Two

Colie is two now, which means she is developing her fashion sense. I love her pick for today: jorts, thermal shirt and patent leather Mary Janes 

Just A Little Update

Nothing super exciting to report. 

Our garden is yielding tomatoes but not much else. We failed at zucchini (we must be the only Gardeners ever who couldn't grow it), carrots were okay, got some potatoes, four green peppers, bunch of onions. Next year, more compost  

I've been on a weight loss plateau since July. Time to kick it up and lose the last 20 pounds

Putting in quite a few hours at the yarn store. And slowly learning the ins and outs of their computer system. Not intuitive at ALL. But it's fun, and I'm now the "knitting expert", so ego boost

Little Miss Moochie is learning so many words!  She has added Peppa Pig to the short list of favorite shows, so we are encouraging her to speak with an English accent. She's a joy, so cute!

Knitting various items, hoping my Crackerjack scarf project extends in the postseason. Go M's!

Winner!

Pia and I entered items in the South County Fair. Best in Show for my mittens hooray!

BWAHAHAHA

I received this book for my birthday from Zaide today (along with a cute knitting book):

So I'm thinking, "hmmm, okay I guess.  My sister wouldn't send me something bad to read."  OR WOULD SHE...

She teased me to solve the mystery of the cover.  I'm scared this is a 50 Shades thing and I'm going to have to read it because it's a birthday gift. 

Pore over the cover.  Is that girl a cartoon dog in real life?  Is there a weird threesome going on?  WHAT COULD IT BE.

SPOILER ALERT;

So I cheated and googled it.  THE AUTHOR.  Our very own recorder playing, night walking niece and cousin Beth!

Pia, this is going directly into your classroom library.

I'm a Mess, It's Official

My knee is finally somewhat under control. But now this

See those 8 separate bones in the wrist?  My X-ray looks like one solid clump. Which explains why my left wrist barely moves any more and hurts. My doc says there's not much I can do until the advent of wrist replacement surgery :-(. Keep it moving, rest and ice. No surprise there. Also starting on Celebrex to see if that helps. 

Geez, getting old sucks. 

My Favorite Teacher

It's back to school time, and that brought to mind my own school years.  Who was my favorite teacher?  Hands down, Mrs. Margaret Kelly.

Mrs. Kelly was beyond exotic to my 1960s suburban eyes: she wore stoles and big chunky jewelry! She had long red fingernails and wore blood-red lipstick! She wore her hair in a big bun with chopsticks skewered through it (at least in my memory there are chopsticks)

She loved all things Oriental, kept a box of “Ducklings” candy in her desk drawer (I’m sure she needed chocolate fixes during a day of dealing with a class of 40+ 3rd graders), and instilled in me a love of reading and drama. Casting me as the Goddess Kwan Yin in our class play was the high point of my drama career :-) and god knows what our parents thought of this play lol.

A larger than life, incredibly stylish and wonderful woman who recognized something special inside my super-shy little person and encouraged me in all things. All these years later, she remains in my heart as my favorite teacher (and every time I see Auntie Mame, I think of Mrs. Kelly)

I wish I had a picture to share.  Zaide, do you?  Who's your favorite teacher?

Pretty

It was so nice out today I went for a walk through Manito Park rather than heading to the gym. The Rose Garden is still blooming:

Manito is such a lovely park!  It was designed by the Olmsteads, who also designed Central Park. 100+ years later it's still a gem. 

Saying So Long to Summer

How did summer fly by so fast?  September is my favorite weather month but I'm a little sad that summer 2014 is done. Come on tomatoes, ripen!

We celebrated summer's end by going to the annual symphony concert at Comstock Park. Fun and not stuffy, they play light classical and movie themes. The gang was a little dumbfounded when I started singing "this is the cereal that's shot from guns!" During the 1812 Overture. I'm guessing my fellow Baby Boomers also do that whenever it's played. 

Canning Queens

Cara, Pia and I spent a steamy day in the kitchen (Katie escaped by having to work). We dug out all of our canning supplies and jars, made three trips to the store for stuff we forgot, and got the floor incredibly sticky. But we ended up with lovely jars of pickles and peaches, and best off all, berry jam which included the blackberries we picked on Whidbey.

Here's Pia's pretty photo of our work

Next up:  pickled beets and fingers crossed that enough of our tomatoes ripen so that we can make marinara sauce!