Pumpkin Fun

My niece and mom posing at the local pumpkin patch.
Even the boys enjoyed the pumpkin carving and sampled with eagerness any droppings.
My niece and I poking in the design.

The finished pumpkin. What a happy guy he is. We had such beautiful weather today in the upper 60's with clear blue skies. I decided to roast some pumpkin seeds since I hadn't eaten any for a long time.

The boys are now 9 months old and are loving the fall weather. This past weekend my mother, grandmother and I went to a local Christmas bazaar. It is fun to see what people are making these days. I am still recovering from that nasty virus but am much improved. The birthday sweater is slow coming along as I haven't got the body measurements right yet. It might end up being a Christmas sweater at this rate.

An Afternoon of Tea and a few other things...

Here I am standing outside of the front of Gypsy's Tea Room on a windy fall day.

We had a wonderful afternoon celebrating the birthdays of my mom and grandmother. A good friend of my mother's drove down to join us and she is taking the picture. Hopefully we will have a chance to go back again.

Unfortunately knitting a sweater is a bit harder than all the other projects I have attempted leading me to rip out my work several times in the past week. One problem is that I am trying to alter a pattern to fit the measurements of my niece. I am trying to knit a top down raglan sweater pattern but the size only goes up to a 4T and she is 6X. I would like to finish it for Nov. 15th or Christmas 2007.

Sunday I played the piano along with the organist, 2 violins, 2 flutes, a trumpet and a hammered dulcimer. It is so much fun to play with other instruments.

I finally went to the doctor Tuesday and got an antibiotic since I was going over 2 weeks being sick. Hopefully I will be feeling more normal by the weekend.

Autumn Beauty and Inspiration

A beautiful autumn day here and I can still wear a tank top outside. Here are some pictures along with a few inspirational quotes from Lord of the Rings. I can't wait till the Hobbit comes out on film. What is taking them so long?

Frodo: I wish none of this had happened

Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times but that is not for them to decide. All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you

Frodo: Then I know what I must do. It's just...I'm afraid to do it

Galadriel: Even the smallest person can change the course of the future

Still out sick but getting better

We have really been through a bad cold virus the past 2 weeks. I'm finally starting to feel normal although I have occasional coughing fits. I will now try to be more careful about hand washing after preschool pick-up duty occurs. With all this time at home I have been making Christmas ornaments mainly angels. I am trying to figure out a dove pattern and working on some Christmas bells too. I bought some dental floss threader to use in order to get beads on the crochet thread. What a nifty trick. I learned it from a bead crochet class I took last year. I also plan to finally start on my niece's birthday sweater. Since I don't have an exact pattern I hope it turns out okay.
Last night I practiced with the Lutheran church ensemble which consists of violin, viola, organ, flute, and hammered dulcimer. Under the leadership of a retired music teacher I think my sight reading skills will have to improve. I'm so used to playing by ear that I've gotten lazy about counting out rhythm.
I only managed to walk half of the CROP walk this year since I ran out of kleenex halfway through. But I was thankful to be well enough to get outside for the fresh air and scenery.

Columbus Day cold

I sit here on my day off suffering from a cold (sniff, sniff, sneeze). How frustrating. It is going to be close to 90 degrees today. We've had an incredibly hot Indian Summer week here but I think real fall weather is lurking right around the corner. I did venture out to a local Oktoberfest with a friend but was disappointed to find no one dressed in German attire and the lack of polka music. Oh well, at least I got a funnel cake.
I decided it was time for me to learn how to play the harmonica after thinking about it for sometime. Hopefully, I'll have a fast learning curve. The "draw" part of it is a bit challenging for me so far as well as getting single notes.
I just finished the first novel from the Miss Julia series by Ann Ross. It was pretty good but I still like the Mitford series better. Looking forward to hearing Mute Math in concert again when they play in Baltimore October 19th. My mother and I plan to try out a new tea room this month in Westminster, MD for her super belated birthday present from me.
Now it is time for me to start making/finishing Christmas and birthday presents.