We held another garage sale this weekend at the old house. Two full days, and we decided it would be The Last. After this, everything needed to find another way out the door. This meant that today we really slashed the prices, and took just about any deal people wanted to make. While we won’t donate ALL of it, we will donate quite a bit now, and in fact I had Mr. Ink take a load to goodwill out of the driveway so that we didn’t have to move it inside to sort, and then back into the truck. The less we have to touch things now, the better my mood will stay.

I’ve got a car load for half price books, and since we were smart and spent a bunch of time sorting and boxing items, we could easily make another goodwill run tomorrow. It has been wonderful to see the garage and storage area clear out, and it will be equally wonderful to see it empty. I really look forward to that!

During those two days of predominately sitting around and manning the register, I knit. I knit so much! More than I have in one sitting since prior to moving into the new house. And I really enjoyed that time! In fact, today I finished my Canyonette shawl. This is out of my 2 ply handspun I created out of a Smaug batt and braid from Inglenook.

I absolutely LOVED the modular knitting. And oddly, I have plenty of yarn left over! I am so in love with this particular yarn that I may have to find something else to knit with it immediately. I am calling this one a grand success.

Well, we left for Colorado on Friday night, and returned on Monday night. We went specifically so I could go to an all women’s mountain biking clinic. A 2 day course. There were 100 women, but enough coaches to break it down so that we had about 6 people in our group. I learned so much in such a short amount of time, and I’d absolutely go back again next year.

The type of biking we were doing was the type where you are taken to the top of the mountain via gondola, and you bike down. We rented bikes for this, since we do not actually own the type of bikes necessary for this type of biking. With the rental, I received a helmet that scared me a bit.

I mean, it’s really hard to imagine the type of biking I’d need a full face helmet for, as well as knee pads and elbow pads, which I was also provided with.

Thankfully, I didn’t need it. My course was skills based rather than downhill craziness. But, Mr. Ink did end up using his full gear and getting a ton of crazy bike time in.

And he needed it, he shredded a knee pad in one of his crashes. He’s still way more bad ass than I am.

After day 1 of biking, we regrouped, chatted about our day, showed each other which trails we’d ridden, and had a drink. Mr. Ink found Agave Wheat beer, something we’d had once and searched for ever since. We brought some home with us, naturally. We had dinner, and then up to the resort roof for some hot tub time.

Overlooking the mountains. Great fun!

I worked on my canyonette shawl in the mornings while drinking coffee. A very nice meditation to begin my day.

I’ve actually really come a long way on that shawl, and am eager to show it off soon.

And, after all the biking was over and we returned our bikes, we went out for dinner, took a walk by the lake on the beach, and sat and talked about our experience.

It really was an extraordinary experience and trip. I suspect it was just long enough to make me wish I was able to stay longer, rather than having that overwhelming feeling that I really want to get home. But, I will admit to being very glad to see my own bed on Monday evening!

It’s a big deal people, a really big deal! Our AC is up and running again. And gone with the heat and humidity and loud noise of fans is my black and uninspired mood. A win!

Good timing really, because we leave on a weekend trip early tomorrow morning and I have not even packed one single item yet. And that’s HIGHLY unusual for me.

But, I think I will be taking this:

This is my updated progress on my canyonette shawl out of my Smaug handspun. Here’s the thing, this is a really fun knit. And a little bit mindless, which is just what I need! And the changes of colors is really beautiful and surprising. So, it’s going on the trip with me. There’s 3 sections to the shawl, and I am finished with section 1 which requires the use of a scale. It’s now safe to take it on a trip and just knit to my hearts content.

The AC wasn’t the only exciting thing that happened this week. Miss Bug got braces!

If you’ve been following along long enough, you might know that she did not have a front tooth, it refused to come in because there just wasn’t enough space in her mouth. A bit over a year ago, we started with a palatal expander, in hopes that the tooth would descend, but I admit I didn’t have a lot of hope. I really thought we’d be stuck with the oral surgery scenario. But, the tooth did come in, the expander removed and a retainer put in, and now braces to just move the front teeth into the correct positions. It’s a really big deal, and she’s been SUCH a trooper about all her mouth work. She says they hurt, but she’s not complaining much about them. And she’s been very responsive and responsible, realizing that I am trying to get her teeth fixed NOW so she doesn’t have to pay for that LATER. A big lesson for a little girl.

There’s been continued garden surprises as well around here, and I am not just talking about garden pests.

This lily really is absolutely spectacular! So beautiful, so bright, and it’s fun to see the promise of so many more blooms on that particular plant. We’ve really gotten into plants lately, with both Mr. Ink and I bringing home plants almost every time we go to the store. House plants and outdoor plants, and all manner of beautiful things reside in and around our home these days.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone! I’ll see you when I get back, ideally with pictures and knitting progress.

I started a new shawlette. It’s one where I build on rectangles. I am using my Smaug batt/braid 2 ply.

It’s a bit of brain work for me to wrap my head around how it’s supposed to be constructed, but at the moment I seem to have the hang of it. The colors are changing a bit slower than I had hoped for, at least during the initial rectangles, but that might not always be the case as a knit along.

The rectangles are getting larger so it stands to reason the color changes will be faster as well.

In garden news, my day lillies are now in full bloom, and almost as tall as I am!

It’s been a fairly mellow weekend, one in which I am getting quite a bit of housework done. This pleases me greatly! We also rode from our house down to the river to see a local band. The weather forecast was unusual, 0% chance of rain all day long.

Yeah. It rained. But it was a fabulous ride and a fabulous evening anyhow.

For the record, we are on day 9 no AC. But, the weather is sitting at 10-15 degrees cooler than it had been during the worst of last week. So, we are surviving with not quite as much irritability on my part. I still refuse to let anyone do a load of laundry or turn on the oven though. Let’s not get carried away!

We are on Day #4 of no AC, with at least another week and a half to go. Expected temps today to hit mid 90s (F). It is always surprising how being far too warm takes a toll on your ability to be a pleasant person. Add to that some trouble I am having with the cable company, ongoing since mid April, and finding out that despite being sure it was resolved at the end of May, it had NOT been resolved and that meant an additional evening on the phone with the company. Another evening wasted suffering through being on hold, trying not to take my frustrations out on the poor person who actually answered the phone, and trying to have confidence that it WILL be resolved this time. My advice to anyone in similar situations is to ask many questions. If you think it is resolved, ask again. And again, and again. Because no matter how many times I ask, the reiterate the last agreement, and tell them when I last called (3 times) to have it resolved, it still wasn’t done.

When I got off the phone, I asked myself “Shells, what would you really LIKE to be doing right now?” So, I took the glass of whiskey Mr. Ink had poured me while I was yelling at the computerized phone system, and wandered out to the garden.

There was good news and bad news. The slug infestation in my veggie garden seems to have resolved. The veggies and herbs are beginning to recover and grow. This year will be a slow start. Then I wandered over to my shady garden to look at the Hostas and the Lady’s Mantle. And figured out that the slugs had relocated to that garden and chewed up my Hostas. Very frustrating.

But, to leave this gardening post on a lighter note, I bought a Homely Homer tomato plant, as well as a couple others and one from seed. Homer already has buds!

Homer is doing very very well. And I am excited to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

As for the beautiful thing, I began another So I Gathered shawlette out of some The Dyeing Arts handspun from Rolags.

It’s mostly silk and luxury fibers and the yarn was so yellow and yummy and soft! So, during the weekend garage sale, I balled up this yarn and then cast it on yesterday.

And it really is the start of something yellow, muted, and beautiful. I am looking forward to this one, especially since the soft yarn running through my hands is an extremely pleasant experience.