Happy Blue Moon!

You can read more about what a blue moon is here:
http://www.obliquity.com/astro/bluemoon.html
and here:
http://www.paganspath.com/magik/moon.htm#bluemoon

Vegan Beach Weekend

Tips for the Outer Banks Vegan Experience:

-DO buy some good vegan SPF 30 sunblock. I used the spray-on Kiss My Face version and look ma, no burn!!! Remember to rub it on good after you spray it. I used Alba SPF on my face and also have no zits, imagine that!

-DO eat at good places. The Brewing Station in Kill Devil Hills has brought back the tofu (they took it away last summer). It was curry-coconut with veggies and DEE-licious. Remember to request they make it vegan for you, and ask nicely, and they will be glad to help you out. And should you see Lynn or Paula there, tip them well, they are good people!

Another good place is Mama Kwan's in Nags Head. Mama makes a meal for a vegan like no other. Two great choices besides the boring salad you usually have to settle for at other places. One is the Cali-wrap. Ask for no cheese or dijon--it comes with some yummy spicy guacamole. The second and by far the best is the Garbage Plate. Comes with cucumber salad, pineapple, jasmine rice with sesame seeds (toasted) and some mescaline greens. Yum-taculer, super-fresh and filling but not heavy for all you surfer chix and dudes out there. I also scored on the bargain t-shirt sale, just dig through the bin til you find your size, don't be afraid.

-DO look in the shell you pick up on the beach to see if there is a sea creature still in it before you take it on home. Nothing hurts a vegan like the smell of a dying sea creature in their car. Catch and release, baby!

Now the DON'Ts:

-DON'T assume you will find vegan fare at KFC and don't cry when you get back in the car after your guy eats the popcorn chicken. Just don't.

-DON'T think you will sit back and knit on your vegan, animal friendly new project and your boyfriend will drive the whole way. He will punk out and you should not be pissed. Even though he only has to drive 9 hours and you drove 15 last weekend. Even though he brought no constructive, crafty activity and just wants to drool on your seat.

-DON'T assume the Seaside Vegetarian in Kitty Hawk will be there to save your ass. It was freakin' CLOSED this weekend, the kick-off to the tourist season! I hear they closed not to cater a wedding themselves but to let a local caterer use their kitchen to cater a wedding. That's just wrong people! So don't count on them being there for you in your time of need, especially when all you want is their yummy noodle bowl. Ok, so I will probably try them one more time when I get back there again....but it will be their last chance, seriously!

-DON'T assume because you are vegan you qualify as the Moat Engineer on the Castle Construction Project. Because you do not and your moat will fail and you will be told by others who did not help in the Castle Construction Project hours later all the right ways it could have been done.

I did get to see my favorite band Carbon Leaf play at Soundfest. It was a beautiful day and nothing else could get me off the beach before sundown but them. Here are some pics of me and the band:

Me & Barry (lead singer/tambourine/penny whistle)
Me & Terry (guitar/sometimes lead vocal on Led Zep covers)
Me & Carter (mandolin and guitar)
Me & Scott (the elusive drummer from PA) Jordan the bass player (stand-up bass, hello) just had a baby and was not there. I didn't get a pic with the newer member who plays the accordian and the keys. Maybe some other time. They played a good mix of the older tunes and the new, of course I'm partial to the old, stand-up bass and mandolin music.
I also got a new Carbon Leaf t-shirt. Which means I am ready to go on tour with them and play the triangle, just have your people call my people.
Here is a spiderweb on my porch:

Here is my climbing rose bush with blooms--there are a gazillion blooms on this thing:
It may just crawl onto the sidewalk and eat trespassers-so look out, it's Suddenly Seymour!

If I were a carpenter...

Here are some shots of the new hand-crafted bench. If you look closely, you'll see a bird has already christened it:



Here are some shots of our garden; the peas and beans are up now and the tomatoes are staked. The stakes were also made by my guy from leftover untreated shop wood (he's a carpenter).

Here are some shots of some strawberries that must have been planted some time ago.

What a nice suprise! I also think we may have a raspberry or blackberry bush near the garage. There is also a climbing rose in the front, also surely planted long ago, that is growing like crazy and has a ton of blossoms on it. I hope to see it blooming when we get back into town.
Have a nice long wonderful weekend everyone!

Homecoming

I came home to...a dirty house! YAY!

I also came home to a new bench for the yard, handcrafted to my wishes and specifications by the most wonderful not to mention talented man on earth, my guy. If only he cleaned too...

My Salem/Boston trip turned out to be mostly a Salem trip with one short stop in Boston. Had a good time but wish we could have seen more of Boston. I guess I will need to return to do that, but I think I will definately be flying next time! It took us 15 hours to get to Brockton, MA and 12 hours to get home. That just hurts. A lot. So what do I have in my future, you ask? Why, more driving! Heading south to the beach to see my sisters this weekend. But this time my guy will be the D.D. freeing me up for, what else, KNITTING. Since I have finished the Wee One Cardigan, what do I have to knit next? Here is a hint:

We're talkin' a linen/acrylic blend, 10 skeins' worth. Which can only indicate a project of epic proportion. Details will be released in small increments so as not to overwhelm and cause general panic and hysteria among you, the readers. Or shall I say, reader? Let's face it, I know of perhaps four people who read this nonsense and two reside in the same household so they really should count as one. You know who you are.


Also of note, the fabulous fibre is perched on our new dining room table with new chairs!!!!
It was delivered today and now my guy and I can eat as far away as possible from one another. And without a television (until he figures out how to fit that in the room too). Love, aint it grand?

Picture Pages

Here is a photo montage account

of a very recent walk-about

Hiking with friends at McConnel's Mill Park

Pictures of my garden taken while dark

Flowers and trees, blooming and leafing...

And look! Wee-One is blocking and preparing for leaving!

As the Needles Click...

Last week we left our knitter-heroine as she was leaving for work, wringing her hands in pain after a mere 4 hours of shut eye in her desperate, feeble attempt to complete the Wee One Cardigan on time. We join her now for a recap:

No, friends, it was not finished in time to give on Friday. Ever the procrastinator at heart, I reasoned that the Wee Laddy's birthday was not for another two weeks and I could finish it without a super-rush job and mail it in time for his birthday. So I continued my finishing and seaming and it is now finished except for buttons. I need to go buy some cute buttons. Which makes me laugh to think of me doing a super sloppy finish job to complete in time and then realizing...I don't have any buttons! I most likely would have been admitted to the hospital after I exhibited some behavior of the psychotic sort. "What brings you here to the unit with your girlfriend?" "Oh she went ballistic after trying to finish a sweater--something about buttons, then she started with the scissors, it was just awful!" "Did you just say, sweater?" "Yeah, sweater. She's weird, she takes her crafts real serious ya know. Got any meds for that?"

I will buy buttons, wash and block and then showcase some shots before mailing out the sweater to share with all of you loyal readers.

What else has this girl been up to? Not too much. Last week we went to a Pirate game and got rained on and the game was cancelled. I was in the 2nd row back from the field though and we made it to the jumbotron during the 7th inning stretch. I could die a happy gal now. We celebrated Kay's Mother's Day Opener Extraveganza as she is leaving tomorrow to go visit my sisters who live out of state and insisted, no, almost demanded, a celebration with me first. It was fun and she liked her gift--certificate for a manicure/pedicure. When I went to buy it, the girl, who had a hard time with English to begin with, kept trying to sit my butt in the chair, that's how bad my fingers and toes have been looking. What could hurt a girl's cuticles so, you ask? All the knitting?

The GARDENING and lots of it. We got our garden in this weekend! Our first real in-the- ground, not-in-containers, honest-to- goodness garden. I think about our plants out there at night and what they are feeling. I hope they are happy. Cause eventually, I will sneak up on them and kill them and eat them. They could at least be happy for a bit...

I will try and get some pics of things up here soon. Off to watch bad MTV melodrama. Speaking of, Rob and Big are coming back baby!!! Can't wait!

YIKES!!!!

I haven't posted in a long time--I'd like to say it's because I have had no news but life is flying by me at a rapid pace right now. I will quickly tell you this--the Wee One Cardigan is in it's final stages. I stayed up until 2:30AM last night hoping to complete but alas, my hands started to cramp and I was afraid in my exhausted state I would start to make some mistakes. I hope to arrive home from work and finish the finishing (have one final collar band, then need to seam up) in time for gifting this evening as the young lad receiving said cardigan will be having a birthday next week. I will take some pics before I gift it and post them here. Well, it's back to work now...on four hours of sleep...should be interesting....