Deckside and Memorial Day Parade

This was the first time this season we got to knit outside. With the fans running it was a tolerable 85 degrees or so until the sun came around the corner. By then it was time to call it quits anyway. But it felt good to get outside and listen to nature as we knitted. Amanda and Moose are still visiting so she was able to join us and even finished a hat which will go into our inventory.

Kathleen finished another Baby Sophisticate cardigan and showed Liz the

Elizabeth Zimmerman sewn bindoff technique.

Liz finished three baby caps and is working on an eyelet baby cardigan.

Amanda finished the spiral eyelets hat she designed and wrangled Moose long enough to see how it looks. He thought it was pretty silly.

Our evening group showed Maureen and her daughter Cate working tandem on a baby blanket for one of Cate's friends who is expecting.

Beth finished a pair of cute little socks and .....

brought along the Daybreak scarf/shawl to show us the progress she is making.

Yesterday Amanda and I took Moose to the Memorial Day Parade in Delmar, New York. He was too young to remember last year's parade but this year he had a great time. He was so excited as he heard the bands approaching.

We saw the band from Mommy's high school....

And their mascot the Eagle rode along on a truck.

There were hot cars, and

old cars, and

small cars and

friends. There goes our friend, Pastor Sandy from the Journey United Church of Christ .

The people in the parade were throwing lots of candy to the spectators and Moose didn't want to miss any of it.

He brought home a bigger haul than at Halloween!

And he waved enthusiastically when the fire trucks drove by.

He also had a great time flirting with the teenage girls that were sitting beside us.

They enjoyed his company so much that they gave Moose even more candy.

It was a great day to thank the heroes who protected and are still protecting our freedom.

Moose and Squirrel? No, Moose and Sheep!

Moose and his mommy, my daughter, are visiting this week and we thought Moose might like to see some animals at the Massachusetts Sheep and Wool Festival. Well, yes, that was just a ploy to get him to join us on our trek for yet more fiber. We drove to Cummington, Massachusetts for this lovely little fiber festival on a glorious sun-shiny day.

Our first bribe, I mean stop, was to see the angora bunnies where Moose got to choose the one he wanted to hold.

He named this one "Toodles" after his pastor's bunny. The soft little guy sat with Moose just a few seconds before he decided it was time to scramble away.

The festival had drop-in spinning and knitting and we watched a customer taking a quick spinning lesson. I loved how intently the young man on the left was watching the proceedings. Another spinner in the future, perhaps?

We stopped at another booth to see the beautiful wheels and fiber and Moose struck up a conversation with this wonderful lady. I think they were discussing something pretty funny here, don't you?

We saw Miss Karin at the festival while she was taking a break from her vendor booth. She walked with us for a while and stopped to buy Moose some finger puppets which he loved!

Moose had to make sure he got all the way to the bottom of the basket to get the best selection. You'll see later what he chose.

I needed a large shawl pin for my heavier shawls and Leslie Wind was making some beauties on the spot. You'll see that later on too.

There was a little play area for the youngsters so they wouldn't get bored and Moose made good use of the facilities.

There's nothing like a good pile of hay to climb!

And what's a festival without a good hot dog? Moose was flirting with the waitress in between bites.

All too soon it was time to say goodbye to the sheep and head for home.

But we were able to buy some goodies to remind us of the good time we had.

Miss Karin was selling her hand dyed yarns and I made sure I got a skein of "Tree Frog" to make myself a pair of socks.

Amanda wanted to give me my birthday gift early since she won't be making another trip up to my house until after her baby is born. Since she knows I love shawls this was a perfect gift for me.

And while at the festival I found the perfect yarn to make this shawl. And here is the shawl pin that Leslie made for me to wear on the new shawl. I have a few projects on needles at the moment which need to be finished before I can undertake a new one though.

Amanda found some bargains which she will use to make baby hats to sell.

And here is Moose with his finger puppets that Miss Karin bought for him. He now has Kung Fu Panda, Elmo, and we're not sure who the last one is but Moose is calling him "Monkey".

We finished off the day with a quick ride around the block to work off the delicious dinner that Poppop had waiting for us when we returned home.

As Martha Stewart would say, "It's a good thing!"

The Chicks are back!

We had a week off while I was off to the theme parks of Orlando but now it's time to get back into the swing of things.

Barbara finished a warm cabled hat with a flirty button detail.

There is no reason a person can't look stylish while staying warm.

Kathleen made good work of her time off by knitting up a whole heap of stuff. Two pairs of mittens was just the beginning.

Another Leaf Lace sweater set was added to the inventory as well as....

a cute little bonnet to match the cardigan she made a couple of weeks ago.

The Garter Yoke Baby Cardi is a free pattern if you are a member of Ravelry. Here is Kathleen's finished cardi, a quick and easy knit.

Kathleen has a magic button box which ALWAYS has the perfect buttons for her finished knits.

She'll have this vest finished for next week's entry, I'm sure.

Cate is back from dental school for a little while. We all were really glad to see her and hear all about how she's doing.

Beth was soooooo happy to finally be finished with her cabled pullover. This is the sweater she made using vintage yarn from her stash. She held her breath the whole way through, praying she would have enough yarn to finish.

Well, she made it! With only this much to spare!

Maureen put down her reversible stripes scarf to show us a pair of socks she is making for herself. After the success she had with the bike socks she made for her husband, she decided she needed a pair also. Great colors!

From the book, "Sock Yarn, One Skein Wonders", I'm working on the Little Hanten jacket using a self striping sock yarn. The back is almost finished and then on to the sleeves and assembly.

It's good to be back with my Chicks.

Name please.....Magroin, Pat Magroin

Last week was the first time in about three years that I decided to fly away on vacation. I may have mentioned before that because I have both hips replaced my bionic joints tend to make the metal detectors go crazy. As a result I am whisked away from the security line to be frisked and patted down like a criminal, so to see me smiling here after all that is due entirely to my knitting. Thank goodness it has that calming effect on me!

From here on in there is very little to do with knitting and lots to do with having a great time. So get a cup of coffee and hunker down for a tour through the parks of Orlando, Florida.

My son is the ultimate theme park fanatic so for him to get a parking space in "Jurassic Park", his all time favorite movie, was the most appropriate spot to be and a prediction of the fun that was yet to come. Unfortunately, the Jurassic Park ride was closed all week for it's annual maintenance. But we managed to make up for the lack with all the other rides.

The moving sidewalks were the first ride from the parking lot. Oh, by the way, keep on eye on that white hat my husband is wearing. You know that book "Where's Waldo?" Well, we're going to play that game here. Let's see how many times you can spot the white hat on our adventures through Universal Studios and Disney.

Our first stop was Islands of Adventure. We picked an ideal time to visit since the parks were not crowded and the longest we waited for a ride was about 30 minutes. Most of that was taken up by walking through the mazes that are set up for the riders to follow to get to the ride. So it didn't feel like a long wait at all. We usually waited 5 to 10 minutes though.

Andrew (in the red shirt) is trying to contain his excitement behind those sunglasses.

Since we arrived at the parks at 1PM we had to get something to eat right away so we went to Mythos and had a good meal surrounded by fountains and statues.

The molten chocolate cake for dessert was superb!

Then we were off to visit Harry Potter.

Andrew reassured me that it wasn't a scary ride and not like a roller coaster. Hmmmmm....

I think I'll pass on the butterbeer before the ride, just in case.

Does anyone need to buy a magic wand?

Snow in Orlando in May?

And suddenly! There it was! Hogswart Castle!!! The ride was fantastic! I screamed like a banshee all three times that we rode it, but I'll warn you now, if you tend to get motion sick easily, this might be one to pass up. Although, I have been known to get dizzy just riding a carousel so I thought for sure this would make me sick, but it didn't. It was hilarious and I loved it! Good recommendation, Andrew!

Pretty flowers were everywhere.

We drove over to Downtown Disney for dinner that night and while we waited for our table Andrew and I strolled over to Legoland. Here's a picture for Moose.

Can you believe these are life size Lego dogs?

The knight fighting the dragon was huge!

Then back to T-Rex Cafe for dinner.

There was quite a crowd but we finally made it inside.

The decor was amusing and very creative.

Here was our host upon arrival. He growled and bowed and nearly scared a little kid back into the womb!

Nothing like sharing your dinner with a triceratops.

The next day we arrived at Universal Studios bright and early.

I'm not sure these are in the correct order but you'll get the picture. Andrew talked me into another adventurous ride during which I got drenched even before we arrived at this terrifying plunge! Notice the white knuckles...it wasn't the only time I had to hold on for dear life!

After that cooling dip (it was 90 degrees and I was melting) Andrew talked us into trying the Popeye Barge ride. It's gentle...you won't get too wet....NOT!!!

Here's the aftermath of that ride. It's a good thing I put my camera and cell phone in plastic zipper bags in my purse!

The Men in Black ride was lots of fun too. We wiped out a lot of aliens that time. We turned around and got right back on that one.

We stopped for an afternoon snack at Margaritaville where Andrew couldn't resist a photo with the macaws.

Now we leave Universal Studios and head on over to DisneyWorld.

Animal Kingdom was our first stop. What terrible rides could there be here?

The Tree of Life

Everyone HAS to have their photo taken in front of that tree.

See that mountain top in the distance. It's the Expedition Everest roller coaster. To answer my earlier question, that's the terrible ride! But I went on it anyway. It was similar to Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain which I rode when the kids were little. I managed to keep my breakfast down so I guess it was fun.

As I think about it, I would go on it again if I had the chance.

Come on, keep up. There's the hat again.

We went to Dinoland and visited.....

what else? Dinosaurs!

On our wait for the safari we passed some wildlife.

Once inside and riding in the jeep we saw BIGGER wildlife! Just a little left of center is a white rhino...or was it a black rhino. I don't know, as long as he stays far away.

The hippos found a way to stay cool.

And the vultures were just waiting.

more hippos

The crocodiles were ferocious looking.

The baby sister elephants were so cute!

Flamingos relaxing.

Just go ahead and see the rest of the animals at your own pace.

Lazy lion

We had a late lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, one of my favorite places to visit.

This guy is everywhere.

Our meals were deeeeeelicious!

Andrew brought home a doggy bag because there was so much.

I, on the other hand, was a glutton and ate all my Tuscan Chicken. Mmmm-good!

There is nothing like a good dinner companion....

or two.

Hey! There goes Dorie and Marlin!

Outside the cafe on our way back into the park we stopped to watch the spoonbills.

Then we headed out to Epcot Center. There were a topiary displays everywhere. I'm sure you'll recognize the characters.

We visited Mexico and took a little boat ride.

This young artisan worked intently as everyone watched.

Next stop, Norway.

And another topiary...

We made our way to China next.

The gardens were beautiful.

As was the architecture.

Inside the museum were replicas of the Terra Cotta Warriors

and their horses.

Germany was a rainy visit but the duck in the fountain didn't seem to mind.

I loved the village atmosphere.

And the wine sampling was superb.

A Reisling, a Liebfraumilch and .....I don't remember the third one. But they were all delicious.

On to France and the garden maze.

Oops! No, wait, Venice, Italy first. Are you still looking for "Waldo" in the white hat?

Lady and the Tramp had their famous spaghetti dinner.

In America we heard some familiar music.

It was Peter Noone and Herman's Hermits giving a free outdoor concert in the rain. He looks exactly the way he did forty or more years ago! And he still sings just as well!

The archway to Japan.

The rain was beginning to let up a little.

The bonsai trees ranged in age from 25 years to 50 years old.

By the time we arrived in Morroco it was time for dinner. My favorite cuisine is Middle Eastern food and I was not disappointed.

The tilework in the casbah was beautiful.

There's "Waldo" again.

And what's a visit to Morocco if there isn't a belly dancer? The music was hypnotizing! It took all my strength not to dance along with her! LOL!

The fountains of France danced happily in the gardens.
As did the characters from Beauty and The Beast.
Speaking of whom......
I guess "Waldo" got tired.
Pastry anyone?
By the time we left France it was night and those fountains were even prettier.
We made our way around the lake to find a good spot from which to view the fireworks and who do we bump into but Peter Pan and Captain Hook! Lookout Hook! The Croc is right behind you!

The moon was very hazy through the clouds but we found a good spot.

We could see all the way across the lake.

The anticipation was almost too much, but the view was so pretty we forgot we had to wait.

And then they started!

The colors and sounds were spectacular!

The finale was stupendous!

But then it was time to go and get a good night's sleep to prepare for tomorrow.
Back to Universal and Islands of Adventure.
There was a bit more of a crowd this day but it wasn't quite as hot.
Our son, the roller coaster nut, rode the Hulk at least five times!
You have to have your head examined to ride this!
Loop-de-loops that go upside down more than a few times.
Sorry! You will NEVER find me on that ride!
But I liked Spiderman and The Mummy was great!
I threw in these next two photos because I don't remember where they were taken. I think this first one was Dinoland where the three of us played a dinosaur trivia game. Andrew won, duh!
Just one of the traveling minstrel bands we passed in the park.

Sunday night we met my cousins and their families for dinner at a cute little Italian restaurant in Kissimee called "Bruno's". The food WAS delicious and I had to get a picture of their sign. LOL!

I had not seen them since 2007 because they live year round in Florida and I don't fly!

Love you guys!!!

Monday was our last day in Orlando so we took some time to visit World of Orchids. If you read my blog you know I'm crazy about orchids and my son is catching the fever as well. We were both enchanted by the surroundings of this garden.

There were only a few orchids in bloom but there were anthuriums everywhere!

Just take a quiet stroll through the gardens. I'll meet you on the other side.

Fire ants!








Back in the showroom you can purchase orchids to take home.
Some are quite exotic looking.




We had lunch at Wolfgang Puck's back at Downtown Disney. Andrew showing you his view of me most of the week. I'm sure glad cameras went digital. Imagine how much I would have to spend on film and developing?!
We passed the salon where all the little princesses go to get primped. Hey mister! Girls only!
One last picture before we head home.
You know it had to be a successful vacation if I didn't get any further on my socks than this!
And the final tally on the "Where's Waldo"......drum roll please! 13 hat sightings! Now I'm going to go finish those socks.