A week and more...

Well I've not necessarily been taking lots of pictures, but we've had a busy couple of weeks where food, wine and friends are concerned. I just love that combination!

Last week we arrived home on Monday from our camping trip and I had time to unload before heading out to one of the knits.

Tuesday - was the day for laundry and trying to figure out just how to eliminate all the dust and dirt that we'd brought back with us from Santa Fe and celebrate David's birthday. His pick this year was Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings and Blackberry Cobbler. I think they were a hit as only one dumpling and a bit of the chicken were left over. Between David and Ivan the rest of us were lucky to get some! ;-)

Wednesday - we had a play date which entailed 4 extra children in the house for the better part of the day. Grilled cheese's and tomato soup was the fare for the day!

Thursday - I met a friend for lunch and going to Table Rock Llama's , a knit store that's a bit out of town, but one that she'd never been to before. I rode the bike down the hill to meet her at Cracker Barrel in 29* temps and believe it or not it started snowing on me in the parking lot waiting for her arrival. I was so happy to climb into her car for the trip to the knit store.

Friday - I met another friend for the day at Cracker Barrel. A nice long visit and knitting too! I really look forward to these visits as we only get to do them about once a month.

Saturday - was another friend coming to the house for the day with her two boys a beautiful platter of cheese and fruit and very nice bottle of wine to share. Olivia's friend who had spent the night and Kristina's friend arriving for a sleep over. Later we had another arrival with another friend of Olivia's for the night and her mom stayed and visited for a while after the other little girl went home.

Sunday - we got together with another friend, her daughter and grand-daughter for the early afternoon. She and I started making stitch markers which we hope to sell at the knit groups as a way of helping to pay for the yarn we're craving.....

Monday - the kids went back to school and it was time to play catch up on cleaning, laundry, etc.

Of course there was also my knit.

Tuesday - David headed out for lunch and that left me with time to do more around the house and cook. So corned beef in the pot, I did lots which included starting to re-org the camping equipment. I was outta here at the usual time for another knit, but didn't stay long as I had more to do at home.

Wednesday - David left for New York City and another friend came over for the morning to visit and do a bit of knitting. Of course great minds think alike and we're now planning a girls camping trip for the beginning of June. She and her family will be moving to Ft. Bragg in July, so we need to do this before "things" get to hectic for them. We've picked which campground and the girls are all excited. Wednesday evening found me with 2 more friends, some knitting, a bottle of wine and kids in the basement watching movies and playing games.

Thursday - I finally got to bed around mid-night, last night, only to have Jake decide at 4 a.m. that someone was definitely trying to get in or out of the house. He jumped off the bed to run barking through the house. If I could have caught him I do believe it would have been a distinct possibility that he would be dead this morning. As it is he's asleep next to me on the couch and I'm working on this blog. Really doesn't seem fair.

Maybe just a short nap today....?

Springbreak, a Birthday and more..... LONG post.

WOW! We've had a whirlwind few days. Been to New Mexico and back. So I guess I'll start at the beginning.

We left Friday morning early for our Kabin Kamping trip to Santa Fe. The trip down was pretty uneventful, as you can see.

We arrived with beautiful weather and anxious to get everything set up so that we could relax for the rest of the day and evening.

Saturday morning I got up started our cooking fire and did a bit of knitting.

Then we were off for Santa Fe and lunch. We had a wonderful lunch at El Milagro located in conjunction with the Pecos Inn on the Old Santa Fe Hwy. Ok. I have to admit to a bit of snobbery here. I've never had a meal at a motel connected restaurant that I thought was any good. So crow having now been eaten, please let me tell you that this was good food. Kristina and I had an Indian Taco. YUM!

Nextt we were off for the Plaza in Santa Fe, market and cathedral.
I forgot to take a picture of the whole Cathedral but I did get the most picturesque group sitting on the entry steps! Click on the picture to see who these people are....

We did walk the market in the plaza after sightseeing in the cathedral. But I didn't take any pictures.

Back to the campground for a bit of down time and play time as well.

Sunday found us wandering around Pecos National Historical Park for the day. What a wonderful experience for the kids as well as David and I. We walked the 1.25 mile hike with ease even at the elevation of 7040 ft. How interesting to see where 900 years ago the native Indians lived and where the Spanish came and built a mission to serve the surrounding area. This is also the only area where the Indians successfully ousted the Spaniards and re-took their land for 12 years before Spain conquered again.

These are pueblo ruins ....

A view from the top of the hill where the ruins were.

Now starts our tour of the mission. Click on the pictures to read about the mission...

Where ever there was a ladder, you were able to climb down into the Kiva's to look around.

Who wouldn't stop for this picture. One of the few remaining Route 66 signs around. We actually traveled along this road to reach the Pecos National Historical Park. After this picture we headed back to the campground for dinner and the night. The next day we were headed to Taos to show the kids a still living Pueblo, but unfortunately Hunter woke up not feeling well Monday morning and we headed back home asap. So Taos will be for another trip...

I couldn't resist this picture of him even though he wasn't feeling well at all.

But he's doing great today!

Happy Birthday!

More cold weather, still tinking, in-laws and more...

Well we've had another cold snap, so to speak. It started out with the "probability of up to 9" of snow" to be dumped unceremoniously on our area. We were all a twitter with excitement of the impending snow fall. We so need the moisture! So everyone was talking about whether or not to run to the store to stock up on essentials, etc. But 6 hours later that prediction had changed to, "up to 5" of snow". Checking again a few hours later that had changed to only 2" - 3" and even later to "up to 1" in some areas". As our disappointment grew heavy we all decided that we could probably forecast the weather better than anyone in the industry. So what eventually occurred was a bit more than a dusting of snow that in the evening was a bit slushy, but by morning was just about gone on all the roads but did leave us with a white blanket on the lawns. So now the city has dumped sand on all the roads that make it more dangerous than the snow ever would have. Oh well....

I have set up a get together of sorts at a local Greek restaurant called, Jake and Telly's, for those in the knitting group that I attend from Knitters Kove. I'm calling today to make the reservations for about 13 of us. I wish more were able to attend, but we had to do this on Sunday so the people who work during the week could possibly come. I hope to have a couple more positive responses today. Jake and Telly's has been a topic of conversation for the last few knits. Some have never been there and others were filling them in on what wonderful food and atmosphere awaited them. I, myself, am so looking forward to the Moussaka. Yum!

So check back for pictures from this event.

This gentleman is Lee. He is married to Elaine, who just celebrated her 94th birthday in December. I asked Elaine where Lee was and she responded that he was in the corner! I said, "What!?" She walked me around the corner and there he sat reading his book, out of the way of all the lady knitters. I just had to get a picture. Normally he sits right in with the rest of us, but I guess Elaine figured with the turn out we had last night that he was better off here.

Saturday we'll be meeting and entertaining Ivan's Mom, Mariana, and little brother, Otto. They are coming to Colorado for skiing but stopping by to meet Kaitlyn for the first time as well as us. We are looking forward to spending some time with them. Mariana and I have been in contact since December and I'm anxious to meet her and share some recipes from Argentina! David and I went out and bought a nice bottle of Argentine wine to share and I hope she is prepared to do a bit of recipe swapping. I know Ivan loves to cook and I asked Mariana to bring me some of his favorite recipes. I'd love to have Ivan and Kaitlyn over for a day of "home cooking" for Ivan and a neat treat for the rest of us.

So you may be asking, "what is tinking?" Well in the knitting community, to "tink" is to un-knit or rip out, whatever you have just done. The art of eliminating mistakes. Of course this is not one of the favorite parts of knitting for any knitter. You'll hear all kinds of wonderful noises, groans, moans and a lot of the time - loud expletives. We are a colorful bunch. And though the picture at left indicates the "proper" way to tink, it rarely occurs that way. Especially if we've had to "tink" more than once in any given project. Aaaaa.

Motorcyclists say when departing an event or gathering, "Keep the shiny side up!" I need to discover what knitters say, or start my own farewell to those gatherings. What say you lovers of fibre, any suggestions?