Father's Day

P-51 Mustang "Betty Jane"

B-24 Liberator "Witchcraft"

B-25 Mitchell "Tondelayo"

After we walked around and looked at all the beautiful old planes, we came back to our favorite:


Who's on board as the engines come to life one by one?
Dennis, of course!

B-17 Flying Fortress "Nine O Nine"

His big Father's Day present from us was a ride in the B-17 and he loved it. He was allowed to move around inside the plane during the flight and see the various positions, including sticking his camera out the open top panel and standing up in the top turret.


It was a Father's Day we'll all remember.

Uh-Oh

Two days in to my 18th round of 30/30 and I went to my regular doctor today about my sprained wrist.

Turns out it's a sprained thumb and I'm not to use it. At all. We're looking at probably three more weeks of healing time. Of course, it's my left hand and I'm left-handed.

Anything grippy - writing, combing girls' long hair, cooking, knitting, and a thousand other things I do daily, is painful, difficult, and not to be attempted.

Luckily, I've always used the computer mouse with my right hand, so that's okay. Typing isn't great, but I'm thinking I can probably handle a few lines of poetry a day (don't tell the doc, though). Housework is out (no crying there). So is yard work (I rarely do that anyway), painting masterpiece landscapes (it could happen), and playing the piano (that one really does make me sad).

The splint is on, the ibuprofen is ready, and I can't imagine what I'm going to do with idle hands for the next three weeks.

Not Knitting

Or rollerblading, either. Whoops.

Disappointment

Disappointment is not an emotion I expected to feel today.

It's the last day of preschool for Kate, who moves on to Kindergarten next fall. While I think the whole 'graduation' from preschool thing is pretty goofy, there's no denying that it's a big milestone. And I was looking forward to seeing her stand up there with all her friends for one last time, singing songs and celebrating the end of her first school experience. Then there would be cake and cookies and lots of hugs for the teachers who've been part of her life for two years now. I expected to feel proud, excited, and maybe even a little wistful. But we're not having any of that.

Kate has strep throat.

Forget the celebration. We've got a sick little girl stuck on the couch watching cartoons and feeling horrible. The truth is, she doesn't seem to mind missing graduation much. I think to her it's just another weird event. For me, it's an ending that will never come again, the last time I'll have a preschooler. And instead of marking the moment with ceremony and photos, it's just sort of slipping away. So even though I do feel all those swirling emotions when I think about it, mostly I feel disappointed.

Groovin'

I really can't help myself. I get such a kick out of knitting up little outfits for the Groovy Girls!


This one was entirely improvised from start to finish. First I picked the stitch pattern for the skirt and started knitting.


Then I thought about how the dress would fit, what type of closure it would have, and whether it would have sleeves. This bright orange and yellow seemed so summery that I decided to make it a strapless sundress. The ribbon lacing was a brainstorm I had just as I finished knitting and I think it worked out really well.


Finally, after all the schizophrenic weather we've had around here this spring - sunny and hot one day then grey, cold, and raining the next - I thought maybe a little shrug was called for. I'm so pleased with the result, since it was entirely made up as I went along and I had no idea whether it would actually work or not.


Another Groovy outfit has just come off the needles and is only awaiting a velcro fastener before making its debut. And no, neither of these is the project that I'm sick and tired of, but it will be appearing here soon, I promise.

I've Had It

...with lit mags that vanish into thin air and never let anyone know, especially submitters

...with kidney stones

... with the incessant sound of leaf-blowers moving stuff from one place to another without cleaning anything up

... with the neighborhood cat that keeps trying to catch birds at my feeder

... with my current knitting project (but I'll finish it anyway, and then post photos)

... with the rain

... with phone calls from politicians

... with this funk I've been in

What are you fed up with?