The Knitist!

Summer Vacay

It seems too soon to see leaves falling on the ground and evenings getting chillier each week.  I was just getting used to the hot and humid days again, after being in CA for 12 years.  Now all of a sudden I feel like I should be knitting a sweater just to keep warm in the evenings.  How time passes so quickly!  I feel like reminiscing over the summer in the hopes that it will come back for just a little longer.  So here are some pictures from some of my summer activities.

This year we had an opportunity to plant our first real garden.  I decided to try Square Foot Gardening because it seemed the least complicated for a novice.

It was a huge success!  We ended up with lots of tomatoes,

beans, cucumbers, japanese eggplant, carrots, onions, beets, bell peppers, banana peppers, jalapenos, basil, lettuce, potatoes and freakishly large chard!!

We also installed a rain barrel that my brother made for us.  Since we got it in July I haven't had to use tap water once to water the garden!



Also in July, Becky and I went to Whistler, BC for a week with some friends from CA.



Us girls spent a couple of afternoons hiking around the peak of Whistler Mtn...

while the boys went mountain biking.

We also went canoeing and zip-lining which was the most incredible rush.  Sadly, I have no pics of me in a climbing harness with a fantastic wedgie.  Sorry about that.

Back To The Blog

Lately Facebook and Twitter have become my blog.  It's so easy to bang out a few characters once or twice a day on how I'm feeling or what I'm doing.  Blogging - coming up with complete sentences, pictures, and a few paragraphs seems like so much work these days.  Have I really become that lazy?  I think so, people.

I'm pretty sure I've only become this lazy with the blogging though.  In my attempt to divert my attention from missing Becky while she toils away in San Jose (sorry about the rhyming. it just happened, I swear), I've been attempting some DIY projects and playing in the garden a lot.

I will show you what I mean but you have to forgive the crappy iPhone pics.  My iPhone is about all I have with me to document these things, most of the time.

Here is our square foot garden right after I planted it.  My brother did all of the wood construction.  He also built the compost bin that you can sort of see to the way left in the photo.

Here it is at a month old.

The DIY projects in the house consist of some built-ins for my office, a new headboard and an under-the-counter-water filter.  Home ownership is very busy-making.

Here's the built-in desk (it's finished now, but I haven't taken the Done Photo yet).  FTR, my brother did all the construction and woodwork but I did all of the finishing, i.e. sanding, caulking, and finally the painting.



Then a few weeks ago I decided it was time to get the mattress up off the floor and have a proper headboard.  So with the help of my dear friend Erin, this was completed in just 2 days.  Look at the buttons!  We made those buttons.  It was soooo much fun.

Lastly, I am happy to report that our family is now free from the Brita pitchers, that no one but me (the Britta Fairy, apparently) will fill up.  Yesterday, I installed (all by myself!) our new Zuvo water Purator.  And no, the water isn't blue before it's filtered (Silly, Jill.), That's the UV light that it uses to purify the water.  It also uses ozone and a charcoal filter to complete the purifying/filtering process.  I love having a dedicated tap for our drinking water.  Brita pitchers are so 5 years ago.  And if you know me, you know I love a good gadget.  I think this qualifies.  I mean, look at that light glowing!  And the water swirls around it when the tap is on!



The last pic I have for you is my view of part of the backyard, in the evening, before the lightening bugs come out.


Not a lot of knitting has been getting done, sadly.  However, I did start a new book.  I like to do a little summer reading.  The book is called  Julie & Julia and so far (about 1/3 of the way through), it's really good!