Another Day, Another Sweater

Postcard from Maui

It's summertime!  The plumeria trees are blooming their hearts out, the poinciana trees are shedding all over the place and the summer visitors are here!
Today my lunch break snorkel was a little crowded, lots of other snorkelers, a few kayaks, and two scuba classes....how dare they invade my space?!  I am starting to sound more and more like a little old woman.  My Dad is turning 70 tomorrow, he can sound like a little old man if he wants to....I think I'm too young to sound like such an old biddy.
The reef is really quite large, so there was plenty of room for all the snorkelers and beginning divers but the kayaks were a bit close to shore and freaked out some of the snorkeling parents with little kids. 
I did not take my knitting to the beach, I wasn't there very long this time. 
Some knitting pics soon....maybe....for now these will have to do:
Kitchen window plumeria tree

Mouse in the House

Ok, so I know one of the critters was a mouse, I saw it racing for cover on my bathroom vanity.  The other critter was bigger.....ick.  Luckily, they decided they liked it better outside.  The field across the road was cut last month, and the rodents ran for safety.  The maintenance people have been trying to take care of the new residents....ick.  Every once in a while you get a whif of death.

My friend Scruffy might be considered a deterent.  He has taken to sleeping outside my front door but doesn't seem to mind the birds eating from his food dish 2 feet away.   So you can see why I'm not very confident in his rodent repelling capabilities.

 

Please excuse the blurry photo quality, it was take through the screen.  Scruffy isn't really my cat.  He is a neighborhood cat that works hard to protect us from the feral cats that live in the field across the road.  His story is pretty sad actually.  He was living the good life here in Maui until his owner passed away.  The owner died 4-6 years ago, no one really knows all the details.  But this sweet kitty has been left to his own devices and seems to be flourishing...please note large belly.  I am most likely not the only one feeding him.  He comes and spends time with me every few weeks, mostly on the weekends.  His original name was Kula, I don't think he likes it very much because he doesn't answer to it at all.  I have taken to calling him Scruffy, as he usually has some little bits of vegetable matter stuck in his fur.  He's been inside a few times but seems to prefer it outside, which is fine with me. 

I am busy preparing to be gone for nearly 2 weeks...what on earth will I bring to knit?  Decisions, Decisions!  I will be spending quite a bit of time on planes...so I will have to think up some good airplane knitting.

Summertime

Summer continues on, and it has gotten a bit warmer.  The giant Royal Poinciana trees help to keep it cool inside, the really deep eaves really help too.

We still haven't felt the need for the air conditioning, it's hard for me to believe that I need to sleep with a blanket when it's 78 degrees in my room.

Our current electric bill is over $250, and we are a bit shell shocked.  Utility costs are getting pretty high everywhere.

So I am still knitting away on my Olympics afghan....it's sort of embarrassing how little knitting I have accomplished.  On the positive side I have dyed 100 skeins of yarn in the last week.....worked my normal schedule and spent all Saturday afternoon on a Photowalk down in Lahaina.  I hope to have pictures to post in the next few days.

So cheers to all those Rav-Olympians who medaled in their events, I wish I were with you on the podium receiving the gold.

Shortest and Longest Move

Finally, I feel as though I have moved in to the new place.  I still have many things to unpack and organize, but it will all come together soon.  This was one of the shortest house moves I've ever had, just about 2 miles....but it took the longest, about 2 weeks.

I plan to pour a nice tall glass of something cold and go enjoy the new view for a while.

Yarn Store Reviews: Houston

Ok, so I visited 6 yarn stores on my travels last month, I only got to see 2 in Houston, I know there are lots of wonderful stores out in the burbs, but I was only there for 2 days....so we stayed in town.

Houston, Texas:  Yarns 2 Ewe
These two stores were chosen because of their proximity to my sister's house in West U.  We came across Yarns 2 Ewe kind of by accident.  It was my first day there, I admit to being a bit jet lagged....only a couple of hours sleep in 48 hours so I might have been hallucinating...but as we were speeding along toward lunch at Mi Tierra (...spelling?) I spied a sign for a yarn store.  The building looked deserted (it was noon on a Tuesday) and the sign showed signs of neglect.  We decided to stop in after lunch (starving children in the car...feed them first).  I am glad we made the effort.  The store still appeared to be closed, there weren't any cars in the parking lot on the street side, but I will always persevere when it comes to yarn.  I was encouraged when I saw a Rowan sign in the front door.  The sun in Texas can be quite brutal, so all the blinds were drawn tight and the signage in the door's window was quite faded.

(imagine this store on a gray cloudy day with no cars parked in front or the side lot...what would you think?  click to make it bigger...that sign needs some life!)

It was really quite a large store....lots and lots and lots of needles, no short circulars though, 16" is the smallest.  They had tons of accessories, bags, kits, books and just about anything else the knitter could want.  I could have stayed there for hours....not that easy when you have a 4 year old in tow, so we had to leave.

Houston Yarn Shop #2:  Mary Charles

My second stop was more intentional, I had found the website for Mary Charles online, realized it was really close to my sister's house and made plans to see it before leaving town.  It is a delightful little shop.  Cute location, loads of natural light, and the few yarns they have are lovely.  It's not really a yarn store though....they don't even carry stitch markers.  They don't stock very many needles either.  There is lots of potential there, if you want to knit a cashmere scarf....this is the place, so it's not a write off...but how often do people in Houston wear cashmere scarves?

So.....Yarns 2 Ewe, four and a half stars....the half star deduction because of the exterior aesthetic that made me think it had gone out of business.

Mary Charles, 3 stars

Yarn Madness

Since my last post, I have been to Texas, Florida and Kula....not necessarily in that order.  I flew to Houston to see my sister and her family for a few days and then on to Sarasota to see my parents.  Of course I managed to visit several yarn shops....more on that if I remember to write the reviews.  I was really only kicked out of one of them.....or asked to leave anyway.  So my reviews will include 5 positive ratings and one negative.
I have also been approached by a local feature writer...she would like to feature me and my Maui Yarns in an upcoming issue of Maui Time. 
Two weeks from now the new Lahaina/Ka'anapali/Kapalua dining & shopping guides will be out with this picture of my yarn proudly displayed:

Yarn Winding

I am very accustomed to winding yarn around here, lots and lots of yarn. 

Just not with a ball winder. 

It took me a good 20 minutes to figure out where I had stashed the silly thing.

Knitting Again

Today I decided it was high time I knitted something besides samples out of Maui Yarns.  So I found a pattern, shuffled some colors around and came up with this:

There are two colors missing from this photo....Whale Watch and Wow Sunrise.  In case the small little pattern is not obvious to the naked eye....I am going to knit Revolution with Maui Yarns sock yarn on a size 6 needle.  I have knitted two of the center wedges so far, and it seems like a very quick knit.

Notes from the kitchen

So last night I dyed wool for a couple hours, and a good friend brought me a special gift....ricotta cheese and some San Marzano tomatoes.  Four pounds of ricotta and 273 ounces of fabulous tomatoes.  I already have giant cans of San Marzano tomato puree, so the cans of whole tomatoes are a welcome addition to the pantry.  OK, OK.....one can didn't last very long in the pantry. 

A couple pounds of Italian sausage, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 onion and some basil, oregano and half a giant can of San Marzano whole tomatoes.

Oh, by the way, I am cooking in what looks a bit like a war zone.  We are slowly getting new countertops, so part of the kitchen has some granite tile....and some just has plywood.  This lovely part next to the stove has some of both.  Sometime next week they will finish and install the onyx backsplash.  Here' s hoping they apply a really good sealer to the backsplash....these tomatoes are messy.  By the way, the sauce is awesome....yummy.

Maui police encounter

Happy Easter Officers....

Today as I was speeding home from Safeway with my Easter dinner goodies securely packed in the trunk, I glanced over at the little cove near Canoe Beach, and lo and behold, a mother whale and her calf were goofing around really close to shore.  So I pulled safely onto the shoulder...aka bike lane and enjoyed the view for a few minutes.  I was joined by three or four other cars...all rentals. 

Another 5 minutes go by, and along comes the Maui Police Department....two cars, just in case there might be trouble.  They were so sweet, checking on me to make sure I hadn't had an accident....surrounded as I was by all the rental cars, what else could it be?  The whales had moved on by this time, so the show was over and everyone was moving on anyway.  The nice officer wished me well, and drove on....with me calling out, "Happy Easter" at the top of my lungs. 

So Happy Easter from me and the whales here in Maui! (small disclaimer, not my photography....pacific whale foundation image)