Now that was a long time between blog posts. I guess when you don’t feel like blogging, you don’t blog. We went from one crazy time of year to the next crazy time of year – gearing up for the holidays. This post is just coming off a very bad Winter Storm that left us without power for 7 days. It was much worse the Hurricane Irene which also left us without power for most of a week – but that was different – it was still nice outside – we used our camper for cooking and showers and general hanging about. This one was brutal – over a foot of snow before Halloween – I’ve never seen that before.
The damage was unreal – we’re quite lucky all the trees that came down didn’t land on the house – the trees broke at the bases where the branches fork out because of the weight of the snow on all the unfallen leaves – it was probably the scariest storm I think I’ve been through and being without power for a large part of it made it more so. There are still about 10k people in NJ without power – I consider us lucky to be restored yesterday – thankfully, after Irene we bought a generator. I hope this isn’t a sign of how our Winter is going to go!
There has been lots of knitting in between posts….
There was Sedona….
I’m not to sure I’m happy with this – it was a nice knit – but the collar is just too floppy wide – I think I might sit with a crochet hook later today to see if I can do something about that – I’d love to wear it!
Another Shale Baby Blanket for a Co-worker – this really is such a nice pattern and a quick knit that makes a beautiful gift.
Whipporwill Shawl made with Kauni yarn – I saw this in a shop in Vermont and my only regret is that I didn’t make the larger size – love the color changes!
Little Shells Shawl for a friends daughters wedding – this was a quick knit – thankfully since the wedding is next weekend!
That’s enough photo montage for now – I’m working on another shawl and debating a long sweater cardigan…..mmmmmm
We spent the summer Camping on and off, getting the most we could from the new camper – it was an adventure to learn all about how to use a generator to keep that camper battery charged. But the camper is so nice – just park it and you’re set up. Our last camping trip was Rhinebeck – we had a great time, camped next to a party of knitters and it was beautiful fall weather. We took the pups with us on all these trips and they did so well – they really like camping – now if we could just figure out what exactly it is that sometimes makes them get sick in the car, that would be a bonus. Poor things.
On our vacation in New England – I picked up a Mandolin at a pawn shop/antique dealer. I’ve always wanted to learn and it seemed like it was meant to be. Our next trip was to the Finger Lakes Region of New York and I ended up trading that in for a Beautiful new Eastman Mandolin. I’ve been taking lessons since august and having a blast. My DH also decided to finally buy that Banjo he’s wanted for awhile and we’re both just having fun learning.
Work started in September and there is a lot of change to get used to but things seem to be moving along. November is one of my favorite months for school – we have a lot of down time because of scheduling so I’m hoping to use some of that to get a jump start on the holidays – ha! We’ll see if that happens after being in limbo for a week – it seems like it takes longer to catch up after things like that.
I’ve thought of setting up a new blog….but really, this one is here, it’s mine and I’ll post when I post. There really shouldn’t be rules I impose on myself for something I’m supposed to enjoy doing!
With that I’ll leave you with my view from where I work….
All these photos with the exception of the mandolin – taken with iphone 4s camera – it’s amazing!
