Went somewhere different the other day. In the park district is a park called Glenwood Gardens and they were having a small quilt display.

I really enjoy seeing quilts (now, I can't learn to quilt because if I start one more hobby something else will have to leave my head..teehee) and it was such a nice day that it was the perfect thing to do.

The park is a lovely place and the buildings look like something you would find in the Cotswolds.

Here is walking up to the initial building.
Getting closer now.The covered walkway was lovely.

The quilts were in a small room and not very many but lovely all the same.

Unfortunately I couldn't get close enough to show the photo that this quilt is based on. They are for a theme of nature.

And of course I really liked all the teacup blocks.

The lady bugs were in the style of Charlie Harper and had been made from a kit in a class that they had.

The rest of the trip was just as pleasant. The park there has a section called Highland Discovery Garden that is set up for children. I have read about it before and it has always gotten really good write-ups as a great place to go and explore. We were wandering around the gift shop when one of the park volunteers came up and asked us if we would enjoy seeing the children's garden and gave us free passes to go in. (It normally costs $5.00 for adults and $4.00 for the little rugrats.) Totally worth the money. We had the best time poking around and discovering all the little hidden items and places and beautiful plants. I have many more photos to share next time.

Right now I am knitting a scarf for a friend of sis's so I am off to try and get more done on it. Stay cool and see you soon.

I do enjoy spinning. This is my latest attempt. Plying this time. It certainly does make a difference in how the yarn looks when plyed together. Much smoother. I'm pretty pleased with it if I do say so myself. Since one of the local yarn shops is closing here--Yarns and Fabrications--I went up the other day to look and see if there was anything that I couldn't live without. As you can see this lovely skein of Wisdom sock yarn followed me home. I have been looking at this for several trips now and decided that I'd better buy it since it was probably the last chance. It's a lovely metallic yarn and the hardest thing was deciding which color to pick. I'm happy with it though. Have to find just the right pattern for it.
I think for next year I shall do what I've seen others do this year. I am going to make my own sock of the month club. I seem to be almost paralyzed with indecision about which pattern for which sock...as if the "sock police" would come and with a loud speaker demand that I "put down the yarn and needles and step away from that pattern" and take me away because I used the absolutely wrong pattern for that yarn. See what I mean? So much to choose from. So I think putting each yarn in a ziplock with a pattern and throwing them in a box to choose makes infinitely more sense.
It cooled down just a bit these past few days so cooking recommenced here. Which was good because I was almost reduced to having a bowl of cereal for dinner. Not that I mind a good cereal for dinner but after awhile I begin to crave "real" food. This are "fish" tacos that are made by pressing tofu and then breading them.
The trick is using kelp granules which gives them the "fishy" taste. I got the recipe from "Vegan Comfort Food" by Alicia Simpson and they are WONDERFUL! I haven't made one thing yet from this book that I haven't loved.

Went to Jungle Jim's the other day and picked up some 10 oz. ramekins so I can make myself some individual baked desserts. It will be nice not to have a huge pan of dessert but something small and managable.
Just got back from running to Hobby Lobby to look for a specific yarn. Has anyone been there lately? I was pleasantly surprised at the nice selection that they have now and picked up 2 skeins of Patons Lace. Just lovely. Who knew they made a lace-weight? Not me. Now I will have to go to Ravelry and find a good pattern. And then I can cast on....hahahaha. Not until I finish the projects that I am knitting right now. And yes! I am still working on the Celtic poncho. I figure that I will REALLY appreciate it since it took so long to finish.
Sorry had to pick myself up off the floor since I fell off the chair laughing. But I will finish it!

One sock finished!

I rather like them.
Of course it was much too hot to do much more than quickly try it on to make sure it fit!
More soon.

At least with wool it can be a small project. 'Cause in the mid-90*s it's much too hot to work on anything larger than a sock. These are destined to become the Fall Blooms socks by Mags Kandis (Vogue Knitting Fall 2008). I'm using Deb Stoller's Stitch Nation Full 'o Sheep yarn and it's moving along.

Today it was 96* with the heat index of 100-105* so I spent the majority of the day indoors with knitting and dvds. And a splitting headache which I'm sure is a result of the heat and the smog alert that has been going on as well. Just yuck. We go out and run errands early in the morning and then hunker down and try and keep cool. Lots of salads and not too much cooking happening right now. This is dinner from the other night. Sauteed swiss chard with miso and sesame, the best mushrooms ever (from "Vegan Lunchbox from Around the World"), half a bagel and Gardein "chicken" breasts" made like a chicken piccata in a lovely breading and fried up crispy. So good.

Got a bunch of portobella mushrooms at Jungle Jim's last week on the discount rack and made stuffed mushrooms with tomatoes and some purslane from the farmers' market. Topped with some panko and Daiya cheese. It's nice to have a few things already cooked to just heat up and eat.

Although it's about too hot to want to eat much of anything. Except popsicles!

Stay cool and see you soon.

Tofu stuffed fried squash blossoms anyone?Went to the farmers' market today and cleaned up! These are what are left of the heirloom tomatoes. They were sooooo good. Some of them weren't any bigger than the tip of my little finger. They were as sweet as candy.

I picked up lots of peppers and some pretty pimento peppers. A huge eggplant for $2.00, which was quite a deal. A few green tomatoes, because who doesn't like fried green tomatoes?

And this is the squash blossoms before the stuffing and frying. They were very interesting. Quite good though. I've always wanted to try them and was surprised to find them at the market.

The day started out not too hot but by about 10:00 am it was really warming up out there. Plus the market is on blacktop. Whew. I was glad to get in the car to go to Whole Foods. Got some lovely arborio rice in the bulk food section that is destined to become a risotto of some sort. Why yes, I did get a couple of new cookbooks.

Okay, back to knitting and I'll post a couple of pictures of that soon.

Stay cool and see you soon.