Not much to show for it

I go away for a week and a half on vaction, and this is all the knitting I have to show for it. I was actually hoping to get quite a bit more done during our time away, but I made the mistake of picking up a book I was wanting to read. I couldn't put it down until I finished.
But who could knit with this to look at?


This was the view during our rain forest hike. We walked around for 3 hours- beautiful, lush scenery, wildlife abound - including the mositoes. Everyone in our group had their own personal cloud of the little pests (yuck).






While we were in Costa Rica, my DD1 had her 8th Bday. This was actually taken on her special day, which we spent in Puerto Viejo, shopping and hanging at the sports bar(the guys needed their football fix).






Here's one of the highlites of the trip - the Zip Line Experince. Here you see them getting the gear on- harnesses and safety lines.



















That platform sure looks way up there! I don't have a problem with heights, but the ladders was steeper then they look. We'd climb up to the platform top, they'd hook us up to the cables and away we'd go.







It was great fun to go flying through the air on these cables. I would like to try this again on a more advanced cable run (I heard such tales of more challanging set ups). I was able to pretty much control my positioning without getting turned around, or getting my fingers smashed, or knocking the guides off the platforms...I think that's pretty darn good.

From San Jose to San Jose

What a great vacation we had in Costa Rica!!! We flew out of San Jose CA, to San Jose CR. This picture above is the view from our window/deck at the first location we stayed at in Corcovado. This is on the upper Northwestern region, Pacific coast. This was an amazing view. It isn't quite beach front(although you can see the ocean in the background), but all the "wild life" visable from this vantage point is amazing. There were a few times we watched the monkeys travel through the trees you see out there (jumping from the tree tops to the next tree tops). Also there were many a times the Tucans were right outside on the trees (once not more then 10 ft away).

The weather was great. We feared it would be wetter( and it was some what wetter on the Carribean side), but aside from a brief afternoon shower the first day, it pretty much only rained at night when you weren't likely to be up anyway. It was hot and humid all the time (even at night), but by the end of the week, you don't notice it as much. The downside of the weather was the lack of ability to dry anything. We'd go swimming one day, any everything would remain damp for ages. We even had the laundry done while we were there, and the clothes were pretty much dry, but still a lingering sense of dampness (sweat like).

All-in-all, we'd like to go back again sometime, maybe to the volcanic region (I was really hoping we would make it there this time, but not a chance. Our tour co-ordinator had us all pretty busy throughout the trip). The people were very helpful and friendly, and patient with us silly tourists.

The food was great. We ate from the high end restaurants and roadside cafes, and always the food was good! The funniest part was that we ended up eating italian a couple of times ( I love italian, but the kids aren't nearly as excited by it as I am, so we don't eat it as often as I want. Who would have thought we'd have to go to Costa Rica for me to gedt good Italian food!). My younger DD loves beans and rice, so she was a happy camper. In general we were all very happy and well fed during our trip.


One thing I liked about the trip was how at the first place we stayed, they had no electricity, so the girls were waking and sleeping with the sun. Towards the end of the week, it was not uncommon for the girls to fall asleep while we were out to dinner. Here you can kind of see not only one but both DDs fell asleep at the restaurant. It wasn't terribly late in the evening, but the day was full of fun in the sun.

I have more pictures from the trip, will try to post a few of the more exciting times to share.

Picking Up The Pieces

Remember this?

I finally picked this back up to finish it. I was trying to see what the daffodil looked like here. I like the pattern and am anxious to see this done. I really like daffodils, ever since I went to Connecticut in the early spring several years ago. The daffodils and the crocus were just popping up through the snow.

My problem now is I'm not sure I have enough string to finish this project. i never think to check the requirement when it comes to doilies, I just plow ahead(besides, I usually don't knit to gauge anyway). I used this color because I liked it, but also because I thought I had plenty with 2 complete ball of the stuff. I will have to dig deep in my stash to see if I can find anymore. I'm not at a stand still, but I can see the cardboard tube the ball is wound on. I'm just getting nervous.

This is not the first time I've had this happen. A few years ago I started a doily in a royal blue color. It was looking real nice when suddenly I found I was out of string. I looked all over, but couldn't find anything to use for the outer rim. I just put it aside for the time being. I think it's still just sitting on the needle, waiting to be completed.

Happy Halloween

Happy Belated Halloween. This is DD2 in the middle in the flying Unicorn costume. She loved this costume we found at a fund raiser - $5.00. It was pink and a horsey. I wasn't going to go wrong with this one!

DD1 wanted something more Renaissance like - her school didn't do Halloween, but rather Cultureal Day. They were encouraging kids to wear costumes that reflected their heritage. We were trying something Historical (I'm sure there's a little english in us. Her coloriung is more of the Germasn heritage showing through).

On a day like to day...

how can anyone want to be inside...sitting behind a desk...waiting for the phone to ring?

This it the view outside the window that is behind me. It's a beautiful day today(now that the morning fog/haze has burned off). In the lull after Halloween, and the gearing up for our trip over Thanksgiving week, my mind has left on it's own mini vacation. I find it so hard to concentrate on anything right now.

Hopefully this too will pass and i can get back to work on things.