Plum Stitches

a snowy winter

It was so nice to have actually had snow this winter, both in New York and north of the city.  We spent a lot of time skiing, playing and all around enjoying winter.  We spent a few weekends Vermont skiing at Stowe and The Snow Bowl.  The month of February we rented a house in Roxbury, NY and bounced around the various ski areas dotting the Catskills.  Our favorite place was Plattekill, mainly for the vibe of the crowd and the low key apres ski scene at the bar, but also had fun skiing at Belleayre and Windham. 

Living Wall

Another super cool thing from our trip to Longwood Gardens - a living wall.  I continue to be fascinated by these.

Wildlife Tree

This little tree was at Longwood Gardens right before Christmas.  It might still be there, but I'm sure everything has been eaten off of it!  I love this idea and think it would be a great activity for your own yard or for a school activity.  Longwood has a guide to making your own decorations for a tree.

Take a peak at the chubbiest squirrel ever, although he looks much slimmer in this picture than he did up close and personal.

 

 

summer reading

 

Just finished reading this for my book club.  I really enjoyed it and only wish I was young, single and able to venture out into the wilderness to do something like this!  Although I haven't hiked the PCT, I did do a a long weekend hike in Desolation Wilderness in the Sierra Nevadas in the mid-nineties.  Sadly, I haven't done hiking like that since.  Although the book has inspired me to somehow figure out hiking a bit of the Long Trail in Vermont next summer. 

beach finds

We've had crazy warm weather here on the East Coast.  Two weeks ago we headed to the beach.  The air was warm, the sky clear, the frigid water was the telltale sign it was January and not April at the beach.  Best part was that we found some intact shells, I'm sure due to how desolate the beach was.

beach finds

We've had crazy warm weather here on the East Coast.  Two weeks ago we headed to the beach.  The air was warm, the sky clear, the frigid water was the telltale sign it was January and not April at the beach.  Best part was that we found some intact shells, I'm sure due to how desolate the beach was.

hansel and gretel

Chloe was lucky enough to go on a school trip to The Metropolitan Opera in the city for the dress rehearsal of Hansel and Gretel.  I think our field trips when I was in elementary school consisted of touring the Foster's farm that was powered by the methane from cow manure.  Ha - guess there are certain advantages to growing up in close proximity to New York City!  At least from and Arts/Culture perspective.

p.s. Regarding the Happiness Project:  I really enjoyed the first part of the book, on getting organized and how much better it helped her feel, but the rest of it didn't really resonate with me.  Oh well.  It did motivate me to clean out some junk, which is always a good move.

I have been knitting a bit, but nothing to show for it at the moment.  It's also that time of year that we start getting ready for the annual Buche de Noel for Christmas Eve dinner.  Anyway, just a quick post to let you all know I'm still kicking around!

 

on my nightstand

 

A gift from a friend for my birthday.  I've just started it, but so far I am really enjoying it.  Anyone else read it?

pretty in pink

Pattern:  Sweater on Two Needles/February Sweater, Elizabeth Zimmermann

Needles:  Circular size 7

Yarn:  Knit Picks Shine Worsted in Snapdragon 8064

Size:  I would say 6-12 months, depending on the size of the baby and might even fit an older baby.

Notes:  Here I go making this little sweater again!  I do love this pattern.  Not so crazy about this yarn (Knick Picks, ) but with the lace pattern it knit up really nicely.  I think I'm just not a cotton-knitting-kinda-gal.

What else?  Can't remember if mentioned earlier, but my little freelance job from the summer dried up.  It was a good re-entry, liked the flexibility of it, but there were some drawbacks.  It's all good at the end of the day.  So here I am once again trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up (now that I've crossed the threshold of middle age!)

Our planned Halloween festivities went awry with the crazy storm over the weekend.  But, despite the snow, my little jellyfish had fun.  The wigs were a bonus of sorts to get them into the costumes.  Unfortunately, I had problems tracking down 2 of the kids clear umbrellas.  Chloe ended up with an adult umbrella that was a little difficult for her to handle.

First Day of School

Wow, summer went quickly.  Chloe started 1st grade in a new classroom and Phoebe started the early childhood program in Chloe's old classroom.  They're growing up way too fast!