Over the weekend, we visited the LA County Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. It was very cool. There were peacocks, ducks and Canadian geese all over the place. It was wierd to visit this several hundred acre park in the middle of a city. Lots of different plants from around the world. It has a national historic place on it called the Queen Anne Cottage. Paige did not like the peacocks. Everytime one came near her she ran off in the opposite direction. Although beautiful, peacocks are a little creepy looking up close. We are planning to go back in the springtime when most of the trees will not look dead and maybe see some goslings running around.

Here's some more pics from our fun day.

Advanced Cut and Paste

I made this in Art class today. It was actually harder to make than it looks. I had to cut out each rectangle and align them visually by at least one side. The right angles have to be perfect. Exacto knifes are kind of fun to play around with. Too bad I'm going to go through like a thousand blades this semester.

quick bag

quick bag
Originally uploaded by slichly.

A fast project to finish before the big time studying begins... Made from Reynold Lopi and Noro Big Kureyon. Felted in my washing machine. I do not recommend putting your item to be felted inside a flannel pillow case. Next time I will use a regular pillowcase and hopefully less "flannel fuzz" will stick to my item.

Gifts given

Now that most gifts have been given I want to show some of the handmade items I made for the holidays.

a) b) c) d)

a) Scarf for my lab partner, Jayne in Lion Brand Homespun and some other yummy yarn that I forgot the name of.
b) Neck-down sweater for Allyson made from Bernat Soft Boucle in Misty Taupes.
c) Neck Down Dueling Cables V-neck sweater for Emily in Caron Simply Soft in Berry mint. This photo is more true to the real color.
d) detail of cable on Emily's sweater.

School for the kidlings starts tomorrow and the Spring semester for me starts Jan. 16. I feel like I must savor this week of post-holiday, pre-semester peace and calm.

Changes

I guess it's a case of new year's change. Experimenting with a new look for my blog...

Merry Christmas!

Contemplation

My children at the California Science Center. This photo is scanned so forgive the poor image quality.

Stress

Stress
Originally uploaded by Dave-F.

This is how I am feeling lately....


The poem that goes with this picture:

Stress

A definition, friends, of stress:
Your own reaction to a mess
Stresses may be large or small
Sometimes they're not perceived at all
Examples: Say a lack of cash;
A just-avoided freeway crash;
An allergen that's in the air;
The barber says you're losing hair;
Fifty on a spavined horse;
Attorney's letter re divorce;
Wetness, dryness, heat or cold;
Callow youth or getting old
Stress from pains to pleasures range
The common element is change
Adapt or die, and that's a fact
And so our bodies must react:
The heart speeds up, the gut slows down
Facial muscles snarl or frown
Bronchial tubes expand and then
The blood absorbs more oxygen
Widened pupils search the void
Adrenal glands secrete steroid
Serum glucose starts to climb
More insulin works overtime
Stressed physically or mentally
Muscles tense to fight or flee
The midbrain boils with rage and fear
While cortex plans to save your rear
The point is, stress is not unique
It doesn't mean you're dumb or weak
A part of mankind's constitution
Bequeathed to us by evolution
Common both to man and beast
It proves you're still alive, at least.

By William Goldsmith, MD

Positive thinking

There is great power in positive thinking. Obviously, my children must have out their little heads together because Mike found this in our front yard cyprus tree:

His name is Tiger (I know, very original). He was extremely dehydrated and hungry. He was also very dirty and had tree sap on him. We cleaned him up and now I guess he belongs to my oldest..

It is not kitten season.. How else do you explain him coming to us??

Finished this set for a charity "Santa" project

Mystery solved...

Ever since I started going back to school, we have been having lots of trouble with our dog, Dakota, escaping and running away. We have been blessed by many strangers (and friends and neighbors) who have brought her back to us. We've tried lots of things and now we simply put her in the house whenever I am in class. This is probably what she wanted all along but anyway...

I now know at least part of the mystery. My dog is part kangaroo.

bluehat

bluehat
Originally uploaded by slichly.

Not many finished objects lately. I made this using the Knifty Knitter brand looms.

I (heart) Autumn!

I always have. The colors, the weather, going back to school, sweaters (I am a fiber junkie, you know). My house is even decorated in Fall colors so I can have Autumn all year round. Here are some of our latest happenings:


The pumpkin patch: (Another way for someone to make lots of money off the trappings of parenthood, but as the commercial says "Priceless memories")



I think Paige's favorite part was seeing how many pumpkins she could put in our friend's wagon. We ended up buying three pumpkins but putting around 15 back. She's a strong toddler.

No, her favorite part must have been this: (Don't forget she's only 3 1/2)



Halloween: We now have a child old enough to want to be something scary and evil. We had been able to avoid it up until this year



Fire station: Although very brave and outgoing about most everything else, Paige has a tremendous fear of sirens. We live near a busy street so any time a fire engine roars down the street, fear, panic and tears arupt from my youngest. So on the advice of my child development class, I packed her up, bought a dozen donuts as a gift and headed to my local station. I have to say the firefighters were extremely nice and warm to us. Lucky for me, there was a female firefighter (also a mom) on duty and she just scooped Paige up and let her check out the truck. The firefighters thanked Paige for the donuts and said "Next time you hear the siren, remember to wave at us!" Of course, there have been no sirens to try our theory on yet but it will come soon....

NATO recipients

will be getting these as gifts: Handknit Latvian mittens.

Cool info on this site

Ocotber Scarves

oct06scarf
Originally uploaded by slichly.

Recent finished objects that will be given to charity. Click on photo for more info regarding yarn used.

In Loving Memory

TLL
1956 - 2006

Before I forget..

I must announce that Sarah scored her first goal this past weekend. Not bad for a girl who has not played soccer in 3 years. Here she is right after she scored (with white ponytail "doo-dad")



Also, did anyone realize that yesterday was the equivalent of a National holiday at our house? The Little Mermaid came out on DVD. Yeah!!!! Now we can finally retire our 15 year old VHS tape of the same movie that has dots and lines running through it when we play it. Paige is on cloud 9.

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lacey 001

lacey 001
Originally uploaded by slichly.

I'm taking a break from studying to show you a sweater that took forever to finish. Actually it still doesn't have buttons. Do we really need buttons??

I really love knitting the top down sweaters but not so much the cardigans. The sweaters are a little more "brainless". This sweater took a little more effort. It is made from baby yarn so it has a nice light feel and is very soft. I have a sleeve detail photo on flickr.

Back-to-school

My fingers are itching. School started for me back on August 22, and I barely have time to knit. I'm taking Women's Health, Medical Terminology and Intro to Organic Chemistry. Paige's preschool also counts as a class because even though I work in her class once a week, we also attend a parenting/child development lecture. I'm a little worried that because even after 3 children, I know there will still be parenting stuff I haven't learned. :) It will be like "Aha, I should have done THAT! Then maybe I would still have some brain cells..."


Obligatory first day of school pictures. Don't they look excited!


In my sideline profession of animal rescuer, this little dove made an appearance on my doorstep yesterday. The bird seemed okay for the most part but let us get incredibly close to it and it wouldn't fly away. We scooped it up and took it the the local vet that takes "wildlife". Just another day in our crazy household. Now I just need the Dog Whisperer to come to my house and explain why our dog keeps jumping over a 5 foot fence and running away any time we leave the house. (Remember, she is 5 years old and was a perfectly sane dog up until this point.) I guess our human craziness is contagious to canines.

freeform 81606

freeform 81606
Originally uploaded by slichly.

A close-up of the free form p[iece I made for a crochet group with my mom. The color on this picture is not quite right. Imagine all the reds are a bit more "purpleish". Also, I must be the laziest fiber person around. I took my scrumbles and machine stitched them to a piece of denim to make this design. Then I machine stitched that piece of denim to a tote bag (like an applique). I left the frayed edges of the denim showing because I thought it looked interesting.

World Famous San Diego Zoo

This was our big family event for the summer. One of my favorite places yet it always seems to wreck our calves. :) Lots of hills. Of course I took about a million pictures so here a few of my favorites:









After the zoo, we stopped in Old Town and ate at Rancho La Lena. So yummy!