Progress Report

I've been very productive the last day or so. I'm posting some progress pictures to give you an idea of what I've accomplished.

The yarn arrived on Saturday for the skirty for Linny and I got right to work. It now has a ruffle based on the feather and fan pattern. It required a repeat of 17 stitches so I increased four stitches around the base of the skirt and then launched into two repeats of the pattern. I like the effect. I've finished the I-cord tie string and I'm ready to bind off one leg opening. One more leg opening to make ribbing for and this is a done deal.

Mr. Greenjeans now has a completed button band with one button hole at the top of the cable section of the body. I've tried it on and it's a bit tight but I think with aggressive blocking it will stretch a bit. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't switch to the smaller needle to do the cables. I would have done the entire sweater on size 8 needles. I'm about to start the cable section of the right sleeve. And, I have to complete the left sleeve but I feel on track to complete these two items by the time my craft group meets on Thursday.

The First Hundred Days

On the Knitters for Obama thread on ravelry there is a 100 day KAL (knit a long). I've decided to join and use the time to work on and hopefully complete my UFO's. No, not unidentified flying objects, unfinished objects or knitting projects. I have many items I've started and then for one reason or another, got bogged down with. I've brought five of the most promising to Florida with me.

Here they are:

This one, a potholder, is my first attempt at domino knitting ala Vivian Hoxbro. I finished it today. I'm not totally happy with it. The border would have been much more striking if it had been a dark solid contrasting yarn, but this was a sample project to try the technique and I used Sugar 'n Cream from my stash. There wasn't enough of any of the solids left to do the trim.
This red cotton gansey, Cable Weave Pullover, for my husband which I had hoped to finish while it was still warm in NJ has languished for months. I have the front and the back finished. I just need to join them and knit the sleeves. Perhaps he'll be able to wear it when the weather warms up in Florida.

Skirty #3 for my grandaughter awaits a skein of Cascade 220 in the lemonade colorway. I ordered it last week after running all around northern Florida trying to buy some in a local yarn store. Unfortunately it was no where to be found locally and the internet supplier I ordered from neglected to tell me that it was backordered. I'm told it will be shipped today and arrive in Crystal River on Monday. This will be a quick finishing job once I have the yarn.

This Eyelet Cardi was originally in the works for my niece who I was to meet for the first time at Thanksgiving. It's knit from Reynolds Blossom and is a Norah Gaughan design. I ran into an error on the chart which slowed me down. Thanksgiving came and went. I gave her a sweater that I had knit last spring while sitting with my mother in the hospital. I'm not happy with the way the sleeve is attached and I plan to redo that. The other sleeve is finished and just needs to be seamed. This one shouldn't take too long.

Mr. Greenjeans has been around since mid-October. It would have been nice to wear this sweater right now in Florida since it's been so cold. Today I picked up the rest of the stitches around the neck and down the fronts and I'm working away on the button band. The right sleeve just needs the cable work near the wrist. The left sleeve needs a bit more than that. It's doable though.

President Obama has a lot of unfinished business from the Bush administration, not the least of which is the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Guantanamo, the economy, health care, etc. Yesterday he jumped in with both feet. I'm really rooting for him and I think the country is behind him. Right now he's my role model for getting things done.

Let's see what good things can happen in the next 100 days.

Where were you when Barak Obama became POTUS?

I've taken my title from my daughter-in-law's blog. There have been other moments in the history of our country for which people remember exactly where they were and what they were doing. Most of them were tragedies; assassinations, terrorist attacks, natural disasters. Today will be as memorable I think, not as a tragedy, but something wonderful, filled with promise. We have a new president, a man of color who has promised us change. And, we need change. It's been eight difficult years.

Where were you when Barak Obama took the oath of office?

I was sitting on the couch in my "snowbird" home in Crystal River, Florida. Our landlord has installed a large flat screen hi-def television for us and I'm finding it easy to watch. I'm not much of a TV fan. At home in NJ we have a 19" relic on which I occasionally watch an hour or so of Wolff Blitzer on weekday evenings. Other than that, it's rarely used.

Today I sat watching for hours, weeping a little, feeling very proud and filled with hope. I'm worried too. There is a lot to be done, politically, economically, socially, at home and around the world. Our country's reputation has been tarnished and we need to restore faith and pride.

I'd love to hear your stories. Where were you when Obama was inaugurated and what do you think the future holds

FACEinHOLE

I just discovered this site. A facebook friend transformed herself into a nun which cracked me up. I just had to try it myself. There are so many possibilities and it's so easy to use. What a lot of fun!!
Create your own FACEinHOLE

Snowbirds

Front view of condo unit

I had always chuckled about "elderly" northerners who spent all or part of the winter in Florida. I never saw myself as that kind of person. As the years went on, though, I began to lose interest in winter sports. The fact that Dick broke his ankle in the Canadian backcountry a number of years ago and it took 24 hours to be evacuated by snow mobile didn't help. We are very active, outdoor oriented people and our short winter forays south (short because I had to work for a living) were filled with walks and biking.

Once I retired in May I began to dream about spending a few months in a warm climate so we could do all the outdoor activities that we enjoy in the three seasons up north. In previous years we had always spent a few days with Dick's cousins in Crystal River. They live in a condo community on the water called The Islands. We liked the setting and had gotten to know some of the residents.

I did some research on line and tracked down a rental for the first three months of 2009. The front view is above. Here is a view of the back:

It's a townhouse with two bedrooms, two and a half baths, a large kitchen and very large combined living/dining area. It has its own washer and dryer and two screened porches. The community has a heated pool and tennis courts.

We're here a week now and the weather has been outstanding, the neighbors friendly and we've already done a lot of biking and walking. There are some challenges to being away from home. We miss our friends at FUSP and I miss my knitting compadres. We're used to pretty serious cooking and the kitchen isn't quite as fully equipped as we would like it to be. We're working to fill those gaps though.

Yesterday we went to the Nature Coast Unitarian Universalists Sunday service. The warmth and welcome were amazing. We were invited to participate in a number of upcoming social events. The people we chatted with seemed to be right on our wave length.

We've also been to some activities in the community; a brunch and a New Years Eve party. I attended a session of water exercise in the heated pool. I intend to do more of that.

All in all, it's an experiment. If we like it, we'll do it again next year. If we don't; well, it's only a rental and we have no obligation after March 31.

If you are in the area or you're looking to spend a few days in the sunny south, come on down and join us.

Bolt

This is a wonderful movie. We went today with the three oldest grands. It's funny, it's touching and John Travolta is fabulous as Bolt.

Loire Valley

It's been over two weeks since DH and I returned from France. I think every day about blogging the trip and I end up feeling overwhelmed by how challenging I find it to insert photos and make the pages look professional. Today I'm going to give it a try.

Day 1 Tours:

We arrived at Charles DeGaulle Airport early in the morning on Tuesday, September 16. We stopped to get some Euros and headed directly to the train station. The TGV to Tours was due in about an hour so we bought tickets and found a place to sit. We were both exhausted. As opposed to United Airlines which gives passengers nothing to eat on their red-eye flights, Continental fed us dinner and breakfast. While this is a nice touch, it cuts into sleeping time. The train was on time, our reserved seats were easy to find and it was a beautiful, sunny day. Early afternoon we arrived in Tours.

Here's a photo of the train station.

Fortunately our hotel is only a few blocks from the station and our room was ready. We had stayed at the Hotel Moderne last year at the end of our trip. We knew it was economical and comfortable, so we made a reservation for our first night on this trip. It was the only reservation we made in advance. We planned to walk as far as we wanted to each day and find lodging when we arrived in town.

After lunch, I decided to have a rest but DH, who had slept all the way down on the train decided to explore the city. In the evening we had dinner at a nearby restaurant. Fortunately we were not too troubled by jet lag and awoke around 7:00 the next morning for our first petit dejeuner.

If you look closely at the photo you will notice the small green and white fireplace sign. It indicates the hotel belongs to the Logis de France network. It's made up of 3,200 privately run and reasonably priced hotels and restaurants throughout France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. We love these hotels. Each one is unique; most are in very old buildings. The owners are welcoming and helpful. We were able to pick up a guidebook to Logis de France hotels in the Loire and carried it with us as we walked.

Day 2 Tours to Savonnieres:

The guidebook said it was 12 kilometers to Savonnieres and an additional three to Villandry. We decided to see how it went rather than commiting to go all the way to Villandry.

It is at Tours that the GR 3 crosses from the right bank of the Loire to the left.
The trail goes along the Cher for a bit, crosses a foot bridge and continues on the velo route along the left bank of the Cher all the way to Savonnieres. We saw many bicyclists. The Loire region is now riddled with off road bike trails and we talked quite a bit about coming back some time in the future and biking the area.

This sign says, "Share the road." The dedicated bike trail occasionally joined a quiet country road for a short distance.

We arrived in Savonnieres in time for a late lunch. It was my first opportunity to have a French omelet, one of my favorite lunches. It's usually served with a salad. Even the smallest places can turn out a tasty meal. Here we ate outdoors at tables across the street from the brasserie.

After lunch we looked around for a place to stay. We had seen one hotel on the way into town. Then we noticed a sign for a bed and breakfast and decided we would inquire. The proprieter, Marie Claude Lisbona, was working in her garden. She showed us into her beautiful home, La Variniere. The guest suite was on the lower level. In addition to a large bedroom, sitting room and bath, there was an indoor swimming pool built into a cave. Marie Claude spoke excellent English and we had a pleasant discussion.

The restaurant next door to La Variniere was closed. We asked Marie Claude for a suggestion and she said there was an excellent restaurant in the next town. She said her husband would drive us and pick us up. She made a a reservation and at the appointed time we were whisked to L'Etape Gourmand outside Villandry. We had a wonderful meal based on local ingredients, many of them grown on the L'Etape Gourmand property.

Day 3 Savonnieres to Villandry

Before we left, Marie Claude took our photo in front of the house.

Dick and I decided day two had been a bit long so we wanted a shorter walk today. I was having some foot pain as well. We decided we would walk the three kilometers to Villandry and spend some time exploring there. We backtracked along the main street in Savonnieres, checked out the church and then climbed the 100 steps to rejoin the GR.

A word about the GR: France is crisscrossed by walking trails. The GR's or Grande Randonnee are long distance trails. The GR 3 which we followed goes predominantly along the Loire River. Some of the time it's right on the river bank, other times is cuts away to travel through forests, fields or vineyards. Sometimes it's a woodland path, a quiet country road or as mentioned above, a bike trail. It's a wondeful way to see the country up close. When we are walking, we use guidebooks from the FFRP, the hiking organization that maintains the trails. The left side of the page is a topo map and the right is a description of the terrain, sights and services along the way. The trail is marked with red and white blazes.