Month: October 2018

WIP Wednesday: 41/52

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I finished the stockings! I forgot to take a picture of them before they went home with my friend, but trust me, they looked great. I was able to give them to her at book club, which was at my house this month. I was too distracted to remember to take a picture because I was so proud of myself for putting this cheese plate together all from things I had on hand. Elliot napped late, so I wasn’t able to get to the grocery store for my usual cheese plate supplies.20181015_1921234068834081513450873.jpgI’m about halfway through my second sleeve. I hoped I would be further along by now, but I have been on the go too much to knit. I didn’t even take pictures of the sweater this week, so I’m going to post a bunch of pictures from our orchard trip this morning instead. My mom met us at the orchard, which was a nice treat for us.

I hope to be done with the sleeves next week. I promise I’ll take some pictures of my knitting before then.

Visiting the Farm

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This weekend the kids and I headed out-of-town to visit my cousins Annie and Megan. My cousin Deirdre joined us for the trip, which made for a fun mini reunion.

We got to their farm around five, which meant we had a few hours to hang out before the kids went to bed and the grown ups started enjoying cocktails. After the four-hour trip we were all pretty worn out.

The next morning we were ready to have some fun. It was a sunny day, something we hadn’t had in weeks. We had coffee in the sun on the front porch while the kids played. It was very relaxing.

The weather was so nice we ended up spending most of the day outside. It was so nice to be able to be out in the fresh air.

The kids liked petting the cats.

Audrey really liked crawling onto the roof of the hog house. She thought she was pretty darn cool. Elliot was not pleased that I wouldn’t let him climb up. I feel like 2 is too young to be climbing on top of buildings.

My cousin Megan has a 4-year-old and a 5-year-old. My kids loved having them to play with. They were really good at showing the kids around and sharing their toys too. If Audrey wanted to see something, like a big tractor, Eloise would take her hand and show her where it was.

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They had a wonderful time playing. Elliot really liked going to see the pigs.

He also liked riding on Uncle Patrick’s old horse.

20181013_1451211989637954500805570.jpgMy Uncle Dan took the kids for a ride in his farm jeep thingy. 20181013_152611720301416125121670.jpgThen Audrey decided she was a big shot and wanted to ride in the back. 20181013_1552205029691251465090897.jpg

Both kids enjoyed playing on flatbed trailers. Audrey’s greatest joy was kicking cats off of the trailers. Not like a sociopath, it was a gentle kick. 20181013_1540542342299840206443221.jpgAll day we kept a small fire going. It was nice to rest by the fire and have a nice chat. We ended up eating dinner around the fire. It was incredibly relaxing. The kids were playing. The grown ups were talking. It was such great night. It was the perfect ending to a lovely day.

This morning we woke up and the weather had changed. We drove home through snow for the first hour. I didn’t want to see snow until December.20181014_0938362454379028994644147.jpg

It was a great weekend, and now I am counting down the minutes until I can tuck the kids in so I can go to bed. I hope you had a good weekend too.

 

Living History Farms

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Last Wednesday zoo members were able to check out Living History Farms for free. It’s a great opportunity for the museum to introduce zoo members to another organization they might want to buy a membership for. It’s an even better opportunity for me to check out something that I usually wouldn’t pay to visit (my kids are too young to get much out of Living History Farms).

We decided to skip most of the farms and just go to the 1900 farm. We arrived there by tractor pulled wagon. The kids were so excited to see the tractor they didn’t even mind the wait.

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On the farm we checked out the animals. Elliot loved the cows. Audrey loved the horses. I loved the sheep. We were all happy.

After checking out the animals we walked to the pick up stop for the tractor. It was nice to get a little walk in. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the next tractor to arrive. They had a nice playground for the kids to play on. Unfortunately, it has been raining here for weeks, so the kids were pretty muddy after that.

We headed back into the historic village to check out the shops. Audrey ground up cinnamon with a mortar and pestle at the pharmacy. She thought that was pretty neat.

If the kids didn’t need naps we could have explored more of the town and checked out the other farms. We ended up spending about two hours there. That was enough for us. When the kids get older we’ll check it out again.

Predictable

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On Thursday mornings we head to the Y. Elliot goes to the Learn & Play Center, Audrey goes to swim lessons, and I knit.

Today, as I sat working on my new sweater while wearing another sweater I made, I realized how predictable I am.

I picked the new sweater color because it was “so different” from all of my other sweaters. Clearly I have no idea what I’ve knit in the past.

WIP Wednesday: 40/52

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I continue to plug away at the two projects I’m actively working on. I am very excited that all I have left to do on the stockings is add a loop for hanging and duplicate stitch on names and years. I despise duplicate stitch, so I’m putting off doing it. I will get it done by next Monday night, as I will be able to give them to my friend at book club. 20181010_1754293239014150906319514.jpgI finished the body of the sweater and I’ve moved on to the first sleeve. I just finished the increases and only have 5 inches to go until I’m done with it.20181010_1752505719989457724836780.jpg

These sleeves are so easy to knit. They have limited shaping, so I have been working on them while the kids eat. If I don’t finish this sleeve tonight I’ll be taking it with me to work on while Audrey’s at swim lessons tomorrow. Maybe. I might use the time to continue reading The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne, as it is incredible and I can’t put it down. In fact, this blog entry might be shorter than normal so I can go read it.

I hope you are moving along on your knitting too.

 

September Reads and October Book Goals

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I read seven books in September. They ranged from horrible to excellent. I hope October doesn’t have as many stinkers in it.

The Summer Games by RS Grey. This book is not good. Don’t read it. I give it 0 out of 5 stars.

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie. This book is about Family, country, culture, jihad, and loyalty. It was a fascinating read. I highly recommend checking this book out. If you read it, let me know what you think of the ending (I thought it was perfect). I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Beartown by Fredrik Backman. This book has all of the darkness of the other Backman novels I have read, without any of the light. It was depressing. Incredibly depressing. It felt like reading a bleak January day. I give this book 2 out of 5 stars.

How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry. This book was about as deep as you would expect it to be. After reading Home Fire and Beartown it was perfect. There were a lot of characters to keep track of, which I was not expecting. It was cute and did not require much thought. I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Today Will be Different by Maris Semple. Maris Semple wrote Where’d You Go Bernadette. This book is interesting, but not nearly as good as Where’d You Go  Bernadette. It’s fine, but don’t bother. I don’t even remember enough to write a good description. I give it 2 out of 5 stars.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Wow. This was a good book. It’s about a screen legend and her five decade long career. It’s a novel that is written so well I found myself wanting to look up photos from the events that were described only to remember that it was fiction. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

PS From Paris by Marc Levy. This book could have been a fun, predictable read. It was not. It managed to be rather dull. I give it 2 out of 5 stars.

In October I have lofty reading goals. I have two new books coming from Book of the Month Club that will be added to the stack. My guess is Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend will also be in my to read stack next month.20181001_2128032161792347868377888.jpgWhat are you reading this month?