Still Alive

(edited to try to repair the odd spacing and ask what bloggers problem is with spaces and pictures.)

Long overdue post with PICTURES!

Firstly . . . about two weeks ago, I met up with Alyson, Chris, Kelly, Phoebe, and Valerie (no that link's not a mistake, Valerie is one of the brains behind Yarn4Socks) at Knit'n'Knibble in Tampa. From there we went to dinner (well, Alyson, Kelly, Phoebe, Valerie and I) at Pane Rustica which was delicious, reasonably priced, and under lit. Our third, and final stop, was a nearby Barnes and Noble where we chased away an older woman (who was so deeply ensconced in her cozy chair that she'd actually brought a blanket from home) by being unruly and giggly. Well jeez. What else can you expect from a gaggle of knitters?

From left to right: Me, Valerie, Alyson, and Kelly.

Photo credit goes to Valerie's very patient husband Reuben.

The following Sunday was our usual knit-out at (lately) Jason's Deli where Sandy was kind enough to model her clap-in-progress. Incidentally, I'm working on one in the same colour (because I abandoned put the SWS one on hold). The yarn is Lionbrand Microspun in Lilac. Because of course periwinkle blue is the first colour I think of when I think of lilacs. *sigh* Anyways.

The monkeys were completed in plenty of time to be gifted to my mother in law this last Sunday but on Friday I decided to make something else to go with them.

Any guesses what?

Here's a hint (Mathboy made this part)

Oh! Saturday we picked up The Deathly Hallows and I read it on Monday. Like Kelly, I devoured it in about 5 hours. My problem now? Mathboy won't read it until he's finished the series he's reading right now . . . and he wants to read the first six in the Potter series before he reads book seven. *sigh* Keeping mum about it for goodness knows how long is liable to kill me.

Lastly, here's the evil large green bug who's been munching on my roses. Anyone know what it is?

I'm off now to consume large amounts of orange juice, ruby red grapefruit juice, and soup in an effort to combat whatever the heck it is that's been inflicting a fever and headache on me so that I feel somewhat human tomorrow (not feeling one's mortality on one's birthday is kind of a nice thing) and on our trip to Virginia Friday.