These three pair took forever to make. The red, white and blue pair – oh did I dislike that yarn. Until I told myself ok, they’ll be my 4th of July patriotic socks, I just dreaded working on them. After that, it was smooth sailing. The middle pair are for Mark . They were ok to work on except the solid color got a little boring but that’s because I love working with the self-patterning so much. The other pair – oh my – they were my biggest sock disappointment to date. They are Paton’s Kroy. It worked up beautifully. The pattern is the fluted banister pattern that I’ve always wanted to try and is actually brainless knitting and they turned out beautiful – until I washed and blocked them. They lost some of their brilliant color and felted just a bit. We’ll see how they wear but again, disappointed.
Helpful hint – don’t walk away from a photo shoot with cats in the house who adore and covet wool.
**Teri’s 4th of July socks – Regia 5346
Mark’s maroon socks – Regia Stretch 32
Teri’s fluted banister socks – Paton’s Kroy Stripes 56615 Bronzed Berry Stripes**
Posted June 5, 2009 ago at 5:48 am.
I’m a lucky girl. My family makes me happy every time I’m with them. The kids all came on Mother’s Day – all four of them since Mark and I call them all “our kids” now – with great deference to their own “real” parents. We made homemade pizza (a family favorite) for lunch. The guys played baseball while Danielle and I played on iPhones and watched the men and laughed at them. Corey taught Justin how to play baseball and Justin picked it up right away – he’s very good at sports.
Keith changed oil in the Jeep and van. This is Corey helping – under a tarp because it started to rain.
Mark made me a cake – awwwww.
Corey and Danielle gave me this beautiful plant. It is a gloxinia. We don’t have plants because we have cats who like to eat plants. Corey volunteered to keep the flower at his house – nice boy 
It’s safely where Carrie and Chloe can’t get to it but they’ve tried their darndest.
Keith and Justin got us a big flat panel monitor for the computer for multiple holidays. We had a small one but this is really cool. Nice!!! We think of them every time we’re on the computer.
We then all went to Corey and Danielle’s house and took the leftovers with us and had dinner there. It was so nice and Stripes and Louie were entertaining as usual.
It was a beautiful day.
Posted ago at 5:47 am.
This is Corey and Danielle when we were leaving Menards with a whole bunch of fence. This was the second load. Corey and Danielle had already picked up the concrete, posts, screws, etc. On the back of the truck, you can see we answered the age-old question “Where’s Waldo?”. Who knew he was hiding on the back of a Menards truck.
This is Mark and Corey working on the front corner.
This is the first beautiful section finished. The whole fence is finished now. It took two days of working in wind and rain and cold. Don’t let the beautiful sunshine in the picture fool you. It was cold and Danielle and I both have fierce windburns on our faces. All that is left to finish is the gates, which is the easy part. We all agreed the worst part was setting the posts. We also had our first sleepover at Corey and Danielle’s. Since they only live forty minutes away, we have never spent the night there. It was a fun and very productive weekend.
Posted April 6, 2009 ago at 7:12 am.
Keith, Justin, Mark and myself went to this Japanese restaurant last weekend. The tables were each in “pits” where you sit on cushions on the floor and your legs and the table are in the pit. As is tradition, you also take your shoes off before you go to your table. We had a blast, especially watching Justin with his wasabi. His face would turn beet red with every bite. When Keith suggested avoiding the wasabi, Justin said no, he liked the feeling when it got to his stomach. Keith, Mark and I got the tempura chicken (typical Americans). Justin ordered this beautiful plate of sushi.
Myself, I like sushi but not the kind with raw fish. I’m not a seafood fan so I’ve actually never even tried the ones with raw fish. I did it this night because Justin asked and I usually try whatever the food is that I haven’t tried yet unless it still has eyes in it or repulses me, i.e. squid and roe. For the record, the brighter orange item on this plate is roe. Wiki defines roe as “the fully ripe internal ovaries or egg masses of fish and certain marine animals, such as shrimp, scallop and sea urchins”. Wiki describes eggs as “usually chicken eggs, but also those of other birds and turtles, as well as those of fish”. It even seems the Wiki definition is trying to scare me, even though an egg should just be an egg.
I ate a piece of the green sushi, which was cucumber. Mark also tried that one and didn’t like it. His palate is not adventurous. He likes a good burger or some lasagna. I also tried the raw fish one. It’s not for me – it’s hard enough for me to eat cooked seafood let alone raw. Keith had already tried the raw previously and is o.k. with it if you can get past the texture. All in all though, we had a great time.
Posted April 4, 2009 ago at 7:12 am.
Delicious! But what is it??? This is a ball of all of my scrap sock yarn. I perused lots of books and websites trying to decide what to make with my scraps that I have collected so far (an overflowing basket, which was screaming “DO SOMETHING NOW!!”). I decided to make a blanket for Mark and I. I am double-stranding and making garter stitch squares using a size 8 needle. As for the yarn, it is one strand of the scrap yarn and one strand of Regia Stretch 1, which is sold as blanc or white but is really off-white. Below is the first square.
Posted January 28, 2009 ago at 2:07 pm.
Ok, so here’s the deal………..if you know me, you know some of the qualities I value in people. I value trust and friendship and honesty and kindness and gentle souls. I value people who care about people and people with a giving spirit and people who call or e-mail just to say “hey, how’s it going” and not to say “I think about you all the time and just never get around to calling, but now that you’re on the phone, can you (fill in the blank) for me”.
I value peace. I remember when I was a teenager and we were having the usual Christmas Eve party at my parents’ house and somebody asked “What do you want for Christmas” and I said “world peace.” Somebody roared with laughter (I won’t name names but I do remember who it was and they were also a teenager so maybe they didn’t get it then – I think/hope they do now). I do wish for world peace but I don’t think it’s attainable – people are people and we are all just too different.
I value pet-lovers and people who care about the elderly. I always say that if you don’t love and care for pets and the elderly, you’re not my kind of person.
So…………if you think you know me, you know all or most of that about me. You also know how very much a gift I received today means to me. It’s a necklace and my Mom gave it to me today, New Year’s Day. I love the word on the necklace and hope anybody who reads this has it and gives it and encounters it every day. (A better picture will be posted soon – my camera is unwilling to free the pictures today for some reason – Joan, I’m blaming you for that!!!).
Posted January 1, 2009 ago at 6:56 pm.
**Regia Stretch Color 117 with Regia black for heel and toe contrast**
These socks just called out for contrast so I did the heels and toes in black. I LOVE how they turned out. I made them to wear for “Christmas Eve” at my parents’ house, which is actually being held tonight, on New Year’s Eve, since Mom was in the hospital on Christmas Eve (in total, she was in the hospital December 23, 24 and 25). So, I hurried and finished them to wear them for “Christmas Eve”, washed them and blocked them last night so they would be ready for the party tonight.
Posted December 31, 2008 ago at 3:25 pm.
Who better to wish you Merry Christmas than our sweet little girls, Carrie and Chloe. We wish you all as much love and joy in 2009 as these two share with each other and with us every day.
So from all of us (Mark, Teri, Carrie and Chloe)………..to all of you (our wonderful kids – all four of you – our family and friends who have e-mailed, called and shared your concern, good wishes and friendship through Mark’s hospitalization and recuperation, and throughout the year)………..from all of us to all of you…………….
Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for 2009!!
P.S. I had to add the bonus picture of our little Buddha Belly Chloe in the picture below – it’s from last year but it’s priceless.
Posted December 25, 2008 ago at 10:23 am.
These socks were made mostly while Mark was in surgery, during his stay in the hospital and in the days up until today when I finished them. One pair is for Mark and the other pair is for me. Mark is doing well – he has pain only when he moves (same old same old but it is getting better). He was tempted today to have me take him for a ride but the weather outside is frightful and the fire is so delightful (oops – we don’t have a fireplace) – but we will wait for the weather to break a little, which is supposed to happen on Christmas Day.
Here are the ingredients:
**Mark’s socks – Regia Crazy Color 112
Teri’s socks – Four Seasons Hot Socks Spirit Sockenwolle 610**
Posted December 23, 2008 ago at 4:48 pm.
June 25 was our 25th wedding anniversary. I’m late in publishing this post because I just never got around to scanning this picture to insert but here it is – finally.
You could say it was our silver (25 years) AND our golden (25 on the 25th) anniversary. It kind of got lost in everything because we were so busy planning and preparing for Mom and Dad’s 50TH ANNIVERSARY!!! This is my favorite picture from our wedding. Anybody who knows us knows that we don’t like those posed, portrait studio photos – we like real-life pictures – those are the ones that depict things the way they really are. That’s probably why I love this one. Everybody thought it looked like Mark was ready to do harm to me with the knife.
I love you Mark Alan – you are my forever.
Love, Teresa Marie
Posted December 21, 2008 ago at 8:47 am.
These three pair took forever to make. The red, white and blue pair – oh did I dislike that yarn. Until I told myself ok, they’ll be my 4th of July patriotic socks, I just dreaded working on them. After that, it was smooth sailing. The middle pair are for Mark . They were ok to work on except the solid color got a little boring but that’s because I love working with the self-patterning so much. The other pair – oh my – they were my biggest sock disappointment to date. They are Paton’s Kroy. It worked up beautifully. The pattern is the fluted banister pattern that I’ve always wanted to try and is actually brainless knitting and they turned out beautiful – until I washed and blocked them. They lost some of their brilliant color and felted just a bit. We’ll see how they wear but again, disappointed.
