Its Not Dead Yet!

(Er, the blog I mean... sorry 'bout the last 9 months...)

So we got to do a house swap with our renters in Tahoe this past weekend, and got to be reminded just how much we love the place...

There were scenic but kiddo-able hikes:


Boulders to attempt to budge:


Snowballs to throw in Lake Angela:


Snowballs to throw at Dad:


And Tank Boy's first mini-golf!


Not pictured is: poor Tank falling in the pond at Monika's going away party, countless hours of kiddo fun at the Smi-bach residence, a blissful hour beside Lake Tahoe, double Wild Cherries helpings of quiche, TWO trips to the Woah Nellie Deli, and quality family time reading aloud in the car. Happy summer folks, hope you're getting yours!

Unemployment Schmunemployment

Due to the recent notification that I will be unemployed in about a week, and a HUGE boulder that fell on the road between home and the office, I stayed home today and did almost nothing. But the crafter in me has been itching to do something, so I pulled out the rest of the orange roving I bought on etsy and spun the remainder into some sort of yarn... Pics of that after it dries from its little bath, but here's the process...




Oh, and yeah, we just got back from Hawaii, did I forget to mention that? During our eleven days there was quite a bit of rain...



but there was some glorious sunshine too...





So, yeah, I'm not complaining about anything!

Its Beginning To Feel A Lot Like Craft-mas

For some wacky reason, despite past, and recent events, I still do love me the holiday season. That little lump in your throat when you hear the Peanuts gang sing type of love. We've already watched the Grinch, Rudolph ("in-de-pen-dant!") and Its a Wonderful Life. We've got our tree up (a small miracle for us, as it is usually a Christmas Eve event due to procrastination).

I've been crafting, which is a seasonal status quo. My husband refers to it as Suzie's Santa Sweatshop. These little sparklies were for a local art sale last weekend, and I actually sold four whole pairs of earrings!

I'm also doing some sewing this year (darn tendonitis, no knitting) which is surprisingly quick in comparison to both knitting and beaded earrings... I can't give away the surprise, but here's a taste of the cute. I just love my grammy's awesome vintage fabric!


And at some point a while back I promised a full pic of the last baby sweater I managed to complete, so here it is... Ta Daaaaa!


Hope y'all are cozy and crafty, and surrounded by the voices of the Peanuts gang.

A Bit Sad

As of last Wednesday, before Thanksgiving, I was 10 weeks pregnant. Sadly on Thanksgiving (after a lovely dinner) I suffered a miscarriage. I was in very capable hands, with an obgyn cousin of the Hub's at dinner with us, and another emergency room doctor cousin at the hospital 7 miles away. I did end up at the hospital, but was discharged after a few hours and sent home to rest (relatively) comfortably back at Aunt Madeleine and Uncle Matt's house.

So we're all okay now, albeit a bit sad. One remaining hurdle will be to explain to Jackson that the baby that was growing in mommy's belly is no longer there. So, because of the situation, all I can say is that I am especially thankful for my wonderful husband, the amazing family I married into, and my sweet little son. Wishing everyone a cozy weekend of quality family time.

Sedentary Roving

So the pesky tendonitis has completely curbed my knitting habit these days, and I have been hankering for something crafty. Partially inspired by this crafting hottie, I finally dug around in the yarn stash and came up with this nifty kit that I got from my brother in law about two (?!) years ago.



Only when it was in kit form, that there stuff wasn't wound on the spindle yet. (That stuff was formerly roving which is washed and combed wool that has yet to be spun into yarn.) That there stuff henceforth will be known as MY FIRST YARN EVER!



Yeah, its a bit lumpy and uneven, but the process is surprisingly satisfying, fun, and quick! Yay, new craft! (Try to ignore the fact that the new craft is completely reliant on the old craft for actual use.) Now I just need me some more roving stuff, look out credit card!

And Yes, It Hurts To Type Too, Darn.

So I seem to have knit a bit too much in the last few months and given myself some tendonitis in my wrist, boo. But I am (finally) just finishing up this wee knit for the newest baby in the family... I'll divulge a bit more once its in the mail, though really I'm not leaving much to the imagination here...

Civic Duty

So I got summoned for jury duty for today. Oddly enough, despite the fact that I am about to turn 40 (forty!?) I have never done this before. I remember once getting the summons thingy in the mail, about two weeks after the date, as I had been overseas at the time. So being older and much more predictable these days, I did what you're supposed to do, called ahead the night before, and showed up at my appointed 8:30 am check in time. We were crossed off the list, given name tags (I was dubbed the catchy "Juror 91277") and metal-detectored for cell phones and guns. Then we went to the court room.

Let me back up here a bit and mention that our court house (Mariposa County Courthouse) is old. It was built in the 1800's. So the court room is up a flight of narrow stairs, on the second floor. It also has, not only a large structural beam right smack dab in the middle, but said beam also houses the chimney of the court room wood stove. I'm pretty glad it was a lovely mild day, and we didn't have to huddle 'round the stove for warmth. The final quaint, charming, and slightly alarming fact about our local courthouse is that the entire building vibrates when the bell is rung. So nine long peals of the bell clapper could be felt as well as heard.

And then the guy pled guilty in chambers, and we were all sent home after an informative video and thank you speech from the judge. Oh, and I kid you not, as I was driving away they were getting someone out of the paddy wagon and he was in black and white horizontal striped pj's. We do things the old fashioned way here. Evidently.

To see our high tech facilities click here and scroll down a bit more than halfway. You can just see the wood stove, to the right of center.