One week away...

There is a change in the air. And it isn't the weather.

My mail-in vote is finding its way as we speak to the King County Election Office. And I've never been happier to cast my ballot. Change is coming. Change is coming!

Project Update: That Damn Sweater

The baby sweater and I had another battle this weekend. Luckily, I won. But it was a close one.

Crunch Time

There is nothing better, then ending a crummy day, by taking a good long walk and crunching a bunch of fall leaves under your feet. It's amazing how that can make one feel so much better.

Hailey...

While my mom was in town this past weekend, she told me that our dog Hailey passed away. After a very long, very full and fun-filled life, Hailey had to be put down. She'd been having medical problems for nearly a year, but she always bounced back and was out barking and the birds and squirrels in the backyard the next day. The vet just decided she had nine lives.


(Here she is at our place Cascade playing with Kelli's daughter Cameron)

I'm sure her energetic spirit is running around in doggie heaven barking at the squirrels, birds and barking for someone to give her some popcorn (her favorite).

Say what you will about Celine Dion...

...but that woman can belt 'em out.

This weekend my mom came to Seattle for a girls weekend b-day trip. I gave her tickets to see Celine Dion for her birthday and we had a great time! It wasn't so much a concert - more like a theatrical performance really. And in case you're wondering, the answer is no - she did not pound her chest when she sang that little song from the "Titanic."

The words no knitter wants to hear...

"Oh yes knitting. That's carpal tunnel's favorite hobby," said the ergonomics guy with a chuckle. He was sitting in my cubicle and we were going over ways to make my work place more ergonomically feasible.

I'm willing to move my computer mouse to the left side of the computer, get use to doing it all backwards, but I'm not slowing down on the knitting. Gesh...the nerve.

Tough Love

The baby sweater and I had a lovely weekend. We got a long just fine, stitches evened out, the YO's all looked fabulous. And then we had a Monday. During Purly Girls the sweater decided to act up. And I wasn't in the mood to take it. There was swearing (mostly me), a lot of ripping out and reknitting. Then finally I decided enough was enough - I just stitch marked the hell out of it. I felt there was too much anger/frustration being knitted into what is so supposed to be a beautiful sweater for a sweet little baby.

But now, the sweater and I are back on track. There's nothing but sweet thoughts, bunnies, rainbows and cute kitty thoughts here!

And so it begins...

...our life wrapped in plastic.

Our place is now totally wrapped in plastic. No views, no fresh air. Just lots of dust and loud, very loud noises.

The workers were up bright and early this morning standing on the balcony with sledge hammers. At 7:30 am, it sounds like, well, workers hitting the side of your house with sledge hammers - several of them.

So what do you do when you're trying to eat your Cheerios before heading out to the bus stop when there are several workers standing on your balcony with sledge hammers? You smile, wave and then take their pictures.

Before I left for work....
When I came home...

The poor guy just kind of looked at me, smiled and waved back slowly as if not to startle the crazy lady behind the glass. I figured, it we were going to be having breakfast together every morning, then perhaps we should be friends.

But seriously, I'm trying to remain positive while I have no more view. And oh yeah, I work in a basement without windows. This could be come a problem in the dark, gray Pacific Northwest winter. Stay tuned to see if I do turn into the crazy lady behind the glass.

In the mean time, I'll just enjoy this picture I snapped of my view this summer:

Look what I won!

I was lucky enough to be the winner of Holli's blogiversary gift! She knitted a beautiful cowl - which comes just in time as fall blew into Seattle this weekend with some serious gusto! Plus, she threw in some goodies from King Arthur Flour - a pumpernickel bread base and a pizza dough flavor mix! She's a great cook (the pictures on her blog are mouth watering!) and she's a fan of King Arthur mixes so I'm excited to give them a whirl!

Thanks again Holli and happy blogiversary to you!

Trying to be smarter than the damn pattern

I know I'm not alone on this one. You read the pattern. You think, huh, OK. I can do that. Then you start. And somewhere along the line, things go all pear shaped. That is what is happening with me and the February Baby Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman. It's not rocket science. It's a baby sweater, but it's a total pain in the ass to me. I've knitted, counted, sworn a bit, ripped out and then repeated this process. Three times.Photo by Supergirl.

Today I went and met up Rebecca for a little knitting, chai tea lattes and catching up. She gave me some advice, encouragement and direction. Among other things, the simple little stitch of YO has been thwarting my efforts. But I shall prevail. Either that or finally just get disgusted with the damn thing, rip it out for good and find another pattern.

Fall Apples

There's something about fall. I'm not sure if it's the crisp, cool air, the changing of the leaves, or the bounty of crops that come from the farms to over flow the tables at farmers markets. It could very well be all three of those things. But one thing is for sure, when the temps drop and the leaves begin to fall, I begin to cook (a bit more than normal). So when my Cooking Light arrived in the mail, I immediately curled up on the couch to go through and pick out several new recipes.

There was an article about the Shakers who live in Maine. The reporter talked about their rural, isolated life style. She talked about their their furniture. And of course their cooking. I don't know much about the Shaker's religious beliefs. I do like their furniture design style. And I gotta say, they make a killer Autumn Apple Cake.

At my household, we're anti raisins and nuts. I swapped out the raisins for dried cranberries and left out the nuts altogether. It was hit despite the fact that once again the hubby reminded me that he doesn't like dried cranberries. (I love them and put them in everything!). I'd say this was the perfect recipe to kick off my fall cooking/baking season.