A Rather Disapointing Re-Cap

*ahem* Sooo....how's it goin'? What'cha been up to? How's the fam?

Me? Oh, I uh...was uhm....well I...

Nothin.

I wish I could say I went on sabbatical, traveled Europe for 6 weeks, loaded up an RV and criss-crossed North America, ....broke all of my fingers?

But no. No great stories, just...life keepin us busy. And then sitting down to 'catch up' and not being sure where to start. Like a weird writer's block, but opposite. There's so much to catch up on I'm not sure where to start. So this morning I decided to just go through my pictures for the last 6 weeks and do a random update to get us up and going again! Let's get to it!

So let's start with July....

Oh! I ordered some roving from hello yarn (Adrian is super great AND sent me a button! I LOVE buttons!)

Then I dyed it using kool aid and food coloring.

These are listed - with better pictures - in my etsy shop. I hope to add more soon.

And why food grade dyes? After some debate, I decided to stick with them for the time being. With a 3 year old and a dog whose sole purpose in life is to lick anything and everything, I didn't want to mess with the acid dyes. I've read they're safe unless you're huffing the dust for years and years, I've read you should practically don a biohazard suit before using them....I just decided to play it safe for now. Plus...they smell good :)

The boys went camping in the backyard. ...for an hour and a half. Long enough to watch The Grinch on the mini DVD player and realize it was too hot and muggy to camp that evening. (I was well aware of this, and was in the house. Where the air conditioning was.)

Zach got a strep rash. Upon further inspection, it was discovered he'd had strep throat, and we just never knew.

We watched RAGBRAI as this year's route went right in front of my aunt & uncle's property. (click that link for more ragbrai photos, including zach's attempts to join the race)

This is just the beginning, later on the stream of riders is constant. But by then, we were busy selling goodies (bike riders took a real liking to her cookies and nut rolls) and I never got the camera out.

I did manage to get a picture of Coley and Gum. (his name is not Gum, its really Andrew, its a long story, but Zach kind of re-named him.) Coley (aka Nicole) is my cousin, and the daughter of above referenced aunt & uncle. Gum is her rather neat-o boyfriend. (even though I hate calling him her 'boyfriend') And some RAGBRAI riders behind them. Zach spent the day working the crowd.

I made granola. (Ok I make granola a lot, but happened to take a picture of it because I'll be posting the recipe soon.)

My cousin Kelsey came up for a visit on her way North. This only confirms that my cousins are all drop dead gorgeous, and I hate them a little for it. In my defense, that's a bad picture.

And lastly, my dad and his wife went on an excursion to The White Great North (...canada...) and sent me a cozy fleece jacket. (and yes Papou, it fits! As does Zach's. And he loves his black dog tshirt)

swanky eh?

There has also been garden tending, garden neglecting, resulting garden weeding, knitting, sewing, walking, ice cream eating, farmer's market visiting, ...and minimal cleaning. on that note, I found this shirt the other day: must have ...it sounds about right. And in all that, I started a part time job. Because groceries and gas have about doubled, and yet...somehow, our income did not. Weird huh? Plus...it was starting to eat into my craft budget, and that can't happen...

So now I work in the bakery a few days/evenings a week frosting anything that steps in my path. ...including myself some days...

And now I'm in the process of washing a very dirty alpaca fleece. But more on that later...