June Giveaway #2: Sock yarn and a Sock project bag

Remember those grand plans I had for a second June giveaway? Sheesh Christmas, June is just about over!

So here we go my friends, nothing too fancy, but a party favor of affection for any knitter interested. One project bag from Knitterly. It's a cow from Petaluma, where they are very proud of the dairy cows. Everyone likes the Jersey cows but I love the little dark brown ones, where they look auburn in the sunshine. One ball of Lang Yarns Jawoll color. I like this colorway, it reminds me of June a bit, like swimming pools and floaties and cartwheels in a grassy park or neighbor's lawn.

Leave a way of reaching you in the comments and I'll pick a winner in a week.

Happy Knitting.

Hey I Saw That!

    I took this picture the other day when I was running errands in the neighborhood with The Kid. This is painted on the side of a local bar/eatery, The Willows.

It's good to look up from the path every now and again. You see some nifty stuff.

Weekending Leftovers

Karen at Pumpkin Sunrise is sharing her weekend again and everyone is sharing theirs as well. I love seeing everyone's happy and busy.

Woolythyme and I both had dough a'risin' on the brain. I love lifting that lid and seeing the bubble and rise. If that doesn't bring out the inner kid grin, I dunno what does.

The dough went towards my leftover pies. The Manfriend made a wonderful roast chicken dinner and it had already fed us for 2.5 meals, but I could not let that lovely meal go. So I decided to make roast chicken pies.

Left over steamed potatoes.

Chopped garlic butter green beans.

Diced roast chicken, of course! (you can't see the jus/gravy mixed in. Mmmm.)

I also had too many berries of various sorts kicking around that I was afraid wouldn't last much longer. So I decided to make berry cheesecake squares. It took longer to set than I expected, but it seemed to please. Not the prettiest of photos, but you get the gist of it :)

Slow Growing Rainbow

I did cast on my summer rainbow socks.

They are very cheery and I look forward to knitting them which is what I need with  other unsatisfying knits lying around.

What are you knitting that is making you smile?

A Fortunate Birthday. A Grateful Me.

I mentioned in an earlier post the boys took me out for an early birthday dinner which was wonderful. I have to say thank you to everyone and their kindness and generosity they've shown me with well wishes and gifts or PM on ravelry. I feel like I'm just receiving so much good with or without it being due to my birthday.

Evidence #1: Andi sent me this pattern I have been coveting! Overwhelmingly generous! I am hoping not to wait too long to cast this on. I have this yarn I got from Saco River Dyehouse that I got from reading about their kickstarter fund from Knitting in Beantown. A soft looking grey for a uniform cardigan. I think it'll be perfect! fingers crossed!

Evidence #2: I won some yarn from Two Cables n' a Frapp! How lucky am I?

Evidence #3: While I was in Petaluma I tried to visit a yarn store that always seems to be closed when I was passing through. Well guess what? They just started being open on Mondays! Happy Birthday to me! So I treated myself to some yarn (Madelinetosh is apparently a problem for me, a good problem, but a problem nonetheless). I also got myself some US1 karbonz dpns. I really like these. My bamboo ones are too long and the karbonz have a surprising amount of give to them when knitting. yay! Oh I also got this nifty project bag. Can't have enough project bags. Petaluma is known for it's free range chickens and organic eggs, hence the rooster.

So you see? I'm pretty lucky. I got another project bag with a cow on that I will raffle off with some sock yarn for our second June give away. Stay tuned!

Beach Walk

Dillon Beach is pretty. I've only been there a handful of times. West of Petaluma, it's a cold and windy place. The fog can sometimes make it romantic or sometimes ... creepy. I like it. The ocean feels raw, the breakers look savage and it takes either recklessness or a hangover to decide to go in at 7:15 in the morning.

It's a much more agreeable place for a walk. It also allows for the dogs. They were probably more tuckered out than the Kids. ha! This was one of the dogs that we spent the weekend with. The Kid was over the moon,  since he loves animals and we have none. This one especially loves children. And everyone loves Ms. Mabel.



Dunes before the beach make for big smiles. The Kid kept a close eye on his little cousin.




A morning walk on Monday allowed us to catch the pretty in the tide pools at the end of the beach that had been covered my last evening walk. But in the low tide there were many things to see.

The air smelled so good. At the edge of it all with our barefeet in the water and the kids laughing and the locals hand in hand picking up floating trash, the hermit crabs narrowly being squashed by lumbering humans, it was another moment that hope and the good in life could not be denied.

Eating Well at Dillon Beach

This past weekend was all about family good times. 4 families with the same sur name went to Dillon Beach to be together, and celebrate the family my father in law left behind.  It was very informal, and was as he would've appreciated.

We enjoyed each other, some who flew in and some who drove in.  Because of work schedules, 2 of the brothers had to overlap. One had Saturday off and one had Monday off and Sunday we were all together, all day long. 

We had a great luncheon.

The house we rented had a magnificent long table, perfect for a family retreat (and lots of tasty treats).

 Look at my people, aren't they cute?

SIL H is a master at bbq ribs. Her dry rub is delish, her method of preparation with a steam at the end to completely tenderize every morsel? AMAZING.

BBQ chicken always a crowd pleaser. The Middle BIL was overly apologetic, since he's used to a gas grill opposed to charcoal, but I tell you, this was some tasty chicken. No complaints to be found.

Grilled squash and zucchini. Probably my favorite vegetables grilled.
 

Favorite, except for um asparagus.

Grilled peppers go with everything. I do not partake of grilled jalapenos. My stomach cannot handle them as it matures (my stomach that is). However if you grill the peppers whole with the seeds in, they are delicious and the heat it exudes is so impressive. Ah, the glory days. Mom can still take these down though. She would've loved this meal.

From my husband and "The Middle One".  Fresh and Hot. Truly hot. Use sparingly. Be warned there is no control spout, so don't pour it all crazy style like Auntie did. hehe.

Potato salad, we admit, it was an after thought. The potatoes weren't cooked enough, but hey, it was a good idea and it looked really nice.

This is probably my favorite summer salad. I prefer this over the Caprese. Tomato and Avocado (we mixed in green beans from the salad the night before) with vinagrette and red onion. 

Good times.