And In To The Dog Days

Of summer, that is. Meet Peanut. She's my brother's Italian Greyhound. 7 pounds of boundless energy.

I returned last week from a fantastic time with my family in the North Woods of Wisconsin. And do I ever wish I were back there!!!


The Son and I drove to Ludington, Michigan, and travelled across Lake Michigan on SS Badger.
It was a much-needed 4 hour break from an all-day drive from the Washington DC area. The ship is pretty neat-- it's a car ferry, that was originally designed to transport trucking cargo and train cars. There are "staterooms" available, but also lots of areas with comfy seats where one can catch a snooze. I ran into a knitter in the "Quiet Room."

We landed in Manitowoc, Wisconsin and proceeded to what was probably the last available motel room in Eastern Wisconsin. The Oshkosh Fly-In was that week. When I was making reservations, my requirements were modest: a 2-bed non-smoking room. There was one in Green Bay-- about a 40-mile trek from Manitowoc.

The NorthWoods are amazing. I spent a lot of time up there as a kid during the summer, at camp and camping with friends and family. There are trees, trees, and more trees; lakes at every turn in the road; people who are down-to-earth, and just plain glad to see you. I think I could be happy there-- but I'd have to try a "winter-over" first, just to be sure.

It was just the best, being with The Parents, The Sibs and Their Spouses, and The Collective Offspring. All totalled, we are 45. And this year all but 3 were able to be there for at least part of the time. The Offspring are really getting along well, growing in age and grace, and able to entertain themselves. The Sibs all enjoy being together with The Parents at any opportunity. We are truly blessed, and we don't take it for granted, ever.

I picked up The Daughter at the Rhinelander airport, and got to meet the Hodag


We made the most of our time in Wisconsin with a visit to the Leinenkugel's Brewery

A get-together for 45 of my favorite relatives at the ORIGINAL Famous Dave's


(That's not the family-- just a pic of the inside... And my new friend.

I even did a "drive-by" of Camp We-Ha-Kee (seriously-- I'm not kidding) where I spent time as a camper, and later as a counselor

And after a last pontoon ride on the lake to see the eagle's nest in the tree around the bend, I headed back to Rhinelander Airport, to fly back so I could return to work.


Knitting News?

Not so much. I need to remember "MINDLESS KNITTING-- IT'S A GOOD THING."

I had the bad judgement to take along a couple of projects that were just a bit too fussy to work on while talking to family. AND, I discovered that on MS3, I'd been making some continuing errors. I printed out the pattern in black and white, instead of color, and I ended up putting beads in every row, since the overlap squares on the 2 pages of the pattern chart end up looking the same as the lavender shaded squares that indicate bead placement. Because of yarn-overs and various decreases, they aren't all centered, and it looks pretty awful. I'll be able to solve the problem by using a pliers to break the offending beads, but it was all too overwhelming to deal with.

The Leaf Trellis socks also require attention that was better spent with my loved ones. Attention well spent, but no knitting accomplished.

That'll teach me.