This has been a pretty busy few weeks.  A lot happening at work that has kept me working late.  I did have a wonderful drop in visit by my mom, sister, and niece on their way to my nephew’s house.  It was a short stay but it was so nice to see them all!  With working once again I don’t get away.  Summer is usually my time to keep the grands and catch up on visiting.  Due to starting work again in April, I will have to make some adjustments to my plans.  I can squeeze in some long week ends and still manage a lot of memory making.

I did get in a bit of knitting.  I finished one of my July socks and cast on the second.  I love this yarn by Austermann.  When I ordered this I thought it was red with black and grey but it is in fact red with deep green and mossy green and it is lovely!

I started working on my Birds of a Feather Shawl by Andrea Mowry but I can’t really get into it.  I am finding it is just not a fun knit.  Every other row you have a marker placed between two stitches that are to be knit together, so you must slip off a stitch, remove the marker, slip the stitch back on and knit the two together then replace the marker.  It is awkward.  I am going to see if I can figure it out to place the marker one stitch over on the previous row or if that will throw the center off.  The yarn is lovely though, it is by Junkyarns one of my favorite indie dyers.

Since I couldn’t get into any of my current projects I decided to organize my project notebooks which resulted in recycling a great deal of patterns I had printed off.  I like to have my patterns printed, I just cannot get into doing everything electronically.  I like to make notes on the patterns for future reference.  After completing the clean up I still didn’t find anything that really excited me, so on to ravelry where I decided that I have the skill set to dive into Kirstin of Voolenvine Yarns shawl pattern Wildes Meer.  I have adored this pattern since it was released but it looked so scary.  My knitting skills have increased exponentially since I took time off work and had the time to do some serious knitting.  Now to just find the perfect yarn…which may be that I have to dye something… Keeping in the clean up mode, I also decided that I needed to better organize my yarn stash which resulted in a thorough going through and which lead to me thinking I best hank the skeins that I previously skeined up with no project in mind.  Hanks take up much less room and do not stretch out the yarn.  I still have a few more skeins to hank, but the project is nearly completed and I actually was able to clear off an additional shelf.

After all that organizing I did cast on another pair of socks with a lovely yarn in purples and lavenders.

I did get some really fun mail this week also.  First off was the spoon flower fabrics I ordered to make bags.  Isn’t it just the most amazing?

I also got an oil order.  I had been wanting to try Young Living’s rose ointment.  I have rosacea and it gets so out of control which requires me to live off and on antibiotics.  I would love to ditch the antibiotics and had heard this ointment was just the thing for rosacea, so we will see.  I will let you all know if it works.

A huge plus of my current position is that I am not only the administrator but the marketer as well.  This means that I have great bonus potential which I have been taking full advantage of.  This month I am set to get quite a tidy sum so felt it only fitting to reward myself.  Since knitting on the ChiaoGoo sock needles I have been totally in love with them. The cable cords are amazing, they don’t fight you like most cable cords.  I love my HiyaHiya sharps, and while the cable cords aren’t too bad, they still cannot compare to the ChiaoGoos.  So I ordered the interchangeable set.  I love that it comes with US sizes 2-15 and ample cable cords.

I had an uneventful July 4th.  I had the day off work so just puttered around the house and garden.  Although my veggies aren’t doing the greatest, I do have some strawberries and raspberries.  I also harvested a bit of lettuce for a taco salad.  Someday I will have my large veggie gardens, but for now I can just enjoy my shady backyard and continue to try out new plants.  I do seem to spend a great deal of my free time outside on the porch or in the yard.  I love to take my knitting outside and just enjoy the outdoors.  The weather has remained temperate which has been wonderful and allows for a lot of outside time!

Although I did not yard sale last week end, I made up for it this week end.  I just needed a bit of a break to refuel.  This week end was no disappointment.

I have found so many beautiful handmade items for my home and I just treasure them all so much.  I like to think that the maker is happy knowing that the item they so lovingly made is being appreciated and enjoyed.  This cross stitch rose bouquet is gorgeous and a true work of art.  It will hang on my living room wall.

Who can pass up a new canvas Union Jack bag?

I have a granddaughter who loves nesting dolls so these will be going to my sweet Woopie girl.

Every time I see a Rowenta iron I grab it.  So far I have found them for two of the girls and myself.  At $5 it is a steal.

It was a good week end for kitchen gadgets.

One of the things I love about living in the PNW is the lush greenness!  Imagine my delight when I discovered a park right across from my work that is filled with narrow tree covered paths, a small stream, and lovely lush green growth!  What a delight and it will be the perfect antidote for a stressful day.  Even on the hottest days it will be a nice respite due to all the shade coverage.  Tucked away green spaces are certainly my preferred answer to a busy and hectic life.

And now I must off to complete some studies.  I am learning so very much in my chosen  Mind Body Medicine PhD studies and it is all so relevant to my own life.  It is certainly fascinating.  Just the perfect thing for a bucket list in my opinion!

Blissfully,

Patricia