a few fabulous finds

A few little things noticed around Old Town Alexandria... Reminders of why I like that little pocket of the town.

Between mustaches as advertisement, the Bilbo Baggins Pub (oh yes, I will be going there) and the combination between fall decorations starting to emerge and the pineapple of hospitality I can't decide what I like best!

Anyone want to join me for a beer at the pub?

on the potomac

 

You know how sometimes you find yourself going along through life, executing your daily routine and dreaming of all the big plans you have for future happiness and enjoyment?  So often I am in that kind of rut and don't even realize it.  When it finally does come to my attention, I find the best cure is to take a different look at where I am.  Sometimes I just need reminding that life is happening right now and there is no time like the present to enjoy.  

So, I'm undertaking an informal project for this little blog.  I'm going to go out there and re-discover the place I'm so lucky to be living in.  The DC area has so much to offer and I want to make sure I get as much out of this experience as possible.  

My first day of photography was Friday, on some unexpected leisure time.  I dropped the pup off at her training in Old Town Alexandria and then walked the few blocks down towards the waterfront and happened upon "Founders Park."  Just a little patch of grass and trees on the banks of the Potomac. It was beautiful in the morning light and I appreciated the time I had to sit on a park bench and take it in.  I like that people treat the river kind of like you would the ocean... lots of boats and seafood and you get that kind of "salty" flavor to the areas of town on the river.  Perhaps my next "mini adventure" should be to find some fresh seafood already!

hurricane preparedness

After a beautiful and eventful week here in Virginia, it looks like we're battening down the hatches for whatever pieces of the hurricane may blow through.  The last time I worried about hurricane season was in Cuba and let me tell ya - they are way more blase about it there!  You'd think nobody in Virginia or the entire DC Metro area had ever experienced bad weather!  This place is so strange!

In preparation for what I expect to be, at the very most, a loss of power and being stuck indoors with a restless pup I am ensuring I have everything it takes to have a pleasant weekend watching the weather.  My list of necessities includes:

1. A flashlight, lantern and candles to read by.
2. Cans of beanie weenies and chips.  If needs be I'll light a fire in the fireplace and warm up my cans of goodness in there!
3. Plenty of yarn for a new project I've been eyeballing (or three).
4. Bones for the dog.  Lots of bones. 
5. A stack of books.
6. Charge the iPod and find those ever-evasive earphones... I know they are somewhere.

And that should do it!  No need to get all crazy! 

riding dirty

I personally know two crazy poodle ladies.  Each of them has three poodles (who all look very much like Beulah, only not as cute of course) and each of them treat their three poodles as if they were their children.  Heck, I guess they are their children.  It's cute, but in the back of my mind I find myself comparing myself to them and wondering if I've crossed that line yet.

The other day I had to answer that question with a resounding YES.

My poodle has a car seat.  Oh yeah she does.  It's comfier than the driver's seat by far.  And she has room to curl up and sleep in it.

After some confusion on her first day riding in it, Beulah seems to have embraced the idea at least.  I get jealous when I look over and see her lounging.

In my defense, it's safer and much more comfortable for me too.  Having her not all in my lap and secured to the seat belt in case of an accident is the responsible thing to do.

I still feel a little embarrassed about it.  Pretty sure I'm headed down the windy path of poodlemania.

ghosts of the past

When I arrived in Williamsburg this past weekend, one of the first things out of Maria's mouth was "we're taking the ghost tour!"  How could I say no?  To be honest, I figured it would be fun to walk around at night and listen to spooky stories - and it was.

Not having been to the colonial settlement since my childhood days, I have no idea what the place looks like in the daylight.  However, at night it is beautiful.  The darkness, broken only by the candle of the tour guide and pools of light from the street lanterns somehow seemed to usher us back to when the little town was inhabited and alive. 

Of course, night-time photography (I hate using a flash) makes for more "ghostly" photos.  They are pretty in their own right and sort of show the mood that was sort of in the air.  

While I enjoy a good ghost story, I didn't personally see any apparitions or suddenly feel cold.  Others in the crowd who claim to have photographed an "orb" may want to check the flash on their cameras... 

However, whether or not I believe the original inhabitants of the settlement have truly left, I most certainly feel that places have... moods.  Or perhaps more appropriately, impressions left by those who have lived and loved there.  It wasn't a far stretch of the imagination to hear long-dead oxen clopping down the street or to see a shadow in a window.  Perhaps the people who actually still live in some of the historic houses still feel some remnants of the founders?

 

It helped that our tour guide was a fantastic story teller.  She had everyone mesmerized with her accounts of ghostly boys playing in the yards or husbands waiting for their wives to join them beyond the grave.  

The group of little ones who were with us were enthralled (and a little scared).  I think they would have sat there all night and listened to the stories by candlelight; computers and television forgotten for an evening.

 

We returned to our campsite that night with a tired little boy and a familiar feeling for the little square of brick buildings.  I certainly want to return during daylight hours and see it all, but this experience sparked my interest in a way that it hadn't been before.  Well worth $10 and a few hours of time. 

a weekend away

I'm home and recuperating from a weekend trip to Williamsburg, VA this weekend.  It was quick and I seemed to spend an inordinate time sitting in traffic (I'll never get used to that around here), but it sure was fun!

There's nothing quite like sipping your morning coffee outdoors and admiring the early light streaming through the surrounding trees. I love those few moments before everyone else is awake and moving around ~ no sounds but the birds and insects ~ so nice.

Maria's six-year-old son took this shot of me and Beulah.  I think now I've reached the ripe old age of 32 I should allow no photos taken prior to coffee, shower, lip gloss...

We promised the kid a trip to the beach and there was no way he wasn't going.  Whereupon we {foolishly} followed directions from a local to the one that was "right down the road a ways."  An hour later we finally managed to get to the James River; there was much rejoicing. 

To my amazement, there was this huge oak tree up the bank from the river with acorns the size of a silver dollar.  I loved that you could enjoy the shade of an oak tree and look out over this extremely large, brackish river.  Beautiful.

Even the drive home was pretty.  Every state/country I've lived in has something special about it, something to love.  Virginia is truly a beautiful state.  I take the older highways whenever possible in order to see the countryside better.  It's always worth the extra half hour you spend winding along.

What a weekend.  I wish I could have stayed longer and will certainly have to return to see more of the historical stuff.  However, I got a little glimpse of it and will share it with you tomorrow.  For now, enjoy the trees!

the grandparent project

Photo from the New York Public Library Digital Archive.

So, lately I've been talking to my grandmother about her past and all the amazing things she has done (and continues to do) through the course of her life.  The floodgates have opened and she is telling me all sorts of things I never heard before.  I am completely in awe of her experiences and, well, her.

In order to wax eloquent about what I hear and learn and in an effort to begin to make all of this random information into some sort of cohesive form I've started a new blog over on Wordpress dedicated entirely to Oma and her story.  You can read the beginnings at Tangle Of Roots, and there will be much more to come as I start to sift through it all and ramp up my own research on what she tells me as well.

This is going to be fun!

feather and fan blanket

I continue to operate under the belief that one can never have too many blankets.  And hey, a girl needs something to knit while she's watching movies!  Here's my most recent product, made from cheap acrylic yarn (easy to wash and just keeps getting softer) and knit this past month while taking in some good (and some bad) television/movies.

I think I'll start another one soon.  Maybe make it a little teensy bit bigger.

welcome to my study

The last few weeks I've been mulling over how effectively I use rooms in my pad and came to the realization that there was a whole chunk of space that was seeing very little traffic.  The dining room, while neat to have, wasn't getting much use as, well, I'm currently the only human living there and I don't need a dining area apparently!

So, this weekend I did a little re-arranging and I like the new set-up much better.  The "dining room" is now the "study."  Maybe after I acquire some bookshelves I'll call it "the library!"

Looking out from the kitchen towards the front door.

The View from the living room. The lights aren't as bright as they look!

stripe study shawl

Despite the extremely high temps outdoors (or maybe because of them) I've managed to finish another knitting project.  This Stripe Study Shawl was fun to make, even though the color I chose for the stripes didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it to and that particular yarn ended up being a big dislike for me.  However, I still have a pretty, colorful, warm shawl to wear around whenever the weather decides to turn.  Something tells me that will be later, rather than sooner...

this week

I call this "Still Life of My Kitchen Window."  Witness my new favorite (for still-life purposes) flowers, carnations.  They never die!

• Due to a miscommunication with USAA I am currently debit-card-less as I wait for the mail to deliver it to me.  Therefore, I'm paying for everything with checks.  Like I'm 200 years old.  (It takes about 200 years for each transaction too.)
• The house is a mess and I'm too tired to clean much.  Got to get things on track for next week's visitor.
• It's hot, allowing for only an hour of knitting at a time, tops.
• Beulah is losing her mind.  Because it's hot.  And I'm tired.
• There is not enough beer in the world.
• Since when does good beer cost so much?  I need to move to Germany.
• I plan to make my dining room into a sitting room/study.  By writing checks for my additions to the space.

run for it

I've been running quite a bit lately, trying to whip myself back in shape after my post-Army slump.  My goal for the last two weeks was 10 miles a week and this week it's been upped to 15.  Not really all that much, considering I used to log in about 20-30.  It's always, always hard to get started, but as soon as I get myself out the door and hit the road I feel better.  The goal is to be consistent, and to continue to increase my mileage (and hopefully speed which has been downright embarrassing) until I'm in shape to run a 10-miler, to be followed with a half-marathon and maybe even a full one of these days.  There are a few races I'm keeping in mind for next year, but for now I'm completely content to just make the running and mileage goals a habit again. 

And it might be just about time for a new pair of shoes.  Hmph, too bad they're so expensive!

rainy weekend

This past weekend was all about grey skies and rain.  Interspersed in the mix were a few rather fabulous storms worth watching from the floor next to the sliding doors.  I opened them up as far as I could without it all blowing in and enjoyed the smell of damp earth while I watched all my potted plants soak up what they could. 

Beulah kept me company, but was much more focused on her pink heart toy than anything happening outdoors.  Easily amused, that one.

new in the garden

Due to the untimely death of one of my tomato plants, a petunia and some violas the garden has been looking a little spare. So, after much consideration and no small amount of garden store window-shopping I finally made the plunge.

At a local nursery (which rocked) I picked up another geranium - possibly my favorite summertime flower - and a begonia.  Begonias may just be my new passion.  Apparently there are a zillion different types and the leaves are all different and pretty.  As my little potted garden transitions slowly between seasons, I think some more begonias are in order.  They seem like they are not only pretty in their own right, but good backgrounds to flowering plants as well.  Win-win!

endpaper mitts

Time for a knitting update!  I'm so proud!  My first color work project COMPLETE and not too shabby looking!

These here are the Endpaper Mitts by Eunny Jang and I looovvvee them!  This being my first project of the kind, the color is a little wonky here and there, but I'm pretty sure I'll be the only one to notice.  I took these photos on the patio yesterday evening after they were blocked and dried and couldn't wait to get them off again, they were so warm.  Another project added to my winter stash of "things I made."

Last night I was up late, finishing a good book and enjoying the cool(er) air after a rather violent summer storm earlier in the evening.  It was about 11:00 p.m. when I closed the back cover and realized I wasn't quite ready to go to bed.  The lamplight outside our window just begged Beulah and I to go out into it.

And so we did; just a short turn around the neighborhood, but enough to feel like we had appropriately marked the beautiful night.  The rain and wind had relieved the humidity that has sat on our shoulder for weeks now and although it was still warm out, I could almost taste the first tiny hit of autumn around the corner.  As Beulah bounded ahead of me (that dog is afraid of nothing) I took a few shots to share with you.  Funny how everything glows at night.