Roses, Roses.

Last year we moved into this house.

The rose bush on the side was chewed beyond repair, but a bud came out and bloomed. It was pretty. Roses have always had a special place in my heart. My grandfather lovingly tended quite a few bushes while I was growing up. I never asked, but I always assumed that he did it for my grandmother.

This year, I decided to spray some organic anti bug crap on the plant after Hubs hacked back the dead stuff in the spring. It worked. The leaves are green and relatively clean.

We had 6 or 7 buds. I was so excited for these things!

Well, we got hail. Then rain, then heavier rain, then much, much heavier rain. Then more torrential downpouring rain.

Sigh.

Here's the state of the bush now. I'm heartbroken, but so much progress was made this year. Next year is going to be even better.

And for someone who DOES NOT garden? Wow.

(Damn you, RAIN! PPPPPFFFFFTH!)

Finally, a Finished Something!

I started to a Mara, a pretty straightforward shawl, a few weeks ago. I thought there was going to be pleating on the edging. It's not. It's basically ribbing, which while looking cool, wasn't what I had wanted.

I grabbed my copy of Folk Shawls. I've had my eye on Wool Peddler's shawl since I got the book.

I only had to do another 4 rows and I'd be at the correct number of stitches to make it! So...

Wool Peddler's Shawl.

Pretty.

Jenn inspired me to start a Central Park Hoodie. I realized at some point that I wouldn't be pregnant forever (although it feels like that most days) and that I'd be able to fit in normal sized clothes by the winter (hopefully).

It's going quickly. I started it Thursday night, and I'm almost done with the back! I'm using my favorite- Schaefer Yarns Miss Priss in the Georgia O'Keefe colorway. I had some pooling, so I decided to tie on another ball and work 2 rows ball 1, 2 rows ball 2 for the rest. So far, no pooling and it's coming along nicely.

What Would You Buy?

I have an Amazon gift certificate worth $130 bucks. It's burning a hole in my pocket.

Part of me wants a new video camcorder. Part of me wants more books. (Please don't say books. haha) Part of me says to save it for when the baby comes.

So tell me, what would you buy? The certificate doesn't have to cover the entire cost.

As Promised.

So here are some photos of the library. (No our living room is NOT that green color. It's beige. Why it looks so green in the photo, I'll never know. The blue is pretty close to true.)I know it looks like we still have alot of room, but trust me when we say that we're in a bit of a panic over how little room is left. We don't want the kids to be able to get into our "good books" so the first and second level are basically useless for the time being. We're planning on putting baskets on 3 of the bottom shelves (for toys for the boys) and letting them have a shelf for their books.

My favorite part? Stars. I love stars. Hubs found these wooden blocks with etched stars in them, just for me. Sigh. He still has some finishing work to do- as you can tell by the reflection of the nails seen above.

I'm so proud of him for moving on this project and for almost having it done. It felt GREAT to unpack our beloved books. And even better to have the boxes out of our basement, attic, closets, and gargage.

What do you think of the room?

YAY!

Library is about 98% done. Books are in. Photos are coming.

(My camera is downstairs and the very idea of climbing all the way down and then *gasp* all the way back up is super-daunting...I just get out of breath so easily these days...please be patient with me.)

At the Library

Once again this morning I get up, turn on the early morning news and the weather man is pumped. Sigh. Summer storms rolling through as I type this, with more on the way. No hail, only thunder and lightning. But the sky is a bit murky green...keeping an eye on the weather channel and (I hate to admit this) Michael Jackson's memorial.

Also, knitting.

Still working Buttercup. I thought it was going to be too big. Christie finished hers, I commented that I thought mine was going to be too large. And as a voice of reason, she emailed me and told me to make sure it wasn't too big or I'd have alot of work to redo.

I tried it on. It was huge. I decided to knit the neckline, going down to a size 4 (should have used a 5) and I added a couple extra rows. I tried it on and it fit better. It's still a bit....blouse-y, but I think it looks good. I'm also adding width and length. I'm getting bigger (7 months yesterday!) and I have a feeling I'm going to wear this thing out.

In other news around the house, Hubs started working on the library again. Remember that project?

This is what the room looked like when we moved in. Toys, carpet, white paint...yuck.

He started it in March or April, stalled because of my sickness, then the warm weather came and outside stuff needed to be done. Now, he's picked up the nail gun once more and has been tearing it up! The painting and floor has been done for awhile. The shelves went up over the weekend. I'm loving how it's coming along. We already have books on some of the shelves.

His attention to detail is amazing. There's still alot of work to be done, but I'm so excited to have a library that I can't stand it!

This is the only furniture we have for the room, but that will change once he completes the shelves. We have different visions furniture-wise, so this could get interesting.