This and That on a Sunday

Hello all of you lovely friends of mine, I hope this Sunday finds you relaxing and having a wonderful day.

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my Clapo-Ktus, it was so much fun to make,  and right now on it's way to Kansas City.

And a very special thank you to Joan at Pembrokeshire Lass for this beautiful tea towel.  I was one of the very happy winners of Joan's tea towel give-away.  Isn't it just gorgeous?  My husband's family is half Welsh and half German, so I think this is a very fitting gift.  

 
I have always dreamed of visiting Wales.  My Mil and SIL's went several years ago and thought it was so beautiful.  Following Joan on her beautiful blog has made me want to visit even more.  She is constantly showing us the beauty of her country, with exquisite words of wisdom that I cherish.  Thank you so much for pulling my name Joan, I will cherish this beautiful tea towel.  Please pop by Joan's blog and give her a big, "Hello" for me.

I got surprise roses in the mail this week.  Aren't they fascinating?   This lovely gift was from our Pediatrician, who actually lives three houses away from me.  Her daughters are swimmers, so when they are injured I work on them to get them back into swimming shape.  This was her way of saying thank you.  I have never seen anything like them.  Apparently they split the stems into sections and place the sections in a different color dye, the dye gets soaked up and stains the petals, pretty neat I'd say.

My new Clapo-Ktus made a very quick trip to the beach with me yesterday.  My youngest has a friend visiting and they wanted to go to the beach.  Believe me I did not want to go, it was noon when we left (I try not to be in the sun from 11-4), and it was HOT!  I was hoping he would drive himself as he got his license this week, but no he was not sure about it so felt it was best if I drove.  So to make myself happy I thought I would knit on the beach.

Unfortuately the sunscreen I had on was getting in my eyes so I had to put the knitting away til I got home.  This is stash yarn, a chenille yarn that I remember was over 400 yards.  I have lost the information on this yarn long, long ago.  I can't recall why I bought it, probably because it is soft and yummy.  I am making this in size 6 needles just like the last one.  This one is taking longer as the chenille yarn sticks and you almost have to lift the stitch up when trying to knit into the back loop.  It is a bit fiddly, and slow, but I think the results will be worth it in the end.  I am going to do it my way again, so it has a similar border on both sides.  I am also not slipping the purl stitches at the beginning of the wrong side rows, I think that created a boarder with not enough give.

Using my zoom you can see the building of Clearwater Beach in the background.  Clearwater Beach has beautiful long stretches of fine, white sand.  It is a very busy place to be.  I'd much rather come to Honeymoon Island, the beach has some rocks, but is more natural.

Do you see the buildings on the horizon?  That is what it looks like with no zoom.  Aren't the clouds spectacular?  The clouds in Florida have always intrigued me, they are so big and boisterous.  I just love to watch them gliding across the sky.

Mr. 19 year old is home for 8 whole days.  I cried when I picked him up at the airport, he just shakes his head at me.  It is not something you plan to do, but when you see him walking towards you and then you wrap your arms around him, well it just happens.  It isn't like I was gushing tears, just a little misty is all.

I finished The Paris Wife by Paula McLain.  This is a fictionalized  story about Hadley Richardson, Ernest Hemingway's first wife.  It is based on letters that they wrote to each other, and on interviews of Hadley later in her life.  I have to say it was very well written.  I so wanted her to move on with her life, I felt so frustrated for her.  It is not easy to read about a marriage falling apart especially when the main character is in so much pain. I am not a huge Hemingway fan, and now even less of one, but the book was very interesting to read.

Hope you are all having a wonderful Sunday.