Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Lists and Piles


and piles and lists! I don't know about you, but when I get ready for a trip I make piles. And I make lists. And I make lists of my piles and piles from my lists. So that is where I am at today as we get ready to head to London tomorrow morning. Of course there is the clothes pile. What to wear. We try to travel as light as possible. Here is my bag ready to go. That wasn't so hard.










The bigger and more important dilemma, of course, is what knitting to take along. There will be lots of time in planes, trains and automobiles. Socks are small and portable, so obviously the project of choice. I have been busy casting on socks to have them ready to pick up and knit when the moment arises. Here you see my Cider Moon Glacier sock; a New Monkey sock out of Wollmeise Zenzi and my Claudia Peppermint Mocha sock. (The Cider Moon and Peppermint Mocha socks have single socks done and waiting their completion to be a pair!!) I also have my Vikings sock packed. I think that will be enough. I mean, there are always yarn stores to visit in London and Paris!!






We got a welcome visit from Aaron this past weekend! He came home to wish his dad a Happy Birthday since we'll be gone over the actual date. It was his first visit home since he left for college and it was so good to have him here. The first thing he did was boil up some eggs and treat us to some of his famous deviled eggs! Yum!












He also put on his working gloves and hopped on board the tractor with Steve to put in some posts for our neighbor. Steve LOVES this tractor and loves any excuse to fire it up and put it to use. (It belongs to our neighbor). Personally I don't have fond memories of the thing. I tried driving it once. Was not pretty. Let's just say I had a bad experience.

Enough said.


Aaron also 'let' us beat him at Settlers of Catan and multiple games of Farkel. What a guy! AND he didn't even bring laundry home for mom to do. Perhaps I should have taken his temperature!! He was a little miffed that we aren't taking him to Paris with us, since he does speak French. Maybe next time!



Well, more lists to make and piles to pack. I will end with a Self Portrait that I did in response to being tagged by Kristin for a Self Portrait Meme.
I took MANY pictures.. none of them very flattering. Some of them very NOT flattering! So here I am, coffee in one hand; camera in the other.

If you have a blog and are reading this, consider yourself tagged. See if you can't do a better job than I did! It's not easy taking a picture of yourself!!


I hope to post while we are gone.. but if not, I surely will when we get back and hope to have lots of pictures and stories to share!!

Until Next Time....

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have a great trip! Thanks for playing with the picture, it's a good shot. I had to take a bunch too until I got one that was tolerable.

rohanknitter said...

Have a GREAT trip! (I am so jealous) We'll want to hear every detail when you get back!

There's just something about men and tractors. They all seem to love them.

SwissKnits! said...

Have a safe trip and *Mind the Gap*!!!
I love London!!!! Think of me when you are near Westminster Abby, I lived a few blocks from there in 1999.

I can't wait to see how much progress you make on your socks.

Sheri at The Loopy Ewe said...

I want to see a video of you driving that tractor.

Have a safe trip - I'll miss you! Can't wait to see your completed socks when you return. :-)

marit said...

Driving a tractor is actually rather fun!I've done it for at least 30 years...not often, not much, but enough...
Have a great trip- take care!

Karen said...

Hi Janice...have a wonderful trip! You should be able to get lots of knitting done while crossing the pond. How do you like those Harmony circulars for sock knitting?

I look forward to reading all about your trip when you get home. Godspeed.

Jknits said...

Have a fabulous trip - I hope you find some great new projects and have a blast.
Jen

AllyB said...

Against my better judgment I posted my self portrait. Go check it out when you get back from vacation. Have a great trip! Hope you get lots of knitting time.

monica said...

Have a great trip!!!!
I have some tractor stories too, many not pretty, thank goodness my grandfather loved me more than that tractor and took it all in stride, and even with smiles.

Love the looks of all those socks in progress!

Unknown said...

Have a fabulous trip. Love the socks, can't wait to see finished pairs. Who's taking care of the baby dog while you're gone? g

Shelley L. MacKenzie said...

Enjoy your trip and have a great time - oh how I'd love to go to London! But hey, I made it to Korea so there is hope that one day I'll get to London as well!

Marianne said...

I hope you are having a great time in Londontown, & Paris, too! I do love London, though.

I also love the picture of the John Deere tractor with your guys! Driving John Deere tractors is fun, although it has been many years since I have done it. My cousin owns a number of them, in various sizes on his farm in northwest Iowa. When we were growing up, I drove a couple of them in the summer sometimes, with my uncle. The only thing that I found was a bit tricky was trying to go through a gate with a cultivator (popular back then), with only 1" total clearance. Now, that was something else! :-)

Marianne said...

I hope you are having a great time in Londontown, & Paris, too! I do love London, though.

I also love the picture of the John Deere tractor with your guys! Driving John Deere tractors is fun, although it has been many years since I have done it. My cousin owns a number of them, in various sizes on his farm in northwest Iowa. When we were growing up, I drove a couple of them in the summer sometimes, with my uncle. The only thing that I found was a bit tricky was trying to go through a gate with a cultivator (popular back then), with only 1" total clearance. Now, that was something else! :-)

Anonymous said...

oooh, enjoy your trip. i haven't been to london since i was way too young to appreciate it properly but i remember that the best indian food i've ever eaten was in london (funny what kids remember). the accent is so addictive, too... have fun!!!

Anonymous said...

Just thinking of you Janice and thought I'd drop a note. Great pik of Steve and Aaron. They look like little kids on that gargantuous (correct spelling unknown) tractor. I hope you are having a fantabulous trip. Hope you enjoy lots of European-ous chocolate and coffee (I'm on a roll so I thought I'd continue ...) Were you able to take any kind of knitting apparatus on the airplane?

We'll get together when you get home.

caroline

hakucho said...

Have a fabulous trip!!! Great idea starting all those socks...I bet you'll have lots of beautiful finished socks to show us when you return. I hope you are bringing an empty suitcase for all that yarn you'll be bringing home ;)

Enjoy :) and lots of happy knitting
along the way!!

Carrie said...

Very clever of you to cast on several pairs of socks - have a great trip! Sounds like Aaron had a good visit home. And your self-portrait looks great =)

Caroline said...

Have a wonderful and safe trip. Yes!! You'll definitely find at least a few yarn shops to check out in London and Paris. (LOL)

Deborah said...

Oooh, have fun, bring us all back some Rowan!