Indian Summer Spectacular

We have enjoyed fabulous 75 degree weather this past week, and I wanted to take advantage of the great weather by planning something outdoors.  I traveled with Nicolya and Kaelyn to visit my son, Alan, in nearby Athens.  The drive was beautiful, sunny and filled with autumn vistas.

In Athens, we got to pick out some pumpkins and carve them.

 

Kaelyn wanted her Uncle Alan to stencil the scary spider onto one of our pumpkins.  This was the pumpkin she chose to take home.  She left him with the mild-mannered toothy smile pumpkin.  I don’t think he will scare away any kids with that milquetoast jack-o-lantern!

 

I hope to spend more time outdoors again today and tomorrow before the temperature drops again.  Watching the trees and bushes change colors is fantastic, and I have this uncanny yen for apple cider, candy corn and clam bakes!

Kaelyn has been very impressed to see the red and orange trees.  On her way to church this morning, she squealed from the back seat “Mom!  Look that tree is red!”  She then promptly instructed my daughter, “Autumn colors.  Say it!”

HAPPY AUTUMN!

Gigi’s Week of GGGGGG……

Gigi’s Week of GGGGGG……

I am so happy I relocated, since I get to hear my name “Gigi” nearly every day!  My Granddaughter, Kaelyn makes me feel like such a Superstar!  I am glad that my daughter, Nicolya, keeps me informed of all the day-to-day activities for the grandkid.

I recently spent the afternoon at her daycare center for Grandparents’ Day.  How fun!  It has been such a long time since I sat in these tiny chairs.  Daycare centers have come a long way since my own kids were enrolled.  Kaelyn has access to a kid-friendly bathroom with a toilet 8 inches from the ground.  She also has a sink and soap dispenser at her level.

I was also given the opportunity to take Kae to her Gymnastic class.  I am really amazed to see all the equipment for little ones.  She immediately got on the trampoline, mats and parallel bars—quickly recalling her class from this past spring.

We also got to visit with my brother and sister-in-law before they moved to Chicago.  It is always fun to see my mom–to travel to Grandma Grigsby’s house.  All the extended family showed up for pizza, chips, cookies, and Grub—you know, the usual.

A quick day trip turned out to be a great opportunity for me to finish shopping at a few more yarn shops and to turn in my Yarn Discovery Tour Passport.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that my name is called for one of the prizes!  But, guess what?  I let Kaelyn help pick out yarn for a gift I will knit Nicolya—and she picked Green!

 

It all was GGGGGGrrrrreat!

Will Travel for Yarn

I had fabulous weather on Sunday September 11th to travel to NE Ohio for the Yarn Discovery Tour.  Blue skies, cool breeze, sunny and 75 degrees!  It was great seeing my friends from Studio Knit, and we managed to shop at 6 different shops and grab ice cream too!  I even finished working on my red-cream striped sweater.

I knit this black sweater!

My Sister’s Yarn Shop, Green, OH

I was disappointed that I couldn’t make it to more stores, so I promised that I would continue shopping before the Yarn Discovery Tour ended on September 24!  So, I managed to squeeze in more yarn shops after a court hearing yesterday.  Thank goodness, I had an excuse to travel to northern Ohio!

Even though it was raining cats and dogs, I made it to a two more yarn shops, a new shop (The Artful Yarn) and a familiar shop (Fine Points.)  I even had the chance to join some other knitting friends at a third shop (Ewes d’ Bleu) for an evening sit-n-knit.  I decided that it was smart to wait for the rain to stop before traveling back to Columbus.  Plus, I’m in a better mood after I knit!

Besides the psychological benefits of retail fiber therapy, I did not buy yarn for purely narcissistic reasons; I’ve been shopping with knitted Christmas presents in mind.  I wonder if my family members can imagine what yarny goodies I have in store for them based upon the stash?

Splendid Saturday

Saturday, September 17th was a great day, marvelous cool temperature and nothing to do.  I enjoyed the company of my daughter and granddaughter,who live nearby, and my son from Athens, OH.  We sat around and talked, the kids viewed old photos from when they were young, we shopped for dinner and dined together like the olden days.

I even managed to save a few scraps of the dinner for my leftovers!  Yum!

Today was also perfect for working on my knitting.  I worked some more on a new sweater …

and I organized my yarn supplies and reviewed my yarn stash for my trip tomorrow.

I will be joining my knitting buddies from Studio Knit in Medina, Ohio, and we will journey to yarn shops in Northeast Ohio for the Fourth Annual Yarn Discovery Tour.  www.yarndiscoverytour.com

Even though I moved to Columbus this summer, I am determined to make it to the Shop Hop–I haven’t skipped a year yet since I started knitting July 2007!  I hope to post pictures of the beautiful fibers, patterns, and knitty notions.  My plan is to shop for items that will become Christmas gifts for family and friends this year.

I look forward to chronicling my yarny gifts, tasty meals and family fun-times in my new blog.