Tilt-a-whirl

Horse Poo and Santa, Too!

What a spectacular December 7th, here in Placerville! (Happy birthday, Vicki Souza!) Lauren had gone downtown early in the day and reminded us that the Holiday Parade was happening this afternoon. We threw some tuna sammies down the pie-hole's and inched along with so many others, to find a parking place with a walk not too tough for an almost three year old. Do you think that he was excited, our Schnickle?

We found a spot on the curb, in the sun, where we were not too far from the beginning of the parade route, which began at the assembly area at the Mountain Democrat. We all had no idea what was going to be in store! There was much wiggling and wondering.

At 1 pm, the announcement began, the flag bearers and pipers, both from fire & police groups began the parade.

The surprising entries went from Motorcycle clubs to VW afficianados. Grins were as wide as could be. The surprise for the Schnickle and for us is that every participant in the parade that was not holding an instrument or a somethingerother was...throwing CANDY!

Look, here are our beautiful El Dorado County Roses, the lovely ladies of service who are there to open every business as ambassadors of refinement. :o)

I loved seeing all of the vintage vehicles, especially the fire engines and believeyoume, Mr Schnickle was big on this, as well...shouting and squealing, especially when MORE candy rained down.

My favorites were anything with hooves...big, small, you name it.

Let's face it, I just had a blast and little Mr Schnickle kept asking about where the pooper scooper guys we saw skateboarding down the street before the parade were, when each and every road apple appeared. "Where's the Scooperman"?

The Scooperman had some STYLE! He had to de-poop the street for Santa, after all!

Did I say that there was CANDY? ( he only had TWO pieces and dutifully put everything into Mama's bag...)

Thank you to the organizers of the Parade. It was just another really really fun day in our adopted hometown of Placerville. We are building new traditions and having SO many happy times here. One thing about being at the beginning of the parade (beside the pent up excitement of the paraders...SHOWERING candy on the cutest little kids) was that we got to wave bye bye to SANTA! and then toddle on back to the car while to folks down on Main Street were still waiting for the first participants to arrive. Woo hoo! What fun.

Hanging in and Hanging Loose

When the tough get really pissed off, the tough start knitting. Did I tell you that I am still knitting?

 I got the needles out when I finished the last project, remembering how I used to feel when I finished a piece, in the old days, feeling incomplete without needles or crochet hooks in my hands. Back then I made these lavish creations and the last act was sewing in the fabulous label and finding the PERFECT buttons to complete the picture. People always commented on the high quality buttons and to me, the wearable art was not complete without the best buttons possible...no skimping. I have a small stash of fabulous buttons left but took my favorites with me to Stitches East, simply because the maker of those buttons was not going to be in attendance and I wanted to keep her work front and center, whether I used them on my work or displayed them for customers to ogle and finger like touchstones. For some reason, I let others have some of my favorites...time to let go?

  I was intrigued by the latest book put out by XRX, called Knit One Below. I wasn't paying much attention until an old friend from the days of the Knitlist came up to me, exclaimed...Hi Lisa, I'm Wannietta (pronounced Juanita for us folks in California) and I knitted all of the pieces in this book. Well, for crying out loud...they let you out of Canada for a visit and look what you have done! By Sunday, after listening to all of the excited people talking about the fun new technique, I decided to succumb to peer pressure and get the darned book. I'm glad that I did because it is just plain fun. I chose the simplest of projects, after knitting my initial Oh, That's How It Works swatch and have had a soothing something for my hands ever since. I am knitting with Blue Faced Leicester Worsted in Poiple and South Pacific, making a soft and pliable fabric with these size 10-ish needles from the button maker. Listen, my dear daughter-in-law was so intrigued by the process that SHE bought the book and is going to start knitting again. Fun for the whole family...

So, I have my easy chair and my knitting. It is therapeutic and helps me to bounce all of the sadness from the outside world off of my being. Days are spent gratefully dyeing yarn and fiber for others who need the same solace and evenings are filled with baking, spinning and knitting...just as they should be.

Now I need to walk quickly past the carding machine that has been SO addictive to play with and get busy for Others. :o) Did I say that I have been making little Uber Soft batts? Did I say that this thing is addictive? Yeah, I guess that I did.

Thoughts and prayers go out to my friends suffering illness and loss right now...I guess that I'll just have to keep knitting cuz this is really pissing me off...