in a fog

Words don’t come as easy to me as they do to you

And I’m in awe of your talent, I hope you know that’s true

So here’s a wish for your birthday in my simple and humble way

And if the rhymes aren’t terrific, I hope that will be okay

I just wanted to let you know I’m glad that you’re my wife

And I wanted to thank you for sharing with me another year in your life

Happy Birthday, darling.

Well thanks for reading this.  I do hope that all of Carole’s friends will join me in wishing her  a very happy birthday.  And please join me next year at this time when I’ll attempt to be a guest knitter.

Okay, only kidding about that last part.

We got apples in our CSA share last week.

I wore sneakers and socks when I went for my morning walk yesterday.

And the leaves are starting to turn.

I guess fall is going to come whether I want it to or not.

It’s not that I don’t like fall, I actually do.

It’s the season that follows fall that I despise.

Sigh.

The card reader did the trick – we have photographs again.  Yay!

At the Photography for Knitters workshop Gale talked a lot about ways to pose our handknits.  She talked about the challenges we face when we try to get 3 dimensional things like bags and sweaters and socks translate to 1 dimensional blogs.  And she gave some suggestions on better ways to photograph these things, ways to make them come alive, if you will.

So the other day I headed into my back yard with my most recent pair of socks, looking for some different ways to show them to you.

I started with the black eyed susans.  The colors blend nicely but the socks are really too heavy to photograph there without causing the plant to flop over.

Then I remembered what Gale said about wood and yarn.  She described it as having a relationship similar to velcro.  The yarn is the loopy part and the wood is the prickly part and they will stick together.

So I stuck my socks on a tree.

I was able to photograph the heel.

And the toe.

And even the pretty picot edge.  The yarn, in case you’re wondering is Cider Moon in the color June Carter.  The pattern is my usual, of course, but at least the pictures are a bit different this time.

You’ve got to mix things up where you can, you know.