Yes, Actual Knitting Has Been Occuring

I just don't have a picture of any at the moment. I just attached the sleeves to Satomi's baby sweater, so hopefully I will have a finished object soon.

We have been having horrible storms and flooding here lately - you can check out the news at http://www.nbc10.com or http://www.delawareonline.com to see pictures of the flooding. We are okay where we are, but many of my coworkers who live further south in Delaware have had problems getting to work because all of their normal routes are flooded out.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we had a family reunion of sorts here last week and here are a few of the pictures I took:



Little Miss Willow. This was one of the few pleasant shots of her that day - she had her nose out of joint for a few different reasons this day and was making her displeasure known... as you will see in some of the next photos.

This is one of my favourite objets d'art in my in-laws' home - an old-fashioned desk chair my father-in-law surprised my mother-in-law with after a trip to South Carolina, I believe. It's a very sweet story and a gorgeous piece of furniture.



Me and Miss Pouty Face:



No - my face isn't flushed because I was drinking! We had been at the waterpark the day before and despite stinky and expensive sunblock, I still got a bit of colour.

And 99% of the Hawkins kids and grandkids:



From L-R in the back: Willow, Andrew, Erica, Doug, Stewart.
From L-R in the front: Adam, Joy, Lauren, Grace, and Caddie.

The only one not there was Jacqui, Doug's oldest daughter. She was graduating from Western Washington University with a BS in Biochemistry. Congratulations, Jacqui - we are all so proud!

Two Things About Today

1. It's our 8th *wedding* anniversary today. Wedding is between asterisks for a reason - we were actually married on a different day. Happy Anniversary, Andrew!

2. I found a key on my keychain that I have no earthly clue what for...

I Can Deal With This...

You are Bettie Page

Girl next door with a wild streak You're a famous beauty - with unique look And the people like you are cultish about it

What Famous Pinup Are You?

Happy Anniversary and Catch Up on Colorswap

Now isn't this delectable?



It was my in-laws' 46th wedding anniverary the other day, and since all the kids are in town, we went to dinner at Harry's Savoy Grill... so yummy! I had the prime rib - Andrew decided to have steak... I warned him the prime rib was worlds better! Anyway, here is a picture of my in-laws:



Happy 46th Anniversary!

I also received my June Blue Colorswap from my partner Lynne from http://iwasknittogetherinmymotherswomb.typepad.com/ a few days ago. I took these pictures in batches - here is part of it:



There is a cute drink umbrella (I'm truly surprised Willow hasn't laid claim to this yet!), some swirly coasters (very much needed), cobalt blue nail polish, and the most gorgeous smelling macademia nut hand and nail cream. And behind it all is this beautiful blue ceramic baking dish - I'm just dreaming up what I can make first!

There was also this book:



Full of the cutest children's clothing and toy patterns. See the little doll in the corner? Look in the next pic to see what Willow is playing with:



Lynne made Willow her very own Lula doll and Willow fell in love with it and has been sleeping with it ever since it arrived. She has even commisioned me to make a dress for Lula. And lastly, there was this little bluebird:



I don't have any plants of my own in our apartment other than a pot of basil, so I planted Mr. Bluebird in a pot of miniature hibiscus my mother-in-law has in the backyard - I think he is happy there!

Blue Books

Oh, get your mind out of the gutter!

I was trying to think of a novel (ha ha!) way to play with the blue theme for Project Spectrum this month, and came up with books I have read that have the word blue in their title. This is easy to do - go to your favourite online book merchant, type "blue" in the search engine, and come up with 10 (if you can) books you have read with the word blue in the title:

Island of the Blue Dolphins - Scott O'Dell

This was an assigned book when I was in elementary school - maybe grade six or seven. I can't say I could critique it now, but I do know I have read it.

One Fish Two Fish Three Fish Blue Fish - Dr. Suess

I have a soon-to-be four year old... this particular Dr. Suess book must have been read aloud in our house a gazillion times.

Blue Dahlia - Nora Roberts

I believe this was the second in a trilogy (Into the Garden) about a ghost on a former southern plantation. Not my favourite of Roberts' trilogies (that would be the Three Sisters Island trilogy) but still a good read. Actually, I believe I listened to all three books in this series on CD. It still counts!

Blue Moon - Laurell K. Hamilton

Sex, werewolves, backstabbing action... and a Richard that went from dreamy to scary...

Blue Hat, Green Hat - Sandra Boynton

Again - kid. This book is simple enough with the prose and pictures that Willow can read it without actually reading the words.

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues - Tom Robbins

I read this in university after seeing the movie with Uma Thurman in it. I then went ahead and read a half dozen other books by Tom Robbins. He's odd.

Chesapeake Blue - Nora Roberts

Another book in a trilogy about brothers in Maryland. I'm afraid it's not sticking out beyond that.

Blue Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson

Wonderful series! This is part of a very involved trilogy about the colonization of Mars - covering everything from politics, mysticism, terraforming... I really think everyone should read this series because it isn't all that far off - and even though it technically is science fiction, it is very realistic - not fantastic.

Midnight Blue - Nancy A. Collins

This is a three-in-one trilogy (what is it with me and trilogies?!?!) about Sonja Blue, a Vampire Vampire Hunter (yeah, the word vampire is there twice on purpose). Not to everyone's taste - the book is exceptionally violent and graphic - but a great story nonetheless.

Counting With Blue - Lauryn Silverhardt

Willow received this book as a baby and it has a cute rhyme while counting up to five. It is another book she has pretty much memorized.

Your turn - what blue books have you read?

Self-induced Meme

Borrowed from http://birdsnestknits.typepad.com/

Rules: Please leave a one-word comment that you think best describes me — it can only be one word long. Then copy and paste this into your blog so that I may leave a word about you.

On Safari for the Wild Delaware Butterfly...

Willow's class had a field trip today to the Ashland Nature Center, where the park rangers suited us up with nets -



And let us hunt for butterflies!



I had never done this before and some small part of me thinks that maybe I had more fun than the kids. There are two fields in the park where you can catch butterflies, and once you have caught them they are brought to the Butterfly House (a greenhouse-type structure covered in netting rather than glass) and set free inside it. There are all sorts of flowers and bushes in the Butterfly house that butterflies love to eat and it lets people see some pretty neat butterflies up close. I am proud to say that I caught three butterflies all by myself (it seems odd at my age - let's just say thirtysomething - to say 'all by myself') - two cabbage whites and one little blue guy with orange spots.

Here is a girl Willow's class holding my blue butterfly - I am not sure if you can see it through the plastic:



Here is a picture of a black and orange butterfly inside the Butterfly House:



And here is a Cabbage White on a red flower:



We were so worn out on the busride home - who knew that chasing after insects would be such hard work!



I think this is the sweetest photo - here is Willow and Soren holding hands as we were leaving the park:



People who don't know these two think that they are fraternal twins - and it is surprising how much they do look alike. Soren is a little older, but they are the same size, have the same colour hair, same eye colour, same face shape - completely different personalities, however.

Baby Blanket Received

My sister Jaime received the package I sent her full of baby things, and she sent pictures back of Liam in the Tangerine Dream blanket I knit for him. Isn't he adorable?



I love babies when they are sleeping like this. When they are so new I always wonder what they dream about.



See - I wasn't the only one who thought of the colour orange. Our other sister, Teri sent William a orange sleeper as well:



Um, yeah. I don't think that baby is going thirsty.

Here is a picture of the proud grandpa -my father, Guy:



Like the little pins on his hat? He cuts those out and paints them himself. Dad - I have an idea for those - I will have to talk to you after I make a trip to the craft store...

I only have one sleeve left to knit on Satomi's baby sweater (so much quicker than a blanket!!). I need to find some pretty buttons to go along with it. Since Satomi's baby will be a little girl I am feeling the need to get some girly pink or purple buttons considering the fact that the sweater itself is a pastel turquoise colour. I hate falling into these gender/colour stereotypes, but that feeling is tempered by the frustration I would feel when people would always ask me if Willow was a boy or a girl... well, sometimes regardless of the colour I dressed her in.

Am I Blue? (or, Some of my Favourite Things)

I started thinking up this post yesterday and was hampered by one little thing - my craptacular mood. I tried thinking of all the blue things I liked - for example, blue skies:


© Lonely Planet Images

But then the snarky PMS-y part of my brain said, "Yeah, but it's spitting with rain and you couldn't even go swimming if you wanted to." Then I thought of my cable-knit blue cardigan... but that has a small hole in it that I need to repair and thus cannot wear it right now. So, after a few more examples like that, I decided to leave well enough alone and just stew rather than to vent online.

I hopped on over to Webshots this afternoon and looked for some of my favourite blue things to show you. I had hoped to be able to import larger photos more easily, but it looks like to you will have to suffer through thumbnails. Please feel free to click on the thumbnail to get a better shot.

Sapphires:


by jordanrich1

Any coloured stone, really. I love emeralds, rubies, garnets, peridots. I think diamonds are boring and really have no desire to have a diamond ring. It's funny because some of the ladies I work with have some absolutely beautiful (and humongous) rocks on their ring fingers - but it is just not me. I love the dark cobalt colour of this particular sapphire - it ranks up there as one of my favourite shades of blue.

Blue Water


by dethlefsen

I didn't see much of this growing up - I mean, I grew up in British Columbia and of course there is water everywhere - but it isn't blue like this. Lakes sometimes in the summer, but certainly not the ocean or the Fraser River. Just looking at that shade of blue makes me feel cooler. Who needs airconditioning when you have colour therapy! Okay, maybe a little airconditioning...

Blue and Green Together


by sugartoestoo

I remember someone telling me in grade 8 that blue and green should never be seen together outside of the washing machine. Why the hell not? I love blue and green together. Most of my clothes are either blue or green.

Blue Heeler Dogs


by joangela104

Okay, while not technically blue, they do have the word blue in their names. I would love to have a Blue Heeler someday. I love herding dogs, and how compact Blue Heelers are. I also love the mottledness of their coats.

Cornflowers


by sjefu1

These grow wild on the side of the road where I grew up. You would drive down the freeway and see little patches of them everywhere in many shades of blue and white. It's too bad that British Columbia doesn't have the same approach to wildflowers as Texas does - it would be breathtaking to see fields of these flowers blowing in the breeze.

Turquoise


by lindas_shinythings

While not a fan of the colour of turquoise, I do like the stone - especially if there is a lot of black marbling through it as in these earrings. I don't know what the marbled effect does to the value of turquoise - but I certainly think it gives the stone more character.

Okay... maybe you have to be Canadian to get this one...


by peajacket

Anyone want to venture a guess?

I do have some blue knitting going on right now as well. I am working on Satomi's baby present (she is due the second week of September) and I am about 60% finished - hell, I might even finish this one within the month of June!

Cool Blue

What I wouldn't give to be here right now...



Photo courtesy of Webshots. I am not really sure where it is, but I think somewhere in Canada would be a good guess. It is so hot and sweltering here right now... and there are still three weeks before summer officially starts. This is one thing I desperately do not like about living on the East Coast. I don't think people here believe me when I tell them that we never had airconditioning growing up - it simply was not needed. I remember we got ceiling fans when I was in high school, but it was a nice thing, not a necessity.

Lolly at http://www.lollygirl.com/blog/ has asked us to flash our blue stash... so here you go, Lolly :) I have to say, pulling all this out made me think I need to cull through the stash again. What is in this pile? Well, in no particular order, Wildflower DK, Hot Socks variegated, Super Bulky from http://handpaintedyarn.com/index.php , Caron Bliss, Encore Worsted, Lion Brand Wool Ease, a merino/alpaca mix, Patons Astra, some Turkish rug yarn, Knitpicks Wool of the Andes... and lots of other stuff.



And here is a close up:



And for more Project Spectrum photos, may I present squares from Willow's I-Spy quilt made by her Great Aunt Daryth. Please forgive the blurry shots - my camera doesn't have a great zoom feature.





Trust me when I say that each of these sqaures means something - and Willow's is 16 squares by 16 squares. She has had the quilt for 18 months now and I am still finding new things in the quilt.