Bucky and His People

They say owners pick dogs that have qualities they admire, that doesn't explain how Bucky landed with me. This completely willful little guy, never bothers to listen to his humans, talks when he wants to, at the volume that, well, he feels appropriate. When I one day lie down on the shrink's couch, what's he gonna tell me? "You should be firm, young lady, show him who's the boss."

Right.

Muffins

This season Henry is playing basketball with a team that calls themselves Muffins with Attitude (Henry hates the name). Our coach put together this video clip for the only winning game so far. MWA is in white, Henry is number 22, and yours truly took the video.

Puppy Sandwich

On rainy stormy cold winter nights, Trinket likes to bury himself in a pile of pillows or the doggie bed to keep warm and hide from the nasty monsters. He flips up the cushion in the doggie bed, and makes himself a little sandwich.

2010 Knitting Retreat

The South Bay Knitters annual knitting retreat in the Quaker Center in the Santa Cruz mountains was this past weekend. The retreat is from Friday to Sunday and I'm always a Saturday day tripper. We start the day early, leaving in a carpool around 7am when it's still dark and foggy, and end the day late, after dinner and dessert, when the roads in the mountain are pitch black. In between we fit in an early morning breakfast of scones and fresh fruit, a late morning brunch with lovely egg dishes and bacon aplenty, some of us go for a hike while others are content to sit around and knit all day. Dinner is not to be missed and the chocolate cake is the die for, seriously. Gift exchange in the afternoon is the highlight of the weekend. The nice ladies take off their masks and steal mercilessly. Somehow I always end up with the good stuff.

A very special moment this year was when I showed off my Great American Afghan squares. They are lined up on the table, some still need edging to size them up. One of the squares was deemed too bright and voted off the island. I need knit another one to fill the hole.

The kind ladies applauded for my effort while I busied myself playing paparazzi.

Re-arranging the squares so they all look right.

Dr. Nancy is holding the evil turquoise square. "No, I don't think so, out you go."

Pre-Retreat Yarn Crawl

The annual South Bay Knitters retreat was this weekend, so on Friday, on the way to the retreat center for most people, we went on a yarn crawl to visit the Santa Cruz area shops.

First off, the Yarn Place in Capitola.

A stop for lunch at Gayle's Bakery across the street.

Second shop is Chic's with Sticks in Santa Cruz. This is a new shop and for most of us it's our first visit. Owner Cathy opened the shop early for our group and offered us a 10% discount. Her sweet grand daughter climbed on the table and showed us how to cast on.

Fae was drafted as temporary tutor and knitting doctor while the young lady admired her crocheted leaf scarf.

Third store is Swift Stitch on the west side of Santa Cruz. The store was having a big sale, 20% off total purchase if you pay by credit card, or 25% off pay by cash or check.

I took advantage of the deal and bought four skeins of hand dyed merino wool called Hacho (from Peru). With almost 550 yards, I think this will become a small shawl or a lacy vest.

Last stop was The Golden Fleece, at the base of Highway 9. By now the troop had scattered, some went for icecream and some finished early and went to Cost Plus across the street or the coffee shop. The shop has not agreed with me much since they moved almost two years ago, so my credit card stayed intact.