We are going to take part in the TOS Summer Reading Splash and I will use this post to list Olivia's books.
Sister's Grimm books
Magic Treehouse Books (12 - ?)
Tale of Desperaux
Dr Doolittle
Dear America and My America series books
The True Meaning of Smekday
The Mysterious Benedict Society
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh
Anne of Green Gables
Thats our list so far and I'm sure I'll be adding more! Yay, for summer!
Monday we arrived back home from our trip to Maine. Already we are 'homesick'... we adored it so. Since our youngest is completely potty-learned, we decided to give camping with them a try. The kids were great, loved camping, and it was something we will definitely try again. It was a learning experience and we can make improvements to make our next trip more efficient (like time management... it gets dark in Maine at 8pm, not what you want to realize when setting up the tent!). All in all, it was a great trip and the things we didn't do this time gives us a reason to go back in a few months!
We stayed in Wassamki Springs campground and I highly recommend it -- especially for any families. We lucked out and got a site on the lake. They had live entertainment Saturday evening and a breakfast Sunday morning. They also have a policy that campfires are out by midnight... and that meant (in our case) that the noise was gone by then, too.
The campground was in a good location, as well. Old Port was not that far away.
We also went to Cape Elizabeth. We hit Crescent Beach.
Kids loved playing in the water.
We also saw Portland Headlight. Amazing.
The campground is also not too far from the LL Bean store in Freeport. It was lovely drive as well.
There was more we did, but I didn't bring my camera with. We went to Ferry Beach, Lobster Shack (FRESH seafood!!), and went up to Bath. Again, the trip was fabulous and I really, truly, have never met such friendly people! In my experience, people are annoyed with tourists... but in Maine EVERYONE was so friendly and willing to help. Love that. We will be going back for sure.
This last weekend - aside from the cold, rainy Saturday - was lovely. We took a drive on Sunday around Lake Ontario, and dreamed of the days to come that we can swim in the water.
The kids had a blast at one part of the drive where the waves crashed onto the street.
I was able to finish a knitting project and start a new one. The finished one is Gretel by Ysolda Teague.
Its knit with Sundara Aran Silky Merino in 'soft moss' and it was a dream to work with. Ysolda patterns + sundara asm = win. I will be knitting up more of Ysolda's patterns in the future.
I started a Featherweight cardigan and I am very please with how its coming along. I found the malabrigo lace at woolgirl when they had their sale - no way could I pass up a sweater worth of yarn for under $25!
I picked 'red java' which is a color I wouldn't normally go for in sweaters but I am liking it. I am about halfway through the increase rows... and not even halfway through one skein!
This week is all about planning and packing and loading as we are camping in Maine this weekend! Looking forward to trips to the beach, lobstah' rolls, strolling the Old Port, and eating ice cream in the park. It will be good times, indeed.
Olivia has always been fascinated with seeds. She wants to "save and plant" every seed she finds as she is eating. Some seeds end up in the compost heap... oranges just don't do that well in upstate NY. Last week, she set aside seeds from her tomato and started her project. She wanted to sprout them first, so we put them in a damp paper towel. After checking them every day, they sprouted four days later. We then took an egg carton and put dirt into four cells. The sprouts went into the dirt and we moistened the dirt. To keep a moist atmosphere, we filled a few cells with water, and placed it all in a plastic freezer bag and zipped it shut.
This morning we found two sprouts (in the two cells closest, one right next to the white strip on the bag and one under condensation in the right. sorry for the poor pictures). It will be fun to see if they keep growing!
In knitting, a friend told me about magic loop a bit last Thursday. She made it sounds very easy and after trying it out, I don't know what kept me from trying it sooner! I am knitting up some charade socks and they are coming along quickly. The yarn is Catalina Sol Joy that I have had sitting around for a couple years. I am bummed it's discontinued; it's woolen spun, so its tightly twisted while also having some sproing (yes, that is a technical term). The color reminds me of easter eggs.
There has also been some baking. I finally got around to trying the brioche recipe from my favorite bread book.
I was hesitant cause it calls for 8 eggs and 3 sticks of butter, however after the first rise, you can see that it makes a lot of dough (that is a 6 qt mixing bowl). The first loaf is out of the oven and cooling off, but the house smells divine. I think this will be a good Easter bread.
There are more projects to be done for this upcoming weekend, and tomorrow we head out to visit family. Hope you all have a great holiday!
In an attempt to invoke warm in this cold and snowy spring day, here are some of my favorites at flickr.
1. Untitled, 2. Fabric storage, 3. magical object, 4. my favorite, 5. Easter Eggs 3.08 010, 6. at the end of a day, 7. 143: oraqua, 8. these smiling eyes are just a mirror for the sun . ., 9. landscape, 10. Semi-Solid Heel and Toe 50 Grammers, 11. inspi.red., 12. YIP65, 13. spring, 14. a true friend...., 15. DSCN0034, 16. a parable on populism, 17. Finished Sunny Days Quilt, 18. 03.05, 19. Little Shoes, 20. a beautiful life
Hope you are having a great Wednesday!
Ever since I saw Marie Antoinette, I have been intrigued by the brightly colored cookies she ate. I didn't really search hard though, because I figured they were a french thing from a pâtisserie in Paris or something similar. It wasn't until I saw this post at Black Apple that my search really started. I found loads of information and recipes on macarons. Age the egg whites, don't age the egg whites. Use almond flour, grind almonds yourself. It was all overwhelming, so I set aside that project.
After two months, I decided I would make them, and see what happens... the worse I could get was a tasty mush, right? I used this recipe and they came out pretty well! I didn't flavor or color them, and I filled them with some nutella that we have on hand... it's a staple in this house.
They were loved in this house, and I am going to make them again and maybe even flavor them. Chocolate mint? Chocolate with jam? Lemon with raspberry? Possibilities are endless.
Outside it was doing a lovely rain, snow, and ice thing which made for great cozy-making inside.
Lots of baking including these muffins which were amazing.
Swedish pancakes... which are the epitome of comfort breakfast's in my opinion.
Taught myself to magic loop and I don't think I will ever go back to dpn's. It's changed me forever.
Movie watching with Brady... Volver and Pursuit of Happyness. Loved them both and am happy netflix finally sent them.
And then... late Sunday afternoon, the sun decided to come out to play. And so did we.
How was your weekend?
This hat turned out to be so much better to knit up.
The pattern is Turn a Square by brooklyntweed
Yarns are Creatively Dyed Woodbrook 'Cheryl' (MC) and Noro Silk Garden '82' (CC)
Brady has a small head so I only knit about 4 inches before shaping the crown (rather than the five inches in pattern). This pattern is such a great, fast way to use up scraps that I will definitely be making more of these in the future.
I had been eyeing swell for a while, thinking it would be a good hat for my hubby, Brady. He likes to ski, and he wears hats a lot to keep his bald head warm. So I ordered some malabrigo from the loopy ewe and cast on when it arrived.
Sometimes... it helps to read up about other people's experience in using same patterns. Sometimes... it can save a lot of headache. And yarn.
The first frog I had cast on as the pattern said to intending to make a medium and realized after twelve rows that the hat would be too small. The second frog I cast on 88 stitches onto size 7 needles and realized after twelve stitches that it would be too small. And the third frog?
I cast on 88 stitches onto size 8 needles and got that far. I really thought it would fit, but when Brady came home and tried it on it was too small. I also realized that no way would that yarn be durable enough for a hat. I frogged and the yarn is set aside until I can think of a good use for it. ALso until I calm down from my frustration with the pattern (after reading on ravelry, I realize that I am not the only one who has had problems with swell... which is a shame, but doesn't make me feel as bad).
Still wanting to make a hat to keep Brady's head warm, I realized I had just enough yarn left over from my darkside cowl and from my lady eleanor stole (rav link) to make turn a square.
So far, the pattern is written very well (of course, who could expect less from brooklyntweed?) and I always love watching the noro colors flow out. This is a much better knitting experience.
