Handmade Wedding Invitations

I promised you a little tutorial on how I made my wedding invitations here.

I knew I wanted to make my invitations from the start. I have always enjoyed working with paper (and as obsessive as I am about yarn... paper and I go way back. I think it's still my favorite. Just don't tell that basket of wool sitting next to the stack of scrapbooking supplies.) 

I didn't get married that long ago... but Pinterest wasn't around for ideas when the Sailor and I finally tied the knot. Thankfully, Michaels and and other craft stores were. Nowadays, there seems to be no shortage of places to purchase supplies -- at least here in America. (For those of you who don't live near massive chain stores... I do still believe that sometimes the most creative projects blossom with using only what's on hand! I also believe in Etsy... and how easy it is to order something from across the globe.)

Nevertheless, I did have an arsenal of craft supplies at my ready. Because I married a sailor, and since we met on a ship, I wanted to somehow incorporate a sea theme into the invitations. I also knew that many people wouldn't make the wedding due to travel, so I spent extra time and money on the invitations. I wanted to give the people who couldn't make it, their own little keepsake of our day. 

I started by scratching out some ideas in my notebook. I find that some people are afraid to even sketch ideas -- like they will mess up. Impossible, I say... that's why you sketch the idea. 

Most of the time, my finished product only resembles the sketches in one small way. In this case, I took away the concept of putting the info on handmade luggage tags. The Sailor and I traveled a lot in our dating years, and we still do today, so I wanted that to be part of the theme. 

I knew I wanted to put all of the info on the luggage tags -- I've always loved scrapbooks and invitations that are very hands on. I thought it would be fun for people to pull out each tag for the information. 

Once I found the blue paper, it all kind of fell into place.

Each tag held various bits of essential information: 

Shore leave: I used a printed map of South Africa on the front, and on the back, listed the nearest transportation hubs.  

Navigation: The Sailor acquired some old navigation charts for me to use on the front of these. On the back, more specific details of where the wedding would be held and how to book rooms at the location.

Port History: The photo on the front is one of the Anastasis Mercy Ship -- where we met. You can see from the photo below, I listed the port cities we traveled to together. I also found small silver beads and tied them onto the hemp on this tag -- they reminded me of miniature wedding rings.

SOS: Life-ring on the front; RSVP contact info on the back.

Once I got the luggage tags together, I still needed a way to keep them all together with the invitation. A friend of mine helped and we came up with the idea to use a flap, and then we hammered little brads in to keep the flap from falling apart. 
 

I wrote the actual invitation by hand on the inside of the invitation, and the flap held all of the tags. I chose a Bible verse that seemed particularly applicable to our situation, and put the first half on the front, and the second half on the flap.  

For half of our dating life, and now our marriage, 

we have been separated by a sea.

 

"Many waters cannot quench love, rivers cannot wash it away..." 

Song of Songs 8:7

I tied everything together with hemp (I love using hemp for all kinds of projects, but this time, it looked a little like mooring lines) and I found little anchor trinkets to put on the front. I also used necklace clasps on the hemp -- I searched until I found ones that looked a little like a life-ring.  

I also tied the bottom of the invitation together with a little hemp knot -- you can see the brad, but I've already untied the bottom. 

Our wedding was on a serious budget. The Sailor was in navigation school right before we married, and I was working as a volunteer with various non-profits. I decided to splurge though on the invitations, but in the end, to make and mail 60 of them (many of them internationally), only cost about $200. 

I never bothered to price what it would have cost to have someone else print them for me, but I don't think it would have been much cheaper. Plus, I love how they turned out.

After the wedding, I ended up using the same luggage tag and blue theme for my scrapbook to showcase a few photos. 

Like the invitation, I used the tags to write info on the back. For these 'style' shots, I wrote stories of when and where I got various bits of my wedding ensemble. 

I also used the tags and leftover anchors as part of my thank you notes. 

I think overall, people 'got' the sea and traveling theme, and they felt included in the day, even if they couldn't make it.
 

Have you previously made, or are you currently creating invitations for anything by hand? I'd love to hear your ideas.  

Work in Progress

I used to be the type of person who only read one book at a time. I may have read voraciously, but I still kept to one book. I couldn't understand how people could keep plots and characters straight if they read two or more books at once. 

That didn't stop me from carting around more than one book when I traveled, though. I had to finish one before I started another, but I still had more than one with me. That was a total pain. (Luggage limits aside... schlepping a bag full of heavy books around on a train isn't exactly fun.)

Over the holidays, I acquired a nook. The Sailor suggested I get some sort of e-reader, especially for traveling. He thought it would come in handy. On our recent travels, instead of taking four books with me, I only had to bring one nook. I even found myself reading more than one book at a time on it. 

Now, I find that in addition to the books I'm reading on my nook, I also have several scattered around the apartment that I'm reading at the same time. 

I'm not sure when exactly this transition happened, but apparently I really can read more than one book at a time. 

Similarly, I used to be a one-fiber-project-at-a-time kind of person. I usually had to finish a crocheted blanket, or a knit sock, before I could think about starting a new project. 

This weekend, I Iooked around the apartment and gasped. With the Sailor gone, I tend to leave my craft paraphernalia all over the place, and I noticed I had not one, not two, but FIVE W.I.P.S. 

(For those uninitiated into yarn verbiage: W.I.P. = Work In Progress. A W.I.P. means you have things 'on the needles' as they say, but not yet finished.)

There's this shawl (Citron Grand, if you're wondering): 

A (headless) knit bobble sheep pillow:  

(Get the free pattern here at Purl Bee)

A possible crocheted sweater (as yet undecided if this yarn will work for it):

 

A basic baby blanket: 

Plus I'm about to cast on for another pair of fuzzy slippers like these. (Spring may be here, but my feet still get cold. You can read more about my slipper obsession here.)

I almost forgot... I also still have a bag of granny squares that I need to do something with. 

I like that I've got so much going on though. It means that when I was going out the door for the camera club the other night, I didn't have to hunt for a project to work on during the meeting. (The irony is not lost on me -- knitting at a camera club meeting...) I grabbed the shawl, knowing that I could easily squeeze a few rows in without a problem. The sheep? His head needs to wait until I can concentrate on it (no TV, or distractions). The baby blanket? Easy to work on while carrying on a conversation when friends come over. 

Clearly, I've gotten over my issues of working on only one thing at a time. I blame the nook.

Pinned

Today was a perfect laundry day. Cold, but perfectly windy for drying clothing outdoors. 

Clothespins are of course essential when hanging the washing outside. They also make for a fun photo experiment. I love taking simple everyday things and making them into art.

 
Today was also my local camera club meeting. You may remember from this post that I used to be a little skeptical of my camera club. Now that I'm in my third season with the club, I've grown to appreciate it, and I've definitely learned a lot.  

Plus I'm a little competitive. I did well the first year in Category B, and earned enough points to work my way up to Category A. Last year I also did well (although some of the best photographers were nowhere to be found that year!) So far this year, I scored highly in the first competition of the season with several photos -- Knit Lit is still one of my favorites. 

I didn't want to miss out on entering the competition while we were in South Africa, so I left my photos with another member to enter for me. 

I kind of forgot about the whole thing until tonight, when I got my photos back. I've already shown you this one that tied for second place in the color category. 

Tonight I discovered that the black and white one above, 'Pinned' tied for second place in the black and white category. 

Our next competition is looming -- I can enter one color, one black and white, and one with the theme of 'mostly yellow'. I have some ideas brewing in my mind... sunflowers may be involved. Regardless of whether I win, I'll be sure to share the results with you. 

Gathering the Gooseberries

I went through a little bit of thrifting withdrawal on our recent travels. (Or 'drifting' as the Sailor likes to refer to my junking habit.) 

I think thrifting is the ultimate form of recycling though. Besides, who doesn't like a good treasure hunt? 

This weekend, I went out for coffee with my mom, and on my way to exchange some yarn in between, we stopped briefly at the nearby thrift store. 

THIS... in its full glory, called out my name. 

Those of you who know your vintage Pyrex will know that this Gooseberry refrigerator set is not an easy one to come by. I've seen the prices on eBay and frankly, it scared me off of ever finding one in an antique store, let alone a thrift store. 

But a few months back, I found this lonely little dish here. And I got a little glimmer of hope that more Gooseberry must be out there somewhere, at a reasonable price. 

My mom said she thought she saw rainbows burst out of me when I saw the full fridge set. You can read that story here and see what else I bought that day. I know I spent more money than usual (seriously people, I'm more of a bargain thrifter, not splurger... but occasionally there are times when rainbows burst out of me and I can't control myself...)

Of course my rule in purchasing Pyrex is that I have to actually use it. It can't just sit there looking pretty (although it IS pretty, isn't it?!) 

Avocado and tomato salad, along with homemade fennel soup. I remembered I had a fennel soup recipe I wanted to try out, so I purchased some at the local farmer's market. 

I've never used fennel in anything before -- but it is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. The soup was little more than butter, onion, garlic, chicken stock and the fennel... but I think the secret was in cooking the fennel for at least 30 minutes to bring out the flavor. Yum.

As usual, everything tasted better in Pyrex. 

 

Springing to Life

Today finally felt like spring. Glorious spring, where life starts to emerge, slowly, from winter stillness.

Buds form on the trees, flowers push through the ground towards the sun, and even the birds chirp a little louder. 

I even sat outside for a bit to soak in some sunshine. 

(Oh outdoors and sunshine... you have been missed!) 

As much as I complain about the winter, I actually do love all four seasons. Even winter has a purpose. Without winter, there would be no true spring. No renewal, no rebirth. None of those buds forming or flowers beginning to grow.

How sad would that be? So I for one, would like to apologize to winter. 

I'm sorry winter, when I blame you for being so long and miserable. I'm sorry that I want to shovel you away along with the snow. Actually, you're just part of the cycle of life. You've been keeping things under wraps until the time is right for them to start to grow again.

So thank you, winter. Thank you for all that you've done. But now it's time for you to leave until at least November, maybe even December. (Snow, you can show up in time for Christmas...)   

Spring is definitely in the air -- and with it, my heart (like the birds) sings a little louder. May this season of renewal and rebirth bring you a basketful of hope and happiness.

Happy Easter.

Happy Anniversary

This past weekend, the Sailor and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. It's the first time in a while that we've actually been in the same country together on the day, so we decided to look at our wedding photos while we had the chance.

Pulling down the dusty scrapbook made me realize how long it had been since I looked at our photos. Then when the invitation fell out, I realized I really should do something more with it besides sticking it in the album. 

It also reminded me how much FUN I had making all of our wedding invitations. 

So much fun, I'm going to share even more with you... a little tutorial, if you will. 

But not now.

Soon, though. 

I promise. 

{update: wedding invitation tutorial here}

Old Books are Super Sweet

Over the years, I have always poked fun at my mother for her love of old books. Just the other night, she was telling me about a Sinclair Lewis book she recently finished, and I asked if she was reading anything a little more modern these days. 

(She wasn't. This is besides the point, however.)

The next day, the Sailor pointed to a book he'd never noticed on the shelf and asked what it was -- it was an old copy of 'The Real Book about Ships'. We took it down to page through... and while at the shelf I unearthed my 1953 copy of 'Aboard and Abroad' -- an entire volume dedicated to fifties style travel to and from Europe.

Obviously, much of the information is out of date. But there are a few hidden gems, like a reminder of former steamship Cunard's ad campaign: 'Getting there is half the fun.' 

I concur. Getting there (and around) usually is still half the fun. (Sometimes it's most of the fun! If you missed the post a week ago about renting a car in Mexico, you can read that here.)

But I digress... sifting through those books reminded me that I'm turning into my mother a little. I may not be reading an old, dusty edition by Sinclair Lewis yet, but I definitely have my fair share of older books -- especially cookbooks. (You can read more about that here.)

This weekend, I wanted to make a pineapple upside down cake. I could have just looked online, but I decided to use the recipe from an old cookbook, instead. I picked 'The Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedia Cookbook' -- the 1966 new revised delux edition. 

I should have known when I set out that this dessert might flop. At the very least, it was going to put everyone into a sugar-induced coma. For a 9x9 inch pan, the recipe called for 1 cup of brown sugar AND 1 cup of white sugar. I thought it must have been a typo, but I proceeded as directed.

In addition, I really, really wanted to use my new (yet old) round Pyrex 8x8 cake pan I recently thrifted. So of course the batter was going to ooze out over the top since the pan was too full. 

I flipped the cake over once it cooled... and the whole thing started to slide off the plate. No photos... my fingers were too sticky from all of the pineapple juice to handle the camera. I took one bite of the gooey cake and my teeth started to hurt. 

I chalked it up to another kitchen disaster. If you need more proof that this wasn't my first kitchen flop, you can see more here.  

My mother reminded me (after taking her own bite and nearly passing out) that people didn't eat sugary stuff as often back then as they do today. So maybe it wasn't a typo on the cookbook. Maybe it was just a once-a-year-special-occasion cake?

Regardless,  I'm going to think twice about making something sweet out of an old cookbook again.

The Princess and the Pea

No matter how much I travel, it is always wonderful to come home to sleep in my own bed. I used to brag that I could sleep anywhere, and for the most part it is still true. Just because I can sleep on a plane though, it doesn't mean that it is comfortable, OR good for my neck, for that matter. 

Some nights -- and depending on the hotel chain and the quality of bedding -- I really do feel like the Princess and the Pea. 

No matter how great the trip, there is always a marvelous moment when I get home and realize I get to sleep in my own bed. 

A while back, I made this adorable Princess, fully equipped with mattresses, blanket and pea pod. I wanted to post it earlier, but I also wanted to wait until my friend received the gift package I mailed. I had a suspicion she was perhaps a reader on this blog; I didn't want to give away the surprise before she received the doll for her daughter.

Now that both the package and surprise are in the correct hands, I can share with the rest of you this gorgeous and fun Princess and the Pea.

The pattern is from Itty-Bitty Toys by Susan B. Anderson. This isn't the first toy I've made from this book, nor will it be the last. All of her patterns are adorable... and an absolute joy to knit. I've made several reversible toys from the book, and a few hand puppets, but by far, this was my favorite doll to knit.

I especially loved the little pea pod that goes with the doll. 

While I didn't make nearly as many mattresses as I could have, the Princess seems to have plenty to keep her occupied for a while. As for me, I'm happy with the one mattress I have at the moment. 

Snowflake Garlands

I thought for sure we would return home to witness the trees blossoming, buds springing forth from the ground, and a serious temptation to continue to show off my pedicured feet in the form of sandals. 

I was wrong. 

Yesterday, the Sailor and I watched in disbelief as it snowed. 

And snowed. 

And snowed some more. 

Blue skies today mean that the snow is melting, although more wet stuff is forecast for the rest of the week. Forget salads and detoxing post-cruise, suddenly, I'm finding myself wanting to bake.

As I have mentioned before on this blog, I have an affinity for vintage Pyrex. I even blog at a collector's site, although my small kitchen won't permit me to have quite so many pieces of Pyrex. 

I started out loving the yellow and orange Pyrex because it matched my kitchen (Sunflower colors? Why yes, thank you...) 

Along the way, I've gained an appreciation for many of the fun colors Pyrex made -- pink and aqua have now also found their way into my collection. 

I resisted purchasing anything with snowflakes on it though -- I figured I could only use those pieces over the winter, and I wanted my vintage stuff to serve more of a purpose than simply sitting on a shelf as decor. Nevertheless, I found this piece for only $3 and I was hooked.

Last week, once I had unpacked and did the necessary laundry, I did a quick round through town to the thrift stores. I wasn't having much luck at the first two, but then I found something that caught my eye at the third one. 

It's the Snowflake Garland pattern -- one that I don't have yet, and one that I certainly don't need. In fact, I've definitely passed up this pattern in other shapes before. But an 8x8 baking pan with fantastic handles for only $3? How practical is that? 

Now that I actually bought the thing, my only decision is what I'm going to actually bake in it. 

Winter will come and finally go, at least for a few months. Vintage Pyrex, though...  you're here to stay.

Red Bugs in Mexico

Our recent cruise itinerary included Mexico. For someone who is as well traveled as me... I had never before been to Mexico. (Don't laugh, I made it to countless other countries before I even ventured into Canada.)

The Sailor had previously been to Cozumel before and joked that we wouldn't miss much if we simply stayed on board for the day. Nevertheless, we made the obligatory rounds through the tourist spots, and then on a whim, decided to rent some sort of dune buggy for the day. 

Excited as we were at our spontaneity, the rental place was all out of dune buggies. But the owner offered us a beat-up old red Volkswagen instead. 

We took it. 

From the moment we sat inside and turned the ignition, we were laughing. The car sputtered to life. My seat flew forward in the tracks every time the Sailor braked. I got stuck in the seat belt and had to shimmy out when we stopped. There were no side windows, the rear-view mirror served no real purpose, and when we stopped to put gas in the car, the attendant pulled out a rag that was being used to plug the petrol. A rag.

Then the rag blew away. 

Some German tourists walked past and stopped to take a photo of our Bug (while we sat inside, waving to the attendant that the rag had blown away.)

After driving halfway around the island and having the vinyl sun roof flap on my head, we rolled it up, only to get baked by the mid-day sun. 

At one point I mistakenly turned around, looked at the non-existent back seat, and I noticed the floor was rusting through. 

The Sailor and I suddenly felt like the Flintstones. 

We managed to get the whole way around the island, and returned the car in one piece (or at least in the number of pieces we left with initially!)

Every time I meet a couple who has been married 50 plus years, I make it a point to ask them their secret to success. Without a doubt, every single one of them says to keep a sense of humor going throughout the marriage and life. 

There were numerous reasons I fell for the Sailor; his sense of humor was definitely tops. 

Later that night, my neck hurt. In fact my whole body kind of felt like I had been jolted around on a wooden roller coaster. The biggest pain of all? My stomach hurt from laughing so much. But that made everything else worth it. The Sailor and I still have a good chuckle every time we talk about the Bug.

Cruising to Calm

My motto for 2013 is supposed to be to chill out -- no matter what happens. 

Well, if you've been following this blog, you know that 2013 has thrown a few curve balls my way. I'm still trying to stay pretty chilled out, because really, what good is it stressing about stuff that is beyond my control? 

This past week, the Sailor took me on a cruise. It was in the works for some time, and happened to still fit right into our schedule, despite the timing of my brother's death a few weeks ago. 

I sent the Sailor this card years ago...
It made me smile when I found it in the closet back in South Africa.

A fellow former shipmate and friend of mine sent me a message right before I boarded: 'Hope the cruise is good for your soul...' 

The cruise was indeed good for my soul. There is something calming about being on the water. Warm weather and fabulous food never hurt either. 

 

While on board, I also celebrated my birthday... 

I took in a few sights of the sea... 

 

And of course the palm trees and sunsets on land...

The last day of the cruise, the Sailor and I went to a butterfly conservatory -- quite possibly my favorite excursion of the sail.

Was the cruise good for my soul? Absolutely. Am I going to still aim to be chilled out this year? Most definitely. 

PS: In case you haven't noticed... most of these are Instagram pics. I've only recently discovered how addictive the app is. Follow me there: typingsunflowers.

Two-at-a-Time Sleeves

While creating the blue cardigan the first time, I worked on the sleeves and made them both at the same time. 

The first time I heard of this technique, I thought 'Huh? How can you make two sleeves at once?' 

But after making my first-ever sweater and forgetting how many rows I did from the first sleeve to the second sleeve, I vowed to make both sleeves at a time from there on out. That way, if they were the wrong length, at least they would both be the wrong length. 

Besides, when you make a sweater, sometimes you end up with second sleeve syndrome (similar to 'second sock syndrome', whereby you are too fed up to make the second sock by the time you finish the first one.) 

With this technique, you simply cast on for the first sleeve with one ball of yarn. Then you cast on for the second sleeve with the second ball of yarn. You have to be careful about getting the two balls of yarn tangled together, but I found that if you keep each ball in separate little bags on either side of you, they won't bunch so easily. 

I've also heard that if you are the type of person to get bored with your sweater by the time you get to the sleeves, then you should simply knit the sleeves first. I can attest to this technique, since I had to start everything in my cardigan over again, except the sleeves. Although, if you are also the type of person to skimp on buying extra yarn, you may run out of yarn on the body of the sweater with that method (far better to have shorter sleeves rather than a shorter sweater, right??)

The Great Cardigan Remake - Done

In the midst of everything that happened last week after we got home from our trip, I realized that I never updated you all on the status of the great cardi remake. 

I found these fabulous buttons at a hobby shop and I finally sewed the sleeves on, and put all of the finishing touches on the cardigan. 

I must confess that I was relieved to finish it... but I wasn't super thrilled with it at the end. Maybe it was just too hot in South Africa, or I didn't have the right shirt with me to wear with it.

Now that it's unpacked and I'm cold again, I'm looking for more occasions to wear it.

Write it Out

I have been missing regular doses of writing lately. I know I've been posting things and writing about them... but occasionally I feel the need to hole myself up in a coffee shop and type and type and type for days on end.

It's how I tend to process things. It's the reason I stayed up late to finish that last post about my brother. I needed to write something... I needed to process what I couldn't verbalize to even friends and family.

I had a Psychology teacher at university tell our class that the best way to get through trauma and life in general is to pray it out, run it out, cry it out and write it out.

I have always loved this simplicity. And while I've replaced the running with walking instead over the years, I have definitely gone for the other three with vigor.

No Regrets

Two Thanksgivings ago, I stood in my kitchen with my older brother Matthew, waiting for my mom's pumpkin pies to finish baking. Matt explained to me a little of what the doctor had recently discovered, and I so clearly remember saying, 'Cancer cells? That's ridiculous. We don't have cancer in our family,' and I went back to checking on the pies.

This past Thanksgiving I stood in that same kitchen, and thought back to how different this holiday was from the last one. 

We did indeed have cancer in our family -- my brother was living proof. Christmas came and went, along with 2012, and Matt still trooped on. 

Over this past weekend though, my brother passed away at the age of 40. 

Cancer (and indeed any and all disease...) sucks. I'm not the first person to say it, nor will I be the last. Nearly every person I know has been touched in some way by a relative, friend or colleague who has had cancer. Some have lived, many have died.

When I first discovered Matt had cancer, I went for a walk with a childhood friend. Walking is, after all, the cheapest form of both exercise and therapy. She had recently listened to a radio special on cancer -- and she mentioned how many of the people they interviewed said the disease brought them closer together as a family. 

I was a little skeptical, but as 2012 carried on, those words stayed with me. My brother and I definitely had our differences, especially as we grew into adulthood. I wasn't totally convinced that him having cancer would cure us of our relationship woes. In fact, I thought it might make them worse. But in the end, while it was no doubt one of the most difficult years of my life, I am forever grateful for the extra time I got to spend with Matt. The radio broadcaster was right. Cancer had brought us closer. Cancer still sucked, but good can occasionally spring forth from a bad situation. 

While we continued to pray for a miracle of healing, I think the true miracle was the reconciliation that occurred in our family.

I told Matt how much I loved him while he was still alive. I even wrote him a letter (because I often stink at actually verbalizing my true feelings) and then I read it to him. The letter contained 10 things I wanted him to remember -- I'll share just one with you:

"You were always braver than me – whether it was with a roller coaster, bungee jumping, buying a house, fighting fires, pulling people out of vehicles and now going through cancer. You have definitely trumped me with guts. (I know I gave you some lame excuse about not wanting to hurt myself for an upcoming cross-country race when I didn't go bungee jumping with you, but really, I was scared sh*tless.) The only time I remember you being a chicken was when you had a spider in your room at the A-frame and you wanted me to get rid of it. Now that I think about it… maybe that was just your ploy to get me to do your dirty work?!"

We hugged through tears and sniffles and even a few giggles, and then we had eight more months to reminisce about our childhood. Those were the best moments I shared with him. They are the memories I will cherish in the years to come. And in the moments after he died, I thought to myself, "I'm so glad I gave him that letter so many months ago."   

No regrets about anything left unsaid.

But I know life will never quite be the same. C.S. Lewis says in his book, The Four Loves: 

"If, of three friends (A, B, and C), A should die, then B loses not only A, but ‘A’s part in C’ and C loses not only A, but ‘A’s part in B’."

I have always appreciated this poignant quote, because whenever death occurs, it not only affects you, it affects those around you who also knew that person, and therefore it changes your relationship with those people, even if only slightly. 

I will feel my brother's absence not only in my own realm, but in the lives of those he touched throughout his life. 

Matt and me -- circa 80s

Watching my only sibling deal with cancer changed me. Life really is too short. Live with no regrets. Forgive. Move on. Get in touch with friends you have been meaning to get in touch with. Write a letter. Encourage someone. Tell and show others how much you love them. 

And the next time you encounter someone going through something as big as cancer, remind them of their bravery, and then let them know they are not alone. Matt would have liked that.

Drink Up

Last year, to celebrate the Sailor's success at passing a HUGE navigation exam, we went to Abu Dhabi. We met with friends, laid around the beach and the pool, and I drank far too many of the green slushy type beverage pictured below -- frozen mint lemonade. 

YUM.

I haven't quite figured out how to make it yet, although I do know that fresh mint and lemonade (clearly) are involved.
 
This week, the Sailor ordered a frozen ginger lemonade at a coffee shop... and somehow he ended up with a frozen mint lemonade. I'm still not sure how that happened, since I didn't see that combo anywhere on the menu. The Sailor didn't share my passion for the drink, so needless to say, I enjoyed the rest of it.

I was definitely back in Abu Dhabi, if only for the few minutes it took me to slurp the drink. 

This photo was taken right before the Sailor arrived -- on a day out with two of my dearest friends (yes, I am blessed. A trip to Abu Dhabi AND my friends are there?!) I entered the photo in the most recent camera club competition -- it tied for second in the color category.

I only wish a frozen mint lemonade was the prize, rather than a red ribbon.  
 

Successful Socks

Sometime in between putting a hole in the blue cardigan and starting over on it, I knit a pair of socks. I need to diversify, especially in the middle of a knitting frustration (like the cardigan). I occasionally need to remind myself that I know how to knit. 

And while I know South Africa doesn't get the same crazy snow and weather that we get back home, I do know how cold it CAN get here -- especially at night. 

So I made my mother-in-law some fun socks for the winter. I used the same Paton's pattern book as before. I must confess that I haven't experiment much with any other new pattern for socks. (Why mess with what seems to work?)

I do think that I need to start branching out though -- I think my socks need a cable or lace pattern at some point. But for now, I'm sticking to the basic pattern. 

I should also confess that I never really thought much about socks before, especially to give as a gift. (I think I conjured up images of children ripping open gifts to discover plain blah socks, when they expected toys instead...)

However, since I learned to knit to make socks... and since I've gotten fairly good at this basic pattern, I've come to appreciate how wonderful hand knit socks feel on my feet. Now I feel I need to share the joy. They are definitely fun to give as gifts -- and I'm going to bet, just as fun to receive.

Stop and Stare

I mentioned in my last post that my father-in-law has some amazing peaches from his trees. What I didn't mention is that there is one growing right outside our window.

No matter the season, I have always loved looking at this tree. Now that it's summer here, the sun always seems to hit it spot on -- you know... that moment when you see the light hitting the leaves and all of the world seems just right. I need a little of that most days. (Oh, who am I kidding here -- I need that everyday!)

I'm trying to soak up as much of the blue sky and greenery surrounding me as I can. I know that in only days I will be back to a very snowy Northern Hemisphere. There, I will at least have Ted, Ned and Red (if they are still alive, that is...) to give me my daily dose of green until the trees start to bud. 

The old adage, 'stop and smell the roses' sometimes doesn't get my attention. I like to stop and stare at them instead. It's amazing what kind of beauty surrounds us on a daily basis.

It's not only roses either. My mother-in-law pointed this flower out to me my first evening here. I have no idea what kind of plant this is... but I love it. How can you not think that is cool?!

Stop and stare once in a while... and marvel at the wondrous details in nature. 

(And if anyone knows what this plant is actually called... please fill me in.)

Peach Smoothies

I'm making progress on the great cardigan remake. (This isn't the first time I've had to remake a sweater -- more on that later -- nor do I think this will be the last!)

This morning, while I was vigorously knitting the waist decreases, my father-in-law emerged from the garden and sat with me under the tree to cut up a giant bowl of peaches. 

Coffee, knitting, a cool breeze in the shade... and the smell of peaches -- what better way to spend a Sunday morning?

I couldn't resist eating a small bowl myself. While Pa peeled and chopped his way through what seemed to be about 55 peaches, I remembered a summer years ago in Ukraine, when I sat under a similar tree with Babka Dina. 

Dina wasn't related to me, but she was known as Grandma to anyone who came near her. 

She was large, and rather slow when moving about. She used a cane, but insisted that she didn't need help whenever someone would offer an arm to her. 

One of my first days in her town in Eastern Ukraine, we sat at a table (where we spent most of the time actually). An unusual number of bees swarmed us. Babka Dina was unfazed. She spent the latter part of the lunch we shared trying to capture bees in a cup, or smashing them with her spoon. Occasionally she dumped scalding hot tea onto them when they landed on the table. (I'm going to guess she never saw the Bee Movie...)

Watching Pa peel peaches reminded me of Babka Dina -- not because she was old, and hobbled about, or because she happened to be a bee killer -- but because one of the only photos I have of her, she is sitting cross-armed, very stoic, next to a bushel of peaches, not unlike the giant bowl Pa had beside him.  

The photo is a shoebox, in a closet, on the other side of the world at the moment, but I can still see her face.  

It's been years since I saw Babka Dina -- I don't know whatever happened to her. I like to think that she's still smashing bees with the same spoon she uses for the honey. And I hope her peach tree is still thriving. 

 

After we consumed enough peaches for the morning and left the rest in the fridge for a smoothie later, a bee started to hover around the Sailor. He too was unfazed, but unlike Babka Dina, he let the bee live. 

Because I've been eating so many peach smoothies lately, I thought I should share my recipe (which honestly just fluctuates depending on the fruit that I happen to have on hand, but this has been the standard for two weeks now.) 

PEACH SMOOTHIES

INGREDIENTS:
2 ripe peaches, chopped (preferably just picked) 
1 apple, chopped
1 banana, peeled of course, and chopped
Either a few splashes of milk, or a few spoonfuls of plain or fruit yogurt 
A small handful of almonds *

Throw all together in a blender. 
Pour into a glass and enjoy! 

This smoothie is quite thick, so I like to use a spoon to scrape out the last of it from the glass. Or, you could just add more liquid. 
 
* Omit the almonds if you married a picky eater like the Sailor.