Friday, December 31, 2010

Goza galz

Back in the days of November,
several ladies shared a weekend of scrapbooking.
Like really. Literally.
And we picked up a few new phrases.
And then, we ate at Steak n Shake.
And my two Goza friends...they partook in the sharing of the shakes.
Cutely, I might add.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Wet nest

This animal is quite strange.
Yes, this is her new favorite nesting spot.
Lucky for her the faucet doesn't drip.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Glory in the sky

We get some gorgeous sunsets in Iowa.
Every single time I see one like this, I wonder what people who
rage about sunsets over the ocean would say.
But, maybe we'll just keep these Iowa sunsets a not-so-secret!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Walkin' hill

The hill on which I walk when conditions are ideal.
Right now, its slipp'ry and slide'ry.
And probably quite nice for sledding.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Bask

Today,
I wouldn't mind being a kitty basking in the sunshine.
But instead, I'm looking out the window pretending I live inside a snowglobe.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Note to my mother

Recycling is good.
Stomping bottles so they don't take up so much room in the recycle box is good.
Your daughter applauds this habit.
It means she doesn't have to take the recycling QUITE so often.
But it IS quite amusing when your bottle stomping goes awry.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Mmmm...taffy

This here is a shawl-to-be-worn-as scarf.
It turned out better than expected, though.
And yes, November and December have been knit addiction months.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Swap project




The local yarn shop hosts knit nights.

There are several ladies who have become knit night 'regulars'.

And yes, I'm a regular.

It was decided that we'd have a small project swap during the last gathering.

The darker hat was the project I threw in.

But, you see, I liked the hat.

So...yes...I knit one for me, too. Also.

And THEN, there was leftover yarn.
So...I made some mitts.
And used up the yarn. YAY! Heroic!
Now, if it ever stops being oven-ish at work, I'll wear my mitts.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Crazy sox

I'm almost done with these socks.
They're o-so-obnoxious.
I'm pretty sure their recipient will like them. A lot.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

I need some sunshine.

So, I'm off!
To: Punta Cana. Tomorrow.

And, on this trip I get to take part in a little excursion called Dr. Fish Ocean Spa.
http://www.chuckontour.ca/video-drfish.asp

Yes, it does involve what you may think could be possible from the name.
Little fishies eating the nasty skin off your tootsies. Lucky me, I don't have ticklish feet.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Lovely dinner companions

SO, on Sundays Steak-n-Shake has a kids eat free deal.
The parents were there too...but look at this passle of youngun's.
24October2010

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Kids like to play

Rockford! Always a favorite destination.
The squids might have something to do with it...the big ones AND the little ones.
I'm not sure which (big or little) are having more fun with the Magnetix here.
And yes, I was playing, too.
Till I got up to take a picture.
24October2010

Monday, November 15, 2010

Amigas!

Girlies together!
Jen, Sheri, Kerry, Sherri, Jackie, moi.
Birthday dinner night at Sheri's.
(Thanks to Momma Janet for taking the photo!)
23October2010

Sunday, November 14, 2010

October birthdays

Look at all these birthday gals!
Another part of a fun October weekend!
23October2010

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Eyeball in the grass

Chicago has steroidal eyeballs layin' around.
23October2010

Friday, November 12, 2010

Celtic Thunder

My whole reason for going to Chicago a few weeks back.
TO TAKE ANOTHER PHOTO OF THIS SIGN?
Good grief. This obsession is out of control!
No, no...look at the small print on the Chicago sign.
This time, I got to go to a show there.
Yep.
I saw Celtic Thunder.
Don't go jumping to conclusions.
People have had the tendency to do that when they hear the 'thunder' part.
This group is several lovely lads from Ireland. With amazing voices.
The show was impressive. The women did squeal quite a bit, I will admit.
23October2010

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Sushi

More food?
Ohhh, yes!
I tried sushi for the first time,
thanks to adventerously eating friends!
Kerry S. had been here before.
And she and Sherri H. knew what to order.
We had: Spicy Tuna, California, Philadelphia, Rainbow, and Unagi (eel) rolls


Also, Salmon and tuna traditional sushi.
And I liked it.
23October2010

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Fooood!

I don't know if its fall that does it...or what.
But I've been a little taken with 'slow food' lately.
I didn't grow the carrots, the potato, or the pig.
The apples for the sauce? Yep! They're homegrown.
But none of these food items came from a box.
And they were thoroughly delicious.
22October2010

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Sandwich concoction

I concocted a yummy sandwich awhile back.
It was inspiring.
Late tomatoes from the shed garden,
Farmer cheese from the farmer's market.
Roasted red peppers (from the jar!)
Roast beef.
Homeade {gluten free} bread. And the bread isn't super dense.
I think its a Bob's Red Mill Mix. Rye is a main ingredient.
I don't normally like rye.
But this stuff is delicious. Maybe its all the nuts and seeds.
Oh, and I can't forget to metion the homeade creamy tomato soup.
Slurp!
21October2010

Monday, November 8, 2010

Late 'maters

These lovelies...picked 21October10.


Sunday, November 7, 2010

Georgetown!

I got to go to Georgetown, TX for convention.
And yes, I did get a couple of strolls 'round the neighborhood in.
Sunrise. Ah!
(I saw lots of kids using flashlights on their way to 7am breakfast...
so me walking into the sunrise...is that still impressive?)
This photo ^ is me playing with camera settings.
This one ^ is auto settings.
Yes, it was gorgeous!
17October2010



Saturday, November 6, 2010

Rain Chain

When we were in Madison, we went to meeting in a very neat neighborhood.
Most of the houses looked Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired.
Definitly NOT a typical Sim-City like most new development.

One of my favorite features: Rain Chains.
They're so much prettier than downspouts.
I wonder how they'd handle Iowa's torrential downpours.
10October2010


Friday, November 5, 2010

Mystery Trip- Final day

After meeting on Sunday, we went to a...*gasp* CHAIN restaurant for lunch.
It was called Abuelos.
It was fairly good, but not as memorable as the other two 'special meals'.
Our final plan for the day: the Madison Botanical Gardens.
They were having an African Violet show.
The voilets were pretty, but the people were not overly excited about their wares.
Outside, we found dahlias.
I think I'm going to have to add some of these beauties to my garden.
A pagoda.
Its even more impressive up close.

Lovely ladies strolling through the garden.

And furry creatures.
What a trip!
10-10-10

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Mystery trip-Day 2

Day two of Mom's mystery trip involved the Dane County Farmer's Market.
Its a GREAT farmer's market...all the way around Capitol Square.
We browsed through the booths.
Bought some veggies.
And some cheese.
(Hey, we were in Wisonsin. We HAD TO buy cheese.)

Next on the agenda: a few yarn shops.
And whatever else we saw along the way.
We did hit a few of the eclectic places in downtown.
One of my favorites:
The skirts are inspiring!

We all found yarn...and Sarah found a new friend.
Dinner for today:
It was fun. It was funky. It was delicious.
We didn't have a real lunch, so we were all quite hungry.
We may have wolfed our food a bit.
(Or I'm just using a handy excuse for having no photos.)
09October2010

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Mystery trip no.1

The owner of our local yarn shop
and her sister take their mother on a 'Mystery Trip' every year.
She's told me about some of them...and I've even gotten to be slightly
involved in the last two.
They sounded like so much fun, my sister and I decided follow suit.
This was our first year taking Mom to a mysterious location.
I'm quite sure we'll do it again.
We all had a blast.
And so, without futher ado: Madison, Wisconsin.
After checking into our hotel, we got in the car and putzed downtown.
And I do mean putzed.
You see, I'd failed to realize it was Homecoming weekend in Madison.
However, we arrived in plenty of time to make our 6 pm reservation at our first destination.
Fresco is atop the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.
Its fabulous.
We got to eat outside in the sculpture garden.
I failed on the photographing of the appetizers.
What can I say? We were hungry!
Mom had seared duck breast.

I had sheep's milk ricotta cheese gnocchi.


Sarah had chicken fresco.

We savoured our food and enjoyed the view.
Yep. The fine dining experience was a lovely start.
08October2010

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Yosemite. In the rain.

Yep. We did the mist trail again.
Because its pretty.
And there is water in the falls year-round.
Except, this time we got a little more water than we bargained for.
We got to the top of Nevada Falls.
The clouds opened.
The rain poured down.
The hail pelted us.
We hid under a bridge for awhile.
It kept us from getting hail welts, but not from getting soaked.
And pruney!
But oh, look at that beauty.
It was worth it.
And our trip was made even more memorable.
02Oct2010

Monday, November 1, 2010

Yosemite. In the sunshine.

The second of the falls. I beleive this is Vernal.
There were lots of picnickers.
It was gorgeous!
What? An Englishman in Yosemite?
Do tell!

Rainbow at the falls.

Blue sky,
sunshine,
Truman lovers.

What a day for a hike!
02Oct2010

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Marin Graffiti

We followed a path through a broken fence-
into a 'construction site'-
to find that others had been there first.
With paint.
And creativity.

My favorite.

And...last but not least!
29Sept2010



Friday, October 29, 2010

Foggy San Fran and Marin


Ze bridge.
Ze subject of many of ze photos
I take.
When in ze city of San Fran.

Ze fog.
It really is like a blanket.
We rose above the fog.
And found the sun.
And some killer sunburns, even through sunscreen.
The surfers at Rodeo Beach in Marin were not afraid of the fog.
Not in the least.
And on the way back...STILL fog.
29Sept2010