Spring has Sprung

Happy Spring!

I'm so ready to get rid of the cold ugliness of winter and move into the warm, longer days of spring. Here at Casa del Jake & Rae we are shifting into gear. This weekend the spring cleaning (and unpacking) started in the basement and the upstairs bedrooms. We're trying to finish the "moving in" process by unpacking the boxes that were stashed just in time to welcome the holidays. Also, we've been itching to get outside into the yard. The daffodils and other bulbs are starting to sprout. It's kind of fun going around the yard and trying to identify the plants that have lived here longer than we have. Also, the vegetable seeds arrived and are now in their starter cups. General weeding and backyard clean-up has begun.
Today, Jake declared war on the family of squirrels that have been ravishing our bird feeders and driving the dog crazy all winter. The last straw was the destruction of a bird feeder and garbage can lid.



This morning, dressed in camouflage, Jake left for the hardware store. He returned with his "solution" to the squirrel problem. Living in the middle of town, sniping is out of the question. As is poisoning the menaces, since Emma spends a lot of time sniffing around the yard. Instead, he's decided that he is going to "relocate" the little rodents.

I can't imagine this ending well on either side, meanwhile visions of Caddy Shack are dancing in my head.

iLove

We just recently upgraded our phones to iPhones and I have to say - I LUV my new toy! These devices are really amazing - internet, phone, camera, ipod, and much more all in one tiny device. It has really freed up a lot of space in my travel bag. Speaking of travel bags...see my new Kate Spade laptop bag/carry-on next to my iPhone - this was a birthday gift from my wonderful husband and it's fabulous! (I'm a very spoiled girl)

Holy Crap it's March!

I really can't believe it's already March, where has 2009 gone? My head truly is spinning. Two business trips abroad - Italy in February (below is a picture of the view from my hotel in Stressa) and the U.K. this month - have put my day to day routine into a bit of a tailspin.

I'm not doing too well with the New Years resolutions - I've only been to knitting once and haven't made one book group. In all fairness, I haven't been particuliarly motivated to read the books for book group because I was sucked into the Twilight chronicles (I really could barely think of anything else, let alone start another book I really had no interest in). I haven't forgotten any birthdays, however I am very delinquent in mailing my grandmother's birthday gift (why does the Post Office have to close at 4?)

I am trying to achieve a better work/life balance - easier said than done. For instance, the reason I have time to post to this blog is because I got stuck at work to late to get home in time for yoga...did I mention I've been going to yoga? Anyway, aside from the craziness, things are going well with us. The weather this weekend was so nice, we were able to get out and work in the yard for the first time. Funny, because last Sunday (March 1st) I had to fly out of Philadelphia in a blizzard (seriously, Jake said we got about 8 inches of snow between Sunday night and Monday).

Trying to think of what else has been happening during the past two and a half months, but it all seems like a blur. I'm not going to promise more frequent posts, but I will say that I do hope to post more frequently...it seems the best way to keep everyone up to date. Drop me a note and let me know how you're doing - for those of you I haven't heard from in awhile. Cheers!..Ciao

In closing, I would like to take a moment to recognize the passing of Popeye, my parents Silky Terrier. Popeye had been a member of the family for the past 14 and a half years. He will be missed greatly. (This is him asleep, btw..just in case you were wondering)

Happy New Year

Reflection.

In the wake of the new year it’s always nice to pause for a moment and reflect on the events of 2008. For me and my family, 2008 was a year of firsts – Jake and I celebrated our 1st anniversary by buying our first house. We decided to set down some roots in the little town of Harleysville – just north of Philadelphia. Our 75 year old home has a lot of character – both good and bad. It has the woodwork and details you would expect from a craftsman-style home, however the décor from the past 20 years could stand some updating. We are in the slow process of removing the floral wallpaper and garish paint schemes – I see a lot of painting in my future.
Spending the holidays in our new home was a welcome first, it was the first Christmas that we had both of our families all under one roof. My parents and brother were our first houseguests, and despite terrible weather in the Pacific Northwest, they arrived Christmas morning. We also welcomed the arrival of our first nephew in 2008 – Gregory was born the beginning of December to jake’s sister and brother-in-law.
Although 2008 was not without its share of struggles and heartbreak, we feel very fortunate for who and what we have.

Looking forward.

I am a new year’s resolution junkie. I love the feeling of having a clean slate to start the year. While I try not to make empty resolutions that will be forgotten by Valentines day, I try to think about what I would like to focus on this year. For me, given the state of our nation, I plan to spend 2009 focusing on people not things. The health of me, my family and the planet is an area I would like to try and improve in the upcoming year. The other “resolution” I have was to spend more time on my relationships…2008 was a busy year for me, between the house, an overwhelming job, which I ended up leaving, to starting a new position and traveling for that position. In all the shuffle, I feel like I lost sight on what was truly important – Family and Friends. This year, I would like to resolve to recognize birthdays, anniversaries and other important milestones in people’s lives – rather than let them slip by forgotten or unannounced. I also plan to return to my social networks, in my hiatus from knitting and book group I have come to realize how much these weekly/monthly meetings meant to me. Nurturing the relationships we have with our family, friends and neighbors brings more meaning and purpose to life.

That said, I wish everyone a happy and healthy 2009.

September Update

So much has been going in the last two months that I figured I would use a couple of posts to bring everyone up to speed. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Jake and I put an offer in on a house at the beginning of the month. At the same time, I traveled to London on business. Poor Jake, he always gets stuck with messes while I'm gone. Actually it wasn't too bad, the offer was accepted and we had done all of the loan paperwork, it was really just scheduling inspections and watching interest rates. Speaking of interest rates, leave it to us to to make the biggest financial decision of our marriage (so far), during a time when the banking and lending industry was in collapse. Luckily for us our bank wasn't taken over or merging during this or I might have had a stroke. Even still I was on the phone with our loan officer almost daily checking rates and making sure we were still getting our mortgage. She has the patience of a saint ;)
Also during September, Jake and I went to Florida. After a very brief visit we set off in their old, but our new Volkswagon Vanagon. We took a 3 day road trip back from Florida to Pennsylvania in a 1987 VW Camper van.







The first of many adventures! Those of you who are up on your East Coast geography may have noticed that there was no North Carolina sign. Well, we were distracted by PEDRO
That pretty much wraps up the month of September. Check back soon for the October update.

One Year Ago...

Today we celebrate our one year wedding anniversary.

Buying a House

If the posts have been a little sporadic lately, it's because we have a lot going on in the S-K household. We have decided to put an offer in on a house and have been bogged down with going thru our stuff, filling out mortgage applications and just general running around. All of this in conjunction with working and trying to get outside and enjoy the rest of summer (August in the Northeast has been wonderful - sunny and hot, but not too hot). I will try to do a better job in the upcoming months of posting more frequently. Until then, enjoy this picture of Emma...

Jammed

The summer harvest continues. My tomatoes are coming in beautifully - we've enjoyed several Tomato and Basil salads this summer fresh out of the garden. Today I ventured out to Willow Creek Orchards. They have a beautiful selection of produce and other locally produced food. I picked up some peaches, coffee and locally raised buffalo. While I was there I decided to pick some blackberries...enough blackberries to make some jam. How many blackberries do you need in order to make jam? I wasn't really sure either, but I knew you needed a lot. So I picked A LOT. 2 baskets full of blackberries.
The biggest challenge to making jam is not picking the berries, but finding pectin in our grocery stores. I had to go to the Menonite market and still had trouble finding it.
At the end of the day I was able to make about 8 cups of blackberry jam still with lots of blackberries to spare. Now...what to do with the leftover blackberries...Any ideas?

Growing

My container garden is loving the sun and heat of the past few weeks.

Everyday I notice another small, green tomato beginning to grow.

Today I saw a couple of small pepper buds and to my surprise a pretty sizeable pepper.

The resident spider is keeping away the small pests - if only he could do something about our nemesis the squirrel - which is reeking havoc on the strawberries.

Photo meme

I normally don't get around to doing any MEME's, but I liked this one (which I saw on Skrilla Knits, and she borrowed from Katywhumpus.

The Rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker).

the questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Hot Child in the City

It's been about 90 degrees with about 90% humidity the past few weeks - and both weekends we decided it would be a "great" idea to hang out in Philadelphia. Sticky can only begin to describe it...the only saving grace was that we were able to get into A/C by bar hopping ;)

Assateague 2008

On my summer vacation camped at the beach in Assateague Island (Maryland).

We ate Maryland Blue Crabs in Ocean City, MD:


We flew kites on the beach:


We canoed around the bay:

We saw wild ponies:


We got sandblased on a hike down the beach in 35mph winds:

Unfortunately we had to leave a day early, because I'm too chicken to sleep in a tent during a lightning storm with forecasted 70mph winds...but we had fun.

Fiber and Farm Animal Festivities

This weekend was filled with a lot of farm animal fun! On Saturday Jake and I went down to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. We woke up early and made the two and a half hour pilgramige down to the biggest fiber festival I have ever seen. I knew it would be big, but I had no idea just how overwhelming it would be. There were thousands...no really THOUSANDS, of knitters, spinners and fiber enthusiasts at the Howard County Fairgrounds, not to mention the hundreds of farmers and shephards (?) that were there showing, shearing and selling their sheep. For those non-knitters, it is hard to imagine all the excitement, so I am posting evidence of the frenzy.
Here is a picture of the parking lot:


...and the crowd:


I met up with other Ravelers at the Ravelry party:


I even got to meet Jess and Casey, the founders of Ravelry:


There were Sheep Dog Trials:


...and Sheep, of course:


Even Jake found a favorite Sheep:


There were even baby Emu's:


I had so much fun (and didn't even break the bank!). I did purchase a ball winder and swift, and some Natural colored wool (which I don't have pictures yet...I will post later) and a T-Shirt.

And as if that weren't enough...

Sunday, Jake and I went to the Annual Sly Fox Bock Festival and Goat Race. This is always such a fun event, and this year was no exception. The weather was beautiful and the beer was delicious. Who wants to go to the Derby when you can go to the goat race? Not Me.

Celebrity Sightings

I'll start off with apologies...sorry that the posts have been so sporadic lately. I've been working A LOT and when I come home the last thing I feel like doing is updating my blog. I'm hoping to get better about regular posting (no promises, though). I'm not going to write a ridiculously long post filling you in on all of the happenings of the last few months. Suffice it to say that I've been busy working, going out with friends, sampling Delicious libations and knitting. Now back to the present....



Last weekend Jake and I took a pilgrimage to a yarn shop in Kennett Square so that I could partake in Franklin Habit's 1000 Knitters project. I couldn't believe how many knitters had come out. We arrived late, due to bad directions by Google (aside: I've noticed that Google Directions have become increasingly bad lately. So much so that I've started to wonder if they merged with Mapquest.), and I wasn't sure if we should wait around. Jake convinced me to stay and wait, especially since we had made the trip and I am a big fan of Franklin's blog. I put my name in and we went across the street to have a beer and kill some time. For those who have not been to the Wool Gathering in Kennett Square and live in the area, it is well worth the trip. The shop is very nice, with a large selection. Also, the staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. They especially seemed familiar with popular patterns and designers, which makes me think that they are aware of the online knitting community (another aside: I often find shops that are not familiar with the presence knitting has online- which suggests to me that they are out of touch with a very large market demographic.) Anyway, Franklin was a pleasure to meet and I was very happy to be part of the project.



The second celebrity sighting of the week was even more exciting (sorry Franklin). A local book store was hosting a book signing for Discovery Channel's book about the show "Deadliest Catch". Three of the Captian's were in town on the promotional tour - Sig Hansen and brother Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand (with a book of their own). We arrived just as their limo pulled up. We got to see them exit the limo, they said hi and headed into the bookstore. What we were not expecting was how crowded the store would be! There had to be about 1000 people waiting to get books signed. We listened to them answer questions but did not wait to get anything signed (plus, the shop had run out of books). It was fun to get to see the people from our favorite show on television (the only show Jake and I watch regularly).

Out with the old....

And in with the NEW CAR! Last month I upgraded my poor, old 1995 Subaru Impreza for it's younger, sportier sister. I only feel slightly guilty. My old car had treated my well, its' Carribean Metallic Green exterior was easy to spot in any parking lot, the absent cup holder increased my dexterity and coordination while shifting gears and the lack of power windows and door locks made me feel like I was "roughing it". Yet, even with all of it's endearing qualities, it was time for me to get a "grown-up" car. A car that looks like an adult with a paycheck drives it, not a poor college girl. Say hello to my new ride...