I'm Hopelessly in Love

This handsome creature is my new friend, Cooper, the Bernese Mountain Dog. They are bred to be handsome, sturdy, affectionate, good-natured, and gentle. And Large. Quite large.

He was one of the pack that Jane was tending at her house/dog sitting gig at her friend's house. He's also the youngest and most recent of her friend's dogs. He would wrestle with little Daisy, who's about the size of his head, and he was so gentle and sweet with her. When they were done "fighting" they'd lie side by side and his put his leg over her side and they'd take a nap.

We had great weather all weekend-----though somewhat warm, and I got to visit with my nephews and see their kids, and dogs, and hamsters, etc. So I had a grand visit, but headed back home this morning because I was missing Good Guy and the Fuzzies.

I missed you too, since I didn't have much chance to connect up and read what you've been up to. Are any of you having Blogger troubles? I got the question about why comments wouldn't post. I've never blocked anyone that I know of, and wondered if anyone is having the same issue.

That's all for now because the yarn arrived for Carole's Knit along, and it is seriously gorgeous! Thank you, Kim of the Woolen Rabbit. (I paid for it and am not receiving any remuneration. It is just plain beautiful and I can't wait to work with it.)

What did you think about the tributes on 9/11? I was very moved by almost all the remembrances I saw.

More tomorrow.

Friday Fragments

Fascinating (facetious) Friday Fragments. I was really going to call this collection by this title and then thought of all the typing to link it..... Nahhhhhh! No way.

But, if you would like to write down all stray snippets of this and that, and link up to Half Past Kissin' Time with them, you could do it too, by just clicking HERE.

This was a busy week for me beginning with a visit from my son and his family. Samuel is now taller than I. That's always a big milestone for kids to get "taller than dad" or taller than grandpa.

School started this week, so our morning walk is now 45 minutes later. We had one cool morning but the rest of the time we were almost too warm in sweatshirts. By the time we got back home, anyway. (Yes, I know that's a sentence fragment. I don't care.)

My nursing classmates reunion was great fun and good eats. We heard the exciting tale of Maria frightening a large bear away from her bird feeder using her voice and a fly swatter. Her husband told us this with a wry smile on his face. We aren't sure if she's brave or crazy. Sometimes they coexist, I suppose.

I finished a mitten and a prayer shawl, and am trying to decide what to bring along for the weekend with my sister. She's house and dog sitting and craves company so it's a good chance for us to hang out and talk. Her dog, Daisy got a short clip at the groomers and her skin spots are showing through. Jane said she looks like a dalmation (in the shape of a teddy bear.) Sound like a photo op to me.

And the NFL real season has begun. Woot! Talk about an offensive treat to watch those two teams last night!

Good Guy has golfed three days this week. It's hard for him to fit in the testing his doctor thinks he should have. I consider that a good sign. Let him get some exercise, doc.

Please go wander around and read other fragments. There are a great many interesting and funny folks there.

A Great Yarn

Once upon a time in a happy valley not far from here, there lived a sedentary grandmother who yearned to do kind deeds for others.

In her little home, she had every nook and cranny, every drawer and shelf crammed with yarn, and at every opportunity she purchased still more. "You never know..." she would intone, shaking her head wisely, as her husband would roll his eyes.

When she decided to join her friends at the prayer shawl ministry meeting, what should they present her with but a monstrous bag of yarn ? And she decided that "this time" she wanted to make something lacy and not just a long rectangular fringed thing.

(Behold the result. There is a crocheted loopy edge on the lower triangle edges which doesn't show until I wash and block it. I was just anxious to show you.)

Wordless Wednesday

Our Neighborhood

First off, I need to explain that we had frost warnings last night. This is quite a dramatic change from the 50 degree weather we have had most nights. And I was quite startled to hear the furnace running when I got up.

We have changed our time for walking from 7 AM to 7:45 AM, hoping to avoid the school buses. This morning by that time, the pea soup fog had turned into this romantic hazy stuff that you can see above. We could walk in our sweat shirts, with the hoods down because there wasn't any wind to speak of. I wore my fingerless mittens that I made last spring and the temperature was just right for them.

The big maple tree in the picture in the left hand corner is in the yard directly across from our living room. There are only a few yellow leaves on it now, but I will keep you up to date on its progress through the season. It is a lovely big tree, and I watched it from my hospital bed the first year we were here and I was healing from my fall.

There isn't much color to photograph in the neighborhood yet, but I promise to do it. Our hazy damp morning turned into a glorious sunny day in the 60's, perfect for golf and for the first day of school here. School, the surest sign of the changing seasons.

I finished a lacy prayer shawl today too. I'll tell you about that tomorrow. Tonight I need to start another project to take along to the reunion tomorrow. (Busy hands are happy hands. I need something to do, so I don't talk too much.)

I will get to do the driving tomorrow. We don't have a long journey, but we do need to carpool. One classmate and her husband are here from Sacramento, CA, and another is meeting us from about 15 miles west. After we meet we need to drive north for about an hour, but there's no traffic to speak of, so it's an easy drive.

And, of course, it goes without saying (like everyone else who drives a car), I'm an excellent driver. Isn't that funny? That everyone thinks they are an excellent driver? I'm actually just an ordinary driver, and I hate to drive in heavy traffic. So I'm a timid driver too, I suppose.

See you soon.

My Camera and I

I need to record the changing seasons with some records of what's what in our neighborhood. We have already had our morning walk today, and leaves are falling (a bit) but they aren't colorful or beautiful. They are brown and dried up because of our dry, hot summer weather.

My friends have changed their headers and it's months since I took the peaceful lake pictures that have been up all summer. In spite of carrying my camera all over Chicagoland, and while my son and his family were here yesterday, I have nothing to show you. Nothing. Nada.

We may have drawn some stares last night at the pizza joint when we were prepared for a long wait with a game of Uno, and a ditty bag of other games too. No impatient sighing for us! They warned us at the outset that our pizza would take 40 minutes, which was good of them. But that was no problem for us. Especially when I actually won a game!

I solemnly promise you, I will make the effort and get out to record some of the UP. Let me write that down. (I also need to clean out my car, since I have to drive to a nurses' reunion on Wednesday morning.)

For once, I have a busy week. Happy Labor Day. Take a rest today.

Friday and Home Again

I have only one subject today, and so I won't link up to my favorite party, Friday Fragments.

For we have just returned from Chicago's northern suburbs where we attended a wonderful concert at Ravinia , featuring Mandy Patinkin and Nathan Gunn.

Ravinia, for those of you who aren't in the know, is a beautiful acreage in Highland Park, which has an open air venue surrounded by picnic grounds, and people can watch concerts from the roofed area, or can picnic with their friends on the grounds and still hear the music.

You may know Mandy Patinkin from his long and distinguished career as a baritone on Broadway, or as one of the grim profilers on Criminal Minds on television. In person he is energetic, funny, and talks and sings Yiddish. His son was in the show, too.

I didn't know Nathan Gunn at all, but keep an ear out for him. He's got a voice well suited for opera, but lucky for him, his wife is his pianist. Because he is drop dead handsome and could have been mobbed by females----in a less sophisticated environment. He is really something special. Google him and see for yourself.

The Chicago weather was unseasonably HOT, but not too bad for the audience by evening. But the performers were really hot under the lights. Mandy put a bandana headband on to catch the sweat, but Nathan just kept on sweating in his suit. (I guess opera singers are used to sweating in those big fancy costumes.)

In addition to the concert, the other noteworthy event was the purchase of a new laptop. I have done everything I do online on this little Netbook for more than a year. The sound on my Skype doesn't work, and I want to be able to talk to my grands and have the sound work.

We did get lost a few times, but that is Good Guy's worry. We are safely home in good time and the Fuzzies are happy to see us. And we are happy to be home. 'Nuff said.

I will post this and add the totals for the charity of July and August to the top header. Thanks for commenting. We did great!

Happy Labor Day weekend!!!