Cape Cod Vacation: Part II

Lots more fun was to be had during our vacation to Cape Cod!  If you missed the first part, go here.

Of course there was more eating…

Mmmmm…..Arnold’s in Eastham.  Great fishwich’s, crabcake sandwiches and onion rings.  (We went here twice….)

We also took a bike ride on the Cape Cod Rail Trail:

Another day was a drive up to the very tip of Cape Cod, Race Point.  Gorgeous views:  

We also went to the Wellfleet Drive-In!  So fun.  A double feature for only $9 each.  Of course, me being my usual hyper-about-getting-to the-movies-and-getting-a-good-seat-but-in-this-case-parking-spot self, I insisted we get there before the 7:00 box-office opening time (movie started at 7:50).  We got there at ten minutes to 7:00 and they were already letting people in.  So, of course I panicked more, thinking everyone else but us knew this and now there would be no good spots.  However, we spoke to the nice parking attendant who told us where the best place to park was, and we got a great spot!  The weather was nice, we brought sandwiches for dinner, and knitting of course, for while we waited:

And the movies were funny:  We’re The Millers and The Heat.

So, that’s my Ecuador sweater that I mentioned starting in my last post.   Except you can’t really see it because it was getting dark and it’s curling up.  So here is a pinned out, further along version:

This picture makes the colors look more stark and contrasting than I think it looks in real life.  And I know, it looks weird.  It is a very interesting construction.  The rectangle is the “back”, which actually is the upper back.   The part sticking out of the top is actually the left front.  Stay tuned.

The next day, there was a flea market at the drive-in, which we of course attended and of course did not leave empty-handed:

1950’s step stool: $10    books: $8      socks: $5      paintbrushes: $1

And every day we went here:

Every.  Day.  For my favorite Dirt Bombs (a plain donut tasting muffin, dipped in butter, then cinnamon/sugar ---- o.m.g.) and a danish for Paul.  Yes, the last post had a place for breakfast that we went to (twice) which would imply that some days we had two breakfasts, since we went to this bakery every day.  Not really.  Sometimes these were for breakfast dessert (or you may call it a midmorning snack) and sometimes they were for dinner dessert.   Everything at this bakery is yummy.  Everything.

You are probably saying, “You went to Cape Cod. Did you even go to the beach????”  We did.  On the morning we left.  We rode our bikes and sat with no one else there:

Watched the waves:

Looked for rocks and shells for our shelf at home:

(You may now be saying, “Hey, that looks like Liz’s blocking towel." And you would be right.)

…and took the obligatory you-stand-in-front-of-the-pretty-water-and-clouds picture:

It was a great vacation…

View Full Album

Cape Cod Vacation: Part I

Our last vacation of the summer, we were off to Cape Cod for four days.  We crammed in a lot of activities  - which is why this is in two parts - and took a lot of naps.  Who knew we’d have time for naps?

Ok, but first, before we left, we had the usual hour-long how-the-heck-do-we-get-these-bikes-on-the-bike-rack session.  Ugh.  So frustrating.  We use the bike rack once or twice a year and we can NEVER remember how we did it.  Which bike went on first?  In which direction?  What position does the bike rack go in? Why is this pedal hitting the car?  It didn’t hit before.  How many bungee cords did we use? Where is the key to the bike lock?  Well, after this year’s hour-long session, Paul got smart and took a picture!  Then when we came home?

Easy peasy.

On the ride to the Cape there was, of course, knitting.  I worked on my basic socks (with my newly awesome knitting needle obsessions: Knitter’s Pride Karbonz) and got to the heel on both:

Next up for these is the new-to-me Sweet Tomato Heel, a short row heel designed by Cat Bordhi.  That was it for exciting stuff on the drive.

We had a gorgeous view from 2 sides of our room.

And from the deck outside of our room:

Where we sat and read and knit and had beverages:

We walked a lot.  And what do you know? One of the walks ended at A Stitch in Thyme Yarn Shop!  I’ve been there before and already had it in my mind that I wanted to go there to get some fingering weight yarn to start a new project (shocker), Ecuador, which is a swingy, drapey, sorta lacey, short sleeve cardi-type thing (click on that link to see the pattern picture).  So, I found this:

You’ll see my progress on it in the next post.  Ha!  How’s that for a hook to get you to read the next post?

Another one of our walks was to Rock Harbor and we walked out on “the flats” at low tide.  First, here is a picture at high tide:

And at low tide:

And we walked waaaaaaaaaay out there.  Here is the view looking back from where we went:

And this one is even further out – so far that we got to where the ocean actually started again:

On the way out we saw:

View Full Album

Thos things in the lower right corner are things that grow oysters.  They can only be checked on/harvested at low tide!  At high tide they are under many feet of water.

Oh, and there was breakfast:

The yummiest corned beef hash eggs benedict:

I kept it healthy with the fruit instead of hash browns.  (Ha!)  I’ve been on a benedict kick lately.  I also had eggs benedict on a cheesey bacon biscuit.  O.M.G.

Enough pretty pictures for today?  The rest of the trip will be in the next post.  You know you want to see how my Ecuador is coming…. (it’s actually not that far along, but don’t you want to see how that yarn is knitting up?)

Knitting. It's a Sickness.

Knitting.  It's a sickness.  It really can't be helped.  Here is some proof:

1) I bought these double pointed needles recently:

They are a new-to-me needle, metal tipped.  I finally remembered I had them, and tried them today. I. LOVE. THEM.   I already have many many many sets of double pointed needles.  And three other sets of size 1.  But tomorrow, I'm going to buy another set of size 1 of this type so I can knit both socks of the pair at one time. And I'll probably get some in other sizes even though I already have those other sizes.

I just can't help it.

2) And I'm also thinking of getting the interchangeable set of circular needles in this brand.
Guess how many sets of interchangeable needles I already have?:

Three. Plus a whole lot of individual circular needles in all the various sizes an interchangeable set (or three) has.  But......

I can't help it.

3) Spinning is a sickness too.  I bought some roving to take to my spinning bee.

But, then this was there too, so I bought it:

I just couldn't help it.

4) I have a lot of yarn:

There is more in the blue squares.  And on a shelf to
the left....and the right.

But The Spinning Room recently had a sale:

I just couldn't help it.

5) I have several projects started, in progress, not finished yet:

This is not all of them...

But I'm going to cast on for this one instead:

Ravelry.com pattern picture

...probably tonight after I re-do the bind off of my Cozy wrap which I finished last night but the bind off was too tight and which I will show you in the next post (or the one after that) after I block it.

And I'll  probably cast on  this which I was obsessing about recently but I have to find beads for:

Ravelry.com pattern picture

I just can't help it.

See?  A sickness.  I CAN'T HELP IT.

How to Cut Up a Watermelon

I. love. Love. LOVE. WATERMELON.  I was cutting up a watermelon the other day and remembered that someone once commented to me that the way I do it seemed so fast and easy.  And me, always thinking about things to put on the blog, and always seeming to do something food related, thought I could show you how I do it.   If you have no interest in knowing something like this, you could read why I don't have anything else to blog about - because that might be interesting - and then skip the rest and wait for a more exciting post.

So, I didn't have anything else to blog about today, since:
a) I'm STILL working on my Cozy wrap.  I'm almost done.  I decided I would stop at the end of the skein I'm working on, since it is getting pretty long (57" as of last night).  So hopefully there will be a good knitting post soon...
b) I haven't finished any books to tell you about.  I am reading a really really good one though...
c) I haven't cooked anything exciting.  Just the Kale, Quinoa and Avocado salad again.  And it's yummy again.
d) Nothing exciting is happening in the garden.  Things are just growing.
e) No drag racing to tell you about.  AND I'm missing a drag racing event this Saturday (Buick Day at Lebanon Valley Dragway) in order to participate in the Spinning Bee at the Altamont Fair.  Which leads me to....
f) I haven't been practicing my spinning for the Spinning Bee so I can't show you that.

On to WATERMELON...
I can't remember when or how I learned this method.  I used to cut watermelon into triangles, then cut it off the rind and cut it into pieces.  Or just leave it in triangles and eat it that way.  Cutting it into pieces is better, I think, and more portable to put into a container.

First, get your watermelon into a wedge piece:

Buy it that way or cut it up that way.
Then, run your knife along the rind, all around the edges of the wedge:

I did it with a steak knife which is a little bit flexible and that helps with the curvey parts.  At this point, if you did it right and if you really wanted to, you could take the whole chunk out of the rind and cut it up.  But, I leave it there because it makes it easier later. (see way below...)

Then, on one side of the wedge, make 3 or 4 horizontal cuts, all the way down to the rind:

Make more cuts if you want smaller pieces.
Then, turn the wedge around and do it to the other side:

No, I didn't use two knives.  I'm trying to make a point.

Next, cut into the wedge vertically, making several cuts long the length of the wedge:

See the little grid pattern happening?

That's it!  Now you can pick up the whole wedge, and let all the pieces fall into a bowl. Perhaps your new antique Fire King mixing bowl.

THAT's why you leave it in the rind to cut it.

Empty rind:

Pretty clean, but you could spend a little time getting some more of the melon out if you want to.  I don't have the patience.

Yummy watermelon filling my new antique Fire King mixing bowl:

The other day, by accident, I got a seeded watermelon.  It was really really really hard to cut it up the way I described because there were so many seeds.  At least a million.  They were getting in the way of the knife.  I really dislike eating seeded watermelon.  Again, mostly because of my impatience.  It takes 10 years to eat one piece because you have to get all the seeds out.

How about a picture of my Watermelon Slice Socks since I'm talking about watermelon and since I entered them to be judge in the Altamont fair?:

Ok, so I didn't realize I had such a terrible picture.  There are black beads knitted into the pink part to represent seeds.  You can click on the link up there to see the official pattern picture.  If they win a prize I'll post a better picture...

Next post:  Something a little more exciting.  Hopefully.  Don't know what yet.

Re-Do's

We are having our chimney re-done.  Every year, a few more bricks would break off and we finally decided we needed to address the issue.  We didn't realize we'd have to practically sell all of our possessions and take a second and third mortgage out on the house to pay for it.  Ok, so I exaggerate.  But just a little.  Of course, if we waited, it would be 10 times more expensive because terrible things would happen to the chimney liner and the whole rest of the house (again, slightly exaggerating).

Today is day two of trying to take off that big cement piece at the top.  It's taking MUCH longer than they anticipated.  I think that guy was in that same position all day yesterday and today.  Ugh.  They now have 4 guys working on it.

On the inside of the house is the crap craft room re-do.

This is only a portion (maybe a fifth) of what I took out of the room.  I was debating whether to show you the "before" of the room itself, but here it is.....

And that is AFTER I took a bunch of stuff out of it and set up those wire cubes.  I wouldn't dare show you what it really looked like "before".  It was awful.  A few years of neglect when one is busy running a yarn shop and oh-my-gosh.  This is actually in-progress.  It still looks like this.  You'll have to wait a little while for the "after".  Especially if I decide to learn/practice installing wood floors in here!  Yay!  Wouldn't that be fun?  You'll definitely get to see that process.

Mandy and I took our usual walk around the yard today, sniffing for interesting things to take pictures of.  We scared the HUGE frog by the pond before we could get a picture so we were left with the pictures of the chimney guys and this sign of fall:

\

It's cloudy out and a little chilly so..... we came inside, had some tea and lit my most very favorite candle ever:

Yankee Candle's Cranberry Chutney

Click here if you'd like to get one!: Cranberry Chutney - 22 Oz Large Jar Yankee Candle (See all Scented Candles)

LOVE. IT.  It's so fall-ish and home-y.  Makes me want to go do some knitting!
I'm working on the Baby Surprise Jacket:

(phoebe just can't resist)

This is a pattern from the late 1960's by Elizabeth Zimmerman who was a famous knitter, known for her outlook that knitting should not bring one to tears.  So she set out to write some books and patterns that would help people learn easy ways to make knitting intuitive.  By the way, the "surprise" is that you don't really know what parts of this one- piece sweater you are knitting, but at the end you just fold it up, sew two short seams and voila, a sweater. You'll see.  It will be done soon.