It’s hard to summarize a whole great week of vacation into one blog post but I’m going to try a new approach. I’m just going to give you the statistics!

• Days spent at the beach: 5

• Shopping excursions: 2

• Lobsters eaten: 12 plus 2 lobster rolls

• Seagulls photographed: 1
• Racko games played: 24. I never won once.
• Rummy games played: 1. I lost that, too.
• Apples to Apples games played: 2. I don’t think I won this either but the details are fuzzy.

• Drinks consumed: many, many
• Bike rides taken: 5

• Number of sunsets photographed: 1

• Smiles: countless!

We had a bit of a weather event (more on it later this week when I get some photos processed) and from that event came the idea for this week’s Ten on Tuesday Topic: 10 Ways to Prepare for a Big Storm.

1. Pay attention to the news reports. Dale thinks they exaggerate and create hype but I trust my guys at ABC News. They are not alarmists but they do take storms seriously and I feel like they offer the best information in my area.
2. Find your flashlights and make sure they have batteries that work. I assume you already have flashlights but if you don’t, get some.
3. Gather your candles and matches. I have lots of candles but they are scattered around the house. The lanterns we use for Civil War reenacting are great during a power outage but they live in our storage trailer so they need to be brought into the house – preferably before the power goes out and we are left in the dark.
4. Make sure you have food for the pets. One time I had to resort to feeding Mason tuna when we ran out of cat food during a snow storm. He didn’t mind but the price point was an issue for me.
5. Secure the stuff in your yard like lawn furniture and plants. Bring in your bird feeders.
6. Stock up on booze and beer. I know, it’s frivolous but a cocktail helps ease the pain of being without the Internets.
7. Charge the things that need to be charged. iPhones, iPads, Kindles, and the like won’t work if they aren’t fully charged.
8. Check your stock of non-perishable goods. I usually have plenty of canned vegetables, rice, soup and more but it’s good to double check so that you don’t run out of things to eat.
9. Turn up your fridge and freezer. This will help it stay cold longer if the power does go out. And, if the power does go out, don’t open that fridge unless you absolutely have to get something.
10. Fill your car’s gas tank. You don’t want to be out of gas and have the pumps not working because there’s no electricity at the gas station.

We are home safe and sound from our Cape Cod Vacation 2011. Hurricane Irene did cut our trip short by one day but I won’t hold a grudge since we seem to have made it through the storm relatively unscathed.

I have loads of pictures to process and lots of stories to tell you but for now I hope you’ll be satisfied with this picture I took on the beach last week.

That’s my idea of heaven, right there.

I know, I know, it’s usually a flower photo or a beach photo or a food photo when you show up for Eye Candy Friday. This week, though, it’s a building photo. This is at the Spencer Pierce Little Farm in Newburyport, the site of Fiber Revival. I couldn’t resist taking a photo showcasing the textures and colors of this building.

I’m off to the beach. See you on the 29th!

I knew a contest would generate a lot of comments and I’m glad to have received every one of them. It was especially fun to read about everyone’s favorite sock pattern. Turns out there are a lot of us who like a “plain vanilla” sock and I think that’s a very good thing. The Monkey Sock pattern was mentioned many times and certain designers, like Cookie A. and Anne Hanson came up over and over. Some of you have excellent taste and chose my Picot Edge Sock pattern as your favorite.

Only one of you, however, can be a winner (I always want to say wiener, you know) and this time our winning number, as chosen by the Random Number Generator, is #56. Commenter number 56 was Susan, a long time friend and occasional commenter – perfect. Congratulations, Susan! I hope you’ll love your skein of Woolen Rabbit Sock Yarn.

As for me, I’ll be knitting with this:

A pretty cake of Sunshine Yarn superwash merino in the color Fades Away.

The colors remind me of the blue ocean and sunset filled sky on Cape Cod so they will be perfect for my vacation knitting.

And we won’t talk about how the name Fades Away is reminiscent of what my summer is now doing.

For years my family has gone on vacation the 3rd week of August. This year, however, to better accommodate various work schedules, we have changed our vacation to the 4th week of August. This provided me with the absolutely huge benefit of being able to go to Fiber Revival for the very first time. I was most definitely not disappointed!

Sharon and Jo-Ann and I tried to get an early start but Boston traffic delayed our arrival until nearly lunch time. It was okay, though, because that meant we didn’t have to wait at all before hitting the beer truck. Yes, I said beer truck. You have to love a fiber event that has beer.

And vendors. Some of my favorite vendors, in fact. Kim and Dave, Amy and Josette and many more.

There was vintage baseball going on in one of the fields and that was very cool. Truly, it was like watching a scene from Field of Dreams. I kept expecting to see Shoeless Joe come walking out of that cornfield.

Of course the highlight of the day was hanging with my peeps, chatting and spinning. I have had Jo-Ann on the hook for months now with the spinning bait and on Saturday I set the hook and reeled her in. She’s doing just fine with the spinning and I expect she’ll have a wheel of her own, and not my borrowed Lendrum, in no time at all.

Speaking of wheels, check out my friend Kelly’s pendulum wheel. So cool and so big, but I know I’d have conked myself in the head with that spindle if I’d had the guts to try it.

Kelly really does always have the coolest spinning stuff, like this beautiful Bosworth spindle made from flame box elder. It’s a work of art, I tell you.

I had such a fun day. It was relaxing and the setting was spectacular. My family vacation has been moved permanently because I can’t imagine missing out on this event now that I know how wonderful it is.

It’s only a few days until my annual family beach vacation and I’m in full-on planning mode. I really believe that the more I plan in advance, whether it’s breakfast, dinner, activities or destinations, the more relaxing my vacation  will be. Of course, if the weather is fine then the only destination we’ll have is the beach, therefore I’d like to make a list of 10 Great Snacks to take to the Beach.

1. Green grapes. I love them when they are cold and crunchy, they are refreshing and thirst quenching and delicious.
2. Cheese and crackers. The perfect snack, in my opinion.
3. Trail mix. My favorite has peanuts and M&Ms and raisins. I usually make a big bag before we go.
4. Caprese sticks. A grape tomato, a basil leaf and a mozzarella ball on a tooth pick. Fast to make, simple to pack, and delicious to eat.
5. Chocolate chip cookies. A day at the beach is great but a day at the beach with homemade chocolate chip cookies is fantastic.
6. Hummus and carrot sticks. Crunchy and yummy – just be careful not to drop the container!
7. Wraps. My family isn’t big on wraps but on my own I’d put some meat and cheese, perhaps some chopped olives or hot peppers, wrap it all up and slice it into rounds. Mmmm.
8. Twizzlers. I don’t know what it is about them but we always have them on vacation and I definitely associate them with the beach.
9. Goldfish crackers. They are universally enjoyed by all 5 of us so a bag doesn’t last long – a good thing considering our humid Cape Cod weather.
10. Cocktails. I  know a drink isn’t technically a snack but I really enjoy a cold glass of Malibu and pineapple juice when I’m by the sea. Mmmm.

Wow! Thank you all so much for the deluge of comments on last Thursday’s post. I really appreciate that many of you took the time to de-lurk and introduce yourselves. I loved the comments from my long time readers and friends, too. I certainly didn’t mean to make any of you think that I was considering giving up the blog because that’s certainly not the case. I love writing it and sharing my life with all of you and I have every intention of continuing. I couldn’t imagine not having the connection to this community we’ve all built.

Speaking of community, Kathy and I have decided it’s time for a knit along. We want you all to knit socks (any pattern you like) and we’d love it if you’d knit those socks with Woolen Rabbit sock yarn. Kim is such a sweet friend of ours and she dyes gorgeous colors and we think you should all give her yarn a try. Of course you are free to choose any of Kim’s colors that appeal to you but Kathy and I will be knitting our socks with “Pussywillow” and we’d love it if you all used that color, too.

In fact, I’m giving away this skein of Pussywillow to get a lucky reader started. Just leave a comment on this post telling me the name of your favorite sock pattern and you’ll be automatically entered in the contest. And just for the sake of closure, let’s say the contest is open until midnight on Wednesday, 8/17.

A contest and a knit along. How’s that for jump starting this ole knitting blog?

We went back to New Hampshire  last weekend and spent Sunday with our friends Jo-Ann and Shawn at their house on Lake Winnipesaukee. This scarlet begonia hanging off their deck is certainly thriving. I think I would, too, if this was my view every day!

Have a great weekend and enjoy your view!

• I think my blog used to be a lot more entertaining than it is these days.
• I think this because yesterday I was searching the blog for the date of my last colonoscopy (it was January of 2007 so I am due to go again next year) and I read some of those posts from back then and they seemed a lot better than anything I am writing now.
• Maybe I’ve run out of stuff to blog about.
• Or maybe work is just busier than it was in those days and my creative writing juices get sucked out of me because of that.
• I also noticed that I used to get a lot more comments than I do now.
• The weird thing is that I have more readers than I did back then.
• Is this the price you pay for becoming popular? Not that I think I’m popular but I do get a lot of hits.
• And I know that Wordless Wednesday posts won’t generate a lot of comments and posts about knitting will bring you all out of the wood work . . . but still.
• I’m a comment whore, I suppose.
• Maybe  it’s time for a contest.
• I’m going to Fiber Revival for the first time ever this Saturday, maybe I’ll pick up something to give away.
• That will get the comments flowing, I bet.