Bunnies | Crochet & Knitting | Food | Gatherings | Sport
An Incredibly Crazy Week (another long post)
- Here is yesterday’s Saturday Sky before the day began.
- Sunday
Because I just could not wake up (again!) for Rasha’s 9AM yoga class, I met up with Rasha and Sir John for breakfast at Jiggers (awesome diner in East Greenwich, RI) so we could figure out how to help her with her fairly new grill. Originally the plan was for me to purchase it, but Rich wants a stainless steel one, so the idea was nixed. Typically, you would see a diner like Jiggers at full length, but it is set perpendicular to Main Street, so only the end of the car is seen. John had one of the standard menu items, Rasha dove into the gingerbread pancakes special, and I decided to try out their corned beef hash with a gingerbread pancake. Boy were we stuffed silly!
Once full, John and I dropped off my car before going to Heidi and Jim’s “We’re partying like we’re tailgating in Patriots’ stadium” bbq at their home. Since Rich is not up to watching the game outside our house, I went with John to see pals from work (Heidi, John, and I are at the same company) and to meet new friends. I had brought Icarus along (I am rarely without a project!) and managed to get a few rows done even with all the yelling and shouting during the game. I feasted on a fantastic spinach salad (due to the current e. coli scare I would not suggest eating bagged spinach for now) and was able to squeeze the recipe out of Heidi.- Heidi’s Spinach Salad
spinach
feta cheese
candied walnuts
dried cranberries (or dates)
balsamic vinegar
grilled chicken (optional)
Toss all ingredients together into a large bowl and serveFun tidbit Heidi pointed out: Jim likes having a television in almost every room (but not the ‘loo!) in the house — even outside in the back yard.
- Monday
This vacation day was mostly spent on getting the rabbits ready for their stay Jen and Chris’ home. I did knit a little on Icarus, but was still on Chart 1. After dropping off the 4 bunnies, I traveled up to the Borders Bookstore at Downtown Crossing for the Boston KOAC Committe meeting. Besides getting all the scheduling details in order for the 24th, we discussed what we were doing 5 years ago. One of the committee members spoke about calling her daughter who was just boarded a plane in NYC and begged her to get off of it. Fortunately, she did and went home. I picked up the lovely hank of yarn that our president Lucy (owner of Mind’s Eye Yarns in Cambridge had brought for me. Side Note: Stephanie the Yarn Harlot LOVES Lucy’s hand-dyed merino!) - Tuesday
Admittedly, after the meeting, I went home to finish packing for my surprise trip and work on Icarus. I stayed up too late and only had about 3-4 hours of sleep when Rich woke me at 6AM for our 8:45 (or was it 8:25?) flight. For those who may not know, I actually dislike surprises like Rich’s trip. I constantly anticipate outcomes, so being prepared for this trip was something I could not do. Mere questions like: “What kind of climate will we be at? How should I dress for Rich’s planned events? Are there any yarn stores that would interest me? Is there anyone meeting us?” Now envision my lack of sleep with the lack of knowing where we are going, that neither of us brought our laptops (he made me promise not to bring mine), and combine it with an overheard conversation from 2 guys about casinos (I keep forgetting to post about my experience at Foxwoods, sorry Karen!) who sounded like they were on our flight — cranky is the understatement of the year, and Rich said I was being a witch (okay it was the Other word). Finally when we made it through checking in my bag, and I handed him my driver’s license for the Security checkpoint, he realized that I had to present my boarding pass by myself. That is when he handed me a white business-sized envelope.
Instantly I forgot about my lack of sleep, and began the constant smiling and grinning. Ironically, when Rich told me that I needed to take the 12th and 13th off because he was taking me somewhere, I immediatelysaidsquealed, “CAMDEN!!” He denied it, and even though I constantly would bring up going to see the Orioles host the Red Sox, the week before we left he said he tried getting tickets, but they now were the same high prices as Fenway ones. My only chance of seeing my beloved Birds play against their AL opponents was to get tickets for the last grandstand which would mean missing Lisa and Jason’s wedding events. Uh, sorry O’s but even die-hard-Red-Sox fan Lisa would understand missing this series. So here Rich finally convinced me that he was taking us on a short flight to somewhere, and it turned out to where I wanted to go! Now comes the ganache glaze over the whipped cream icing, he printed out Amie Gavin Glasgow’s write-up of Baltimore yarn shops from Knitter’s Review!! Did I ever tell you guys how much I love my wonderful husband?? Woo-hoo!
After dropping off our luggage at the Holiday Inn hotel (it is practically across from Camden Yards), we wandered around Inner Harbour. I wanted to show Rich the Baltimore Aquarium and anywhere we could walk. We saw the exhibits, but I was disappointed that the sea lions and seals were no longer there. As always my favorite deep sea animals, the rays, never let me down, and when we were at the glass, a few of them came over to say “hello” when I beckoned them over.
Tired from the early morning travel, when we came back to the hotel, we took a much needed nap to prepare for the baseball game’s festivities. During check-in, we had asked if we could have a view overlooking Camden. The wonderful hotel staff graciously obliged.
In a nutshell, I had a blast at the game. Give me a funnel cake, and I am a happy camper! I almost lost my voice from yelling and cheering so much! I even was carded for beer — yeah! (I will just say that I am over 35…) Being the goober that I am, when the game was over, I had one of NESN’s reporters sign our tickets.
- Wednesday
Breakfast in the predictably decorated McKenna’s restaurant was a complete contradiction to the rest of the hotel. The restaurant’s disorganized servers and hostess had no concept of keeping the tables clean for future diners. After being seated at a bare table, no silverware was brought out, nor did a server offer us anything to drink. The buffet was okay, but Rich was frustrated because he had to have his scrambled eggs made at the omlet station since the kitchen did not want to make any more for the buffet. The server we had was fair, but she ignored the ticket that said our breakfast was free and only deducted $20 instead of the entire amount. We later reported the whole fiasco to the hotel management; it was that bad. With all the bad air we just experienced, we needed a change of scenery. Since we had to leave for the airport at 2:45PM, going to visit the B&O Railroad Museum was out of the question. The place has over 100 locomotives, need I say more? Instead, we hopped a cab ride to the yarn store listed first on Amie’s review: A Good Yarn.
I admit to being a touch worried about its small size, but A Good Yarn is primarily a teaching place, rather than a yarn shop. There was so much yarn perfectly laid out in the store that I was a bit overwhelmed at first. Lorraine, the owner, was with Nicole who happens to be a leathersmith. These talented women are passionate about their fiber interests and are happy to share their knowledge. When I walked in, I noted the large wall of yarn and the different varieties of Catalina Alpaca that shared space with the undyed handspun hanks (varying from natural to dark grey) on the table. I found the Trekking sock yarn and the matching Austermann Step yarns in the same colorways. Large hanks of wispy soft mohair that were hand-dyed out in Colorado hung on the fireplace mantle with the ample sweater one of those hanks made. The mohair knits up around 3 stitches to an inch, and not only was that frothy simple sweater made from one hank, but enough was leftover for a nice sized triangular shawl. With yarn in hand, we left with my bagged treasure and walked around to check out Fell’s Point. Besides the small set of shops along the waterfront, most of the historical area was closed. We ended up leaving for the airport early and I waved good-bye to beautiful Baltimore. After picking up the bunny children (Julius and Caesar had a fight, scroll to picture at end of post), I did a load of laundry and crawled into bed. - Thursday
Back at work, I proudly wore the washed brown baby-tee with Orioles scrawled across the front in bright pink. Of course I shared the fun details of trip, and received glowing comments on how awesome Rich did. After work, I stopped by the Warwick location of Yarns at Lacewings. As I hoped, Mary the owner was there and I was able to return her Traditional Knitted Shawls book. She oftens visits her son in Baltimore, and we compared notes about the area. I had to decline knitting with the Thursday night group since we just came back, but I know I will be there in the future. At home I went back to knitting Icarus. I had only Charts 3 and 4 left, so I was chugging along. - Friday
I picked up Helene for “The Girls’ Night Out” celebration and it is a good thing we left early for Cafe Romanzo. Not realizing how twisted the roads around that restaurant were like, I made some (okay, more like SEVERAL) u-turns. We did get there on time at 7PM and were first in the group to arrive. The food was fabulous as always, the drinks good, and the company great. However, I think we were in a shock when the bill arrived and our 3 desserts added up to $36. The chocolate cake Helene and I shared was good, but not THAT good! Because all of us had to-do lists for Saturday, we decided to make it an early night. I dropped off Helene back at her apartment then went home to knit Icarus and get some sleep.
- Saturday
The plan was to wake up at 5:40AM, get in the shower, and be at Jen and Chris’ house for the Sweet Binks Rabbit Rescue yard sale. Instead, I went to bed around 3AM, awoke at 6:30AM, showered and jumped in the car while calling Jen. I stopped at the grocery store to pick up some $1’s for the sale, and when I arrived, I volunteered to go with Chris for “Sign Duty” around the vicinity. Joanne was already there with Dorothy, April came bearing yummy bagels from Panera, and Laurelin arrived with her fosterling, the “physically challenged” kitten Xavier. He is almost 4 months old, but shortly after turning a month old, Xavier’s legs stopped working. He loves being carried, so a career in Pet Therapy is in his future. Already he is a hit at the nursing homes. We had our spurts of business, and were able to raise just over $200 for Pam at Sweet Binks. While there, I was able to cast on and knit up a matching hat to the socks I made for Aidan. Rich said it looks small, but the 2×2 ribbing stretches like a dream. After the long day, I went home to attempt to finish Icarus. I only had Chart 4 to go, and I really wanted to finish the shawl before Rasha’s yoga class in the morning. - Today
Let us see… So far, I have been working, writing this post, and watching football. Earlier, I did chat with Shalyn and she dropped me some news: she has a blog! Feel free to give her a friendly “Hello” on the site. Also, I have 12 1/2 rows and the edging left on Icarus, so cross your fingers! =:8
On a previous post I stated that September is going to be a wild one for me. This week contained most of the craziness, and I will try to touch base on everything without gushing too much. Hopefully I will final catch up on Bloglines today too! 😉
Looks like an AMAZING trip, I’m glad you had so much fun! The poor bunny! I hope all is well now. Olive sends get well wishes.
Whew, busy, busy, BUSY!!! I’m so glad you had a wonderful surprise trip!! Don’t worry – I’ll wait for the Foxwoods story. 🙂
Kitten in a bag?! SO cute! Have you sent this to Cute Overload?
Okay…so I haven’t completely read your post yet because I got to this part……YOU WENT TO AN O’S GAME???!!!!! I’m so jealous, even though I went for my B-day in August! I had no idea you were a Birds fan….I know you had a great time.
Well….back to reading.
holy crap you’ve been busy!! ;o)
What a weekend! Sounds like you managed to do a little of everything you love.