February 2024 – Page 2

Today I’m joining Kat & the Unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday!

KNITTING:

I’ve been picking up Ali’s blanket panel here & there and I’m sure I’ve made some progress, but it’s not quite light enough in the the morning to take a photo… and I’d actually like to take a photo with all of the panels, so maybe I’ll find a chance sometime over the (long) weekend.

I’ve knit about four more stripes over the past month on the current Maddy/Viv Musselburgh. The knitting progress around here is almost as slow as the reading… life has been busy! I’m going to start some experimenting with the next stripe. Stay tuned!

Speaking of Maddy & Viv, their “dates in the states” are confirmed! Maddy arrives mid-July, Viv will join her a couple of weeks later, and they depart on August 18th. It’ll be so good to have them BOTH here! Ali’s blocked some time for them in her Airbnb & I’ve blocked some time in mine. So excited! It looks like they’re going to miss the folks from Peru this summer, though, as they’ll all be here a month earlier — there’s a little overlap, so a slight chance of a run-in. That’s just the way it goes with the ex-pats sometimes.

And speaking of light…

I’ve been wearing sunnies on the drive home from work this week! a) It’s sunny! b) It’s sunny after 4pm!! Last night, I drove all the way home without the “auto” headlights coming on! That’s always a milestone I enjoy looking for.

Meanwhile, Ginny & Malina made these cute potted flowers from a Mondo Llama craft kit that I picked up at Target. I usually have one or two or three (or ten) of those kits/projects handy. (Not really, I’ve never had TEN — at one time.) The kids love to do them, which is great because I have a hard time resisting them!

READING:

I started reading My Southern Journey: True Stories from the Heart of the South, a collection of essays by Rick Bragg, when we were in Mexico. I’ve enjoyed a couple of Rick Bragg’s memoirs over the years and the essays are mostly short — just the type of reading I need right now — not too taxing, either.

And TGIF! I’m looking forward to a no-pressure, no-plans weekend at home.

The trip to Mexico was great. We cleaned up & re-stretched the big painting — it took a couple of attempts to get it just right!

We relaxed, soaked up some sun, and watched a lot of sunsets.

Just couldn’t ask for a better spot!

I did a little knitting, too.

That’s a Musselburgh. I also brought Ali’s temp panel along — just her panel and 6-8 of the colors that I’d need. I even unpacked it, but never got anything going.

We visited a few beaches.

Kate snapped that one.

Rusty made a little plein air painting while we sat there.

We had some marvelous food (so many fish/shrimp tacos)…

…and were amused by this uninvited but very polite companion! What a lovely garden view for dinner, though, huh? This was Los Adobes in Todos Santos.

We also dined at Ristorante Tre Galline in Todos Santos, with Jill from Galeria Logan, where Rusty was encamped over the weekend, and a couple of other artists. It was very fun and so delicious! Wonderful pasta, fantastic atmosphere, and great service.

Our lodging in Todos Santos was… cute, and a little different. You can see me through the doorway (another snap by Kate) — I’m in the kitchen/dining area, behind that is a sleeping/living area & bathroom. The outside stairway on the left leads to another sleeping area & bathroom. A weird layout that, in my mind, should have been noted in the listing! We loved the lanai, though, and spent most of our time out there. The location was WAY up on a hill, so the view was great… and so was the noise. Possibly a little spoiled from our stay at the Villa, I’m not sure I’d have survived without earplugs! Roosters who don’t know how to tell time & dogs — all night, every night — and on Saturday there was a party just a couple of doors down… they didn’t stop until about 6:30 a.m.

We were thankful for one last, peaceful Sunday night at the Villa before departure on Monday!

Re-entry was tough. We had the last flight to Appleton from O’Hare on Monday and thought it a little weird how quickly they rushed our departure — turns out, they were trying to beat some fog. They didn’t. We circled for about :20 and then flew back to Chicago! Thankfully, they put us up at a hotel — and, thankfully, I’d also taken Tuesday off of work. Fog was bad at O’Hare on Tuesday morning, too, so the flight was further delayed a few times, finally taking off at noon.

Tuesday was Ann’s last day at her house, so I was happy to hang with her for the rest of the day. She even cooked us supper (Mulligatawny soup)! She flew back to Lima yesterday, and Brian & Addie will follow next week.

Now it’s back to “normal” for a while. haha.

It’s never normal around here.

Month: February 2024

Unraveled Wednesday: Stripes, Sun, Flowers

Good to be home!