Back in the saddle again...

So it’s been awhile. School let out, and strangely, all my time went away! Add to that a 3yo who had decided that naps are SO yesterday, and we find ourselves blogless! But here I am again. I need to give this a little more of a try before I decide that it’s not for me. So today, in short, is me getting back in the saddle. And so before showing a couple of kid pics, here is a quick review of what’s been up:

In knitting:
Still working on Big Guy’s log cabin blanket, though it’s gotten significantly bigger than last time I showed it (I’ll take a picture one of these days). I have some cute Plymouth yarns Jean nee in a denim blue from which I’m going to make a baby sweater or two very soon, and I have started a blanket (I haven’t decided if it is a baby gift or Miss G’s blanket yet) in a luscious Lorna’s Laces Shepherd worsted. Until I start the baby sweaters, at the moment everything in my life is garter stitch, so I need something different, asap!

Books:
I’ve started the Patrick O’Brien series again, which is wonderful. Post Captain, the second novel, really evokes Jane Austen… and for me there is not much higher praise. It just amazes me that a twentieth century man was able to capture the flavor of eighteenth century literature in such a convincing way – there’s not the merest whiff of the modern world. In the first few books especially, it always seems to me that this is the “other side” of Jane Austen; this is what the menfolk were off doing while her characters lived out their quiet lives.

I’m also reading a couple of other things right now. Besides the usual small pile of knitting books (I’ve currently got Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles by Cat Bordhi out of the library and am about to teach myself that technique).

I’ve been reading Chew on This by Eric Schlosser, which is the teen/pre-teen version of Fast Food Nation. I bought it for Thomas’ end of summer reading project and have been dipping into it myself. We’ve been on a modified fast food ban (Subway and occasional non-fried options at other fast food places allowed) and I hope that reading this will motivate us to make it permanent.

I’m also reading The Great Snape Debate -- actually all of the readers in our house are reading it, as an opening act for the main Harry Potter events coming in the next few weeks. We are all getting VERY excited about both book and movie, as well as the prospect of a new audio book to put us to sleep every night!

The other fun, new thing going on with me is that I’m spending WAY too much time playing with my new ipod shuffle, which is so much fun! I’ve loaded it with a bunch of audio books and have subscribed to a ton of podcasts, so I’m totally boring the kids in the car with things like General Conference talks, News from Lake Wobegon and knitting podcasts! I can’t believe how tiny the thing is:


Okay, it’s WAY past my bedtime, and I’ve gotta go, so here are some kid pics before I’m off to bed. Big Guy and I are having a Mommy-son date overnight in KC tomorrow night at Great Wolf lodge, so I’d better get my rest!








Big Guy'snew water rocket... at launch and in flight!
Bye for now!