i just opened iphoto and realized that there is a bunch of stuff i never got around to posting. here is some of it:

jon and laurie came to visit. among other things, we threw a picnic (sadly, no pics), picked strawberries:

(i have a picture of laurie from many, many years ago picking strawberries, that i seem to remember looks just like this one. i should dig it out.)

went to the bookmill:

and rested:

a week or so later, we took a co-worker’s extra tickets to see james taylor off her hands. or, at least, we think we saw james taylor…from our seats it could very well have just been a big-screen broadcast of a recorded james taylor concert:

either way, we found out just how awesome it is to hang out at tanglewood.

***we will now take a moment for a doggie intermission***

***feel free to get some snacks before the next portion of the catching-up begins***

ok, what else does iphoto say we have done?

we visited with good friends, and their amazing twin girls, who were staying in a nearby town. (again, sadly, no pics.)

tom’s parents came for a visit. among other things, we took a boat ride on the Connecticut river:

and went to a bunch of flea markets. we came home with many goodies including, a salt grinder that looks like a bunny, though i don’t think that’s intentional:

and two display heads:

don’t the heads look like they would fit perfectly into a dr. who episode?

finally, these amazing flowers are growing in our garden:


we rescued these from the community garden compost pile at the end of last season. at the time, they were only a root and stem and we weren’t sure if they were even going to grow, let alone what they would look like. they seem to be pretty happy to be in our plot now.

phew! that was a lot of stuff. thanks for hanging in there. now i think i am back up to date!

when i took the spinning class i didn’t expect to enjoy spinning. i was just taking it to learn more about fiber and because it was a free class. but, alas, i did. whatcha gonna do?

but wheels are expensive.

while perusing craigslist one morning i noticed an ad for an ashford traditional wheel being sold for $40. it was in pretty rough shape, needed some parts replaced and the wheel put back together and balanced. but the seller was willing to part with it for only $25, so we took a chance on it.

a few parts were purchased, tom did some deconstructing, gluing and reconstructing:

and got it all fixed up:

it seems to work just fine:

the person selling the wheel bought it from the fiber art center, which, sadly, recently closed, and we’ve been able to determine that it was manufactured around 1976 (a bicentennial baby - just like us!)

we call it snail shell:

it’s warming up a bit around here and the outdoors are calling.

seen in our front yard recently, a bright shot of purple:

some deep greens:

and some black:

we got a grill on freecycle today! it works great and just needed a little cleaning.

i’m a person who loves winter, but i have to say, even i am excited for spring.

in knitting news, i finally finished all of the seaming on the toy i knit for my knit group’s charity project:

the pieces were each super quick to make, but there was soooo much finishing. being sick and having pink eye didn’t help the sewing get done at all. but after it was all done up, i fell in love! this little dinosaur is so cute and the perfect size to hug. it’s hard to give it up, but i know a little kid in need will love it more than me.

tom has been gathering parts and working to put together an indoor ebb and flow hydroponic setup for growing lettuce and herbs through the winter.

want a tour? i thought so.

first, the seeds of the plants that grew the tastiest stuff this summer get planted and nurtured under a little light on a warming mat, so they can grow some roots:

each little plant grows in a small cup with slots for the roots to grow and hang down through.

then they get transferred into the system:

the water is pumped up from the container on the floor, flows into each of the three black blocks, tickles the plant roots and then flows out the other side of the blocks back into the container on the floor. all the while the leaves bask in the glow of the big white light above. the whole system will be run by timers and the light can be raised and lowered. fancy, no?

everything in the system was obtained either at yard sales for a few dollars, for free (like the ginormous light) or from the hardware store. no off-the-shelf hydroponics for us!

and no more store-bought lettuce, hopefully.

tom’s sister, jessica, her husband, mark and their little one, adam, came for a visit last week. for wanting a relaxing time, they sure did pack in quite a bit of action. we caught a few of the adventures on film.

we went to salem, ma:

went back to college to visit uncle will:

ignored mark’s protests and braved the butterfly conservatory:

(he looks thrilled, no?)

went apple picking in the rain:

where i taught jess that, to get the good apples, you have to ignore the wet and really get in there. note the differences between apple-picking student and teacher:

she still has much to learn.

and debated the question, “which are more fun, toys made for kids or toys made for dogs?”

a lovely, exhausting, time was had by all. and i have so far gotten two delicious pies out of our apple adventure.

psychically send a few good thoughts mark’s way, he left for iraq on saturday. we hope to see him safe, and home, soon.

late last week i received my prize for winning the junior society blog contest. i knew i was getting a bag, but i had no idea that it was going to be packaged with other cute stuff!

there is a coloring page, crayons, a note on a cute post card and a magnet! plus the bag was wrapped up in that red tissue paper and sealed with a sticker and ribbon. it all made me very happy.

here is the bag, hanging on our fancy-pants new dining room light:

it is such a good size and sturdy. i have already taken it out shopping. thanks, silly wagon!