Annabel Cardigan

Last winter I found a Gap sweater at the local thrift store with the tags still on.  100% wool and brand new.  I unraveled it and knit up this sweater.  It was good to be re-purposing and definitely more affordable.  I knit this during working hours and on lots of car trips.  When it was done I went a local knitting store and found these abalone buttons.  It knit up pretty easily.  From the top down.  This pattern is by Carrie Bostick Hoge.   I found this pattern on Quince & Co.   I finished it just as the air is changing and everything is a little crisper and golden outside.   This weather also has me wondering what my next knitting project will be.  Sweater, scarf, socks, mittens,   hmmmmm. 

Cheer Love

Emily loves cheer.  It's a sport.  Huh.....who would of thought, but it is.  She has declined trips to Hawaii and across country for it.  She tries not to miss a practice and definitely not a game.  So, when her knee began to hurt her she got a brace, which helped some.  But when it still bothered her I took her right in to have it looked at.  Of course the doctor said, "Well, stay off it for two weeks."  Not an option.  Looking at me defiantly she said,"competition.  I can't miss competition."  Well, since it wasn't our regular doctor we sort of disregarded what she said and Emily came up with a solution on her own.  "I'll use crutches for everything else and save my knee for cheer." 

And that has what she's done.  I hear she gets double takes in the halls at school when the football players who saw her the night before cheering away see her hobbling in the hall.  And again the next night at practice and the next day in the hall.  It's working though because her knee is getting better.  Resourceful, she is.    

Ten and A Half

We don't really acknowledge half birthdays or anything.  It's just with the beginning of a new school year I've been thinking about this age. Filling out all those forms I'm amazed at what grades I'm writing in.  5th and 8th.  Really?  Really.  Not really just this age but all ages and how they are just rolling by.  How time just rolls out its red carpet and we make our way along.  How it's good to be led by our brothers and yet also have our own time and place to reflect ourselves.  I can't get Joni Mitchell out of my head.  The Circle Game spins round and round in my head.

Ten and a half. Vegetarian.  Eli likes cooking some of his own meals.  I have pictures of him cooking this one sans shirt.  Actually kind of looking sort of bachelor like.  Thought I wouldn't put it on the blog though.  That's a fresh cucumber from our garden that Eli displayed so nicely.  Aquabats are one of his favorite bands right now.  Magic is all the rage with all ages.  In our house the players ages range from 7 to 23.  And incidentally, they all play with the same intensity and focus.  Eli says about that comment, "Well, sort of.  The 7 year old, maybe not so much." 

At the County Fair

These baby goats are playing "king of the mountain'.  Throwing each other off only to climb right back up and do it again.

The neighbors are wondering what all the racket is about and could they please keep it down.

These are some hungry cows. 

Baby pigs just 14 days old.  You can't see mama.  She's completely out on the other side of the pen.  Taking advantage of nap time.

Eli took up the challenge of building a structure starting with the crushed can at the bottom.  He's pretty pleased with himself.

The Charro Horseshow.  A show in honor of Mexican Independence.

Dancing horses.  I'm not kidding.  I've never seen anything like it.  They danced around to the beat of the music and stopped when the music stopped. 

The county fair rolled into town with all its sights and sounds.  We were delighted by the 4-H animals, the pig races, the art, the amazing dahlias, the ancient Bonsai.  Some Bonsai there was more the 100 years old.  I wonder how many owners it has had.  No frisbee dogs this year.  Too bad.  Eli wanted to see the "cat dog".  We skipped the sea lions.  Emily came but ran around with her friend and spent way too much time at the hypnotist.  However, they didn't volunteer.   That  probably is a good thing.

Pears a Plenty

Pears.  And lots of them.  We eat them fresh.  We made a delicious pear crisp and will make another.  Lots of canned pears in a variety of ways.

From top to bottom.  Sliced pears in a light sugar syrup.  Then pear syrup of a sort.  I used the recipe from Pomona's Universal Pectin for syrup.  Cooked pears and honey with a little lemon.  It's a jam recipe but with half the amount of pectin.

The next two are my first attempts at jam.  The one that made the house smell like a candle shop was pears and vanilla.  Pear Vanilla Jam.  Fresh pears cooked with real vanilla bean.  That recipe came from the blog Food in Jars.  Then I tried Pear Cinnamon Jam.  Delicious.  I kept a bit out without pectin.  We've been using it in plain yogurt and on vanilla ice cream.  Pears a Plenty.

When I asked Eli what kind of jam he wanted on his toast this morning pear or raspberry he replied raspberry.  "Yea.....We've kind of had a lot of pears lately.

Fourteen

Yummy cake from our favorite local bakery.  I must say this is about the fanciest of this kind that I've seen.  Extra frosting embellishments.  Also, an added pink, silk ribbon around the outside. 

Cards from her brothers.

For some reason I often find my self late at night the night before Emily's birthday looking for something to adorn the middle of the table with.  Something girly that she's had for a while.  Maybe that was a present or had belonged to one grandma or another.  Something sweet and pink.  Something that reminds me of when she was about the age she is in the pictures below. 

Hard to believe that four year old is fourteen.  Seems like I blinked and there she was.  Standing in front of me with her hair slightly curled and her tight skirt on.  Standing in front of me with her layered tank top and new white cardigan on.  Standing in front of me in her skinny jeans.  Standing in front of me with her snow white canvas Vans on.  Standing in front of me challenging every decision I make.  Standing in front of me desperately asking for me to be there for her while she yells at me to go away.

Isn't there some book titled something like that.  "Go away, but first can you take me to the mall".  Fourteen!  Wow!  She likes to remind me that she can drive in two years.  I remind her that she has to keep her grades up for it  will effect her placement in high school.  I cheer for her cheer to keep her busy and fit.  To find her passion. She is navigating her path and I'm trying to steer the boat.  At 14 she is bold, fierce, smart, stylish, trendy, cosmopolitan, funny, tenacious.  All those traits I want to embrace and yet am constantly bracing myself to not get bowled over by their strength.  To come up ready to weather the storm and smile with her.

Happy Birthday Dear Emily!