From which platform does the train to Normal depart?

I am still waiting for the New Normal to kick in. We feel at home in the New House, I feel at home with the New Commute, but I still feel quite unsettled. Can't quite figure it out. So if you see that train to Normal, will you let me know? Or even the plane.....

Being Lax

So we've been a bit busy in the last few weeks. Selling a house, trying to buy a house, not buying a house, finding another house, doing all the various things to get that house, and now packing while we wait for word on a specific closing date. I just finished and emailed off my final paper for the class I took in July, so now I can focus my energies on getting rid of a bunch of accumulated crap and packing the rest! I look forward to being on the other side of all this!!

What I did today.

I made this basket. I have had the kit since Mother's Day of last year, and finally had the time to make it up. I think it's about the fourth basket I've made. It's fun to do.

A few days of sunshine

It rained most of last week. I mean every day, most of the day. And if it didn't rain, there was a thunderstorm at the end of the day. It was just a crazy, gray week. Friday we finally had some sunshine, and it lasted most of the holiday weekend.

This year we had a kind invitation from our friends to go to their condo in Bartlett for the weekend. We had a great time. There was a parade, food, walks to a river for wading (the water was too high and cold for swimming), ice cream, a walk through North Conway, music and fireworks, a drive up Mount Washington, and short hike to a waterfall, and a genuine terrific time with good friends. When we got home on Sunday evening, I felt like we had been gone for days instead of just overnight. And isn't that a testament to a good weekend?

Again I've been using Maggie's camera a lot, but halfway through the weekend it seemed to sort of die. So annoying! It would turn on, but then not shut off, or it would be on but not have anything on the screen and not let me take a picture. I don't think it's just the batteries, but I'll look into that this week. Danielle took some wonderful pictures, as usual, so I'll hijack her photos for our own memories!! These few I did take:

DJ and Paul, wading in the river.

Maggie and Kaylyn hamming it up. What a surprise.

Danielle and I had to figure out a way to make the t-shirts work when things didn't go as planned with our first effort, but they turned out great! People kept commenting on them, and it sure did make it easier to spot the kids and do a head count while we were in North Conway! Plus, her three wore them in the parade as part of their decorations, and they won first place for their 'division'!!

And finally, a good picture of Danielle! And she can't delete it, because it was on our camera, not hers! :-)

On Sunday we drove up Mount Washington, which was a bit harry, but fun, too. It was so windy at the top, and we were right in the middle of a cloud, so we all got wet! I'm glad we did it (though Paul doesn't have any interest in doing it again!) The drive down was the worst, in one area where the road is dirt and it is very narrow. But luckily I was only a passenger and not the driver! Jonathan did a great job.

As soon as I figure out how to copy pictures from her site, I'll post more photos. She took a nice shot of our family, and a cool one of our car and the mountains in the background from her car as we drove up the mountain.

Crocheted Socks

I am so happy with how these socks turned out! They feel great on, and they really worked out well. I followed Allycol's pattern, from Ravelry, (I'll see if I can find the link), and just altered one or two things to make them fit my foot better.

I used Patons sock yarn with elastic in it, and I think that helps with the way crochet socks don't stretch as much as knitted ones. Now I'm dying to buy some more yarn so I can try some toe-up crocheted socks! And for a time to wear the socks, too. But I'm not going to wish for colder weather, because our June has been cold and wet enough already!!

Field Trips

Danielle and I have been on two field trips (if you want to call them that) so far this summer. On Friday we went to Squam Lakes Natural Science Center. It's a wild animal park, and the animals have all been rescues and rehabilitated. The kids had a great time. Maggie took a bunch pictures there, and this is the best one, of the bald eagles.

Truthfully, I've been having a great time with the camera my parents got for Maggie for Christmas. I think I've taken more pictures than Maggie has!

Today we went to Vermont to the Montshire Museum of Science. Here are all the little goobers. (good thing Kaylyn's not a ham or anything, huh?!).

It rained all the way there, pouring for a good part of it, but stopped raining just in time for us to do some of the activities outside. Then it rained off and on all the way home. I have to say, it was an exhausting drive there and back, but it was a good day over all!

So now, where do we go on our next field trip?!

Yarn Ball

It is so silly, but I am inordinately proud of this little ball of yarn!

I was knitting a pair of socks for my hubby, and it wasn't going all that well. For one thing, I was trying a toe-up sock for the first time (which really wasn't that hard, until I got to the heel) and the heel turned out kind of lousy. I didn't like the wrapping method the book I was using suggested, so if I decide to do a toe-up sock again I'll have to do some research and find a better way. For another thing, I was doing a ribbing pattern, and it was sucking up the yarn like there was no tomorrow. I have another ball of yarn, but I wouldn't have had enough to make two socks that had more than a couple inches of cuff on them. Definitely not something the husband would want to wear. So I ripped back the sock and wound up the yarn.

Here's where the ball of yarn comes in: I have always just wound yarn into balls that you pull from the outside. It's easy enough, you just wind the yarn around your fingers for a bit, then keep going. The problem is that when you're working with the yarn, the ball rolls away from you! This time I tried something I have wanted to do for awhile, a center-pull ball of yarn. It's stupid, I know. I'm sure there are many, many craftspeople out there who have done this all their lives. And truly, now that I've done it, it truly is easy.

I used my trusty Readers Digest Complete Guide to Needlework for the directions, and it was as easy as pie! It turned out so well that it even has a flat bottom, so it sits just right, and the yarn comes right out the top middle! I just love it.

So there. I am easily pleased and amused. This little center-pull ball of yarn cracks me up. I'm going to be a bit sad when it becomes a sock. :-)