Wedded bliss

We are back from Phoenix and Dan and Jennifer are married.

The happy couple with JR and Deb.


Waiting for the bride.

from left in the back: Mike, Tim, Jeff, Phil, Bonifacio

front and center: the groom

The Weekend

We are leaving tomorrow morning to attend the wedding of the Soldier and the Princess.

We plan to arrive in Phoenix the middle of the day and put ourselves at the disposal of the bridal couple.

Friday: rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, including visit with cousins Donna and Larry, arrival of Jim and Julene, Tim and Mary and various Price family relatives.

Saturday: wedding

Sunday: gather with family to watch Soldier and Princess open wedding gifts, drive back to Los Angeles.

I have a dress, Mia has a dress, Deb has a dress.

viva la wedding

Los Angeles has been having a heat wave. On Monday the temperature was 95 and yesterday it was 88. (these reported temperatures are not official, they are from the temperature gauge in my car). When I was talking with Jim, I mentioned that I was watering my potted plants outside because I didn't want them to wither and die from the heat. He snorted at me and said that, yeah, they were watering their plants in Portland, too...

THOUGHTS ON MOVING

Everyone within earshot of me over the past three months knows I moved. Three weeks ago. Between two of my children's weddings.

Even though this move was not my choice in either timing or location, now that the act is done, I am seeing the positive aspects. I am basically a sociable person and where we were living was not a sociable place for various reasons--we had few neighbors, being on a one way, one lane street with major Los Angeles train tracks running next to it, we were in the middle of a semi light industrial area, we had razor wire across our back fence and tall iron gates in the front of the house (trust me, these precautions were necessary). So living where we do now, I have enough neighbor and coworker interaction to satisfy my social self.

I am also a person who needs a sense and place of safety. The other house certainly did not provide that sense. Break-ins and attempts always left me feeling vulnerable and on alert even in my sleep. So being in this little house behind another house and having a dog (and it's not mine and I don't have to feed it, walk it or clean up after it) in the yard, and living in a "safer" neighborhood is helping to heal that raw edge of stress.

The most challenging part of this move (besides the timing) has been decluttering, downsizing and simplifying our possessions. For many years, I have supported the idea of simplicity and in general I have lived a life of material simplicity. It helps that I don't enjoy shopping and I don't like knick-knacks around. But this move has pushed me into facing daily, in every room in the house, the need to remove more items and belongings. I am looking at every dish, book, sheet, towel, picture and saying, "Is it useful, do I love it, does it have a happy memory?" If I can't answer yes to all three questions, I am getting rid of it.

Moving provides an opportunity to redecorate. This little house is really a cottage and it is full of light. I am choosing colors and styles I have never used before for the curtains, throws, tablecloths, towels, and futon covers. I would never describe our style as "cottage" but it seems to be working with our Danish modern furniture. Never fear, there is still enough cobalt blue around to satisfy even me.

We have been recovering from the financial surprise of paying for a wedding, three receptions, a rehearsal dinner, lodging, and transportation to two states in six weeks. So we are looking for ways to conserve our income. Not commuting to work by train and car will certainly help, a smaller house equals smaller energy bills, and creative ways to save on internet access will save a little. The kitchen here is inviting and has a window so I enjoy cooking more, so we save on restaurant food. And last but not least, we are farther from Starbuck's.

Over all, I've been enjoying the challenge. Which surprises me. Although there was a time last week when I wondered if one could die from stress.

Catch up

Today's weather report is different-- still cloudy at 11:00am.

No students today b/c WI is doing a strategic planning session. John is involved both today and tomorrow.

So I am home (actually right now I'm in the classroom b/c neither of our computers are working at home) and then at 2:40 I will go to Union Station and pick up Mia. We're going to hit the stores for mother of the groom dresses and then in the evening tackle the last of the unpacking and play the "where on earth can I put this ? " game.

I am in a Bible study on Wednesday nights that is different than my usual study. It's called Stages of Faith and is designed to help you see where you are in maturity in your Christian faith (1 John). I'm finding it challenging and very good. This week's study focused on the need for other people to interact at a deep level in your life, the community you have around you. I realize that I am really blessed in this area. Not only do I have a wonderful husband and family, I have true friends in both Oregon and Los Angeles. You know who you are...

I read a statement today about doing your best at what you do best (paraphrase). What do I do best? Knit, create a comfortable and peaceful home, teach reading. My passions.

Someone asked me to post photos of our new place. I will soon. Gotta have the computers up and running first. I am pretty happy with the little rooms in the back, especially the room with the guest bed. Mia will be the first guest, so she gets to try it out.

More Wedding Photos

In the forest at Triggsted Farm

Wedding Photos

At long last, here is a photo of Mary on her wedding day. These photos are candids taken by her brother in law, Steve.

cold and weather

Not cold weather. The temperature today was actually in the 80s. And sunny.

I have a cold. I seldom get sick. Headaches, yes. Tired, yes. Cold and flu-- almost never. So today I started feeling "it" early in the afternoon and by 4:00 it was evident that I am coming down with a cold. Bummer. I have soooo much to do this weekend.

We are planning to get a lot of stuff done in the house to get settled. Like putting away the rest of the camping gear and doing repair work on the washing machine faucets and the bathroom faucets, all of which still leak. I am in the middle of sewing curtains for the back bedrooms and John is going to put up the curtain rods. I don't have time to be sick. This is our only free weekend between now and Thanksgiving.

We are also going to dinner tomorrow night with friends John and Kristie at Lucille's, a wonderful smelling bbq place that serves humongous portions and I'm going to be too sick to eat much. Bummer again.

I went to awards chapel today. It just cheered me up to be there. Got hugs from several old students, notably Cierra and Eva who were in my 2nd grade class in Watts. And from Melissa, my star pupil from last year. Toni and Tory Jackson both got awards and that tickled me as I used to work with their grandma Virgie in Watts.

I am thinking that SOMEONE who used to live in my house took off with some of my crochet hooks. I went looking this evening and can't find several sizes I thought I had. Practicing a new crochet pattern is a good sick bed occupation. I'm learning a pattern so I can make a Victorian Garden crochet afghan for Cori and Travis. I had to use a J hook but I need a G or H. I wonder where those hooks are? ANYONE know?

update

I wrote a blog this afternoon but of course Blogger messed up and didn't publish it. This is especially frustating b/c I haven't updated in over a month.

In the past month I have:

been in charge of one wedding and three receptions
ridden/driven about 3,000 miles up and down the Pacific Coast states on Hwy 5
moved Tim and Mia to their apt
moved us to our new baby house on the freeway

I am tired.

We actually moved last Saturday. We are starting to feel settled. I can see the floor in most rooms. The baths look pretty good. As soon as maintenance fixes the leaks under ALL THREE sinks I'll be able to put away bath and kitchen things. It looks like maintenance is letting John do the work on the faucets. Today I hung curtains in two rooms and purchased material for two other rooms down in the fashion district in LA.

I promise more updates, more often, now that we're moved and home again for a couple of weeks before heading to Phoenix for the next wedding.

monthly update

It has been more than a month since I updated here at Willow's Cottage. In the past month I have:

traveled/driven 3,000miles up and down the Pacific Coast on Highway 5.
planned and given one wedding, three receptions.
moved.

I'm tired.

I have not

knitted much.
written much.
exercised much.
been to the beach much.

Things have gotta change around here.

Actually, the move was not as bad as it could have been. After no/little response to our pleas for help, several people came through in amazing ways to assist us: Tim, Mia, Mike, Andrew, Vicki, Joe, Sarah, Doug, Ingrid, Jenn, Glenn and Sharon, Tammy, Tracy, Richard and Bob. Bryan has gained a special place in my regard for his appeal for help, especially considering that he moved that day too. Debbie deserves special note for helping me pack AND unpack my dishes and lots of other stuff, move furniture and generally keep my spirits up.

Now we are playing a game of reverse musical chairs, moving furniture and boxes from one place to another and working out how everything can fit in to our baby house. This morning we did the bedroom. I think we've figured it out and can even put the elliptical machine in there.

Two sides of our house look out on to the school play yard. I enjoy hearing the voices of the kids at recess. It's fun to watch them playing. I thought the noise might bother me, but I find that I like it. The half block commute to school is so much better than the 6 miles on inner city streets and the 10 Fwy and 110/10 interchange.

My goal is to be settled in before we go to Phoenix for Dan and Jennifer's wedding in November.

Weather in Oregon

The 10 day forecast now shows NO RAIN on Saturday the 23rd, high temperature of 77! Perfect weather for an outdoor wedding!

On our Way

We leave early in the morning for Oregon! Tim and Mia are already there. She reported this afternoon that they have picked up their marriage license. It's really happening.

I am leaving feeling a bit unsettled for several reasons. The packing is "in process" (read: there are boxes and piles all over), we still have two rooms and a few touch ups to paint in the new place, and our neighbor's place here (the townhouse next door) was broken in to over the weekend. We didn't hear anything, didn't even know they were gone for the weekend. The evidence points to a homeless person being the perp, considering what was taken and "the smell". Please pray that our home will remain safe while we are away. And pray for Ron and Louise--it's so hard to feel violated by a break-in.

Time to pack-- wedding clothes for all three of us, knitting books and projects for the drive and the days after the wedding, lots of other wedding stuff...

Packing and Weather

Alas, no knitting news. I had intended to get to the lys this morning after J and I got our hairs cut, but we turned north instead of south on Sepulveda Blvd to go back to pick up Tim and Mia at Starbuck's, and I forgot. We went to the evil bridal shop that STILL doesn't have Mia's dress altered, and there it was, no knitting shop stop.

We are all packing. Today's list includes items from my grandmother's cedar hope chest-- a lovely embroidered dresser scarf, various knitted items from J's babyhood, and my children's babyhood. (Note to Deb: I thought that the animals on the pink vest I knitted you were kitties, no, they were owls. My wol is aptly named.) There were also my great, great grandma's white apron, her organza wedding dress and a blue taffeta jacket with round jet buttons. My great grandfather's seabag with his name, O. Gericke, stencilled on it. I really shouldn't mention these items if I don't post photos...sorry...camera back in Mia's purse.

I am now taking a break from packing dishes. I have many dishes. I don't buy dishes. I inherit dishes. Teacups. Heisy clear crystal bowls, plates, candle holders, serving bowls, candy dishes. Noritake china. Salt cellars. More teacups. Now they all have to be packed VERY CAREFULLY in lots and lots of bubble wrap to be transported BY ME in MY CAR the six miles to the 20th street little house on the freeway. I love the dishes and I love to use them. I don't keep them hidden away for "good", I use them and display them. As my sil says, "I never met a dish I didn't like."

Rea, I am having coffee with Cynthia tomorrow. I know we will fondly say, "We miss Rea!"

Oh yeah. Weather report: early morning coastal fog and low cloudiness, giving way to sunshine later in the day. This report could be mailed in every morning for the next month.

More Than Weather

After two more days of HOT and SUNNY, it looks like today's weather is going to be COOLER but still SUNNY.

Have you recently, or ever, moved? Remember the mess, the explosion of belongings everywhere, the point of maximum expansion? We're almost there. I can't pack the kitchen until after Mia and Tim's reception here at the house next month, but most everything else is going on schedule. Almost all the books are packed. In this house of bibliophiles, that's half the boxes. I packed up the Indonesian artifacts, shells I collected on Papuan beaches, pretty much everything except the carved cassowary eggs. Those will go separately in their own box in my car under my personal supervision. (NO, they are not on the endangered species list; we checked.)

I have packed my yarn. In a very big box. With great care and tenderness. I shut my lovelies in it and taped them in, and wrote J & L Yarn on three sides of the box. We really are moving, I've prepared my yarn. If I need yarn for a project, I'll have to go to my LYS (local yarn store) and get more. (YES! heheh)

Today I plan to pack my spinning supplies. dye pot, carder, spinning wheel. The wheel is a Lendrum folding travel wheel, so all I have to do is fold it up and put it in its traveling case. It, too, will be moved personally by me along with the cassowary eggs.

Lovely weekend ahead. Tim is coming from Camp Pendleton, we plan to get in a walk or bike ride, more packing. What's on your agenda?

Weather on September 5th

HOT, sunny, HOTTER

The thermometer in my car registered 103F at 1:15pm.

Weather on September 4th

Sunny, hot and windy.

On this date 34 years ago, John and I got engaged!

We went down to Hermosa Beach to The Strand and had breakfast at Martha's 22nd Street Grill. Good food, worth the 1/2 hour wait and the horrible parking.

Weather on September 3rd

Sunny and hot.

Are we bored yet?

Weather on September 2nd

Sunny, warm, windy

Breaking the Silence

It seems that I have taken an unintended hiatus from blogging the past two weeks. My life has been very busy and very stressful. What have I had/do I have on the current plate?

school year starting, but my program on hold for a few weeks, so I'm helping out wherever
Tim's safe return from Iraq
planning a wedding in Oregon across a state boundary, 900 miles away
planning three receptions, two in Oregon and one in California
getting shoes for Mia and Tim's wedding
packing to move on October 15th
house sitting for friends near the beach
John traveling to Wichita for five days
Dan moving to Phoenix last weekend
Mia and Tim packing her belongings to move to their apt, which they don't have rented yet
repairing, cleaning and painting new house which I can't begin until after Sept 10th
being gone out of state Sept 19th-Oct 4th
moving Tim and Mia's collective belongings from Oregon to California, via our house for a pick up of her things- we've reserved the truck already
buying a dress and maybe shoes for Dan and Jennifer's wedding
pulling together all the names and addresses to send to Jennifer for wedding invitations

I just don't have much time for blogging or posting pictures. And the digital camera has taken off again in Mia's purse.

Knitting update: I have been knitting dishclothes for Mia. I finished knitting Elizabeth's tam. I have started knitting a pair of socks for Laurie. The socks are being knitted on size 8 needles using worsted weight yarn, so I do not think the socks will take too much time to knit up.

Today I got up at 4am to drive John to LAX to meet the rest of the guys going to the TUMI conference and catch his 6am flight from LAX. Then I climbed back in bed and slept for a while and then got up and took Mia to the metro station so she could go to the LaBrea Tar Pits. The dig workers were being filmed by National Geographic and they wanted Mia to be there. She is in a lot of footage; maybe she'll get in the film! She is very photogenic and easy to film and photgraph, so I'm sure she was an asset to the filming. Then I ran errands, had lunch with a couple of friends and then went to the Cotton Shop and finally found brown material and pink ribbon to metamorphisize my shoes for the wedding.

I spent quite a while just sitting in the loft and reading this evening. It has been quite windy today so the palm trees were moving around and I could hear the sound of the fronds brushing against the building.

I got to thinking about how people will always post their mood or the music they are listening to. My moods are personal things and I don't listen to music, so I thought I could post weather. Here in Southern CA weather reporting is pretty boring. Here is the weather post for the past month:

Sunny and Hot

BUT today the report is:

Sunny, Warm and Windy

So there you have it, dear readers-an exciting and innovative change in our weather.

Tim Is In Kuwait

That statement says it all.

TAM

I knitted a brown tam for Elizabeth W. last weekend. After it was completely finished, I realized it was TOO SMALL. I had not checked my gauge and my needle size was too small. I knitted 5 stitches to the inch, instead of 4 inches. With 78 to 108 stitches on the needles at different times, I was several inches too small. (Do the math yourselves.)

So...I tinked it all and started over yesterday morning, using size 10 needles instead of size 9. I have a looser stitch, but the size will be correct. I like the color and texture of the yarn, so I think the end result will be good. Stay tuned for a photo of the finished tam.

Selamat Hari Tujuh Belas Augustus

or

Happy Birthday to the Republic of Indonesia.

Today, August 17th, is Indonesia's Independence Day. All the years we lived in Indonesia, either on the island of Java or in Papua province on the island of New Guinea, we celebrated this day with our Indonesian friends. So, in honor of those memories, I wish Indonesia many more years of independence.

WEDDINGS

We are planning two weddings are our house. Mia and Tim are getting married on September 23rd. Dan and Jennifer's wedding will be on November 11th. I want to celebrate another wedding--four years ago on August 10th, Deb and Jeff were married. I found these candids taken by a friend on their wedding day. Deb and Jeff may never have seen them.

HAPPY FOURTH ANNIVERSARY

Deb and Jeff

Family shot: Jeff, Deb, John, Linda, Mary, Dan, Mike

Happy Birthday Kiti

Yesterday, August 13th, was Deb's birthday. She arrived in the world at 6:10am Saturday morning, 29 years ago. 8 lbs, 3 oz. 4 hours of labor. Northridge Hospital, Reseda, CA.

As I wrote the above words, the first story about Deb that came into my mind was the first story about Deb. She was switched at birth. True story. Because I was on the phone chatting to my friend who is now my sister in law, the nurses took another new mom from the recovery room and moved her into the room that was assigned to me, BUT they neglected to change the paperwork. So when I was taken to my room, it was actually the room assigned to the other mom. But NO ONE remembered to change room designations on the papers. Soooo...when I asked for my newborn to be brought to me I was given A DIFFERENT BABY. No one checked our bracelet/ankle IDs. Yes, the baby had dark hair, really odd ears (I told Deborah it was ok that her ears looked like nobody else's in the family, we'd just grow her hair long to cover them), but I loved "her" immediately. It was only after I had cuddled her awhile that I unwrapped the blanket to check that she had all her fingers and toes and looked at her ankle ID. It read, MARTINEZ, BOY. Ahem, I knew I'd given birth to a girl, I checked, nope this baby was a boy. Hmmm, my last name isn't Martinez, it's Price... Panic set in. Where is MY BABY? When the nurse answered my call button summons, she said, "What's the matter, Mrs. Martinez?", I answered, "I'M NOT MRS. MARTINEZ, I'M MRS. PRICE! WHERE IS MY BABY?" As you can imagine, panic set in among the nursing staff. MY BABY was eventually found peacefully sleeping in the crib labeled MARTINEZ, BOY, but her ankle ID said PRICE, GIRL. When I was finally reunited with my own baby, I wasn't inclined to give her back to the nursery during the rest of my stay in the hospital. I checked, yup, looked like I remembered my baby looked like in the delivery room, actually looked like my grandma, right sex, right ankle ID. I know that I came home from the hospital with the right baby because Deb looks just like me. When she was 13, someone in a restroom looked at us and commented, "Well, you could never deny that she is yours." Little did she know how welcome those words always are... In fact, we look so much alike that Deb quickly got tired of people saying, "You look like your mom!" and we made the deal that I'd give her a dime every time someone said it. She got rich...

Deb and Mia

Deb looks like me, but she is her father's daughter. I am awed that I could have given birth to someone as smart as Deb. (I knew she'd be beautiful!) My chemist, theologian, rocket scientist daughter who also has incredible musical talent, writing ability and the good taste to love cats.

It was lovely to see you on your birthday yesterday, Deb. May you have many more years of living and loving.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAPLAIN DAN

Today, August 3rd, is my first son's 31st birthday. Happy birthday, Dan!

I have seen so many changes in Dan's life and circumstances in the past year. He has graduated from seminary with a Master of Divinity degree, been ordained, graduated from Chaplain Officer's Basic Course, taken US Army oath of office. And if that's not enough, he's met and become engaged to the love of his life, Jennifer.

It's amazing to me that the little 7 lb 11 oz baby I held for the first time in the afternoon of August 3, 1975, (round red face, lots of dark hair, long, long eyelashes) has grown into the wonderful man he is--a military chaplain dedicated to bringing hope, help, comfort and understanding to American men and women around the world, a thoughtful son, a kind older brother who always takes time to listen to his siblings' conversations, a good friend to many people. I think he's going to be a great husband and (maybe) father.

Some of my favorite memories of Dan are from the early years in Indonesia--his leading Deb out in to the jungle to play and then "protecting" her when they got lost, his pulling Mike out of the stream behind the bush house in Meyerga, his shining face when he said, "Mom, today is Michael's first Christmas!", his thoughtful birthday gift to me--a rat trap (well, we really did need one!), his love of stories about him, Mouse and Joey that John made up every bedtime.

Dan has always loved to read. I taught him phonics at age 5, and he has never looked back (Christmas break his first grade year, he pulled Lord of the Rings off the shelf and "read" the whole first volume in one day). Now, when he moves from Whittier the end of this month, he'll pack How Many boxes of books?!

So, happy birthday, Dan, may God give you many more years to serve Him and make your parents even more proud of you than we are today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIA

Today Mia turns twenty! I no longer have a teenager in the house!

Mia, named Mary Katherine Price (or Maria Katerina on her Indonesian birth certificate) was born on July 31, 1986, 9:58pm Papuan time, in Mulia, Irian Jaya, Indonesia. Mia has always thought it was cool that she has both an Indonesian and American birth certificate and she is officially "an American citizen born abroad". Her first passport photo was taken at age 2 weeks. She spent her first four years in Indonesia, then 12 1/2 years in Oregon and the past 3 1/2 years in Los Angeles. My Mia is a delight and has always added so much to our family. Her three older siblings alternately indulged her and tolerated her, but they could never ignore her. Her mommy and daddy adored her, even while they wondered if they would ever get her to obey without an argument. And now she is grown up, a friend to those siblings she tormented and looked up to, a college senior who loves to muck around in old bones and mud, a beauty who is beloved by her Marine, a daugher who continues to amaze her parents with her wisdom and delight them with her cheery disposition.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIA, our anak bunksu, Mia Maria, Bud, fashion police, care taker. And in the next twenty years, may you continue to grow and mature into the woman God is making you, the wife Tim needs, maybe the mother to some of the world's most beautiful children, an archeologist of renown.

And may you someday actually get your driver's license!

Thinking about my neighborhood

I took a walk on the beach this evening. All the people I passed on the beach and the walk to and from greeted me with a smile and a hello. That is so different from my neighborhood in south central where people don't walk alone after dusk unless they have to.

Mia told me a story that our next door neighbor at home related to her. He has a dog. The other day two neighbor boys got a local gang member's dog and put it in the yard with his dog hoping to get the two dogs to fight. But the dogs were better behaved than the boys and refused to fight. The neighbor caught them in the act, made them go get the dog's owner to retrieve his dog. You can imagine how pleased this person was to find out what the boys tried to do and he took appropriate measures with voice and hand to insure that the boys don't do this again.

The buildings on either side of us have graffiti; the walls along the metro train line are also covered with graffiti and there is trash dumped all the way down the other side of our street along the metro wall. At various times there have been old shingles, old wood, garbage and numerous mattresses, chairs and sofas laying in the 3 foot strip along the wall. Not a pretty sight. What a contrast to the clean streets and flower beds here in MdR.

And yet, when we move to the little house on the 10 fwy in November, I suppose I'll miss the neighborhood and the place I've called home for over 3 1/2 years. I know I'll miss the little neighbor girls, the people at the local Starbuck's, and driving by the nature park. It is always bitter sweet for me to leave a place I've lived in, and God knows I've done it enough times.

Here I am

sitting in Marina del Rey, spending a full day in my own company. It doesn't happen very often and I am treasuring it. I haven't left the house b/c I'm waiting for the vet tech to arrive. I want to meet her and talk with her about the cats I'm catsitting.

I think I'd enjoy the house/cat sitting life. People who ask to have their cats cared for in their absence are always generally nice people. It's a joy to stay in their homes and play with their kitties.

This day is consisting of reading my Bible, doing my Bible study, blogging, writing thankyou notes, reading Down Range, a really good book about PTSD in military people returning from combat zones. Chaplain Dan gave it to me to read and pass on to Mia and to Tim.

Speaking of Chaplain Dan, he took his oath of office on Monday with John, me, Mia, Jennifer and Melissa as witnesses. Very moving and I'm so very proud. Then we spent 2 hours together discussing plans for Dan and Jennifer's future. Ahem--it's official. Dan and Jennifer are engaged and have set a wedding date, tentative and based on USArmy cooperation. May I say here that I am thrilled with Dan's choice, I already love Jennifer so much!

And speaking of Mia, she's off to SF tonight to enjoy a weekend with two anthro guild friends.

And speaking of Tim, the countdown to his departure from Iraq is under 20! We have prayed for his safety there for so long. And we'll continue until he touches down again on US soil.

Yesterday we spent four very hot hours sitting in the HOT socal sun on asphalt on Dodger Stadium hill to watch our nephew Bobby Price graduate from Los Angeles City Fire Department Academy! Congratulations to Fireman Bob! We wouldn't have missed it for anything, even the heat!

I was thinking yesterday about our nieces and nephews, 11 of them. Each one is talented and so special in his/her own individual way. We have IT techs beloved by customers, computer programmers, a fireman, a couple of college students, a mom, some office workers, a child care helper. All of them are in their twenties and thirties. (Mia is the last one to leave teenagehood and she will be 20 on Monday!) I love them all and love to hear of their accomplishments. I imagine that they don't much notice my enthusiasm, but that doesn't matter to me; I just enjoy celebrating their lives.

So to all the cousins, including my own children: JR, Dan, Thomas, Deb, Billy, Laura Jane, Matt, Steve, Mike, Bobby, Derin, Beth, Becky, Jesse and Mia--I love you all!

The rest of my day will consist of more reading, some swimming in the pool, a walk on the beach, a little knitting and maybe some movie watching...

burn, baby, burn

It's 104 degrees here in south central. The temperature INSIDE our house at 4:30pm is 94 degrees.

It's time to go and find air conditioning.

Escapism

It is already really warm here in south central Los Angeles at 9:30 am. My indoor thermometer reads 82 degrees. So in an effort to escape in mind at least from the heat, I looked through my photos from England--again. It is much cooler in England.


Bridge over the River Avon in Bath. We had just finished a walking tour of Bath in the early evening and were strolling back to our B&B along the river bank.



There is much more than stone circles in Avebury. Here is a lovely shot of a thatched roofed cottage. Now this is my dream home--well, one of them. I would name it--of course--Willow Cottage. Why Willow? When we lived in Oregon, I was involved in a camping ministry called Oregon Camp Cherith. All staff had bird names and I chose the willow finch--hence, Willow--and the name has stuck. I named my knitting business Willow's Cottage.

I love doors. This is actually an archway in a wall in the garden of the Wells Cathedral. The arch is framing the spring/well after which Wells is named.

I should comment on the company we had the past two days. The McCune family, currently from Odessa, Ukraine, visited Southern California and we provided housing for them. We are long time friends from early TEAM days when they were assigned to Irian Jaya but never received visas to get into the country. We had not met any of their children so it was very nice to get acquainted with them and renew our friendship with the parents.

OK, I feel a bit cooler now. Time to start the dish washer and do OK, I feel a bit cooler now. Time to start the dish washer and do more laundry.

Musing

Mia mentioned this morning as we were walking along the beach getting our feet wet in the surf that I haven't been blogging lately. That's true. Because I've been gone a lot and because I like to write about my knitting and I'm in a dry spell with the knitting.

I think it's normal to cycle in and out of crafts and art. You can obsess about fiber or whatever and then all of a sudden lose interest. I don't lose interest, it's just that something else comes along to asborb my time and energy--like wedding planning, traveling, reading. There's a season for everything and right now it's NOT the season for knitting.

I am still totally frustrated by the entralac and don't even want to pick up my size 6 needles and look at the swatch. The white sweater I'm knitting is BORING and I don't feel much like working on it.

My time is being focused this week on dentist appointments, company (a family of 5 overnight tonight and then one person from tomorrow until Aug 1), and wedding invitations which includes writing addresses and cutting and glueing 250 sets of ribbons. So one can understand why there's not much knitting going on right now.

A happy note: Mia and I had lunch at Islands with Mike. I love talking with my kids and listening to them converse with each other. We discussed the unofficial civil war in Iraq, the Israeli-Lebanon/Hezbollah conflict, the possibility of a larger style conflict in the Middle East, the reinstitution of the draft and several other topics, including playing Scrabble.

More Cat Watching

Have you ever had a cat sit IN FRONT of your computer screen and try to play with the cursor? Trooper is doing that. At least it incourages better, more accurate typing since I can't see what I'm typing.

All you knitters out there-- entralac is EVIL!

This evening I have been updating some of my files for the Level 3 Master Knitter submission. This is the part (other than entralac) that I dislike--documenting what I am knitting. I'd rather just knit. But since I've already spent the $$$ and done some of the work, I am stubborn enough to finish this. Now I remember why it took me over two years to finish Level 2. I don't like to type up the documentation.

Now the cat has moved to the empty screen next to mine and so I can see--now that I'm done typing.

Cat Sitting

Mia and I are cat sitting at a friend's. Now there is nothing unusual about helping a friend out, but this time, the friend is really blessing us too. This friend lives 1.5 miles from the beach and we are really enjoying the cooler and cleaner air and the quiet and peace of the neighborhood.

Today we spent most of the day in Bed, Bath and Beyond, registering for wedding gifts. I am really impressed with the quality of both the merchandise and the employees. Wish I could get married again and get some of the beautiful things Mia and Tim will have. She has good taste...in merchandise, in men and in parents!

We had lunch with Mike at Red Sesame, a Thai fast food place. Great food... and we got a detailed account of his visit to Hawaii's big island. I'm all for going to see Hilo myself now.

Knitting? It seems I've taken a hiatus. I have been very frustrated by the entralac and I have hit a wall. I decided that the best thing to do is just leave it for a bit and come back with a better attitude. I have correctly done four of the five 'rows' and am stuck on the fifth (final) row. I probably just need to reread the directions but it's hard to understand when I'm frustrated, not living in my own house, been busy with family,friends and dr appts.

More busyness on the horizon with Deb and Jeff coming down (!), alternate banquet on Sat night, Mike moving on Saturday, and our cat sitting.

Since I'm not home I can't even download photos.

BEWARE

Bird Flu Hits Florida Trailer Park!

HAPPY HAPPY STORY

Jennifer Sandoval and Dan Price

Once upon a time, a mother met a princess. The princess was kind and thoughtful and loved to study the Bible and invited the mother to join a Bible Study. Over the course of time, the mother and the princess became friends and shared tea, dinners, conversations, prayers and family outings. Then the princess moved to a faraway land and the mother missed her. When the mother's son, a soldier, visited the faraway land, he sought out the princess. Struck by her beauty and grace, the son asked for her phone number and the princess willingly gave it to him.

Read this blog in the future to find out the rest of the story.

Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall was built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian to hold back the barbarians (Scottish) from invading Roman Britain. Much of the wall has disappeared but sections are still intact and excavations are ongoing. We walked several miles of the trail along the Wall.

Mile Markers were built to mark guard posts.

At one point you can actually walk on top of Hadrian's Wall. This is my favorite photo. I enlarged it, framed it and hung it in my living room. It looks like a trail in Middle Earth. I expected to meet Frodo and Sam or a company of dwarves or at least get a glimpse of elves traveling to the sea.

Mid Summer's Day

June 21, 2004

10pm

Haltwhistle, Northumberland

England

55 degrees North latitude

I took this picture in the twilight on Mid Summer's Day. Still light enough to take a photo without a flash.

I spent the day with Dan at his apartment again and helped him put together his "I Love Me" notebook of military orders, promotions and citations. I am constantly amazed and so very proud of my Chaplain Dan when I see how he is respected in his chosen profession.

John spent the day reading a Perry Mason novel and waiting for our car to have repairs.

Then we went to dinner at Olive Garden with Dan and a friend. We do enjoy being included in our children's lives. What a joy and privilege.

Memories

Two years ago this month John and I were in England. Enjoy my memories with me.

Bath

My fascination with doors...

Bath Abbey

Happy Father's Day

Today, June 18, is Father's Day. As a father of four, John usually scores visits from at least some offspring each year. Today the boys have it! Mia is in Oregon helping Cori get married and Deb didn't come down with Jeff this weekend. Jeff surprised us by arriving at Starbuck's for morning coffee and going to church with us. Mike joined us at the house for a bbq hamburger lunch.

My four guys! Aren't they handsome?

My men know how to do parallel play . Two sudoku and one crossword puzzle while eating their ice cream and cookies.

All that was missing (besides the girls) was Tim. We missed him today and look forward to his safe return from Iraq.

A HIGH TIME AND LAVENDER FIELDS FOREVER

Angel the Cat loves catnip and I grow some in a pot for her and her cousins Touchy and Hobbs in Visalia. They like to take a sniff once in a while. Angel ate some fresh catnip this morning--it can't be good for her. She's in a corner somewhere sleeping it off.

Ummm, please turn your head sideways to view the drying catnip. I'm working on my photo upload learning curve.

I LOVE LAVENDER!

It is amazing how much lavender one can grow in an inner city courtyard garden. I have four plants in the ground and four in pots. Three of the plants do not produce lavender worthy of drying but the other five have bloomed their little hearts out this spring. I have eight bunches of lavender drying in the house right now and the plants are still covered with budding stalks. A swarm of ants got into one of the bunches and I had to put it outdoors. I have never heard of ants liking lavender; I didn't realized that there is anything ant-edible in lavender. Weird, huh?

We are off now to REGISTER for wedding gifts, visit the stationers and look at a reception site. I think an hour in Target is about all either Mia or I will be able to handle. I am easily overwhelmed by any store and I think the housewares and bath sections have a particularly strong effect on me. I'm sure I'll need fortifying with coffee and then with dinner before Precepts.

A Cold in the Garden

I have a (almost) summer cold. When I woke up Friday morning with a sore throat, I wondered. And wouldn't you know it? The sore throat progressed quickly to sneezing and coughing and nose running. On my first day of summer break, I felt yucky and ended up taking a nap in the afternoon.

So. I didn't go to church this morning because I didn't sleep well* and because I didn't want to spread my germs everywhere. I am sad because John and Dan were team teaching the adult Sunday School class today.

I decided to spend some time in the cloud/sun in the courtyard. I repotted and fertilized the three tomato plants, the basil and the Temple Flame bouggainvillea. Then I moved the plants to the shady side of the courtyard in anticipation of being out of town for a wedding in a couple of weeks, to make it easier for someone to water and to keep the pots from drying out too much if that someone forgets to water. Then I watered everything and washed down the two courtyards. A lovely way to spend a pleasant convalescing Sunday morning. Except for...

the slugs. I hate slugs. I think that they must be on the very bottom of the food chain. I cannot see any reason for their existence except to annoy me. When I see a slug, I kill it. My usual method of disposal is as follows:

ME upon seeing the slug(s): Little Slug, do you want to see God?
Little Slug: Yes!
ME: OK, let me help you!

Then I either stomp on it or cut it in half with a stone or garden tool.

Tammy asked John the other day whether he is concerned that I talk to the slugs, but I figure if it's a problem I'll just have to go to therapy.

Today, however, I found so many slugs under the pots that stomping and cutting were too slow. So, against my better judgment (for humane reasons and for concern over my garden environment) I used the -- (scary music) -- salt shaker --(more scary music). I quit counting oozing slugs after 20. And, no, I don't feel like a guilty murderer. Because I hate slugs and refuse to coexist with them in my garden. They can have the wilds of Northern CA and the Pacific Northwest, but not my garden.

*I sort of fell asleep for a while to the sounds of the dueling bands in the neighborhood. Two groups with distinctly different music tastes (loud, bass thumping vs. mariachi) cranked up their speakers to see who could annoy the most people. It was a tie. But once I woke up from an extra loud series of songs sung off key by progressively more drunken soloists, I couldn't go back to sleep until after 3am when the partyers had all passed out. Noisy nights are among the most annoying parts of inner city living.

Knitting Slump

Being unmotivated to do any knitting right now, I decided to post two of my most recent swatches for TKGA Level III.

This is a slip stitch pattern in two colors. I really like to make this stitch. I first saw it in a stocking cap pattern in Homemade Handknit and made several caps for the men in the family.

Brioche stitch is a new one for me. I had fun learning this pattern. It results in a fluffy, soft knit that would be perfect for a baby blanket.

On the garden front, I have picked a few very small roses from my David Austen Mayflower bush. I'm not sure why the blooms are so small. They look like miniature roses. No stinting on the fragrance, though.

John cut the grass so after 4pm I'll water all my little pots. The three heirloom tomatoes are coming along nicely. The basil is growing slowly. This week I cut four bunches of lavender to dry and I'm only half finished gathering the stalks. The bouggainvillea needs a serious trim as do the lantana. That's a task for next week.

June Gloom is here and I like it. I enjoy "early morning fog and low cloudiness giving way to sunshine later in the day." I don't like cold and I don't like hot.

Roses

I am messing around with my learning curve on uploading photos.

This is actually a rose photo I took at Kew Gardens in London in June 2004. I spent a lot of time and a full roll of film in the rose garden.

We enjoyed our trip to England so much and I regularly go back and look at the album I made. John likes to take my photos and make jigsaw puzzles from them with his brainsbreaker program.

A Picture!

This is my first uploaded photo!

In our courtyard we have the most amazing bougainvillea that I planted three years ago. It has been seriously pruned but came back this spring and is over the wall into the neighbor's courtyard.


I will be sorry to leave this beauty when we move.

Who are you?

Which Jane Austen Character are You? (For Females) Long Quiz!!!created with QuizFarm.com

Presenting...

Willow as---

Emma Woodhouse
69%
Elizabeth Bennet
63%

in the Jane Austen characters quiz!

Thanks, Sereknitty, for a fun quiz.

Saturday Musing

One of the responsibilities that comes with ministry is performing jobs that have nothing to do with your job description. Today we spent most of our day unpacking, sorting, and repacking four carloads of donations from one person and writing out a tax deductible receipt for the stuff. I want to be sure my gentle readers understand that we wish to be respectful and appreciative of all donors and we did this as a special favor for some dear friends. Usually we would just drop the donations off at the ministry thrift store. (I sure hope no one from WI reads this!) We just had to get it done so we can park our car in the garage. Suffice it to say that we reminded ourselves that we will NOT save anything ugly, tacky, old or smelly for other people to deal with when we can no longer take care of ourselves. And we will not hoard things that can be passed on to bless someone else.

I didn't get much time to knit, garden or read. I finished last few rows of the two color slip stitch swatch--in lime green and white wool, pulled a few weeds, and read a few pages of Dick Francis.

On a happy,happy note, Mia came home from college today. Deb drove her over after undergrad graduation, responding as usual as the older sister, always ready and willing to care for her little sister. Thanks, Deb.

Deb and Mia were reminiscing about the years that Mia spent believing that I had sent Deb to "Big Sister School" before Mia was born. Deb learned how to change diapers, brush hair, give baths, snuggle in bed, tell stories, and restrain little sisters with jump ropes tied around their hands at Big Sister School. Mia spent many years believing in Big Sister School and then many years declaring she needed therapy for all those years of deception. Gotta love the sisters.

OK, dear readers, I think that by the end of this weekend I will be able to post photos. Stay tuned.

And...congratulations to Sara Martin Brown for graduating with an MA last night! And to Bryan Davenport for finishing his BA!

You Know You Live In The Ghetto When...

you're watching Criminal Minds, a commercial comes on, and you hear the police siren.

RAIN, RAIN, GOING AWAY

I talked with my sil in Oregon and read blogs this weekend and everyone has mentioned rain. Well, guess what? It rained here in Los Angeles on May 22! The students had to eat lunch in the CC and play in the gym, which is the rainy day schedule. When I saw it was raining, I put my basil starts out in the courtyard to catch some water so I wouldn't have to water them in the house.

But now, the sun is out and it's beautiful. I love LA after a rain.

As usual, we had a crazy weekend. Deb and Jeff drove down on Saturday and spent the night here. We all met up at our favorite little hole in the wall burrito place La Carreta at Vernon and Compton Aves. Jamie and Laura, two former WIers who taught 3rd and 1st, respectively, at Watts Christian School with me were both in town and they wanted to eat at La Carreta. Mike and Mia came, too. After dinner, we all went back to our place and ate ice cream. John and I looked at Laura's photos of Honduras, where she is currently living and teaching. It was great to see my two good friends who kept me sane during that stressful year at WCS.

Yesterday we had our morning coffee at Starbuck's where the barrista sees me walk in the door and has my drink ready for me before I get to the counter (she's a great barrista!), went to church, then had vegetarian Indian food with Jeff, Dan and Ben. This restaurant is one of Jeff's favorites so he wanted to visit while he was down this weekend. We stopped by Walmart to pick up some Simply Soft yarn (yeah, I know, cheap yarn, but it washes well and doesn't pill and is great for baby sweaters). Then, we went home and gathered up Mia and took her back to school and drove to Whittier to see an old friend who was speaking about the earthquake disaster in Pakistan. Charlie was born in Pakistan, spent twenty years in Venezuela, and is the executive director of TEAM now. TEAM is heading up most of the private aid in Northern Pakistan. If you're interested in knowing more, check out www.teamworld.org and click on Pakistan relief down at the bottom of the page. It was good to see several old friends from TEAM years. On an aside, our nephew Thomas is working in the IT dept at TEAM and when the various people found out he is our nephew, they couldn't stop praising his ability to patiently help them with their computer problems. It made us proud--even though we didn't have much to do with his upbringing, John and our kids share some of the same genes.

My goal for this evening is to lay out and block the swatches I've knitted. While I was waiting for Dan on Wednesday morning*, I worked on a swatch with an elongated stitch. I'm knitting the Seafoam pattern from Vogue Knitting (141) and I'm hoping to finish that as well. If there is time tomorrow between teaching my classes, meeting with the principal and going to the teachers meeting, I'll start on the Woven Stitch in Two Colors pattern that I am using for the slip-stitch swatch. All the knitting is the easy part of the Level 3 certification. The pattern writing and charting and the questions to answer are harder and I always put off doing them. At least this time, I'm keeping better records.

I spent some time this afternoon planning the next four months. There are only a little more than 18 weeks until Mia and Tim's wedding!

*The eye dr said yup your eyes are bad, but you are correctable to 20/20, so the paperwork has been forwarded to the appropriate person for a vision waiver, and so, hopefully, to the chaplain candidate board...

BACK TO WORK

I think we were all a little sluggish this morning after our long weekend. I know my students were---uh, what's a "g"?

We had a nice little Mother's Day dinner with just J, the boys and me at Thai Dishes in El Segundo this evening. Mmmm, that's good food there. The waiter brought us complimentary cups of chicken/cabbage/tofu soup to go with our spring rolls. Usually, IMHO, Asian soups are watery and not too tasty, but this soup was good. We added curry, spicy chicken and pad thai and thai iced tea for a great celebration with plenty of leftovers. If you are ever in Los Angeles, stranded at LAX, and need food, grab a taxi and yell, "Thai Dishes on Aviation!" and you'll get a great meal close to the airport.

My lunch companions at school accuse Classie and me of always talking about food and cooking. Well, we're good cooks and recognize a kindred spirit. I know Classie will love a taste of my pad thai and green curry tomorrow at lunch.

Oh wait. I will be playing chauffeur to Dan in the morning for what we hope is the last of several attempts to get the US military machine to give an eye exam which is the final step on his way to becoming a US Army Chaplain. This visit to LA MEPS means leaving the house at 6:15am and arriving there at 7, my hanging around for umpteen hours waiting for Dan to call and say he's done and I can pick him up. Fortunately I have yet another Dick Francis mystery and plenty of knitting* to keep me occupied.

Mia had given me some roses on Saturday and I picked up more roses from the tables at HOB on Sunday so I had them in the car in a Coffee Bean cup on the way home. Some of the petals began falling off in the car so I put them on the dashboard. While we were in McQuickfood's grabbing lunch I left the petals and when we got back in the car, what did I have? Potpourri! Smelled great all the way home. Now I know how to dehydrate my flowers! I wonder if it would work for veggies...and I wonder what J would say if I tried it.

*still working on the grey and white from the neck down raglan cardigan with hood for Baby Angel Maaz. Time to start on another TKGA swatch, this time a slip stitch or maybe the mosaic swatch.

Wonderful Weekend

San Diego. It's a great town to visit. J and I and 65 of our best friends (read: World Impact Los Angeles staff) went down to San Diego on Saturday and returned this afternoon. Why? Because a famous TV show rented one of our houses for an episode and paid $$$$$ and we got to use it for a celebration weekend. Our all together activities were Chinese dinner on Sat night and House of Blues Gospel Brunch on Sunday. Mia was with us until mid day and that was lovely. We stayed at Posh Hotel with Pool and Hot Tub (PHPHT) which we thoroughly enjoyed using.

We've been to San Diego before and so we revisited Old Town and Mission San Diego de Acala. Also visited Gaslamp Quarter and University of San Diego. If you like trendy hip shops and restaurants in old remodeled buildings, then GQ is for you. We were disappointed as we were hoping for some really cool old architecture. Which is what we found at USD. Even though the buildings are not old (USD was founded in 1949), the architecture is stunning. I always love visiting the old missions and Mission San Diego is one of my favorites. And the gardens are my favorite places. http://missiontour.org/sandiego/index.htm I wandered around and got some new ideas. I had never thought of planting calla lilies in pots; I'm going to try it. When the pots are done I'll post some pictures...because...

Yes, I have scored a digital camera! It's actually Mike's and Mia was borrowing it, but now it's in MY possession! heheh...they'll never get it back...

Mother's Day was wonderful because all my children called. I have the world's best children, smile.

PHPHT had a courtyard filled with pools stocked with koi. When you are riding the elevator up and down you can look out the window and view the pools. It got me to thinking, I'd like a koi pool someday...

On the knitting front, I think I've figured out the tubular bind off. I practiced several variations and found one I can do that looks well with the tubular cast on. I'll photograph the swatch after it's blocked. I am knitting a gray and white sweater for the Maaz baby who will show up in July and is a boy. (No name yet, although his 3yo sister told me last night at dinner she thinks he should be named Angel.) I am doing a two color slip stitch pattern on the body. I have done the pattern before on caps for the family men, using three colors--light blue, dark blue and gold--for UCLA--but I decided that two colors is enough for a baby sweater.

If you get the magazine CastOn look in the current issue, page 68, and find my name listed as having completed Level Two of the Master Knitting Program.

CHANGE

I was really sick of the color of my blog so I changed it. I hope it meets everyone's approval.

Today has been a froggy day. Just feeling froggy. I got up and went to school, did my teaching but I didn't stay and eat lunch. I ate a piece of homemade honey whole wheat bread (yes my recipe, if you want it just ask me for it) and then came on home. Can you believe it? I turned down a coffee date with Debbie, I'm feeling so froggy.

I have curled up with a new Dick Francis book, 10 LB PENALTY, and a pot of Earl Grey Tea. I haven't even felt like knitting. I finished the pink baby hoody and I have the yarn to start the next one--gray and white for Laurie Maaz's coming soon son. I also have the answer to my questions about knitting swatches, and I even bought the yarn at Beach Knitting yesterday so I can work on more swatch. BUT, I just don't feel like it.

Back to my book.

MONDAY, MONDAY

As usual our weekend was packed with fun and games.

Games: Mike's softball game in Long Beach. We watched after attending church. Mike's team lost 20-15, but it was a fun game. I like soft ball (slow pitch) better than base ball because there's more action. One of Mike's teammates ALWAYS hits the ball out of the park. It must be fun!

Fun: After cleaning the place on Saturday, John and I rewarded ourselves with a beach walk in Manhattan Beach--found FREE parking!, a stop at Starbuck's for coffee, then an hour of walking along the shore. We usually walk on the sidewalk (The Strand) but this time I took my shoes off and walked in the sand right at the edge of the water. Got my feet wet a few times. It was windy and about 65. The LAFD was holding swimming safety drills for the academy. Hmmm, our nephew Bob is at LAFD academy, but I didn't see him there. Must be on a different rotation.

Fun: After said ball game we had late lunch with Mike and some teammates at Red Sesame, a fast food Thai restaurant in El Segundo.

Fun: We watched Jumping Jack Flash Saturday night while I spun some more of the Cowichan wool. I know it "should" be spun thick, but I don't like thick yarn, so I'm spinning it sport weight.

More fun: I did some knitting on the pink baby sweater but it is mindless knitting and not all that interesting. I still am trying to get into the TKGA site and ask about the swatch borders and I don't want to knit any more swatches until I get my answer.

Lots more fun: CAbi (Carol Anderson) opened her warehouse sale for World Impact people so Mary and I went on Friday afternoon and had a heyday--total of 16 tops, 3 jackets and 2 skirts--all for about $150! Now THAT'S a bargain since one sweater had a retail tag of $105. Carol designs beautiful stuff and so many of her clothes are my style.

Tonight: Go see Deb who is in Fullerton for work! And get gelato and pretend I'm in Rome!

Promised: John said he'd show me how to import photos!

SATs

Yesterday morning and this morning I read SATs to one of my students and to a boy who was absent on Monday. My 2nd grader is so sweet; she reads and if she messes up a word I help her and she never gets frustrated with me. I'm so pleased with her progress and her obvious intelligence. As long as she knows the words on the paper, she gets almost everything correct on the test.

The other boy? After telling me that he is smarter than he looks and that he is really smart, he ended up missing about 1/2 of the questions in the listening section. Maybe he just doesn't listen.

I've finished the body of the baby sweater. I love this pattern because I don't have to sew up any seams. I decided to make it plain, just pink and no fancy stitches, because I am making the smallest size. If I knit a second sweater for Aubrey I'll knit up something a bit more fancy.

Just found out our neighbor to the north is leaving World Impact employment and moving out of the townhouse. I hope the place doesn't stay empty long. Houses in this neighborhood don't stay empty...uninvited guests move in. There's a lot of graffitti on the building next door to us. I reported it to maintenance. I hope it gets cleaned up soon since graffitti begets graffitti.

CAMERA

I've decided that I want a digital camera. I think I'll buy one. Any of my readers have advice on what camera to buy?

LEMONY SNICKET

Random Quote from The Slippery Slope:

"Taking one's chances is like taking a bath, because sometimes you end up feeling comfortable and warm, and sometimes there is something terrible lurking around that you cannot see until it is too late and you can do nothing else but scream and cling to a plastic duck."

Right now there is an LAPD helicopter circling our neighborhood overhead. It's been there awhile and it's doing its turns right over our house which means something is happening in the projects. When I was coming home tonight at about 8pm two cops were arresting and handcuffing a guy in a red hoody on the corner of 55th and Long Beach but I don't know that the two events are related.

I'm taking a hiatus of a day or two from the Master Knitting and am making a Pure and Simple baby sweater with hood in bright pink Simply Soft yarn for Aubrey Alford who is due to make an appearance in July. If you don't know who she is, too bad. Just kidding... she is Nate Alford's niece, daughter of Matt and Tara Sky. After that sweater is done, I will be knitting the same pattern in a larger size and in gray for the Maaz's third baby, a boy again this time. All these babies, and everyone with a handknit sweater.

Ramblings

I am happy to be home. I love to travel and visit dear friends (Sandy, Martha, Joy, Jennifer, Melissa, Jane) and dearest daughters (Deb and Mia) and see interesting places (Visalia, Morro Bay, Camarillo, Oxnard, San Diego) but I love to come home too. I've been gone parts of the past three weeks. It's time to be home, clean, organize, rest.

About Master Hand Knitting: it's challenging. I'm already learning a lot. I had never heard of tubular bind off, but I found it in a book in Beverly Fabrics in Visalia. I bought the book and have studied the technique but not tried it yet. I actually fell asleep Sunday night mentally binding off. Am I obsessed or what?

I realized after knitting 9 of 18 swatches that MAYBE I should be making a border around the edges of each swatch. Hmmm. I have tried to log into TKGA website for Master Knitters to ask but can't remember my password and can't get a reply from them since our email crashed on Saturday, we lost ALL our inbox (which had the old email with the password), and John had to redo it, whatever he did.

I have been reading blogs. I've noticed that there is a huge community of interconnected people from all over the world. I've been exploring the knitting world and have realized that I'm a very little player in a big, big pond. At least from what I see on the blogs. I sure know that I am not digital camera savvy. I love the photos people post, but I somehow get the impression that some people are just trying to outdo each other in some kind of post our photos competition.

Did you, gentle reader, notice that there is no political commentary on the immigration issue on this blog? There will be no comment from me on this topic in this blog. That doesn't mean I have no opinion.

Next blog? Stay tuned for crazy quotes from A Series of Unfortunate Events.

STARTED

I received the Level 3 Master Knitter's materials in the mail the day before we left on vacation last week. I've been working on the swatches I have to knit. I've finished five of the 18 already and am knitting on an interesting swatch this evening.

Herringbone. This is a knit stitch that ends up looking and feeling like herringbone tweed woven cloth. I am fascinated with the texture. It's super easy to knit with only one new technique--knitting an increase by knitting into the back of the stitch below the next stitch and then knitting the next stitch. The style and texture are old fashioned and I don't think I'd ever make anything with the stitch, but it's interesting and looks different depending on how I hold it up to the light.

Double Brioche. That is a cool looking very elastic and springy stitch and it was harder to knit. I'd knit a baby blanket for a grandchild using that stitch, but not for anyone else. Too easy to make a mistake and have to start all over again.

I know this final level of the Master Handknitting is going to challenge me. If you see me staring off into space and muttering to myself, it's normal, I'm just thinking about a project.

Last Week

I want to mention that I spent a great two days in Camarillo last week. I drove up Wednesday morning to my friend Sandy's and we talked nonstop until 1 am and then got up in the morning and started in again. Sandy has a business teaching writing to grade, middle and high schoolers. We have a lot in common and enjoy bouncing ideas off each other. After eating lunch at the Ventura Marina we walked over to the beach and then to the Channel Islands National Park/Museum where we were able to climb up the tower and look around Ventura, and out to the Channel Islands. It was a beautiful day and we just stood up there and looked out toward Hawaii...
I spent the afternoon with Martha and came away laden with treasures as usual. Martha always makes me laugh :) Then at the last hour I drove to Joy's and got some blueberries for Easter dinner.
I ended up having to pick up Mia at Biola so I drove straight down the 101 to the 5 and over to LaMirada. Way too much night driving for me!
But all in all I had a great getaway. But who wouldn't if you went to a place you love and were treated as a dear friend every place you visited?

Home Again

We got home from Morro Bay last night about dark. We have had a lovely vacation--about 100 hours away from LA traffic. We enjoyed our visit in Visalia with Jeff and Deb and while we were there we took two 5 mile bike rides around town, visited the local knit shop, had coffee with Debbie and Jerry, bbq lunch at Deb's office (the boss lady referred to Deb as a diamond! Yes, my girl does shine!) and morning coffee with Deb before work. Of course I enjoyed playing with the boys, Touchy and Hobbes a bit although they usually ignore me.

We took off from Visalia Thursday morning and drove the back roads to Morro Bay. I never used to get car sick but again Thursday I was a little woozy by the time we got out to the ocean. Maybe I shouldn't try to knit on windy roads...

I love Morro Bay. We walked out to the jetty and on the beach; we rode our bikes 20 miles to Los Osos and back; we visited a funky used book store, the Two Dogs' Coffee Shop, Willow Creek Beads, a couple of great restaurants along the Embarcadero; we soaked up slow traffic, friendly people, even met and conversed with a group of INDONESIAN speaking tourists. Best part? Probably the bike rides and relaxing. We needed it. On the way home we stopped to see Martha and Will and Joy. Starbuck's pastries and blueberries.

Mia got in from Philadelphia last night and John picked her up at LAX. We crashed and got up this morning and went to GBCLB and did the usual coffee at Starbuck's and dinner after. Today we went to a mall, bought me some shoes and met Mike at Red Robin for lunch. I love a week when I get to see all my kids!

SPRING BREAK

I am using Deb's laptop to write this evening because even though we have our wireless card in my laptop and it worked last night, it's not working today. Technology...

We have had a nice time visiting Visalia. We dropped Mia off at LAX to fly to Philadelphia and then we drove up to Visalia arriving just before Deb got home from work. After a nice dinner we hung out and then went to bed. This morning we rode our bikes to the AAA office to get a map of Visalia (about 5 miles) and then we went to lunch at Deb's office. That was really fun because the people she works with are great people and they seem to really like her. And she's really happy working there. We had made sate and teriyaki and took them to bbq. Then we met Debbie and Jerry for coffee and had a good chat and picked up some freshly ground whole wheat flour. After that, we got our bikes and took another 5 mile ride along the St. John's River. After a dinner of more sate, rice and green beans, and ice cream, we watched a Thin Man movie.

Tomorrow we are going on over to Morro Bay for a couple days of beach walking, bike riding and relaxing at the motel. We have plenty of books and I have my knitting.

Speaking of knitting, I've finished the vanilla socks and wore them last night for a while.

Also, I received TKGA Master Handknitting Level 3 instructions. OK, I'm a good knitter, but I've never heard of tubular cast-off! I've got to find out what it is so I can do it on the first swatch.

I haven't written about my wonderful two day visit to Ventura County to see my good friends Joy and Sandy and my sil Martha. I had a GREAT time and even visited the Channel Islands National Park in Ventura. I LOVE the beach!

Happy Easter!

He Is Risen!


Easter Dinner will be at our house as soon as the ham is cooked.

How does this sound for Easter Dinner: baked ham, buttermilk mashed potatotes, Laurie Maaz's yummy mandarin-almond green salad, asparagus, green beans, and, for dessert, blueberry parfaits with blueberries hand picked by Joy on the ranch.

Guest list: Matt and TaraSky Alford, Mike, Dan, Mia, John, Me, Dorothy Steventon and Lynette Bartsch. And Angel.

Walk The Line

John and I just finished watching Walk The Line, the story of Johnny Cash. I spun some more of that brown wool and also did a 30 minute work out on the elliptical machine while watching. Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix were great. I loved the scenes in Folsom Prison. And I want the lakeside house!

If you want to know what goes on in our neighborhood look up www.nbc4.tv and click on the top stories. There is a video clip about the murder of the man who was dragged out of his car and shot in front of the middle school where John teaches. When the English teacher got to school this morning at 7:15 he couldn't drive into the school because the police had the whole street blocked. He had to park at the elementary school and walk over. By the time we arrived, I guess the police were gone, but we didn't know anything because we usually park at the elementary school (in the next block).

Tomorrow I'm driving up to Ventura County to see a couple of friends and Martha for a couple of days. Sandy said we can do whatever I want--shop, go to the beach, hang out--well she knows me--the beach it is. I love the beach and I'd rather do most anything than go shopping! I'm hoping to get to the ranch and pick some blueberries and get some honey.

Vanilla Socks

OK, I just wrote a long entry and somehow deleted it. So you are going to get the short version.

I knitted for a bit on the white socks which are actually VANILLA, according to the Brown Sheep Co. Wildfoote Yarn label. I like the yarn for the most part but it does split when you're knitting as everyone knows and which annoys everyone. I was driving down Imperial Hwy after dropping Mia off at Biola and I was missing EVERY stoplight. So I pulled out my sock and knitted at the stoplights and got 3 or 4 rounds knitted up by the time I made it to the 105 Fwy. Portable knitting projects are the best!

I started working this morning with the sweetest first grader named Karisma. She's not too sure about coming to my room and so I have beguiled her with stickers. K is really quite smart but she is so sensitive she has been in tears several times over having to come work with me. Now she's finding out it's so much fun--writing on blackboards and with crayons and getting stickers. K reads well, just has developed some really bad writing habits which I think will self correct quickly with a little guidance.

The older girls are writing sponsor letters for me to send to my sponsors. heheh. This month I'll send those out as thank yous. The girls are having some much fun with the letters. They get to erase and that's a big deal in our classroom! And the best part is that they asked if they could write them and they practiced all the words and spellings and it is really being a fun learning project.

Back Again

I haven't written for almost a month. I check Dan's and Deb's blogs every day but I don't think about writing in mine. I figure no one reads it, anyway. So, if you read my blog, let me know and maybe I'll be inspired to write more often.

Dan sent me a post about a group of blogger knitters who took photos of their yarn stashes. I looked at them all and envied their large piles of yarn and had to stop because I really wanted some of that yarn! All of my yarn (except some handspun stuff) fits in one dresser with four drawers. It would fit in two of the drawers if I filled them up, but I like to be able to find my yarn easily.

Right now I'm knitting a pair of white socks. The tops have lace cuffs. I've finished the first sock and am well into the second.

Also, I took the plunge and ordered The Knitting Guild Association's Hand Knitting Master's Level Three last week! I'm looking forward to getting the directions and looking through them. I'm not sure I'm looking forward to all the work, but it will be a good learning experience and I want to reach the goal of being a Master Knitter.

Off to watch another episode of Foyle's War!

Birthday

Friday was my St. Patrick's Day birthday and I have to admit that I really like birthdays. All year long I look forward to my birthday. I don't pretend it isn't important to me and it's so much fun to get cards and phone calls.
All my kids, my brother and my sister in law called me. Two other sils emailed me and several friends sent cards and gifts. I love the little wristlet DB purse from Kristie. I know she chose it in self preservation b/c I always say, "Can you carry my keys in your purse for me?" when we're walking on The Strand most every week. Debbie found a book titled Knitting, which is a novel set in Adelaide, Australia. I have already finished reading it. Julene sent down a navy Nike jacket which I love and I've already worn a couple of times.
Debbie and I went to Long Beach Farmers Market and then to lunch. I worked at Watts in the afternoon and when I got home I found out my street was blocked because the LAFD and LACoSheriffs were trying to pull a man out from under the metro train because he had tried to beat the train at the crossing at 55th and didn't. The train was stuck on the tracks for more than two hours and John and Mia were sitting in a train at San Pedro station so I drove up and got them in the nasty Friday night traffic and took Mia to the Green line station to get back to Biola. So it was too late to cook the asparagus, buttermilk mashed potatoes and salmon I had planned for dinner. We ate soup instead and I fixed the dinner on Saturday night.

Into The Wind

Yesterday John and I took our bikes to El Dorado Regional Park in Long Beach and rode for two hours around and about the perimeter of the park, past the lakes and the archery range, and along the section of the San Gabriel River path that borders the park. The sun was shining so brightly that, if the man sitting at the picnic table hadn't warned me, I would have ridden into the empty chair and fishing poles, because the sun was in my eyes. The wind was a bit chilly and of course no matter what direction we were going we were riding into the wind.

There is also a nature park there but it is closed on Mondays so we couldn't go in. However, the lakes provided plenty of fowl and bird watching. My favorites by far are the egret and the heron. I have always loved watching those birds. It would almost be worth moving to a marshy beach area in Oregon just so I could watch herons and egrets every day in their natural habitat. Almost. In Indonesia John gave me a green tea set with herons painted on the pot and plates. I loved that tea set but had to leave it when we moved back to the US andI have never found a set like it to replace it even though I have looked and looked. I think herons have a significance in China--maybe hospitality or long life. Does anyone know?

We also rode through a neighborhood adjoining the park which is where we parked our car to avoid paying for parking. The houses were all built around the same time (late 50s?) and it looked like there were maybe six house plans and most of them have one part of the house that is 12 feet wide or in the case of the garages two 12 feet wide sections. I thought that they were all very interesting and they all had lots of windows and outside patio areas. Many of the homes were well kept and it was fun to see the many different ways the "same house" was painted, decorated and fenced.

We ended our excursion with a stop at the local Starbuck's where we were greeted by all the servers who know us as regulars. It was pleasant to drink our coffee and hot chocolate in such a congenial place. Even the manager came over and said hello. Yes, I know we really stick out in the environment. The LA County sheriffs usually stare at us or come over and ask what we're doing there. If you're ever in our area be sure to stop by the Compton and Gage Starbuck's. They really do make the drinks better.

Ocean

I went for a walk on The Strand in Manhattan Beach this afternoon with Kristie. The temperature was high 60s, the sun was shining, and the ocean was blue. It was a near perfect day in Southern California. After I left MB, I had an hour to myself so on a whim I turned right onto Grand and went up into El Segundo, got an iced coffee at Our Daily Grind and drove back down to Dockweiler Beach and just sat in the car and watched the ocean and listened to the waves and the gulls. The beach is my absolute favorite place to relax and I truly felt refreshed after my half hour of writing thank you notes to supporters and enjoying the scene.

This Week

The past week I've done several interesting things.

1. On Friday Mia and I drove up to Camarillo to look at the church where she wants to get married--Camarillo Evangelical Free Church. It's a beautiful Spanish style building and the only problems I see are no center isle and no reception facility available. Afterward we visited the beautiful Catholic church across the street and after a lovely tour of the church we found out that since neither Mia nor Tim are Catholic they are not allowed to be married in a Catholic church. Then we went to see Martha. Beth was gone but Steve came home from work/dinner so we got to see him. As always, Martha amazed me with her tales of getting free food from grocery stores by using coupons. I don't know of anyone who does it better than Mart. At one point I mentioned that I wanted a Brita and Martha got this look on her face and said, "I think I have one..." She had two she had bought four years ago because it was cheaper to get a whole Brita on sale than buy the replacement filters. So now I have a new Brita. John bought some filters and we have nice water to drink. Thanks, Martha!

2. Yesterday I finished sewing up my pink mohair sweater that I knitted from copying an AF sweater with hood that Mia bought at a thrift store. I'm wearing it today and I really like it. Yesterday I also rewrote an afghan pattern that I made a few years ago. I think there was a mistake in the original pattern so I knitted a swatch and then rewrote it because a friend wants to borrow some patterns to make an afghan.

3. John and I had lunch on Saturday with my cousin Dan and his wife Peg. They are missionaries with Baptist Mid Missions. They lived in Mexico for 20 years and now Dan is the director of Hispanic church planting in the US for BMM. It was good to see him. I took my photo album of old family photos. Dan enjoyed reminiscing and I laughed because he identified EVERY car that we had owned.

4. Saturday night Andrea came over and we watched five old Dick VanDyke Show episodes. I'm amazed at the FACES Dick could make. I recommend the shows to anyone who wants to laugh hysterically.

5. I high scored in Collapse tonight. 443,904, which beats Travis's score from last Thanksgiving.

OK, so my life is really boring. But it's MY life.

A Random Questionaire

1. First name: Linda

l2. Were you named after anyone? My middle name is Louise after my maternal grandmother, Emma Louise.

3. Middle name? : Louise. See #2.

4. When did you last cry? : Last month. A passage in a book brought tears to my eyes.

5. Do you like your handwriting? : Yes. I'd better; I teach handwriting.

6. What is your favorite lunch meat? : False.

7. Birth date? : 17 March 1950

8. What is your most embarrassing CD? : I'm not much of a CD person, so that's not much of a question for me.

.9. Do you have a journal? : My Blog and a journal of Bible verses and worship song/hymns lyrics.

10. Do you use sarcasm a lot? : I don't know about a lot, but I do use some.

11. What are your nicknames? : Willow.

12. Would you bungee jump? : Do I want to die?

13. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? : Yes, the ones with laces.

14. Do you think that you are strong? : Physically? No.

15. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? : Chocolate, Chocolate.

16. Shoe Size? : 8 or 8.5

17. Red or pink? I wear more pink than red.

18. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? : my weight.

19. Who do you miss most? : my mom.

20. Do you want everyone you send this to, to send it back? : No.

21. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? black and black.

22. What are you listening to right now? nothing.

23. What was the last thing you ate: taco mac for lunch.

24. If you were a Crayon what color would you be? : Cobalt Blue.

25. What is the weather like right now? : 60s and getting cloudy.

26. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? : John.

27. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? :Age.

28. Do you like the person who sent this to you? : Of course. I gave birth to him.

29. Favorite Drink? Americanos and also hot chocolate.

30. Favorite sport to watch? : I like to watch ice skating. Basketball is ok. I'd rather go to the dentist than watch football or soccer.

31. Hair Color? : Blonde.

32. Do you wear contacts? : No.

33. Favorite Food? : I really like soup and bread and chocolate.

34. Last Movie You Watched? : I don't remember. We watch a lot of movies but I seldom remember the names of them.

35. Favorite Day of the Year? : Mother's Day.

36. Scary movies or Happy Endings? Happy endings.

37. Summer or winter? : Summer in Oregon, winter in Southern California.

38. Hugs or Kisses? Kisses. Dark Chocolate.

39. What is Your Favorite Dessert? Ice cream.

40. Who Is Most Likely To Respond? One of my daughters.

41. Who Is Least Likely To Respond? John. He never reads my blog.

42. What Book Are You Reading? : The Windrider's Oath by David Weber. I was reading it yesterday at PT and left it there and had to go back today and get it.

43. What's On Your Mouse Pad? : my mouse.

44. What Did You Watch Last night on TV? : A little bit of the Olympics.

45. What's in your CD player right now? : Nothing. Unless you count Revival in Belfast that is in the car cd player.

46. Favorite Sounds? : Birds chirping, my family laughing,ocean waves.

47. Rolling Stones or Beatles? : Beatles.

48. What is your Favourite Pastime? : Reading, knitting, spinning, walking, bike riding, watching movies.

49. What do you do for a living? : I am an urban missionary in Los Angeles, teaching reading and writing.

50. If you could go anyplace in the world, where would it be? : on vacation? Europe, for a long time. North Africa holds some fascination for me too.

Happy Valentine's Day

I want to wish all my beloved readers a

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Ohhh I just figured out how to make red letters.

Anyway, I hope everyone gets all the chocolate and flowers they want.

Tim

I know that I have not said anything here about Tim's departure for his deployment in Iraq. He left last weekend. It is really hard to write about it.

I'm going to miss him. And mostly importantly, Mia is missing him.

Please pray for his safety and for a good successful time of service to the country and to his team.

Reverend Dan

Dan is now an ordained minister.

He attended the ordination council with six other men and after two hours of conferring, testimonies and questions, all seven men and one woman were ordained in an hour plus long ceremony. At least there wasn't a sermon--just lots of prayers which I found quite nice. Each council member prayed for each candidate and then sometimes elders, family members prayed for the candidate, too. John offered a very nice and appropriate prayer for his son. And, of course, we are very, very proud of Dan!

After the ceremony, Mike D, Will, Mia, Dan, John and I went to Denny's for a celebration dinner, mostly because only Dan had had any dinner. Dan couldn't eat because he was scheduled for a physical for the Army at 5am this morning. We enjoyed referring to Dan as Rev. Dan much to his "annoyance".

Soooo, after 3 hours of sleep, Dan and I drove to West LA and I dropped him off at MEPS and sat in a Starbuck's parking lot until it opened at 5:30. At 7 Dan called to report that prior service people have to have their medical waiver (Dan needs one for his eyesight) in hand BEFORE the physical--which was news to everyone including the chaplain recruiter. Anyway, we'll have to go back again a morning at 5am, hopefully sooner rather than later.

After a stop at LA Co. Hall of Records in Norwalk (yes, we have driven ALL over Los Angeles today!) to get a certified birth certificate for him, we went to the bank and the post office in Whittier. I dropped him off and drove home. I couldn't go to sleep because I had a physical therapy appointment at 2pm.

Now I am home from PT and waiting to hear from John. We are invited to a BBQ and Gospel concert practice for the Japanese Gospel Choir and Firm Soundations, Ray Sidney's group. We'll see if I'm recovered from PT and still awake when John gets home.

Halloween? Guy Fawkes?

Last night someone parked a car in front of the business next door to our house and lit it on fire. My neighbor heard the tires popping and his dog barking so he got up to check, saw the flames and called the fire dept. I woke up when the fire truck sounded its siren (probably at the cross street), and when I saw the flashing lights so close, I got up to investigate.

Why would someone light a fire in a car? Maybe because he was mad at the owner, or had stolen the car and wanted to get rid of fingerprints... who knows?

Anyway, we now have a burned out car on our block. I just saw a parking enforcement car out there so maybe the city will remove it as it is blocking Song's Ironworks driveway.

A word in praise of Los Angeles Fire Fighters--they came quietly, they quickly put out the fire and made sure that all the flames stayed out, left just as quietly. They are true heroes.

Which leads me to mention that my nephew Bobby Price is scheduled to take theLA fire department physical exam on Monday! This means he passed firefighter school and the background check. I am soooo proud of him. Way to go, Bob!

Hand Knitting Master Program Level II

I PASSED!

I received the package and notification today in the mail that, at long last, I have passed my level II Hand Knitting Master Program competency. It took me so long to pass knitting up a vest (3 tries because I tried to make an original pattern twice) that I am now thinking that I might like to go ahead and try for the third level.

But not before the summer.