i seem to be taking a bit of a break from this spot

i'll be back at some point
for now, you can find me over here a bit more regularly
talking home and garden

3 things on my mind these days:
knitting
cooking and eating
this place (via budget travel (thanks ma!))

working working working...

oh happy happy friday.

during my lunch break, i picked up some books i ordered from the library.
came back to the office and molly's book was here!
plus, i found this favorite book on the $.25 shelf !start of a great weekend....

hail!

this was a gift a while back

from my mom

it was her first knit blanket
i picked the colors
and she went crazy with the design
isn't it lovely?
it was supposed to be a couch blanket
but we sleep with it every night
i was reminded of it when i this

winter skies

rainy weekend trip to port costa
good friends, drinks and board games
(and maybe a dance party or two)

we live in a happy harmony with our house spiders

it's an old house
nature's just outside the door
it's hard to avoid

they don't bother us
so we don't bother them
(unless they get REALLY big and mean looking)

i kind of think the baby spiders are cute
(dead fly in top photo shown for scale)

got this great puzzle as a gift from my favorite german

hand-cut, nice thick pieces
(german, of course)
we worked on it furiously
until we hit the grey and white blank pieces
then it sat, unfinished, in our living room for months

while we were away on vacation
our friend finished it for us
what a relief!
just packed it up last weekend

been a busy few weeks

quiet past weekend
planted new vegetable seeds
crossed my fingers for the struggling broccoli seedlings
got really happy over our suddenly blooming camelia bush
and enjoyed fantastically sunny weather

i saw this sign last weekend.

i like the fish letters.

and thanks for your sweet comments
gearing up for the next knitting project.

happy weekend!

this is the first sweater i've ever knit.
it was supposed to be this,
but i was scared of seaming.
so i made a top-down raglan
and used the general idea from the orignal pattern.
it's a little snug in the shoulders,
the sleeves are a bit too long,
the collar isn't what i wanted, and
my buttonholes aren't so slick.
but i made it!

i might try again and actually follow the pattern.
i have to face my fear of seaming....

took a trip to the de young this weekend.

the maya lin exhibit was fantastic.
i should have gone earlier so i could revisit it a second time...tant pis.
the yyves st. laurent exhibit was also pretty great.
looking forward to renting the documentary.

our orakle animals for the new year
a friend, in germany, plays a new year's game
she reads your fortune from the figure that emerges
from a pill you place in warm water
ours are a bit delayed because they had to make the voyage from germany
waiting to hear what she decrees for us
but so far, not a bad start for a new year era.

this weekend

looking forward to...

- cleaning the house
- cooking and baking
- planting some new veggies
- finishing up random projects

and then, if i dare to leave the house,
i'd like to see this and this

happy weekend!

so many things to lust after (so many on sale, too!)
don't even come close to fitting the budget...

leonora dress (more than half off!)

the top is pretty nice, too

lermontov jacket
virgina johnson shawl: birds and camels (both on sale)
thanks to lena for rekindling the pining...

brown leather bag by lolli

mociun weave-print dress

and a couple of realistic/likely-to-happen purchases:
cafe chair for my new tall desk

vintage locker baskets for organizing (want)
affordable new version here

our own little radishes!
(and lots of rearranging...)

back from glorious vacation days.... here's a bit of what we did:

mexico city at nighttoo big for us for this trip, we took off the next morning by busoaxaca city

la noche de rabanos (radish carving festival!)food and good eats monte albanchristmas eve in oaxacanight bus to puerto angel

early morning drop-off got to see fisherman coming in

swimming, snorkeling, reading and whale watching!st. agustillino for more swimming and snorkeling
forgot to take any photos

corallero (bus to pinotepa (with live music, taxi to playa corallero, boat to the town)empty gorgeous beach and amazing lagoon and peaceful countryside
freshest, most delicious fish and crabnight in pinotepa nacional

new year's eve day and new year's day in acapulco:

opposite extreme of the empty beaches we lovedfantastic cliff divers and sunset

dinner in mexico city and sleeping in the airport