I made a sweet pair of strawberry slippers

parlez vous francais?

I'm thinking I'd like to learn French. I know a bit of Spanish, German, and Japanese.. but almost no French. I have this bookmarked, and plan on watching them.. but I can't help but think, there must be a better, free resource. If you have any good recommendations on how to learn French, free or not, let me know. DVDs are more useful than programs, as my CD-Rom drive is not the best.

Dinner tonight

Chicken Pesto pizza with artichoke hearts. <3

The basil was all homegrown -- it needed pruning.

Pictures from the trip...

One of the things I absolutely love, love, love about traveling is getting food or drink that I cannot get back home. Like this drink from February, either on the way to St. Louis or Chicago. This candy bar was picked up in Iowa, and it's chocolate and nuts, with a cherry center..


It looks like poo.


James got italian coloured ravioli from a very dimly-lit restaurant.




The farm in Iowa was surrounded by a massive wind farm!


We also visited a tree museum!! And no, we did not pay a dollar and a half to see them. But it included descendants from famous trees.. for example, a descendant from the apple tree that Newton sat under, a tree from the farm of Alex Haley's grandparents', where he found out about his roots.. and a tree from the small town my step-mother grew up at!


Finally, I got to indulge my love of hanging out on rooftops during sunny, warm days. <3

This is my garden...

I'm only posting this as I'm going to, as of tomorrow, be gone for 5 days. My partner and I are going out to Iowa to visit his mom and step-father. She's a knitter, too!! I hope to get a present for her knit up before or while we're there; it's from yarn she gave me! :) Anyhoo.. I hope my garden will still be this green and... alive when I get back. If not, I have this picture.

Ideas needed.. free-form knitting project..

I'm working on a free-form knitting project...




tell me what you think of when you think of strawberry vines or a strawberry plant.

Bad Romance

I could watch this all day! ♥

Spring

A couple of days ago, I went for a walk in my dad's yard to pick flowers...



It is spring now, after all; and the tulips are taunting me, and telling me that if I don't pick them quickly to beautify my area, they'll just die in a few months, anyway.

So what better of a way to relax, and enjoy the warmth than with a new book*, and flowers in your hand-knit hat?










I had a wonderful day enjoying the blossoming joy of warmth approaching, so when I collapse in the couch inside, and feel a bug on my arm, I am not expecting...




... a tick! EWWWW!! Thanks, mother nature. I have the heebie-jeebies for infinity now.


* RANT - this book, published in the UK only is now out of print. This is a book by one of my favourite authors/bloggers, Jane Brocket. (see my sidebar) Because the book is English, and I'm in America, it's really pricey. I found a good deal ~$25 for it shipped from England.. but I waited 2 months, with the shipping date getting pushed further, and further back. Finally, I emailed them, and they said that the distributor had it on backorder and didn't know when it would come in. So they refunded me. O.. K.. I could have bought one in that time for the same price, I'm sure; they should have told me. Anyhoo, I found another one for a bit more, so I took my credit, and my partner bought the rest for me!! <3 It was well worth the money. I'm in love with all of her books, it's a certainty now. :D

Green Bay Trip

So, about a week ago, my partner and I went to Green Bay, Wisconsin for a job interview for him teaching math at a college up there. The trip was long, but scenic! And unfortunately, our GPS sent us right INTO Chicago! Ugh. :( But, I did get to spot this:


Right before we hit Green Bay, I finished a hat I'd been working on. So I seamed in ends, and starting wearing it. I think it's permanently attached to my head now.


I started on another hat immediately after.. but that one's a surprise for when it's done!




Our hotel room was lovely, and I wish we had stayed longer. But, the second we got into our hotel, tornado alarms started wailing. So much for going to explore while looking for dinner; we ordered pizza.


The interview went well, he got along great with the other math profs. but the upper management kept good poker faces. A lot of retirement going on with teachers right now, so that's a positive. We'll just have to see. It was a great trip, regardless. I visited a LYS and bought some Packers yarn exclusively made for the LYS.


On the way back, near Kenosha, I spotted a store made for me:


OH HELL YES.

Bought no antiques unfortunately, but I did get this:

What I've been doing...

...making a lot of stuff:










And watching a lot of Louis Theroux:




I am thinking about actively trying to sell knitting I do, but that's a bit off... we'll see. I'm off to Green Bay tomorrow, as James has a job interview there; I hope to get some lovely yarn. It would be nice to move there... I think. :)