Glanalaw - delighting in pure song

The weather finally cooperated with my schedule and we had a lovely sunny, breezy afternoon just perfect for taking photographs of new frocks!  Usually my dad does my "photo shoots" but my little sister volunteered today and we had a lovely time.  We went down by the lake across the street, plowing through the underbrush which has grown over the path - with a bicycle, which was no mean feat! - waded in the water, tried not to step on thistles in our bare feet, and had a lovely time.  I came back a bit scratched and mosquito-bitten, but no serious damage was done.  And many  thanks to Katie for the photos!  Plus the sister-bonding time - that's always good too :-) Anyway, the dress!  I'm calling this the "birthday frock" because I did the majority of the sewing on my birthday this past Wednesday.  I cut it out the day before and finished it up the day after, so it was a pretty quick project for me. The pattern is Butterick 5033, a reprint (I be...

I did finish my new dress on Thursday, but I am unable to give you any photos yet.  Why?  Well, it has rained more or less non-stop since I finished it.  And not just any rain - we've had whiz-bang thunderstorms and deluges of epic proportions, as well as the more moderate drenching rains which are so good for my garden, but so very bad for photo shoots. My garden is loving it, though.  I brought in my first zucchini this week - it weighed in at 2 lbs 14 oz!  And there's another nearly as big waiting to be picked.  I've no idea what to do with zucchini though, apart from bread, so if anyone has favourite recipes I'd be more than grateful! The tomatoes are setting up fast, too.  A few days of sun and I'll be inundated, I suspect.  I just hope they decide to ripen before I go back to college in three weeks! I have a lot of sewing to do this week.  Thursday afternoon I leave for the wedding of two dear friends, taking place in Memphis. ...

Sometimes it's the little, everyday things in life that make an impact... that stick with you and define a period of time.  This summer, I've been photographing them when I can - I'm a "visual learner" and I like picture memories!  Today I thought I'd share some of these with you... the little things of this summer that have made me happy :-) My very dearest friend from college and her boyfriend (also a close friend of mine) came to see me!  I haven't seen either of them since May so this was a lovely day.  They're also the first of my friends from college to actually make it out to my house - living 700 miles from school has its drawbacks.  I loved spending the afternoon with them :-) I made bread last week.  At least I tried.  I did something wrong, or the weather affected the yeast somehow; and then it fell before I could get it in the oven.  So it came out looking more like bricks. But Daddy took my photo shoot as an opportunity to be sil...

After this week, I have a whole new respect for housekeepers.  Not people hired to keep other folks' houses - no, the women who cook, clean, wash, and care for everyone and everything in their own houses. My mother's been gone this week -- at a teaching conference which she attends almost every year and which is her relaxation and vacation for the year.  She went by train, this year, and since the conference is in Dallas this time around it's a two-day trip, each way.  She left Tuesday, early, and won't be back until Sunday evening. This leaves me, as the eldest girl, in charge of the household.  I figured it would be pretty easy.  Cook dinner a couple nights a week - the kids each have a cooking night, so that would be easy.  Breakfast is a piece of cake - scrambled eggs and toast aren't exactly difficult to prepare.  The laundry needs keeping up with, but what's a load or two of laundry every day? I am disillusioned.  It has been only...

One of my favourite passages in Little Women  is the chapter when Meg tries to make currant jelly.           In the kitchen reigned confusion and despair; one edition of jelly was trickled from pot to pot, another lay upon the floor, and a third was burning gaily on the stove.  Lotty, with Teutonic phlegm, was calmly eating bread and currant wine, for the jelly was still in a hopelessly liquid state, while Mrs. Brooke, with her apron over her head, sat sobbing dismally.             "My dearest girl, what is the matter?" cried John, rushing in, with awful visions of scalded hands, sudden news of affliction, and secret consternation at the thought of the guest in the garden.... "What worries you, dear?  Has anything dreadful happened?" asked the anxious John, tenderly kissing the crown of the little cap, which was all askew.           "Yes," sobbed Meg despairingly.  ...

I'm trying so hard not to be smug and proud of myself.  After all neither of those emotions are exactly admirable, and I do try  to be admirable. But I've never completed a shawl in a single week before! The pattern is "Shoulder Shawl in Cherry Leaf Pattern" from Victorian Lace Today .   (Incidentally this is one of my favourite lace knitting books!)   I added two repeats of the pattern to made it both longer and wider - I didn't really want a "shoulder shawl" and even if I had, I'm six feet tall.  A shoulder shawl for most people would be a scarf on me! ;-) I changed the lace edging as well.  The border in the pattern was more solid and - triangular, if that makes sense - so I swapped in this one.  I really love the airy feel the rows of double yarn-overs gives to the shawl! The top edge is bound off with a picot finish, another change from the pattern, which wanted me to bind off, then add a crochet picot edging.  I didn't want to...

There's something about this photo I just love - even though it's out of focus and over-exposed.  It just says "summer" to me - carefree, full of sunshine, not too worried about appearances.  I like summers like that :-) We're in Pennsylvania for the week, visiting my grandfather.  That's always a bit of an adventure because he lives in a smallish apartment in a retirement community - six of us plus him gives a definite feeling of someone always being in the way.  But it's so good to see him!  And - a big plus as far as the siblings are concerned - there's a pool half a mile away.  We go every afternoon that it doesn't storm, usually for several hours.  I usually get sunburnt.  This year was no exception, although so far it's not too bad; I'm hoping to be able to keep it down to "not too bad" for the rest of the week!  The only real problem with having a naturally very fair skin is that, even with sunscreen with an SPF of 50, i...