Monday, June 30, 2014

Last day of June

Hard to believe that July 4 is almost upon us. I must have mentioned before that my absolute favorite holiday of the year is July 4, which puzzles a lot of people, especially those who love Thanksgiving and Christmas with a passion. For me, Independence Day is the perfect holiday -- summer foods like salads and fresh veggies are abundant, parades where you get candy thrown at you, bagpipes, floats, sunshine and warmth ... what's not to love? Plus it's my father's birthday, so we always have a delicious cake to anticipate. July 4 always seems to be gloriously sunny and warm, unlike Thanksgiving and Christmas, which fall at the darkest and most dreary time of year.

This year, O will not be celebrating the 4th with us in Connecticut as we dropped him off at camp yesterday:

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375"]IMG_20140629_135831 I look so much like my paternal grandmother from the side, it's scary![/caption]

IMG_20140629_133634

This is the second time he's been away to camp, but it's also the longest -- a full week. At this camp, it was the last year where he could go for just a week -- next year, when he's 13, it's a two-week stay (oh, and I hope he wants to go back. The possibility of two weeks of maternal freedom has me almost giddy!) We were lucky in that his best friend since first grade was able to join him (you can see his friend's feet in the bottom photo) because O was not at all enthusiastic about camp until L was able to go. But the night before we left and were packing, O seemed pretty excited, and when we arrived he seemed to hit it off with a couple of the other boys in the cabin. We really liked the two counselors assigned to the cabin, one of whom is a World Cup fan. He told O he would keep him informed of all the scores and plays this week; I, on the other hand, am his Wimbledon contact, although he'll have to wait for my letters to hear how Andy Murray and friends are faring.

When I returned home from dropping him off, my husband predicted I'd be missing O by the end of the evening. He lost. I am enjoying the quiet house immensely! I have, however, already written and posted the world's most boring letter to O. The nice thing about camp is they don't allow campers to bring cell phones and iPads -- instead, communication with parents it through the mail (or, God forbid, an emergency call by one of the counselors).

The camp is in Connecticut, so I'll be heading to my parents' house on the lake Thursday night, spending the 4th with them and celebrating my father's 75th (!!), then picking the boys up early Saturday morning and bringing them over to Grampa and Grandma's. O wants L to meet Carolina, my youngest brother's golden retriever, and show L how he can drive my father's pontoon boat so Saturday will be a busy day. Let's hope the glorious weather holds out!

I do have some finished knitting projects to show but it means dragging my dressform outside for good light. I have some interesting thrift shop finds to show you, including a crocheted blanket that I picked up for $5. I've also returned to biking on my two-wheeler and this week alone biked 55 miles. On Saturday I did a 30-mile trip to Cambridge and back:

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500"]Made it! Charles river, Cambridge View of the Charles, June 28, 2014[/caption]

I was beat that night and suffered a nasty headache and sunburn on my lower thighs, but I was proud that I made it, especially since just six months ago I was struggling to stand up without yelping in pain. :)

My goal this summer is to re-read all of Jane Austen's novels. The first I'm tackling is Mansfield Park, which I'm enjoying immensely. I forgot how decisive Austen was in drawing these characters; her touch here was not as deft as say in Pride and Prejudice. Fanny Price's goodness can be a bit tiresome, but I'm still enjoying the re-read and noticing things I didn't get the first time around.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

TGIJ!

And yes! Spring is finally here in New England. :) Some years I can start my garden in early May, but it was fairly cold here right up until Memorial Day. This week the temps are in the 70s and 80s, so maybe we'll just go straight into summer ... which is okay with me.

I decided a few weeks ago not to do a big garden this year. The biggest reason is my back, but since I'm planning to spend a lot of time in Connecticut this summer helping my parents out, having a garden adds more to-do items to my list. Instead, I asked O what he would really like to grow this year, and he said, "Watermelon!" Thus fully half of the fenced-in garden is dedicated to watermelon. I put in a few herbs (lavender, basil, rosemary), and then built a raised garden:

Raised garden bed

I basically followed the instructions I found on The Crafty Gemini (video was especially helpful). My husband let me borrow his electric power drill, and once I got the hang of drilling holes and screwing in the deck screws, putting the bed together was a piece of cake. The only difficult part of the operation was buying wood at Home Depot, where I was ignored and then talked down to, I suspect because of my chromosomal makeup. Time to look for a new place to buy lumber! Also, I want my own power drill. :)

This week O has been helping me fill this sucker with dirt and topsoil. I had hoped to get the soil to the top of the bed, but I think it's good enough to grow kale and lettuce. Next summer I'm going to build a couple more beds using some scrap lumber.

Knitting

I finished my Mind the Gap socks a couple weeks ago. Nothing much to say about the pattern (btw, when does a pattern become your pattern? I've knit these plain vanilla socks so many times with a few personal tweaks that I don't even need instructions.) The yarn was a pleasure to work with. I bought it through Trailing Cloud's Etsy shop, thanks to Kristie's post some months ago. I'm pleased I got the stripes to match on both socks, although I ran into orange striping while "kitchenering" one sock.

Mind the Gap socks

I had started on a plain vanilla cardigan last month, but today decided to rip it out and use the Cascade 220 yarn to knit Andi Satterlund's Miette cardigan. I need more stylish sweaters, and Miette fits the bill. I also ordered some yarn through WEBS to knit another Kate Davies' owl sweater for the fall and two skeins of hemp yarn for summer kerchiefs.

Weight

My weight did not budge in May despite my working out at the gym and zealously watching my food intake. That said, my pants are definitely getting looser. A couple weeks ago I bought a pair of size 8 jeans, which I thought I'd be able to fit into by the end of June. Well, I ended up fitting into them this weekend and wore them comfortably all day in Newport! So what I think is happening is that I'm burning fat and gaining muscle, which doesn't change the number on the scale (muscle weighs more than fat) but muscle takes less room that fat, thus why I seem to feel smaller.

At any rate, I'm still heavier than I'd like to be -- my body still has visible pockets of fat -- so I've made some tweaks to my diet, instituted some new habits (drinking plenty of water!), and set a few goals for the month. Stay tuned ...

Saying goodbye

My brother Matt finished out his year at the International Yacht Restoration School in Newport, RI, and is presently driving out west to Oregon to fight fires with the forest service. Here are some pictures of last weekend's boat launch ceremony. Yes, that's my crazy brother swimming in 58 degree water, towing his sailboat into harbor. Such a show off!

There was a woman next to us proclaiming loudly that people die jumping in the water like that. Not this guy!

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500"]John and Matt, IYRS, May 31, 2014 Matt is talking to John, who bought "Matt's boat." The sailboat will be moored at a local yacht club to be used by John's children and grandchildren.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500"]IYRS student boat launch, May 31, 2014 I loved the look of concentration on Matt's face. He's an excellent sailor![/caption]