Back and Busy!

I've missed 3 weeks of blogging due to travel and family stuff... which means I have a lot to catch up on. My Google Reader says I have 287 new posts to catch up on. YIKES! And I will be posting about my fabulous travels, tatting, and other minor details.

Just for the record, here is motif #15. Thankfully, even with the heat and other factors, I did get a bit of tatting done.

This pattern is from New Things Happen to Tatting, c.1942 pattern "Springtime." I did it in size 20 Lizbeth thread, variegated purple something or other. I am not used to the numbered colors that they give the threads yet. The photo makes it look more like black, but it's really a lovely dark purple.

This doily was tatted while in the Pinery in Ontario, visiting with my family. Good times. Usually too much drama. :)

Here is my immediate family... And yes, we're all a bunch of crazies.

We came home for 4 days, during which time I picked our cantaloupes (yummmm)

...picked beans...

...picked raspberries and a few stray tomatoes...

...picked and canned concord grapes/grape juice... (and ate papa john's pizza for dinner most days, I might add. No, there was not room in my kitchen for anything besides grapes).

...and consorted with my dog over how to sort grapes. She thinks she can do it better than I can. I think she would get sick.

Then we drove to Las Vegas, Nevada. Pretty.

 Here's some Colorado. I just happened to catch this bird in flight, which was fun.

 Using the tripod on a rest stop to catch a bit more of Colorado in the background.

 ...And then Utah. Which completely surprised us. We did not expect to see so much land relief! WOW!

 Arid, but gorgeous.

And this is actually a Colorado lake in the mountains at night. This doesn't seem to do it justice, but on my computer at home it looks marvelous.

We did a small bit of gambling, show watching etc. while we were there (since the hubby had to work during the day), and then we turned around and drove back home the next weekend.

At home, our house smelled like death. Unfortunately, our fridge/freezer had been broken the entire time we were gone. So guess what we have been doing for the last few days?? Eating out (STILL! YUCK.) and cleaning the smell out of things. Multiple times. And trying to fix it.

Maybe needless to say, our camping cooler is still in use.

And there are still more grapes to be done, and it's almost apple time. I'm feeling overwhelmed just sitting here, so I'm going to get a move on it now.

I'll be back with more updates tomorrow since, believe it or not, that was not all...