Epic FAIL

Ok, so in the grand scheme of failures, this may not be epic, but it felt like it that day.....
I put the tomato plants outside "for a little while" to get them used to the climate, like the book/website/newsletter told me to.   Then..... I forgot about them.  I said to myself as I put them outside, "You really should set a timer so you remember to get them."  And I replied, "It's only a little while.  I'll remember."  HA!  Three to four hours later, Paul comes home and asks why the tomato plants are outside and did I know they were drooping?  AAAAAARRRRGH!  And on top of that?  I had put them in the SUN and apparently I was supposed to put them in the SHADE to begin with.  And on top of that? I don't think I had given them enough fake light anyway because they really didn't seem to be growing any bigger in recent days.  I did try to bring them inside and revive them (i.e. see if they picked themselves up.), to no avail.

So, it was off to Gade Farm to buy some vegetable plants to plant in the garden:

So, we have Brandywine and Early Girl tomatoes (A LOT.  10 plants.), lettuce, carrots, one zucchini plant, bush beans, pumkins and potatoes.  I've never tried to grow potatoes, lettuce or carrots so we'll see how those go.  And yes, i went ahead and put the pumpkins IN the garden with the others.  It's only a couple of seeds and I put them in a corner so I can try to control the vines.  I just couldn't find another spot for them.  No comments about aaaaaaaaallllll that grass in the background please.   Apparently there are mowing practicalities to consider.

So that was gardening news.

In Knitting News:
I started a new project for a summer class, the Lintilla scarf.

A very pretty, ruffley scarf made with fingering weight yarn and size 4 needles (i'm using Mini Mochi sock yarn).  I'm afraid this picture does not do the colors justice.  I was trying to get a picture outside on a cloudy day and it just looks like mud right now.  It's actually a pretty mauve and muted celery green.

And a sneek peek of one of my secret projects is in the upper right hand corner.  That's all you get, though.

In Book News:
I'm still reading The Mockingjay, the third Hunger Games book.  I know!  What the heck is taking so long?  I'm enjoying it, but just haven't had/made time to read it.  It wasn't dragging me in like the others.    I got a couple of hand-me-down James Patternson books that I haven't read yet, so I'm looking forward to those at some point.  Also,  just got a recommendation during a knitting class I was teaching last Saturday:  Sarah's Key  Several of the women had read it and it sounds intriguing (but sad).  Anyone read it?

In Other News:
The ice cream tally has increased.  We've been to Martha's Dandee Creme in Lake George (again - I had pistachio soft serve which was yummy), a place near Brimfield which wasn't terrific, and another place I can't remember.

And finally, an appropriate quote for my gardening woes:
Being defeated is often a temporary condition.  Giving up is what makes it permanent.
- Marilyn Vos Savant
I'm not giving up! (I'll resort to buying all my vegetables, like in the good old days, if I have to...)

5 Years and Counting

Five years ago this past Saturday (May 12) Paul and I got married at The Red Lion Inn.  It was a beautiful day in all ways possible!

We went back to celebrate our anniversary this past weekend.  We had such a nice weekend together, remembering our wedding and the past 5 years.  We think we make a great pair -- among other things, we love being together and are great friends who crack each other up.  It took us a long time to find each other, but we are so grateful every day that we finally did!

The inn and Stockbridge are just so beautiful.  We spent some time strolling around the town and sitting on the porch.

On Saturday, we did one of our favorite things which was to spend the day in Brimfield at the antique fair.  We walked and walked and walked and walked.  Here I am resting my dogs while Paul goes to put some of our purchases in the truck:

 With my requisite purchase of kettle corn:

(...which I significantly downsized this year.  Usually it's the humongo bag.)

There is always so much to see there.  Paul found his first purchase in the first 20 seconds we were there.  A 7 foot tall metal cabinet for the garage to hold his garage stuff.  And throughout the rest of the 5 1/2 hours of walking around, we found quite a few other things too.

7 ft metal cabinet in the truck.

table and chairs no longer in the truck

Metal stool, old metal cabinet and two windows

I had an idea brewing for what to do with the windows but we'll see how that turns out.  Stay tuned....

Look what we saw when we were leaving:

I have no idea how that ended up working out.  They were from Connecticut.

Sunday was more porch sitting and visiting our moms for Mother's Day!

Meanwhile.....

Mandy has taken to trying to fit on the narrow fireplace rug since you-know-who is on her bed.

The ones that didn't fit

Another crazy busy week has just flown by!   Last weekend, we made our yearly trip to Virginia to see Paul's brother and his family.   Our niece, Erica, was being confirmed so we were also attending that.  It was a busy weekend filled with talking, eating, watching Erica's softball game, talking, eating (did I say those already), playing Uno, and watching Paul's brother drink a can of Coca Cola in a most interesting way.  It was not pretty, it was messy, and it was hilarious.

Here are Paul, his Albany brother Mike and his mom after the confirmation:

We wanted to get everyone to stand by a pillar, but they were already out by the car (see left side of picture!), eager to continue the talking and eating...  Neato idea to be carried out another time!

Lots of knitting time in the car so....

In Knitting News:
I finished my Skew socks!  And they don't fit!

This was the most challenging sock pattern I have ever knit.  First of all, half way through the sock the directions turn into "left sock" and "right sock" so one has to be aware of that when they are wearing them (if they fit, that is).    Lots of increases and decreases to get the diagonal look.  Then, lots of short rows at the top to keep the tops from being diagonal.  Then the kitchener stitch (for non-knitters... a method for sewing "live" stitches together to make them look knitted together) for the heels. Oy.  Lots of work.  Lots of time.  I would have been so proud to wear them.  If they fit.  

They are too tight and it is very difficult to get them over my heel.  I'm kicking myself for not going with my gut when I decided to use the recommended needle size (size 1) and not size 2 which I usually use for socks even when the pattern calls for size one.  Since I was knitting these with teaching a class in mind, I wanted to make them exactly as the pattern said.  Oh, and did I mention I ran out of yarn?  My ball of yarn wasn't as long as I thought so when I got to the cuffs....

That is NOT enough for two, 1 1/2" ribbed cuffs.  So, I found some surprisingly matchy leftover-from-my-Daybreak-Shawl Periwinkle Sheep sock yarn and used that for the cuff.  You can see in that picture (sort of), the double pointed needles holding the heel stitches waiting for me to kitchener them together.  That was the really cool part of the socks --- the swirly part of the heel (click here , if you didn't click up there, to see what i mean).

I'm trying to let all of this go.... since there really is nothing I can do about it now (because I am NOT, I repeat NOT, making them again).  But I've also got a little hope that when I lose a few of my I've-been-married-for-five-years pounds, maybe they will actually fit (Really.  When I'm thinner, my shoe size changes.  Honest.).  If not, I will give them to someone who will promise to cherish them and really, really, really, really appreciate all the work that went into them.

In the car I also got a lot done on one of my stealth projects.  Just so you know what you can't know about.

Finally, adding to my busy week was teaching the first session of the cotton lace cardi class on Thursday night:

Five people in the class and they are off to a great start! (and yes, I realize the left - as you wear it- side of the sweater looks shorter.  Someone in the class pointed it out too.  It's simply a result of my not paying attention when I was blocking it.  The left side really does have the same stitches/rows as the right side.)

In Gardening News:
The tomato plants continue to grow.  Here is my little grow light set up:

I'm impatiently waiting to plant outside.  I thought I would have more things to start inside, but apparently not.  Lettuce, beans, and pumpkins get planted outside.  And I think I'm going to buy an already started zucchini plant.

In Book News:
Not too much time to read lately - but when I can, I'm reading Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, Book 3).  I'm loving it, but it's not calling to me to stay up late to read it like the others did.

Why haven't I been reading?  Because we've been addicted to the aforementioned-in-another-post Roku (Roku 2 XD Streaming Player 1080p ), watching Swamp Loggers (Crisis at the Mill - that's an Amazon link to one of the episodes) and any other show we can find.  LOVE. IT.  So far, we are not missing getting movies on DVD.  Although I must say I was anxiously awaiting The Help which was in "very long wait" status for some time and it's too new to stream.  Maybe we'll rent it from Amazon.  Did you know you can do that with a Roku? It bears repeating.... LOVE. IT. You should get one.

Did I mention that Paul and I have been married for five years tomorrow?  Seems like yesterday.  More on that next time...