Nana and Papa Came to Visit

My Mom and Dad came to visit on Saturday. It's been a while since they had been to New Hampshire. We had a serious work detail day and we got some big projects checked off the household to-do list. So it may be a long time before they decide to come back for a "visit."

My Dad brought his chain saw. He trimmed some low hanging branches off the bottom side of the maple by the pool. And he cut the little maple tree down that was trying to grow to close to the big maple. Now it will be easier to mow under the remaining Maple. And the two fat, ugly pine trees out by the road are gone now. And I can walk easily around the perimeter of the pool and get to the pump now since my Dad cut the sumac back. And my Mom tackled pulling up my stone garden border. Not much is actually growing in the garden around the deck anymore, so the stones got pulled up so the mower can easily cut in there now and possibly the grass will regrow. And we got the outdoor table, umbrella, and some chairs up out of the basement too. I wish I had gotten a before photo.

My folks did all of that work for just a quick hamburger lunch and some Robert Redford dessert. They brought a big bowl of beans that my Dad made. We still have some leftovers. Elleigh and Lucas enjoyed seeing Nana and Papa. They got more goodies from the table than they normally get.

The yard looked so much better, especially considering the lawn was cut by Mike's Dad on Wednesday and Thursday.

How'd That Happen?!

I went to The Elegant Ewe today to buy a little button for the back closure on the Debbie Bliss baby vest I just finished. That's all I needed and all I wanted. I found a 70 cent square button that would be perfect. But when I got to the check out counter, I had two skeins of Kona Superwash yarn in my basket as well. How'd that happen!? Apparently they came from the sale bin at the front of the store that was full of Seacoast Handpainted Yarns. They were only $10 a skein, and I really liked the colorway. It went from blue, to sea green, to brown and the colorway is called Kelp. The two skeins just seemed so desperate to go home that I didn't have the heart to put them back at that point. So they came home with me and have joined my stash.

Debbie Bliss baby Vest

I bought the new baby knits book by Debbie Bliss called Essential Baby a few weeks ago. I completed my first project from the book this morning. (I'm on vacation this week so I can be around to help Michael out as he recovers from his surgery.) I got 3 skeins of Baby Cashmerino by Debbie Bliss at The Elegant Ewe on Tuesday after work, and I cast on this project that same night. I did the bulk of the knitting while waiting around Concord Hospital on Thursday for Mike's surgery. There was a lot of seam sewing for such a small project. Luke was an obedient boy and helped me model the finished project. He likes the green since it matches his color. The 0-3 month size barely takes more than one skein of the Baby Cashmerino. I have plenty of yarn left to do another size. Technically, the project is not finished. I have to get a small button and then just sew it on the back closure. For those of you who are knitters and members of the ravelry community, I have a lot more photos and notes out in my projects tab.

Peonies!!

My peonies have finally bloomed! They are my favorite flowers. I believe Mike said the bright pink peony bush on the side of his house came from his Mother's bush over at "the farm" and was planted shortly after he bought the house. And then a few years ago, I bought a second white peony bush, and this spring brought the first productive white blooms since it was planted. They smell so good! It's so sad that they only blossom once a year. I have one mason jar full of blooms now and I think I will be able to get one more big bouquet of fresh blooms cut this weekend.

Michael's Had His Back Surgery

We got up on Thursday morning before the sun so we could get Michael to the hospital for 6:00 am for his back surgery. Dr. Levy from Concord Orthopaedics performed a disectomy on the herniated disc Mike had between his S1 and L5 vertebrae. Dr. Levy called it a large herniation. The surgery removed the herniated disc material that was pressing on a nerve. It was causing pain and weakness down Mike's left leg that just hadn't gone away after almost a year. In fact, it seemed to be getting worse. Mike reports that as soon as he woke up from surgery, his leg pain was gone. Mike was able to get discharged from the hospital on the same day as surgery, and we got him home around 6 pm. His incision sight and back are tender and stiff, but so far he seems to be doing well. Of course he is! The whole family is giving him extra hugs, cuddles, and snuggles just to make him feel better. In fact, he is probably being smothered! Michael will probably be out of work for a month. I have taken next week off as my summer vacation so I can be home and around for the first part of his recovery.

Happy Father's Day!

Elleigh and Lucas are so happy to celebrate their Daddy on Father's Day! The kids started the day off snuggling in bed with Daddy. And then they helped Mommy to make Daddy home fried potatoes and an omelet. They mostly just used Jedi mind control on me while I cooked. They try to use their mind to get me to drop ingredients on the floor. Yesterday afternoon, we gave Daddy a present. He got a new Wii. We thought it might be good for him to have for when he is recovering from his surgery. Mike has to leave today to go to work in New York, so he got his present yesterday so he would have time to set up the Wii and play it at least once before leaving. He's very aggressive with the boxing game and it even scares the children a bit. Lucas doesn't have a good snuggling with Daddy photo from this morning. But he has a good photo of him smiling because his Daddy makes him so happy.

World Wide Knit in Public Day!

The Sunday knitting group (officially titled the Concord Knitting Meetup) that I belong to decided to join the World Wide Knit in Public Day. Our group hosted an event on Saturday at Merrill Park in East Concord. The weather worked out well, though it was best when the breeze was around. We invited knitters from all around by advertising on Ravelry and our Concord Meetup site, and as well posted the event on the Knit in Public website.

It was wonderful to meet even more knitters from the area. There were some members from the Granite State knitters' group and some people from the ravelry knitting community.

I saw a few new gadgets that I can't live without now. I must have a handmade sterling silver darning needle now that I have seen Suki's! (I apologize now for probably spelling her name wrong.)

We brought our chairs and the food was over abundant. Denise set up her Jet Boil chocolate fondue set and we dipped everything in the gooey chocolate goodness. I still have a huge dish of uneaten brownies though which will probably make their way to Borders today so I don't eat all of the brownies myself.












Poor Ellen is a member of Ravelry, but she didn't have any friends out there. So if you are a Ravelry member, please go out and friend renaissancebabe so she won't have to knit alone in NH anymore. As of this morning, she was up to 4 friends. So the intervention has worked!

I think the consensus was that we have to try knitting at Merrill Park again soon.