When last we met our superhero...............

She was excited about having ridden her bicycle to work, well................................................. I knew it would change, and it did. After getting rained out and another failed attempt, which resulted in my being stranded in Raymond with a HUGE puncture in not only my tube, but my tire as well and Mr. Romance coming to my rescue at 6am, I rode to work again. It was HARD, and it's taken me two days to recover. I'm not sure what's going on, I will do it again, probably on Tuesday, but it was a struggle.

In other news, the back of house and the deck have been pulled apart and are slowly be put together again. It's a long process involving many generations of my family. My dad and grandfather came down from northern Maine last weekend in 90 plus heat to bake in the sun and give us help and much needed advice on what to do, especially about the rotten parts. My brother who's living with us for the summer was good enough to help after having worked in the sun all day himself. For the second time this spring we could almost walk from the backyard into the basement without using a door. Interesting.

There is good news to be had in less favorable news, my beautiful Julia spinning wheel is here! It showed up on Tuesday, and it's wonderful. So smooth, and quiet and I'm getting better at it. I just plied some beautiful orange/pink wool of some sort that I bought at the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival. I'm not sure exactly what wool combination it is, but it was fun to see how my skills had improved from the beginning of the spool to the end. It's encouraging, because it wasn't so great in the beginning. Practice and all is coming..........

pedal pedal pedal pedal

I did it, I actually pedaled my bike to work yesterday. To many people this is not impressive, but to me it is. It's 30+ miles to get there and I left at 5am to do it. Last summer when we moved I talked about it, but never really acted on it. So a bit ago during Bike to Work week, I contemplated it. The problem with that week was my afterschool (I'm a preschool speech therapist) schedule. After packing a backpack with work clothes and some "freshen up" supplies, I kept getting myself ready to do it. I am a strange bird sometimes, hummmmmm let's clarify my meaning here. I find that when I tell people about my plans they are more likely to not come true then when I keep it to myself to share with them afterward. A bit backwards I'm afraid, but at least I'm aware. Mr. Romance was a bit hesitant with my doing it. To give him his due, I did tell him the wrong mileage at 40+, which made him a bit nervous for me. During the ride I decided to take the shorter route and fight with traffic instead of more mileage. This decision was made while grinding up a hill and wondering how much energy I'd have for chasing my friend A. around the preschool all day. It ended up being a bit fun actually, I'm sure the novelty won't be there the next time, but think I smiled most of the way there because I was ACTUALLY riding my bike to work. You must understand that my dream job would allow me to do that everyday. Seeing as we've chosen to live outside of a large city, I know this is a pipe dream. But sometimes it's fun to dream.

In knitting news I've finished the pink gables. These ladies are great designers. I love this t-shirt. It knit up so easily and it looks great on (in my opinion anyway) I just feel great when I wear it. There aren't many of my projects that I can say that about truly. I'm actually thinking about making another one it's so comfortable. I'm taking an airplane trip next month and this would be great for traveling! I'm referring to actually taking it to work on, I'm not ambitious enough right now to get it done it time to wear it.

I wish I had duck feet!

After three different attempts with this pattern and various yarns, the broken cable socks are finished. I love the leg, and should have continued with it down the foot, but I followed the pattern. I do love the color and you have to admit that I look a little webbish in this picture, rather duck like. Did you ever read the book, "I wish I had duck feet?". I loved it as a kid, my parents were patient and read it over and over to me. Now I get to listen to it again as an adult when we read it at work. There are many benefits to working with kids, reading old favorites is just one of them.

Why did I sit down????????

It never fails, I do fine at work, I think of all the things to do after work, I get in the car and............. after a 50 minute drive I pull into the driveway and am exhausted. I can't think of doing anything and don't even pretend to want to. So here I sit, in front of the computer it's 6:30, I have not practiced yoga. My yoga mat isn't even calling my name - but I've checked email, ravelry, the weather and now I'm posting because the last one was in April and I've "done SO much" that requires discussion.

I am happy to announce that I have ridden my bike in the woods, first ride off road was Sunday and I had a better one yesterday - I didn't sit down when I got home so I was able to exercise! We are so excited - it's completely possible to ride directly out of our backyard straight to my favorite woods trails in seacoast NH without having to pack up or use the car! We can PEDAL, and there is only about an half a mile of road involved. It's a beautiful thing!

To update you on the spinning in my life, I had been using my spindle a bit. I have some small samplings and I'm pretty happy with the results. I rented a spinning wheel from The Yarn and Fiber Company for a week and I had a ball. The results need some work but I LOVE it. I am going to order a wheel and be lost forever to yarn. Mr. Romance is officially frightened and a bit annoyed that there is more to my obsession then just knitting and purling.

Oh, the real news of note is that I have finally been to Webs and I'm afraid I will never be able to go back. It crazy there and I now have enough yarn to last me into my mid-eighties if my hands can hold up that long. I have been staying up at night trying to finish projects so that I can start new ones with my new yarn. I have some ideas but nothing firm yet. I'll post the ideas as soon as I've settled.

I didn't really need another hobby, but -

I visited Spunky Eclectic and took a spinning lesson. She was WONDERFUL, and very patient with me. I learned the drop spindle and spent a bit of time on a Julia Louet wheel. The spinning wheel will take some practice, well a LOT of practice, the spindle come much easier. I think I liked the pace better. I'm going to look around and maybe try some wheels at an upcoming festival.

After three hours, I have some yarn to show for it. It's lump and thick and I love it. I bought some fiber, of course and I can't wait to get started. Maybe I will buy a spinning wheel with GW's money that he is giving to us - how's that for giving back to the economy? There are 3 more days of vacation with rain in the forecast so hopefully I'll have something to show for it. I've technically only been on vacation for two days, but my yarn stash seems to have grown disproportionate to the days off.

After how many years?

After many years of attempting to grow orchids and failing miserably, I'm proud to introduce to you the newest member of the houseplant family. Here is blossom number 2! Not only has it bloomed once but twice. I have actually raised two flowers from our orchid ( I have been corrected about joint ownership, oops, sorry).

Orchids and I don't always understand each other. We had about 4 buds on this plant in February and when we came back from Utah they were all shriveled up and dying. I have been given two different books on orchids and am constantly consulting Mr. Romance's mother, she is British and an excellent gardener, orchid grower. However, I have still lost one complete plant and was panicked about this one. Everyone tells me orchids are easy, but I think I over care for them and literally kill them with kindness. Thank goodness we don't have pets or kids then hum?

In truth I believe that the fruit bowl with bananas and oranges was too close to the plant on the counter (in case any of you are interested in the proper way to display your orchids) AND we turned the thermostat down when we were away and it was too cold for the flower buds, as well as a few other plants it seems, oops. I guess the houseplants will be happy to know that we are out of frequent flyer miles and free airline tickets, no winter vacations planned for a bit. Ahhh, free vacations.............

Sundays in the springtime.