a little more.

Posted on August 31, 2013 by barefootrooster

Because the weather has been glorious, I’ve moved all of my dissertation writing to the porch. This means Boh has moved the majority of his lounging to the porch as well.

You know, except when it is dinner time. He knows when that is supposed to happen, and has been waiting for me right here.

I’ve been making slow, steady progress on Snowbird — the pocket stitches are on stitch-holders, and I’m working my way down the rest of the body. I think the sweater is going to be pretty slouchy in the body, but it fits well in the arms, so I’m hoping I’ll love it and wear it a lot.

One more. Sweet Boh at a nearby waterfall. We’ve been visiting this one weekly, on our way to get vegetables from the farm I belong to, and Boh loves it there. Happy weekend!

last night.

Posted on August 21, 2013 by barefootrooster

Last night this happened. Really. I almost hesitate to share because I don’t want to jinx anything. I got out my wheel, and spun a little bag of leftover Hello Yarn Targhee in the Sprout colorway. I listened to a podcast, drank some tea, and watched the sunset.

And then I went inside, curled up on the couch, and pulled out my Snowbird. It actually smelled sort of damp and musty, probably from being shoved in a bag at the base of my fiber closet since at least December 2012. The “hard” part of this sweater is done — now there’s only knitting the body and adding the pockets. (Okay, and seaming the collar to the body. That might be hard.) I have a growing list of baby and wedding gifts to knit, but I might just cut myself some slack and try to finish the stuff that I both love and have let languish. Let’s see if I can keep this up.

In other news, I spent Saturday night with my parents, and after we celebrated my grandmother’s birthday, we enjoyed a fire in the pit that’s built into the brick patio behind their house. Boh normally has to stay in his box for family gatherings (he is not very good with larger groups, especially if they include strangers), but when there were only a few folks remaining, I brought him outside to enjoy the fire.

I think he liked it. I know I did.

Thanks, you guys, for all of your kind comments on my last post and my unintended absence. It means a lot to know you’re still here.

august?

Posted on August 14, 2013 by barefootrooster

Time for more apologizing. (And for getting used to a new version of WordPress. This is fancy!) I don’t know why I’m not knitting, and I don’t really know why I’m not blogging. But I’m not quite ready to give up on this space, and I hope you’re not ready to give up on me. I’m hoping to get back into a groove one of these days.

Until then, though, you get pictures of what we’ve been up to, both here at the lake house and further afield. Since I last blogged (in June?!), I’ve TAed an intensive 3-week summer course, joined my family for a week on the gulf coast of Florida, spent a weekend in the Catskills saying goodbye to a dear grad school friend who is moving/moving on to take a postdoc, given a paper at my first non-grad-student conference (yay!) and visited my younger brother in Colorado. (Whew!)

Want to see some of that? Here you go:

During that three-week course, Boh spent a lot of time entertaining himself.

And there were strawberries.

Cuddling the papers to grade…

Frolicking at a nearby park on our way to the farm.

First farm tomato!

Delicious.

Writing.

Bird-watching, coffee-drinking, breakfast-eating, all from the balcony of the condo my parents rented on the gulf coast of Florida.

Seashells collected on morning walks with my mom.

Beautiful beach.

A snapping turtle greeting me (and Boh — see his nose in the lower left-hand corner?) in the Catskills!

Catskills relaxation.

And some more.

Sam, my brother’s horse.

Colorado National Monument.

And now — just today, actually — home again, this time for awhile. Time to settle back into lake house life, which I’m hoping will include lots of writing…

Thanks for reading, friends.

still no knitting…

Posted on June 15, 2013 by barefootrooster

But I’ve got lots of food, Boh, and the porch. Here’s what’s been happening ’round here this week.

It was cold enough that I needed my puffy coat to be on the porch. In June.

No idea what this guy is up to here.

Chocolate dipped frozen bananas, some with almonds, for an Arrested Development viewing party.

I just liked this combination of many of my favorite things. That blue pullover vest is maybe the first piece of gear I bought in college when I started leading backpacking trips. It has traveled the world with me, and it is still one of my favorite things to grab when I’m just a little bit chilled.

A dear friend came to town last weekend, and we made a breakfast feast: toast, fresh tomatoes, a wonderful carrot and radish slaw, and eggs with spinach and fresh basil.

Bedroom eyes?

Working while Boh keeps watch.

More working. Boh not exactly watching.

Tree along the path behind my house. Hard to see in this picture, but there’s evidence of pileated woodpecker work on this trunk.

More porch reading — prepping for the course I’m TAing this summer.

Last night. This dog wanted to snuggle, and I was happy to read a graphic novel while he lounged, napped, and snored.

This morning: coffee and breakfast (biscuits, yogurt, blueberries, and last year’s canned peaches) on the porch.

We’re easing into summer over here, and trying to balance different kinds of work with at least some summer fun. How is your summer going? Also, what are you guys knitting? I need some inspiration.

hello, june.

Posted on June 3, 2013 by barefootrooster

It seems I managed not to post while in Chicago. I also managed to not knit a stitch in Chicago. Those two statements might be related. Anyway, I did think about casting something on today, so I imagine I’ll have knitting content to share soon.

In the meantime, I am NOT going to show you pictures of how I managed to skin my knee and the top of my foot pretty badly on Saturday walking down to the dock. There is road work resulting in very finely powdered blacktop and gravel that I am now (ahem) aware of. Loose road dust plus a steep descent in flip flops do not make for a pretty result.

But this makes up for it:

Right?

So does this.

And this.

Tango hung out with us this weekend while his person was busy working long shifts at our town’s annual summer festival.

And then today, after running a bunch of errands — bank, groceries, library — Boh and I went for a really good walk.

And then we did some work down on the dock.

I really did have a great time in Chicago, but it is good to be home.

hello, april…

Posted on April 10, 2013 by barefootrooster

Hi folks. Continuing to apologize for rather irregular blogging isn’t what I want to be doing every time I sign on here. But thanks for bearing with me and for reading what I do manage to share. I tried to at least remember to snap some pictures of the non-work stuff going on around here this week, so here’s a bit of that:

Helping.

Dumplings also help.

Tea on the porch.

Boh keeps watch. (And demonstrates his length! I am always surprised when he sits up straight like this.)

Weaving in the ends…finished pictures soon!

More “helping” from Boh.

Spring sunset.

Tuckered out. I love those wrinkles. Happy April, folks!

like a lamb.

Posted on March 31, 2013 by barefootrooster

Spring! To celebrate, Boh and I headed into town and took one of our favorite walks.

The falls were raging — I can only imagine how fast they are flowing after this afternoon’s steady rain.

A couple hours of direct sunlight warmed up the porch enough that Boh and I could work (lounge) there on Saturday afternoon with a cup of tea. (Note: I am extremely upset about the burn marks on my beautiful yellow table, but I’m trying to move past it.)

Rough life.

Working on the second-to-last stripe, with Boh’s permission and close supervision, of course.

A little bit of dissertation writing on the couch today, wrapped in my terra shawl. Perfect for a damp spring day. Back to work — and to eating the Easter chocolate my mom sent me…

bit by bit.

Posted on March 30, 2013 by barefootrooster

Preparing for an evening discussion: reading and commenting on the iPad Mini, and drinking tea.

First chocolate chip cookies since returning home. Made my go-to smitten kitchen recipe, and the house smelled heavenly.

Boh, lounging in the sun. (He’s in exactly the same patch of sunlight this morning.)

Breaking in my new flats while knitting stripes. This final ten percent of the blanket is taking forever…

This polka-dotted blouse was my mom’s in the 80s. I snapped this picture to send to her before heading out to dinner with a visiting professor.

Boh, keeping me company. He plays with his bone while I knit on my blanket. I’m trying to power through the end of the Hudson Bay Inspired Blanket so that I’ll have more exciting knitting pictures to share with you guys. Happy weekend!

slowly, slowly.

Posted on March 26, 2013 by barefootrooster

Boh and I are slowly reacquainting ourselves with our home and working to reestablish our routine. Which, for Boh, involves lots of this: napping with his bone on the couch.

I’ve been doing a bit of knitting, and I’m a few stripes away from the home stretch of this wedding present Hudson Bay inspired blanket. I’m seeing the happy couple in April, and would love to deliver this to them…a few months after their first anniversary. (This is what happens when you attend eight weddings in less than twelve months…) I’m really happy with how this is turning out, and I hope they like it!

There’s a new piece of my routine that I’m psyched to tell you about: I’m taking a birding class! I saw this bird, a belted kingfisher, at the end of my first birding class field trip on Sunday and it was so cool. And yesterday I woke up to the clear call of cardinals. I’m learning so much, and I’m excited to get better at identifying all of the birds and birdsong I encounter in my yard. (I might even start taking my binoculars along on my dog walks!)

One more: it’s not knitwear, but I did get a pair of green flats. I’m going to need to wait a few weeks for it to warm up to wear them outside, but I like them.

Also on this week’s agenda? Sitting back down at my wheel. Playing in my kitchen. And getting back into a groove with my dissertation. (Speaking of dissertations, HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to brokeknits! She defended last week, and is now Dr. brokeknits — or brokeknits, Ph.D., if you prefer.)

Happy Tuesday!

home.

Posted on March 20, 2013 by barefootrooster

Hello, friends. Thanks for sticking with me through a couple of mostly blog-less months! I’m back at the lake house, and Boh is here too. I’ll spare you the details and pictures of the mess I found when I returned (still dealing with that), and instead, I’ll focus on the good stuff. Things like tea, sunset, and my sweet dog.