Our Recent Ramblings

In case any of you have failed to read Carlene's blog recently, I'll just inform you that we spent a long weekend at the beach. Since Carlene covers all the big important stuff, I'll let you read her account of it. I'll also put up a couple more photos for you to admire.



Aren't they lovely? The common element among many of my beach photos is seagulls. I'm not sure why I like taking pictures of seagulls so much, but I really get a kick out of it. Perhaps it is that they add some life and character to a photo that would otherwise be filled with sand, rocks, and water. Those are nice enough, but I really dig the seagulls.

There's the view from our hotel room. Not too shabby!

Anyway, enough about that. Carlene mentioned that we went to the yarn shop (twice, actually) to get some supplies for new projects. I thought of something I wanted to make, so I picked up some nice wool yarn. I would have loved some of the alpaca/silk yarn they had, but the wool was plenty expensive enough! I don't need to knit myself a $100 scarf. And a scarf is what I'm making. I've been knitting dishcloths for a couple years now, and I got pretty tired of it, so I'm trying something new. Except that it isn't. I'm essentially using the dishcloth pattern and stretching it to the length I want. Sounds silly, but it looks nice so far. I'd put a photo of it up, but I don't have one yet.

In case you didn't know that I knit, well... I knit. Before I changed departments at work, I was downstairs in the machine shop running huge multimillion dollar milling machines, making parts that cost more than I could ever afford to buy. It was a very stressful job, and it started to take its toll. What was left of my hairs started fleeing like rats from a sinking ship, and I felt sick a lot. So I asked Mom to teach me how to knit, and I used it as a way to relax. I didn't knit at work, since it's a machine shop, and I do have some pride. I was afraid the other boys would beat me up and take my lunch money. Since then, Carlene and I have been making dishcloths together, many of which we have given away as gifts. They are the best dishcloths money can't buy. But now it's on to something slightly different.

Knitting with Carlene has really been relaxing and pleasant (doing anything with Carlene is generally pleasant), and it's been a great way to spend time together, relaxing. Pleasantly. Since relaxation was our goal for our beach trip, it is also a good way to bring some of those feelings home. So if you need to relax some, try some knitting. Come on, all the cool kids are doing it!