By popular demand and the great journey . . .

My public has spoken, and I have answered. Some of you have asked about my sweet addition to the family. She’s still a bit shy and hides quite a lot. But one of the few opportunities I had I snapped this photo of our new addition to the family, Maggie. Now I probably would have chosen a different name for this girl for a couple of reasons, but mostly because it’s the name of one of my human friends, who doesn’t remind me of a cat at all. But when I went to the animal shelter and saw this sweet girl, I (1) just had to take her home with me and (2) her name was already Maggie and (3) she’d been through enough change, so I wasn’t going to change her name too! So, here she is:

And she's a cutie petutie!! 

So . . . I'm sitting in a McDonald's right now because our apartment in Savannah doesn't have internet (or cable TV).  Big Daddy has decided to get on a cultural kick and bag TV (he's reading instead) and the internet (he's going to museums instead).  Go figure!!  So, while I'm in Savannah, you'll be hearing from me from the local McDonald's or Kroger's (where there's a Starbucks). 

We stopped in Vicksburg and there was a lovely Jewish cemetery--took this beautiful picture of a statue/headstone marking the grave of Carolyn and Samuel Schwartz, dod 1907 and 1923, respectively.  Really a lovely place.

The trip went great except for a batch of huge, huge rain, thunder and lightening somewhere between Macon and Savannah.  Not sure where I was, and seeing anything 20 feet ahead of you was pretty near impossible.  Extremely hard rain--as hard as anything I've seen in Texas. 

When we got to Savannah, we had to swing by the airport and pick up Phil's truck.  He parked there and flew to Dallas to drive back to Savannah with me.  It was a little scary for me because I was totally unfamiliar with everything and had no idea where I was going.  I was afraid I would get separated. 

But I got there--all in one piece.  Phil had told me there was a pond by the apartment, but here's a picture of it.  It's bigger than I thought it would be--more like a lake.

I had to go exploring a little this morning, and took this great picture of downtown Savannah--it's the gold dome that sits atop City Hall. It was a cursory tour today, but I'll get braver tomorrow and park the car and venture out some.

So life, traffic, stores, etc. are pretty much like they are in Texas--a bit fewer people for sure, though.  I'll post tomorrow.  I want to get downtown with my big camera (not the Blackberry, where these pix came from), and get some artsy stuff.  It's really a beautiful place.  Can't wait!!

xoxo

A-traveling we will go . . .

Big Daddy and I are in Vicksburg tonight . . . we saw the Vicksburg battlefield briefly.  I'll have some good pix of the battlefield tomorrow.  But in the meantime, here's a little bit of what we saw. There's also a Jewish cemetery that abuts the battlefield (I think--I really need to do some more research on it).  But I got some gorgeous pix of some of the tombstones, which I'll post tomorrow.  These pix were taken with my cell phone, so the quality isn't the best, but I think they turned out pretty well.

Got lots of knitting done on my shrug--using the Marble Chunky.  I think it's turning out really pretty!  Can't wait to get to Savannah so I can do some spinning.  But here's a look at the shrug so far:

How I saved the earth today . . .

I passed up the bottled water (again) and filled my water bottle from the tap.  Truthfully, I think it's supposed to be more pure than bottled water--at least more regulated--and Dallas water, freakishly, tastes good!  Go figure. 

Happy birthday . . .

I've been entertained, intrigued, and inspired by the NieNie Dialogues.  Today is Stephanie Neilson's birthday.  If you haven't wished her happy birthday yet, please do it.  She's in the hospital again, but will love that she got lots of birthday wishes--I'm sure of it!!

xoxo

Summer days . . .

Last week I did errands and took my darling granddaughter with me.  We had the car cleaned from top to bottom, went to buy licenses for the cars at the county offices, went to the feed store for cat food, and finally picked up groceries.  Rowan insisted she had to have a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch, so she picked out the cheese:  Colby.  We rushed home and were so hot we had to take a quick dip to reduce the heat before lunch.  So we finally got cooled down and came in to eat our lunch.  Rowan thoroughly enjoyed her grilled cheese, eaten while wearing her swim garb and totally rad, green shades.  Ahhhh . . . summer.

TGIF . . .

It was great today having Big Daddy home from Georgia.  We'll drive back together in a few days and the girls will take turns staying at the house.  But it was nice having my best buddy to do stuff with.  He had an early appointment with the doctor, but when he came home we went grocery shopping, went to the bookstore, had lunch together, went to the vet's office to pickup flea and heart worm med refills for the Mac Man, went to Shabby Sheep for more of that which shall not be named (yarn--oops, there I go saying it), and driving by Rowan's new school to scope out the joint. 

I'm sure we all have memories of our childhoods . . . well, not all fond memories . . . but there are things we remember fondly--right?  One of Phil's favorite memories is going to his Aunt Nira and Uncle Gene's farm.  He talks about the horses, the meals Aunt Nira cooked, and just reminisce about stuff that happened during that time in his life.  One of his fondest memories is of Aunt Nira and Uncle Gene's dog, Shep.  In fact, one of his favorite sayings to our dog, Mac, is that "Shep wouldn't have left a scrap of that in his bowl," or "if Shep were about, nobody would have gotten away with that," etc.  So, you can imagine his surprise, and a sort of happiness, when we were shopping for dog food today and he found . . . unbelievably . . . the Shep brand of dog products.  I couldn't resist a picture for posterity . . .

Don't you just love it!!

How I saved the earth today . . .

1. Had DH checkout the sprinkler timer to see what I was doing wrong . . . he fixed it!!  Should be using less water now, but still protect the foundation!  Yay!!
2. Used shopping totes when grocery shopping today!

Something I think you'd like . . .

Make a tote.

How I saved the earth today . . .

I hadn't read my friend, Lisa's, blog lately, so decided to catch up.  Seems she's started a new blog entitled "How I Saved the Earth Today."  The premise is that if every one does only one thing a day to recycle, use local resources, save water, etc., we can, together, make a big dent in the environmental mess we've made here.  So . . . today I begin to post at least one thing a day I've done to save the earth.  Here goes:

This morning I turned off the automatic sprinkler that was watering an area that didn't need watering.  I love my sprinkler system because I can't leave a sprinkler running by accident and water the gutter, which used to be a common occurrence in my pre-sprinkler days.  But sometimes the sun doesn't roast each spot around the house equally.  So today I turned off the sprinkler.  I'm not feeling all that self-righteous (yet), but I'm going to work on it.

So, what are you doing to save the earth?

Fiber play

This week has been a good fiber week . . .

I took a big load of stuff to Goodwill from the big garage cleanup, but when I got there, nobody was there to take the stuff.  So I texted Cindy and asked if she wanted company.  I was so glad I went a-calling, too, because she had picked up a huge bunch of fiber and I was able to get some gorgeous pink roving for spinning up for Rowan--in her favorite color!! 

I knit on Tuesday with my sweets friends from TI . . . and with sweet Debra.  I love that group.  I'm feeling the love Shannon, Gracia, and Debra.  I worked on the socks I'm making for Riann . . . the ones I don't think she'll like:

It's not that I don't think she'll like the socks and even the colors.  I just don't think she'll like them for her.  She wanted plain green socks . . . and these are not plain green and look a little juvenile.  I hope she likes them, but if she doesn't, that's ok, cause I do!!  =)

I went spinning with Debra and her Tuesday night spinning group--they are the sweetest, sweetest girls.  I had the best time!!  Honestly, I was sort of tired by the time I left, though, so I didn't spin the whole time--worked on my socks a dab too.  Love those girls, though.  Worked on some of the Colonial Teal I got from Cindy on Monday . . . really pretty stuff!!

Today I went spinning in the Colony with the Texas Twisters--darling, darling group of girls.  Every single girl there is super, super talented and each has a sweetness that really touches me!!!  I'm really lucky that I've met everyone of them.  There was birthday cake for me today and a big, big pile of birthday cards!!!  So sweet!!  xoxo

AND, of course, Miss Kay had more fantabulous roving.  When I looked at her fibers in her Etsy store, I thought I'd love Strawberry Gelato, and it is beautiful in real life . . . but I loved the Tuscany more!!!  I totally love the colors.

Kay has a second braid that I'll go get from her before I leave for Georgia.  The colors are so lovely . . . greens, yellows, lavenders, pinks . . . just really all Tuscany.  :o)

And here's the hat I've made from my handspun . . . my first handspun I might add!  It's a Jacob alpaca blend and was lovely to work with. 

And I found the perfect embellishment . . . a felted rose.  I bought the pattern tonight from Joanne (who I spin with on Wednesdays).  She designs beautiful patterns, so I bought three of them and am excited to get started with them!  But this rose will be a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e on this hat--don't you think?  Rose.  Darling, huh?

Also got this Baby sweater and this Tote!  Can't wait to make them up!!

And Miss Rowan had her first day at St. Christopher's Montessori School Monday.  By Tuesday she had her new BFF. 

Too cute, huh? 

Happy fiber journeys to you!!  xoxo

In the eyes of the beholder . . .

It's a beautiful day!!  The sun is shining.  Mac and Maggie have just eaten and are lazing, enjoying the comfort of a full tummy and a cool house.  I'm enjoying a fresh cup of coffee.  Aw . . . blessings.  Spun last night with my sweet friend, Debra, and her Tuesday night group.  It was fantastic--really nice girls!  And I'm spinning today with Texas Twisters . . . another sweet group of ladies!  Can't wait to spin some more . . . am I hooked?  Think so?

I think this is my next must-have book.  I stumbled across it while searching for hand spinning on the web, and it looks like the kind of book I love to browse through, ponder over, and read snippets of here and there, all eventually joining together to create a book thoroughly enjoyed and completely read.  Check it out!  Let me know what you think.  Do you have this book?  And do you love it? 

What are you reading?

I'm cleaning out my books and came across several old books that I don't remember reading.  When I was at Monticello earlier this year, there was a volunteer tour guide who did such a fantastic job of bringing the conditions and lives of the former slaves to life that when I saw Up From Slavery in my old book collection, I decided I needed to read it.  I'm only a few pages into it, but so far I'm not disappointed.  Let me know what you think of it, and I'll post my impressions as well.

Promises . . .

Ok. So today I start blogging again. Tomorrow is the last day of my work assignment that was supposed to be 2-3 weeks, and has ended up being 6-7 weeks.--I'm leaving before the project is done, but I'm just done, as in so ready to leave!!

So look for blogging everyday.  It's a commitment I've made to myself, and I'm gonna do it!!!

Can hardly wait to spin, spin, spin!!!

This is some of Kay Slaughter's roving from http://www.cordovastudios.etsy.com/.  Fantastic stuff!!!  I think I need more, though, since I've spun and plied this.  Love, love, love looking at it and fondling it!!!  Thought I had a photo of the complete stuff, but alas, I don't.  I'll get one taken and posted soon!