snaps on saturday

I am a member of the Knitspot Fall In Full Color Club (great patterns, lovely yarns), and this group also has one rockin' Ravelry Group "clubhouse"-chat-thing going on.   Knitters from all over the world!  We just  got our January yarn and pattern this past week.   Lookie:

Miss Babs Alpacacita 2-ply laceweight, 70/30 baby alpaca/cultivated silk

in the custom Knitspot colorway : Winter Rose

(and I've already learned that it is a dream to knit with)

So, over at the Ravelry "clubhouse" two of the ladies (one of whom I have met before at a sweater fitness class by Anne Hanson herself) commented that they were going to meet up today and get the project going together.  They are both of Sacramento, so I asked if I could crash they KnitALong, and they said yes :-)

There are 3 versions of the project to choose from:  an infinity scarf, or a flat scarf or stole.  Stephanie is doing the infinity scarf, and Carol and I doing the stole (except I am modifying the stole a bit and removing the lacy scalloped edging and replacing it the with straight edge that appears on the infinity scarf). 

We had a really good time, although little progress was made.  Stephanie had started hers yesterday but then had to re-start today.  Carol ripped and had to cast-on several times for some reason or another.  I got mine going, but the first couple of rows were a bear!  We were there for 3 hours (I'd say two of those were knitting, we ate lunch too), and I only got 4 rows done!  Nupps in the first row!  Pattern action on both sides! Gah!  And even though I could feel that I was sort of getting into the swing of things by the 4th row and was working faster, I then realized that the fabric I was producing was too flimsy.  I need to start over with a smaller needle. Poo!

So.  It's like I didn't really do much of anything.
Except make new friends, of course
Which is even better than a shawl. ;-)

snaps on saturday

Crafternoon today at TheNewDiggs!

First of many, I hope!!

snaps on saturday

Realllllly crappy photos today, taken at the Be A Blue Devil for A Day Workshop .

The kids were polite about it and just grinned at me when I said, "You really don't want me hangin' around here, do ya'."  So all I could get was a photo of one of the four trucks full of instruments that pulled up as I was leaving.

Well, ok.
I snuck in a picture from my car (yay zoom lens!) while the kids were awaiting instructions about helping unload ;-)

And then I came back 4-1/2 hours later and watched the last 15 minutes of the finale when they got all the sections together in one room for a little musical finale with a whooooole lotta musicians.

Auditions on January 6th, and it's sounding like MyFavoriteKid is gonna go for it.  He'd be trying out for B-line, but he fears the competition will be heavy. He said today there was about 30 other snare drum kids.  They will only need 9.  Either way, he's excited to just try out and gain the experience. And if he gets in, it's going to be a loooooong January through August for this here Band Mom (because really, when they recruit the kid, the recruit the parent, too...ya know.)

And I'd be happy to do it :-)

snaps on saturday

New-ish Mexican grocery store that is within walking distance from TheNewDiggs.
Awesome :-)

snaps on saturday

Tripping around today in Tony's Furniture store....

....a wonderful building that is a treasury of gorgeous wooden antique chairs and tables.  The best part of the place is Tony himself, the owner who is full of character, and he can tell you exactly how long he has been in business (41 years, 7 months, 20 days...as of today).







special thank to TheMostImportantGuy who
a) took the photo with his phone and sent it to me, and
b) reminded me as I was dozing off that I hadn't posted yet today.

snaps on saturday

Sometimes you'll see a statue of Quan Yin with a young child:

photo not taken by me; filched from the internet

But today at the zen center we practice at, I spotted Quan Yin with....

....an ape!!

hahahaha

those last two shots taken by moi ;-)

snaps on saturday

big ol' whisk

On the patio of the restaurant we had brunch at.
There was a giant cheese grater, a tea stainer, and a slotted spoon, too!

Very yummy food and one of the best patios for dining ever. You'd never know it from looking at the outside of the place, though....I popped in on a whim the other day for a cup of tea to go, and once I got inside was blown away by the cuteness.

snaps on saturday

She has the bottom half.
I have the top.


As seen while having a very fun time in a Novato stained glass shop. We were there looking for funky glass options to insert into the kitchen cabinets at the other house. The owner of the shop was totally awesome and creative and after this damn remodel is done, I swear I'm going to go back and take some classes from her.

snaps on saturday

dog park = happy dogs!

snaps on saturday

Most of the day was spent driving MyFavoriteKid up to his friend's family farm where he will be for the first few days of his spring break. Here's some unedited snapshots from my solo drive home....

snaps on saturday

TheMostImportantGuy and I drove around the neighborhood today. We had an appraisal done on the house awhile ago, and we wanted to check out the comparables. On our little outing we spotted neighborhood chickens ;-)




It was dry for a good portion of the morning, but then we had hail this afternoon. Crazy weather here these past few weeks!

snaps on saturday

Hey, look who finally made it to the party!



Bueller!

snaps on saturday

buddha. cat.

snaps on saturday

Seems like it's a little early in the year for this.
Am I wrong?

snaps on saturday

A break in the parade where I wonder....




....why are my dogs looking so serious today?!

snaps on saturday

My early morning:




Amended soil with worms, and a plate full of lovely things that were harvested just this morning....out of the gardeners belonging to the people that are teaching the gardening class we are taking. TheMostImportantGuy and I have signed up for a 9 months series of classes (one Saturday morning each month, January through September) that is all about vegetable gardening.

We have great hopes for all of the empty land at the new house, but since be both lack real talent in the garden, we aren't going to start there. We're going to start by using what's already in place at my existing place while it is still available to us. My place has 6 raised beds that I sort of just plop tomatoes in and maybe a few herbs and then I take what I can get. This is the year to learn some mad skillz. Then we'll consider applying what we are learning to the new digs.


My late afternoon:




Special dance class with live drummers, taught by one of the DancersAmeritus of our dance ensemble (ahhh, I got to be a student for awhile!). I went to the class even though I am under doctors orders to limit crutch use and not use my arm much, at least until the physical therapist looks me over on the 8th. I started off just be being the class photographer with everyone's cameras....but I eventually caved in a danced for just a few. My fellow dancers wagged their fingers at me and I was ashamed. Sort of. LOL

snaps on saturday

smells like...



....teen spirit??


When your boyfriend is the audio engineer for an all ages, teen-band rock concert, you actually get the rare opportunity to see your kid in a mosh pit.

snaps on saturday

Handwoven dishtowels, that I purchased in November when we went to a craft fair on a farm outside of Petaluma. I smile every time I use them. The only thing could make me love them more than I already do, would be if I had woven them myself.

Maybe someday....



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A note about yesterday's ball o' yarn and back again story: I posted it last night! TheMostImportantGuy even read it from his phone, I was watching him scroll through it! And as I went to make this post, I see it's been held back as a draft. SO ODD!

snaps on saturday

Christmas Eve Dinner with my folks at the local Italian Restaurant.
We've been doing it for enough years in a row now that I believe we can call it a family tradition :-)

snaps on saturday

So many things I haven't written about, owhich once again points to my needing to be a different blogger once this round of Blog365 is over.

TheMostImortantGuy's mother went into the hospital the day after Thanksgiving. She had thought he had food poisoing from the meal (the whole family ate out together at an elegant buffet this year). It turns out that she has diverticulitis. She was released on Monday, but as we live an hour and half (at best) south of her, we left the in-person visits to TheMIG's sister wo is local.

Well, I spoke to TheMIG's mom Friday and asked how she was doing and if she needed help, and she said yes, so today we drove up and spent the day up there with her. TheMIG vacuumed her house and pulled out some holiday decorations while I took her to the grocery store (she wanted to get out, but felt too loopy to drive).


We spent the evening at the new house playing "pretend kitchen" (that's where we prattle around pretending where the sink might go, and the stove might go, etc etc....as we're now looking at the kitchen design plans being thrown our way, and quite frankly, none of them are working out so far). I suspect Sunday is where I spend the day reinventing the wheel. I do have a culinary background (I used to be a chef/caterer), and I did take a semester of restaurant design layout in culinary school, so I should probaly be making more use of my skills than I am.