July's already here.

I guess it's really and  truly summer, isn't it? I don't keep track of days very well. I often call some of the spring summer and some of the summer fall and so on and so forth, so when it is actually summer, I question myself. Is it really summer? Yes. Same way with birthdays. By next January, I will be calling myself twenty, and when my birthday comes a few months later, I will be saying - wait, am I really twenty? In fact, I'm going to be in denial come my next birthday, and there will be many many utterings of "Am I really twenty? Holy Lady Gaga." I will be saying the Lady Gaga part because I hear it's all the rage and I want to be hip as I enter my twenties. 

Back to reality. Reality is a funny thing. I was thinking about it last night. I was thinking about reality and about night and about how your thoughts are on a different wavelength at night, they are very very different from what they are in the daytime. And because of that, we often write them off as unreal. But the night is just as real as the day. Sometimes, at night, I feel like I could accomplish absolutely anything in the world. But not usually in the day. Why is that?

Prepare yourself for some Lucy spam, because she's just so darn beautiful. And everyone already knows that I love all the babies to death, so I won't bother trying to weigh out the post with pics of the boys.

Now, here is where the fourth of July should have a place on my blog. However, like usual, I didn't pick up my camera during the holiday. Sara, Griffin and Logan all came over on the fourth and I just... didn't take pictures. Oh well. There were no fireworks, or fires, or crazy celebrations, just dinner and playing with the kids. 

Before I say anything else, I have to thank Christina for giving me some old yarn to make blocks for my blanket! I'm so grateful - I was completely out of yarn and Christina was so sweet as to dig around in her stash for me. I love it all! Thank you so much! I've already knitted two blocks. 

We finished watching Dirty Sexy Money. It was not a good show, but I have to admit that it was entertaining. :) Going back to Justified and Fringe will be very funny now that we've gotten a sip of Natalie Zea and Seth Gabel as completely different characters. Heh heh heh. We started watching George Gently, which is another inspector detective show, but it's set in the 60's. Very well done. Like a cross between Doc Martin, Life on Mars (<3), and Inspector Lynley. Anyone have any shows to mention? Sons of Anarchy, Dexter and Parenthood are on our list, so apart from those?

Okay, enough talking. This was a really wordy post... Have a lovely night.

- caroline

what i've been up to

What have I been up to for three days? All absent from the blog? You'd think I'd be doing very distracting things. Not so much. First there was the crazy storm, during which I knitted by Ugly Betty Blanket. Mom named it. It is simply a blanket made of squares and rectangles of scrap yarn in different stitches. I've been knitting it while we watch Ugly Betty - and really, it's kind of mismatched and odd like her. :P

There was a beautiful early morning that I caught - for some reason I woke up around 5 am and saw this sky out my window...

Then that morning I made French toast from the Cook's recipe. It's sooooo good. You wouldn't think that this lumpy bread:

Would turn into this gorgeous breakfast!

Then for the past two days I've been painting. I got the new Anthropologie catalog and was inspired. The photography was really top-notch in this issue, and I especially liked the cover, and the first page with the old red convertible. So classy.

And here was my watercolor interpretation... I was not aiming to replicate it, just base my painting on it. Left is at the end of day one, right is at the end of day two (today):

Quinn kept me company while I painted outside on the porch. The weather has been lovely. Quinn is carving a mask out of cedar wood. It smells awesome, though reminds me of hamsters. ;)  And no, those are not hand tattoos. Just ballpoint ink. 

I picked up three Agatha Christie novels today at the library. I'm excited to read them. Griffin leant me The ABC Murders and I really enjoyed it, plus I love the Poirot TV movies, so I thought I'd give the real text a shot. :)

Oh oh oh, also, we made a really yummy Kale and Green Onion Tart for lunch today. I found the recipe from The Granary and it is so good. Here is the link if you're interested in making it --> The Granary Blog: Kale and Onion Tart

Okay, time for bed. Probably gonna go practice parallel parking again tomorrow. I find it difficult. Grr. 

- caroline

fifth

The preying mantis is back. Remember him from this post? I've had this blog for a quite awhile, haven't I? I mean, awhile for an 18-year-old. It seems like eons ago that I started it, started posting really small pictures taken with Mom's point-and-shoot (I mean no disrespect towards the point-and-shoot, it's an excellent little camera for what it is). I feel older, and yet, when I read the things that I wrote three or four years ago, I find that I'm often still thinking about the same thoughts and taking the same photos, only with different attitudes or views or music powering me.



This weather is amazing. That's my excuse for taking (and posting, what!?) a few self-portraits before my shower, greasy and all - the weather makes me feel awesome, even if I don't look awesome. Makes me pull out my long red dress. And the windows open at night! Love.



I love my bathroom window.



I've been knitting again - ran out of yarn for my tank top, so I moved on to some baby wraps for Sara to use at newborn shoots. Unfortunately, it is in our fiscal interest to use acrylic yarn (soft acrylic), so to take my mind off of the squeaking needles, we've been watching Prison Break. I know, the show is old news, but I think it's great. *coughwentworthcoughmillercough*

For those of you (how many of you are there, anyway?) who didn't see Micah's pictures on Facebook, I'll be posting them later tonight, I think.

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Yikes! 10 days have gone by since the awesome Henry & the Naked Legs photograph!

Since then, not much has really happened, except that:

1. I got hooked on Heroes, the show.
2. Mother and I lapped up most of the first season already!
3. I finished one sock.
4. Watched the new "Room With a View," which was absolutely dreadful.
5. Finished the second sock! Whooooohooo!
6. Got to babysit Patat's fantastic new Canon 5D Mark II
7. Knocked the focusing screen out of his fantastic new Canon 5D Mark II.
Oh and...
8. Helped Mom babysit Henry for an entire day, but that should technically be #1 in chronological order.

So. That is what has happened. Here are some pics with the Mark II... It's phenomenal in low-light situations.


Here are my socks! Aren't they pretty? Actually, there are these terrible lines of loose stitching


I ripped these pieces of paper out of envelopes, wrapping paper, etc. that was addressed to me. :) But check out how the camera caught the details and it was SO DARK.

Mum has been knitting Henry a sweet sweater. Again, super dark situation.

And this is Quinn's hat. :)


P.S. Doesn't the title remind you of Lost? Heh heh... 4 6 8 15 16 23... Or something like that. Poo, I never thought I'd become addicted to TV shows! :[

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Meet Mr. Reginald B. Sock. I have named him in fond remembrance of Lt. Reginald Barclay from Star Trek! Anyway, I have quite a bit to go, this is just most of everything above the ankle. :)

[ Thank you, Sarah, for helping me start this project! ]

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Yesterday (when this ought to have been posted), I bought some lovely knitting supplies at Mainstreet Yarns. The red is for a pair of socks that I'm currently knitting, the green for fingerless gloves. Yay! It's very exciting, I will post a picture of my sock progress later!