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Wednesday, May 30, 2007

The unofficial start of summer

We had a great weekend, even though we stayed home most of the time to work on the house.

On Friday night we went to the garden center so that we could fill up the planters on the front stoop, the flower boxes in the back yard, and that narrow little bed that runs along the back fence. We got everything planted and swept up before it started drizzling rain. Perfect timing.

On Saturday and Sunday we tackled the kitchen and either threw out or gave away a bunch of stuff we no longer need, and then reorganized what was left. Top to bottom, it all got attention. The place looks better, it's sparkling clean, and it feels great to have a new kitchen.

It wasn't all work, though. Since a lot of Chicagoans were out of town, we snagged a table at the tiny new Neopolitan pizza place. We took a bottle of wine and had a fresh spinach salad with goat cheese, sweet strawberries, and balsamic vinegar dressing, a plate of grilled calamari with garlic, lemon and olive oil, and a thin crust roasted vegetable pizza. The service was charming and attentive. Our only disappointment was not having enough room for the locally-made gelato. We're giving Sapore di Napoli 4 stars. And that bottle of red after a long day wasn't bad either. ;)
collage

The long weekend also gave me time to pop into the bead store to find a sterling chain for my mom's new dogwood pendant. I'm pretty sure she'll like it. It's truly wearable art from Jenna's etsy shop -- she drew the flower on a piece of that shrinky dink plastic and then baked it.
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I'm also sending my mom a pair of socks. Trekking XXL color 109, knit on US size 1 Crystal Palace bamboo dpns, 72 stitches, flap heel. I didn't think this yarn needed any fancy stitchwork. The Haphazard Knitter just happened to be casting on with the same colorway, and she said she was using #1s & 72 stitches, so I did the same. We won't mention the fact that she got her's done in a few weeks and that I needed a few months.
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And looka, the peony that was camera shy last week has become a big show off. Maybe I should have saved this for Eye Candy Friday.
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3 Comments:

Blogger Vicki Knitorious said...

You could show it again for Eye Candy Friday -- or maybe a different view -- and I don't think anyone would mind. Your peonies are beautiful.

I don't live in a big city -- in fact, it's a pretty one -- but even we could tell the difference in "the crowds" over the holiday weekend, too. We decided that it's nice to stay home when everyone else is away. ; )

4:32 PM  
Blogger La Cabeza Grande said...

That sounds delicious, fun and relaxing! I really enjoyed the Mr. photo montage. And, last but by no means least, Madame Peony looks divine in pink!

6:58 PM  
Blogger gray la gran said...

what pretty socks! you know, my gauge varies ... now i'm knitting another colorway of trekking on zero's and 72 sts. hmmm ... trickery!
there's lots of eye candy in this post ... the delicious description of that fantastic dinner (plus the wine), a pretty chain and pendant, lovely peonies, and of course ... socks.
have a great weekend =)

9:35 PM  

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