Flounder Blues

Ok, I know some of you are here for the kids and some of you are here for the knitting. Today... you get neither! Tough tahooties, get over it. You get of Pickles & Blues instead. Market rambles.
So- remember when John and I had date night last week? We headed over to the Tailgate Market Fundraiser. Bill, the Pickle Guy, also has a jazz band and they played for us. We thoroughly enjoyed Bill's band and the songs... so much so that John bought the CD. It's been in our car ever since.
This morning I worked the market for Summer, since she could not man her Felicitea booth. Well, I set up right beside Bill and ate pickles all morning. Yum. REAL pickles, cultured, fermented and no vinegar. Yep... yummy. I even came home with a jar of pickled green tomatoes. Seriously, good.
Anyway, over the course of the morning I told him how much we like the Flounder Blues... and he let me know there was a music video for it. It's not huge and fancy, but it is fun. I like the imagery I get in my head a bit better, so listen to it once without peeking... but the video is cute, and I just have to share. Of course, if you don't like the idea of going fishing or gigging... well, then you might not like the video.
I wonder if we can find some flounder for dinner now...

All Fun and Games... until...

After everyone else left the party, we still had fun. Pile 'o kids style. Until Dory decided she had enough, of course. Such a big fuss for a little bump. More bruised ego than anything. Jack and LJ (Monkey) were having a blast though!

Happy Birthday to Bailey, as well. It's why we were over there playing, not that we need any excuse.

Pinchable? Absolutely. Kissable too.
As you can see, she just loved wearing her new hat(insert Ravelry link, of course). LOL

Bug Ball

On Friday night we went the the Bug Ball at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens with Grandma Patty. We had a wonderful time!

Dory is always full of surprises... she did this:

(It's a Walking Stick. She asked to hold it.)


And then this:

(That's a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach there folks. She 'petted' it.)

But when we went to the conservatory...


She would not do this:

Go figure. My fearless little girl is afraid of sugar water on your finger.

We also decorated wings for Jack, decorated a pot for a butterfly plant, and had a grate time trying on bug glasses. It was a great evening!

Come outside, the weather is perfect...

I set them out, and they did pretty well with it. I wish we had a fence so I could do this everyday! The weather was amazing, absolutely beautiful... about 74 and sunny. Amazingly, I actually got some housework done.

Combination Knitting Video

I made a knitting video today for someone on Ravelry who wondered about seeing what I do. Considering the type of camera I have (crappy) I think it's rather good! I put it over on the MobleMe gallery, it' the first time I have used it. If you see a problem, let me know! (Title is the link to video.)
It's almost 4 minutes with no sound, it is titled though.

Okay, I added it to YouTube...

Flooded Market.

I'm so sad. I need chocolate and found out that the market flooded and the tent collapsed right after dropping John back at work so we could have the car.... you think I could drive around and collect from each of them individually? I did ask the lady with my greens if I could come by. lol Now, only if Bill and his chocolate were close enough. *sigh* I can't wish the rain to go away, we need it... but I need my chocolate too...

Anyway- Summer made a video of the Saturday market a while back. It's a tiny bit different from the Tuesday one, but you really get the gist of it!

In my absence

I found a new band love. On NPR on the way home 2 nights ago I heard these guys. Bought the album last night.


White Winter Hymnal from Grandchildren on Vimeo.

I had a good amount of time to listen since I was on my way home from Mom's house. Tricia, Mom and I had gotten together for the day to sit around the table, eat and just be us. It was wonderful. We got a little bit of work done, like Tricia trimmed Mom's hair and Tricia got a small back rub... but overall, it was boring hours of around the table bliss. I put my first heel in a sock... badly. I forgot to take a picture, and have already ripped it out for a do over. I am considering it the practice heel. (short row for those of you who are wondering)

Anyway, about twilight Tricia headed out and I had Mom show me her garden. We watched for mosquitoes, and never saw any, but she was right... apparently I was found 5 times. *sigh* I'm still feeling the visit. In looking around though, it struck me how much the land had changed from what I remember as a child. The pasture where we raised a few cows is now an overgrown forest. The barn where we kept chickens is being torn apart by vines and encroaching trees. The front end is already gone. The church pew on the front porch is gone as is the old apple tree. In it's place in the back yard several full grown trees have made an appearance. It struck me that telling John and the kids stories of my childhood are just as much a far away place as his stories. They say you can't go home again. I guess it's really true, in the sense that the land I knew so very well is completely changed in my absence.

My new friend, Amber (who I met via an Etsy purchase from her husband), and I were talking a few weeks ago about her homeschooling her 5 boys and about how she takes them to the park to explore... not for the nature center or playground, but to have a sense of place, a knowledge of a place, to know the land and how it changes with the seasons. I realized that I had that growing up in York, almost by accident. I knew all of the back yard. The grape vines and the scuppernongs, the blackberry bush where the rabbits family lived. It's all gone. You could see the pond, but now the view is completely blocked. Somewhere in there Happy 2 is buried along with Dutchess. Happy 3 is under the pecan tree by the house. The cats always ran off to die a dignified death on their own. Time changes, moves on. You really can't go back. Kids grow up. They wean. First from the breast, and then from your home.

I'll stop boring you now with my looking behind me. It's time to look forward again.

And Now For Something Completely Different

Okay- so this is just funny...

Breast Crawl

And we're off...

Jack finally took off officially this afternoon. My camera was too slow to catch over 1/2 of it, but he started from the far side of the briefcase! He was scootching pretty good.

Is it soap?

Learning to catch

She learns to catch tonight, last night it would just hit her in the head!