Can a family spend more time apart?

Alexander was in a play a couple of weeks ago. That's him in the green shirt. The play was called "Das Fest" and the kids did a fantastic job on what was some very serious material. Alexander looks a little dark in the picture because he played a black man. The character spoke only english and so he was the obvious choice for the part. He did well ,though, and found it a lot of fun, and thinks he would be interested in doing more theater . Which I think is a great idea.

Yesterday , I did something I have never done before. I bought an airline ticket on line. I am a real weenie about things like this. The computer confounds me and I am afraid I will make some huge mistake. I kept obsessivly checking the dates to make sure I was puchasing for the right time - and finally decided- I 'll just go whenever the darn ticket is good for. So I am off to visit Cheryl, in Virginia, for a week in October.
How did this come about? Well.. Cheryl keeps asking me to come for a visit and I really want to sooooo. Both boys have big school trips this year- Alexander is going to Scotland and Patrick to Rome. Last week I noticed that they would actually be gone at the same time! What an oportunity :-) Michael said I should go do something, and so I am.

We had to have a laugh though - Michael will be in Kinchasa, The Congo. Patrick in Rome, Italy. Alexander in Edinbrugh, Scotland.And, of course , me in Virginia Beach- Virginia. One musn't forget Nala. She will be back with Anja and Co. in the Netherlands. Between us we are covering five countries, three contenents, and both hemespheres. Maybe someday soon we can all go somewhere together?

Shopping finishing and cool stuff

Her is some yarn I purchase this sommer- all of it is sock yarn- I see I went a litle heavy on the purple!
The large twisted hanks are from Pagewood Farm . Handdye from a woman in California. The colors are fantastic and the yarn is really cushy.
The small hank is Claudia' handpaints. I knit a pair of socks from this yarn already and I love how it knit up.
The two small skeins in the yelow net is a purple and white Louet. In the red net a skein of pink Lornas Laces- the second skein had knots in it so I didn"t buy it. This will have to be kids socks.
The small pink skein is Tofutsies. This yarn looks really thin and I am kind of afraid of it :-)
All the other skeins are from Trekking, including the finished pair of socks in brown and pink. A yahoo sock knitting group that I belong to here in Germany went on a field trip to Trekking Zitron two weekends ago and did a little shopping. They actually make their own bamboo needles at Trekking- DPNs and circs. They showed us a little bit about how they make and put the circs together. They also told us that you should always store your circs in a plastic bag as the nylon cable loses water and over time, becomes dry and can become less flexible and even crack. If you notice this happening , lay them in water for a few minutes. I have been storing mine over a gooseneck lamp to keep the kinks out- I guess I better put them in a zippy.

The socks are from Trekking yarn, knit on Trekking 2.25 bamboo needles. The colors on all the pictures is pretty bad as it is overcast today, but I liked the colorway of this yarn so much that I knit plain socks with it ,which is something I almost never do.
The post card is from Cheryl and Rick's son Rich , who was on a dig this summer in Israel- I thought this was the coolest thing and am so grateful that he found time to send me a postcard. Thanks Rich !

San Francisco

Here are the kids in Golden Gate Park. We are just in front of the de Young Museum. It has been recently remodeled , and while I liked what they have done, I was surprized at how small it is.
My all-time favorite museum - the museum of natural history and the Steinhart Aquarium and Morrison Planatarium is still closed for renovations. You can see it from where the boys are standing in this photo. Visiting it are some of my earliest and best memories. They have a small version open downtown, but it is not the same- or even close. I hope that when they finish with the building they haven't changed too much. The main reason for renovation is to make it more earthquake safe. I hope they keep, what for me ,are important bits. The beautiful tiles in the amphibian house, the Foucalt Pendulum and the prehistoric dioramas.
I have always been facinated by the Foucalt Pendulum- even when I was to small to know what it was. If you are ever near one of these it is worth it to go see it. It is not really spectacular but somehow impressive.

17

Alexander turned 17 this July. In Germany he can now go to driving school. - Need I say more?

I'm back -Kind of

Well we're home. More or less. School has started. Michael is home and we have been running around like mad things trying to take care of business. We haven't even managed to open our mail yet. But here is a picture of the boys . They had a great vacation , kart racing was just one of the many activities that my Mom planed and made sure happened. Here they are about to go out onto the track and try and beat the snot out of each other.

Dang

Sorry, My internet is down. there is something wrong somewhere in my system. I hope that when Michael is home he can get to the bottom of it. Until then I am stuck pirating one of the kids computers a couple times a day . So no pix :-( And my sister sent me the cutest knitting bag that she sewed for me. Very, very cute.

Yummy

I just received this sock yarn from Wollmeise. This yarn is so yummy. I can't belive I waited this long to order some. The colors are super deep and the skeins are heavy and feel great in your hand. I am not sure I want to knit with them , I think I want to just hang them on the wall as they are!

Promised Mom

I promised my mom some pictures of the table deko from my birthday party. Anja and I found both the tiny wellies and the fake grass hysterical. The flowers in the boots are real. The mini rubber ducks were given to the children as favors . Funnily enough , I just remembered that I bought these table cloths (at Ikea) 10 years ago. Anja and I had discovered that our birthdays are only a few days apart and we celebrated together for the first time, inviting the laidies in our club. I wish I could remember the menu .
This birthday the menu was chili con carne, onion bread , honey oat bread, a cheese platterwith grapes and strawberries, brownies and tiramizu. All of it home made. I even baked the finger biscuts for the tirimzu.

Just one more

My Opal Abo just arrived. I was wondering if everyone recieved the same thing , but I have now seen that while there is some overlap the yarns are not all alike.

another photo heavy post

Peonies from Michael for our Anniversary- This was quite odd as I have never before expressed an opinion on Peonies. Then about two weeks ago I was in town and sow someone walking by with a bunch and thought- Wow - those are great and then my husband sent me some. Think what you will :-0
Purple Austermann Step socks - have been OTN for about 5 months. I actually had to buy a second skein of yarn to finish these.
A mini sock for the key chain my Mom sent for my birthday and a box of yarn I recieved from Cheryl.

I really should be making dinner but...

I have tons to say and even more to show and I thought I should at least make a start. Monday was my birthday- and Tuesday our anniversary. I had a small party on Sunday evening and we celebrated "into" my birthday. The be-utiful red biscornu is from Carol- I was so thrilled to receive this. Carol does wonderful work and it is the first bisconu that I have seen in person. Fab- really!
My sister made me the napkins and the necklace and bracelet in the next picture. I am sort of addicted to cloth napkins ( this is very wierd and I should probably save it for one of thoes tag thingys) and she knows exactly my taste.
the next picture is the contents of the box my Mom sent- various bits that she new I would like. I was very "angetan" byt the mini sock blocker and sat down yeesterday evening and knit a sock for it. It only took an hour or so. Pictures in the next post :-)
In the last picture ar a necklace from Michael , some homemade strawberry jam from the neighbor , some silk ribbon, a necklace and ring from Anja and my Pandora bracelet. The Pandora bracelet is one where you collect different beads for it and the boys gave me a new one- hard see though.
I so have more news- about my back , stitching and socks but it wil have to wait as the natives are getting restless for their dinner.

Sorry - blogger messed with me and now the pictures are in the wrong order- but your smart- you'll figure it out.

Lovely presents

Last week , Michael saw this "Strandkorb" for sale and wrote me an email with the link and said that if I liked it I should order it. Wasn't that sweet!
I did and I did. It said it would take 10 working days to be delivered , but it only took a week - and there was a holiday in there! I was so surprised- and then Patrick put it together all by himself ( it came packed flat) and when I got home from work I could sit in it- isn't it cool?
You can see some of my newly potted plants there as well. Thats about the limit of my gardening- a few large pots with flowers- I regularly let them die ( the fl0wers) and buy new ones. You would think that being from California , I would remember to water.
May is always a big present month for me , mother's day, my birthday and our anniversary. I do like getting presents- deosn't everyone?
For mother's day I received a boquet of flowers and a "Tears for Fears" CD from my kids and from my one god daughter (Ciara) a self strung bead necklace on an elastic. I think there were a lot of these made and given this year :-) I wore mine all day and then hung it on the rearview mirror in my car. Sweet!
Does anybody know what "Strandkorb" is in English, not the literal translation , but what the thing is actually called?
On the health front: After a year and a half of dealing with my back problem , I am going to have a series of very slightly invasive procedures which will hopefully sove the problem - at least to large degree. The first is on Friday- wish me luck.

Kids!

This is what we gave our kids for Easter.
















And this is what I get as a thank you :-0

We do have a rule at our house that goes " shoes on or socks off" , but is appears that if I am not on the spot to enforce it , my children simply ignore it. And no , my children do not wear hand knitted socks- otherwise I am afraid they would no longer be able to walk much less play basketball!

Busy....

This is my baking afternoon production. Twenty four cupcakes, a small heart shaped cake , brownies, two carrot cakes and a loaf of bread. The cupcakes and the heart are from a yellow cake mix. But the rest are not and are all made with spelt flour. The brownies are from the back of the hershey cacoa box- this is a great recipe as you only need one bowl and a spoon to make them- fantastic. The carrot cake is from "The Silver Pallett", it was my sisters wedding cake. It's a bit more work as the carrots are cooked and pureed and not just grated ,but the last time I made it I did enough carrots for twice and froze it. They will get clasic cream cheese frosting - the cupcakes will get a glaze and some sort of deko too, but not until Sunday morning. The bread is with onion and cheese . I have made this a number of times - always with a slight variation -so I am never sure exactly what it will be like- keep your fingers crossed :-) The whole of this is for a communion that we are going to on Sunday. I didn't plan to make this much , but I kind of started and couldn't stop.
I pretty much began at 4:30 this afternoon and managed to clean the kitchen , shop, do laundry and iron shirts between as well. Oh and talked to my Mom , my Sister and my DH on the phone too.
My sister and I ordered a watch for my Mom for mother's Day and they sent it to her with the invoice and no gift card. She had recieved it, loved it , but simply could not remember having ordered it. I wondered that she hadn't said anthing to me because it should have reached her early this week. I finally did say something and we had a good laugh. She thought she was losing her mind.
We are off tomorrow to our friends so - have a nice weekend and a lovely Mother's Day!!!

Socks and art cards

Another pair of finished socks- They were almost finished a month ago and only needed about three hours to complete them this weekend. The yarn is Opal and the pattern is from the new Interweave book.

On to lovely gifts. The Easter card and art cards are from Dianne- they are so cool. I had been hoping I was on her list of recipients and was thrilled to receive these. Thanks again Dianne.

I had quite a nice weekend. The daughter of a friend of my mother, Emily , is studying here in Germany for four months. I am thrilled that she found time to come for the weekend and that we were able to do some fun stuff. We shopped- ate out- went bowling , and best of all went to the Felix Nussbaum Museum in Osnabrueck. I actually enjoyed most of the art ,but that is not what we went for. The building is called the Museum without an Exit and was designed by Daniel Libeskind- the architect who has designed the World Trade Center memorial. His buildings are very modern, different and interesting. If you ever have a chance to see one- do .

I promised the winner of the book recomendation contest in this post. I received a number of recomendations for books that I had already read- but I bought and read everything else. To my surprise I was not able to read (or knit) as much as I had planned on vacation , but I did finish them soon thereafter. I really enjoyed two books- Both were fantasy and I will read more books from both authors. "To Say Nothing of the Dog" by Connie Willis and "His Majesty's Dragon" by Naomi Novik. After a bit of thought I decided that " To say Nothing of the Dog " was my favorite. I really love time travel storys and the twists they force my brain to make.
So the winner is Barbara!!
Barbara- I know neither your shoe size nor what color etc.. you would like.. but I am sure we will figure it out.

More ....

This is my God daughter Ciara at her first communion two weeks ago. I actually have better pictures , but I love the way her face looks in this one. I was actually standing about 8 feet away, on a low brick wall , with my camera held above my head and she was surrounded by adults. So this was just a luck shot. The communion was in The Netherlands and the service was very child friendly and sweet. And, it was the weekend before Michael left and so he was able to go with us. Very nice.
The boys wore suits for the first time - I wish I had a better picture - I hope someone else does. Next weekend we are going to a confirmation and they will have to get dressed up again. Maybe I can persuade Patrick to put on his tie , and I will try to get a better picture.

Barbara: Yes , I did get your note. Thanks and I too, am sorry we couldn't get together, but we will :-)

Annamarie: Yes, I have checked and will continue to check the passports- not only the dates ,but do I still have them?- They are all good for ages and yes, I do have them , but I am very nervous about the whole thing.

Carol and Su: Yes, I would please like to have Carol's RR when Su is done with it, but please don't mail for it to get here between 21 June and 4 August. There will probably be someone who can recive it , but I 'd rather be here mysef.

Hugs and thanks to everyone else for continuing to check and comment on my blog . I do appreciate it- more than you can imagine.

The next post will have the winner of the book suggestion contest!!

Happy May First!

Well, I have been trying to write a post for almost a week, but I couldn't bring myself to start what should be a huge long thing and so I have been avoiding it. I actually hate to write and don't think I am good at it . I always have to convince myself that I am only going to write a few sentances and then just stop whenever. So that is what I am doing now.

Posting a picture and writing something, just to get back into the swing of the thing.

These socks are my finish for April. They are "Monkey Socks" from Cookie A. The yarn is Opal, in a colorway that wasn't planned to match my sofa. That was a coincedence.

Michel is back in the Congo. He left last Tuesday and is supposed to stay for two months. Right before he comes back the boys and I will leave for 6 weeks vacation in California. Our planning leaves something to be desired, but we do the best we can.

I have spent most of the last week trying to get my house back together . While Michael was here I barely managed to keep us fed and in clean underwear. Now it's back to the grindstone with the addition of everything I avoinded doing the last 4 weeks. When will someone invent self-cleaning houses?
Anyway I am ging to aim for a short post every couple of days. Maybe with a picture or two of our vacation.

Birthdays and other exciting and harrowing events.

Well, today is Michael's birthday , and as you can see, he is back in Germany- or we are in the Congo! I have on a hat too ,but I took the picture. We had big plans for he weekend. Michael was supposed to get to Germany on Friday Morning to begin his 4 week vacation, but then this happened http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/03/22/Congo.reut/index.html
and he was unable to get to the airport and was confined to quarters. Our plans to go to friends in the Netherlands and our tickets for a function went right out the window.

Thursday evening I pretty much had decided to go anyway . Friday morning , Patrick woke up with a stomach ache and I decided not to go. Friday midday, Alexander came home from school and asked "Are we going?" As Patrick was feeling better - we jammed some stuff into the car, grabbed the dog and went. The between the lines here is a lot of telephone calls with Anja- tears and stomping about, on my part, a trip to the Dr. for Patrick and Michael not knowing exactly when he would be able to get on a plane.

Friday evening , I went with my friends to our "event" . It is a big charity function- I have been most years for about the last 12. Years ago ,I was on the committee that organizes this event and it is always a highlight in my year. It is a fun evening with food and drink from different countries, a casino, music and dancing and a huge tombola . But.. I prefer to go with my husband. I still had a nice time and Saturday Morning, Anja and Ciara and I went to Aachen to do a little stashing ,that is the other picture , and to hit Starbucks.
Buy the time we got home, Michael had called and said that it looked pretty good to get to the airport that evening and we could pick him up from the airport in Dusseldorf, on Sunday - that's today- his birthday. We manged to greet him at the airport with the dog, a candle in a Starbuck's muffin , paper hats etc... The main thing is he is home , safe and sound. Right now he is asleep on the sofa- OUR sofa in OUR house. You understand.

For those that come for knitting /stitching content- my new stash came from Junghans Wolle in Aachen. The greenish yarn is Opal cotton- I might actually have this already, the other yarn is Regia bamboo, there are some 2mm Addi circs , some beads to try beaded knitting, a book about knitting mittens and gloves- I may branch out, some very short knitting needles- for knitting the fingers, some blank memory cards- to make your own, and the blue box thing is a stretcher stitching frame thingy for stitching projects. I have no idea if the stretcher thingy will work ,but the box was torn and they were selling it for 2.50 , so into the basket it went. You can hardly go wrong for 2.50.
I also managed to get a great massage yesterday- so , although it started out badly , the weekend has turned out pretty well!

More socks

Not only did I finish Su's RR yesterday - I finished these socks , late last night. They are the embossed leaves socks again , but this time in a pale green Regia.

I am up early this morning- for a Sunday ,as it is the first Formula One Sunday of the year and the race is in Australia . I did not get up at 4 am like we used to do. When the kids were smaller and Michael was home , the kids would crawl in bed with us and we would all watch together. This morning I am watching the repeat- by myself. I got up at 8 for the pre-race show and ironed shirts while watching it, and am now watching the race, but it's just not the same by myself. I think I'll go cast on a new pair of socks!

If you missed the "Help" post, please do go read it. Thanks.

Su's RR - done and in the mail

Well, Here is a picture of Su's RR . I stitched the square in the bottom , left hand corner. The picture is totally crooked ,but it is raining and gray and I was trying to get as much natural sunlight on the thing as possible. Then as it was already 11 and our post closes at 12 , I packed it up and hurried over there to make sure it got in the mail today, and only looked at the pix afterwards. But I did get it mailed :-)
Now I am waiting to receive Veronica's from Barbara and hoping for inspiration. Barbara did a fab job extending a square that Veronica had stitched. I am not sure I have enough imagination for this! I will do my best.