What's in a name?

Here's our good looking birthday boy trying to pretend to be thrilled over a ball of yarn and a "Teach Yourself to Crochet" kit when what he really had his heart set on was a CROQUET set. We didn't make him suffer very long before we brought in his real present, the wished for croquet set. We went out to lunch for lobster rolls, steamers, fried clams and a lobster pie and had homemade strawberry pie for dessert. It's still hot. The idea of a glacier is very appealing right now.




On the crafting front, I am almost finished making my 16 Christmas cards for the swap at my local scrap shop. I just have 4 more cards to put together but I'm waiting for the paper that I found on ebay. I thought that working on Christmas cards during a heat wave in August would help cool things down a bit. Isn't my little Santa cute?

I finished reading Twenty Wishes last night. I'd like to read the next volume right away but I have several other books queued up on my Kindle that I could tackle first. I had the Kindle with me the other day when I went into a bookstore. I browsed the titles and when I saw something that interested me I just pulled out the Kindle and found it online and bam, it was downloaded into my library. Very handy. I also have enough paperbacks stacked everywhere in my house to last me several years. I just can't seem to resist bookstores and books.

Montana in 5 more days!

We are getting down to the wire with our trip to Montana just 5 days away. I'm busy doing laundry and thinking about what we'll (I'll) need to pack. I'm all into packing light and I only want to check 1 bag but I know from our experience a few years ago that we can expect frosty mornings so jackets and sweaters are a must. I stopped at AAA and picked up the Montana Tour Book and map yesterday and some candy for the plane/car.

My Kindle arrived on Thursday and I love it. I've already finished one book and I'm deep into a 2nd (Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber). I have several books downloaded and ready to go. I was up until midnight last night reading and then read for another hour this morning before starting the laundry. I really have other things I should be doing.

What I'm working on: Technique Swap for MemoryMakingCrafts - I need to make 11 identical 8 x 8 pages of a single technique. Deadline is September 20th.
Christmas Card Swap - I need to make 16 identical cards for a swap at my Local Scrap Shop. I already ran out of the patterned paper I'm using but found a supply on ebay.
I started knitting my 2nd sock on Monday.

A Word about my Blog Photo

The picture of my husband and me on the front page of my blog was taken by my brother, James, last October 22nd while we were visiting with him in China. The day began with an early morning private sail up the Li River with the beautiful Karst Mountains as our backdrop. It was breathtaking. We stopped for breakfast in a little village and then rode back to our hotel. When this photo was taken we were on a very adventurous bamboo raft ride from Yangshuo to a market village down river. Unfortunately our raft was not licensed to carry paying passengers so whenever the police launch came into view we were unceremoniously hustled off the raft and left to walk in the scorching heat. It was a memorable experience as it entailed walking past a herd of water buffalo. It was also our 21st wedding anniversary. By the time we got to the market I was suffering from heat exhaustion and had to leave as soon as I got my first whiff of whatever was being cooked. This experience pales though in comparison to our adventures in Longji. But that's for another time.

Back to my first post

I just read back through my posts and I just know that you're dying to know what happened to the socks I was knitting. I had to rip out the 2nd sock when I was about 4" into the leg part. Somehow I screwed up and had too many stitches and then I dropped a stitch and it became a huge mess and I just had to pull out the needles and unwind the yarn. And I haven't sat down to cast on the 60 stitches and start over. I wound up wearing the single sock the other day at work because it was freezing. I WILL get back to my sock. It will give me something to do with my hands on the airplane.

Chick Trip

Mall of America here we come! Debbie has always wanted to go to the MOA and this year, for her birthday I am whisking her away to Minnesota for 4 days and 3 nights of shop til we drop. I made the reservations and Debbie is going to plan our days. We're going October 16-19 so we can do some serious Christmas shopping. Hope there's a UPS Store in the mall. This new checked luggage charge on the airlines is a real downer. On the one hand you want to travel with just carry-on luggage but then you need to think about what you're going to do with any purchases. A UPS Store would be a great solution.

If anyone has been to the Mall of America and has some strategy tips for how to make the most of our three days PLEASE leave me a comment.

Oh Yum!

For what seems like ages I have driven past a sign for the Madison Chocolatier on Rt. 1 in Madison, CT. The sign advertised gelato which evokes very fond memories of Bellagio, Italy, 1989. Well, at long last the stars all aligned and I found myself on the right side of the road at the right time of day and I stepped into this tiny shoppe that immediately put a smile on my face. My nostrils were assailed with the intoxicating scent of CHOCOLATE. My eyes were drawn to the showcase filled with chocolates, tarts and cakes that immediately added 3 inches to each hip but somehow I didn't care. I was on a mission. I approached the gelato case and an adorable young girl asked me what I would like. She offered me tastes of any or all of the dozen flavors. I sampled Raspberry Chocolate Flake. Delicious. I really couldn't decide. They didn't have my all time favorite gelato flavor: hazelnut. So I asked the sweet young thing to decide for me. She said she could put a little of each flavor into my cup, so that's what I had. The gelato is served in a little plastic cup with a little plastic shovel as a spoon.

Then today, I satisfied another culinary urge: a hot lobster roll at the Lobster Landing on Commerce Street right here in Clinton. The cafeteria ladies at school had urged me to stop by and taste the best lobster roll I had ever eaten. So simple. Pure lobster, cooked to perfection, stuffed into a toasted roll and doused with a generous portion of melted butter. We sat at a white plastic table alongside the town harbor and savored each succulent mouthful. Now, remind me why I thought that cold lobster with mayonnaise on a buttered roll was perfection.
OK...I have a clue. It all has to do with the butter and my dad. Dad had a "thing" about butter. We never knew exactly why, but nothing that even looked like butter ever passed my dad's lips. So of course, when my parents went to Maine and discovered the joys of lobster rolls they would have gravitated to the cold rolls with mayonnaise instead of the hot rolls with melted butter. They passed this joy on to the younger generation and we never knew what we were missing. Can I love them both?

And, while we're on the subject of food, I just saw the new movie, Julie & Julia on Friday with Debbie. We both loved it. Meryl Streep was amazing. Makes you want to go out and pick up a copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and sharpen your knives. Go see it.

Traveling

Well, I guess it's really summer. We have just made our vacation plans and leave in three weeks for 10 days in Montana. Why Montana? Good question. Apparently, three years ago when we did our Great National Park Adventure, traveling from Utah through part of Idaho, Wyoming and South Dakota John got it into his head that we were going to Montana. We did, technically, when we drove through the Roosevelt Arch into Gardiner, MT while we were staying at Mammoth Hot Springs. We even had a huckleberry ice cream cone there. But John felt cheated. So he's been talking about going to Montana ever since. What does he want to do while we're there? He has no idea. We're going to use Helena as our base and MIGHT drive down to Yellowstone just for a day and then explore around Helena before heading up to Glacier National Park for 3 nights. After that we will go where the spirit moves us (at least right now) depending on the weather.

To be fair, I don't mind going to Montana. I'm really quite excited about seeing the Rocky Mountains and the plains. I've been reading some books that take place in Montana and it will be nice to have some images in my head about what this part of the country is really like. I don't think it's like Connecticut.

I've already started a list of scrapbooking stores in Montana that may be along our routes. I'm planning my layouts of our trip already. I'm hoping that we will get to see some wildlife (a bear would be so cool! We never did see any in Grand Teton or Yellowstone.)

NE Scrapbook Friends

On Saturday I went up to South Windsor to have a cookout with three members of NE Scrapbook Friends, an online scrapbook group that I belong to. The occasion was a visit by the list co-owner, Joann, from Pennsylvania. I had never met Joann before so I joined the party and we spent a delicious afternoon together enjoying hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, salads, desserts, and all sorts of munchies. Doreen and her daughter Lynn Marie are really great people. I had met them both up in Point Sebago, ME in May but had never been to Doreen's house before. She has a beautiful home and a very neat, organized scrap room. Boy, what I could do to that room in 30 minutes! So, here we are in Doreen's yard: me, Joann, Lynn Marie and Doreen. Oh, and Sage.

Here Kitty Kitty

That was no ordinary cat that Rocky chased to our neighbor's woodpile last night when I took him out for his before-bedtime potty break. Rocky got to the woodpile and stopped dead in his tracks, gave a little whimper and backed up rubbing his face on the grass. Even though I didn't smell it immediately, I knew what happened. That was no cat. Rocky had his first run-in with a skunk. I kept him outside (and away from me) and hollered for John to bring me the big bottle of vinegar. What did he bring? a $20 bottle of balsamic vinegar! I left him outside with the dog and got the 2 gallon bottle of white vinegar that I bought for God knows what reason (skunk encounters, I guess) and proceeded to baptize Rocky with it. It worked! It really neutralized the skunk aroma immediately. I let Rocky inside and put him in his crate while he dried off.

Unfortunately I don't think he learned anything from his experience. Today he cautiously made his way over to the woodpile and checked out the area. I'd better keep the vinegar by the back door.