Fishing Trip to Nowhere

Phil has five weeks of vacation a year.  A couple of months ago he planned a day fishing charter trip for us at Raystown Lake in Huntington, PA.  Last night we got everything ready for our trip and even went to bed early; 10 p.m.  We got up at 1 a.m. (yes, I did get up!) so we could be in the car and on the road by 2 a.m.  It took a little over two hours but we got there at 4:15 a.m.  We stopped where we were supposed to meet the captain for our day of fishing pleasure only to have the guard pass the phone over to Phil as soon as we arrived.  Seems the boat our captain planned to use for our trip had something go wrong and even replacing a second motor didn't fix it.  We turned around and headed two hours back home.  I slept the last hour and once we got home we both slept another four hours.  What a wasted trip.

We went to a matinee showing of Iron Man 3 at Carmike Cinemas today.  There was one other person in the auditorium besides me and Phil.  I enjoyed the movie.  It was in 3-D.

I fixed pork chops in my electric skillet for dinner tonight.  We had carrots and buttered penne pasta for sides.  It was a good dinner.  Phil met a friend at the lake near our house to train dogs so I'm alone.  We have a fire going in the woodstove which is nice.  Time to order more propane.

I haven't finished that last Dragonfly sock yet.  There isn't much further to do.  I'm kind of bored with it right now and wish it was finished.  Maybe I can finish up while Grimm is on t.v. tonight.  I'm still tired.  Hope I can stay awake until 9 p.m.

He just arrived home.  He came up to the front porch and knocked on the door.  I opened the door and he hands me a can of Bud Light.  What?  His friend asked if he wanted one and Phil says no but Carol might.  Just what I need.  A beer would put me right to sleep.  I'll put it in the refrigerator.

River Ridge German Shorthaired Pointers

Blatant advertising on my part.  Puppies out of River Ridge Opal and Warmarks Outlander Harley are due the week of May 20, 2013.  This is a repeat breeding of the one we had in 2010.  We received the Natural Ability N.A.V.H.D.A. Breeder's Award for that litter.

River Ridge German Shorthaired Pointers

Our dogs are registered with the A.K.C. and N.A.V.H.D.A.  We field/hunt test through both registries.  Our dogs are hunted regularly on wild grouse, pheasant and chukar.  Over the last couple of years we have taken up water fowling.  Our dogs are natural water dogs and have a strong desire to hunt.  They love children and have a personality that is easy to get along with in the house but will still require training and discipline.   Pedigree information is listed on our website.  In addition to field ability there is also a focus on conformation.  There are a number of dual champions in their lineage.   If you are looking for a performance driven hunting partner, please contact us.

River Ridge Rocco
Sire:  Clou Vom Holtvogt, NAVHDA UT-Prize I
Dam:  River Ridge Bella, NAVHDA UT-Prize I, AKC Senior Hunter
(working on Master Hunter title)

Phil and Carol Urban

PO Box 203

Stahlstown, PA  15687

Home 724-593-3535

Website: 

http://river-ridge-gsp.tripod.com

Email:

carolnphil@yahoo.com

Dance Recital

The dance recital went well and was a lot of fun for the audience and the performers.  We got  there on time which is always a plus.  I hate being late for anything!

Jassmine was scared at first.  We could see she was crying when she came out on stage but by the end of their first routine she was smiling.  At the end of the event they called each child's name and the children received their trophy and also their dance costumes to take home.  We met her at the stairs below the stage and handed her a rose.  She had a huge smile on her face!

Both my son and daughter in law enjoyed the performances, even Dixie enjoyed the dancers and pointed to her sissy on stage each time.

Here is a photo that Chrystal took of the girls as they were leaving.  Dixie was holding Jassmine's rose while Jassmine is holding her trophy.  She said she'd like to dance again next year.  I was so happy for her to get to do something she wanted to for such a long time.

Dance Recital Jitters

This evening is rehearsal for my oldest granddaughter's dance recital.  This was her first year of dance classes.  She took preschool acrobatics, tap and ballet.  I know she loved her acro class because she would talk all about the different things she learned on the drive home.  I don't think she enjoyed tap but she liked ballet.

The girls have been practicing the dance routines every week for months now.  Some of them have it down and some are a little behind.  Once they put their costumes on no one will remember whether or not they did their dance numbers perfectly.  Everyone will remember how beautiful their daughters looked.

Hopefully I can get some photos this evening of the rehearsal because we're not allowed to take photographs tomorrow with the flash on our cameras.  I'm sure the flashes of light would startle the preschoolers.  The older dances are probably used to dancing on stage in front of an audience.

Here's a photo of little miss in one of her dance costumes.  I took the photo at my house a few months ago.

The rehearsal went well.  We didn't get out of there until well after 8 p.m.  She's sleeping now and I'm heading that way.  Long day.

Friday, May 3

Today was the last of my oldest granddaughter's preschool dance classes.  It was kind of sad.  At least for me, anyway.  Next week is rehearsal for their dance recital.  I'm hoping things go smoothly.

So, in between waiting for dance to begin and end I knitted or would the correct term be that I knit?  I'm still working on the first dragonfly sock for myself.  I finished the heel and am into the foot now.  It looks pretty good.

May 6:  I finished the first sock this evening.  It looks so nice on my foot.  I spent an hour afterward reinforcing the stress points on the sock with a tapestry needle and matching yarn.

May 9:  I'm through the heel and onto the foot of the second sock.

Vegetable Garding Post #2

I ordered three double size raised garden beds from Sam's Club on Sunday.  I received an email yesterday telling me they had shipped already.  I'm so excited.

Today I set my pumpkin, squash and zucchini plants outdoors.  I saved the portion of the risers we didn't use on the septic system to use as planters.

I hope this year's attempt at gardening is better than last year.

Opal is getting big.  Her pups are due the week of May 20.

Knitting with Beads

I'd like to learn how to knit with beads.  I bought two books a few months ago and then bought yarn that was pre-beaded.  I didn't like the pre-beaded yarn quite so much because you didn't have the ability to select where you wanted bead placement.  I also found this tutorial online that shows you how to thread the beads onto the yarn using very small crochet hooks.

Today I bought two small packages of 4mm Swarovski beads by EKsuccess Brands.  There are 30 beads per package and the colors are; clear, light green, light blue and teal blue.  I plan to knit them into the lace pattern of the socks I started last night....for ME!  The sock pattern is called Flying Arrows Socks by Helen Waittes.  The pattern calls for a size 1 1/2-2 (2.5mm) needle which I don't have.  I do have a size 2 (2.75mm) needle.  I looked through the needle racks at Jo-Ann's Fabrics last week and again today.  No size 1 1/2 knitting needles.  

I've only gotten through part of the second pattern repeat and it's going slow but I'm trying to be careful and not drop stitches.  I find it difficult to knit while the tv is on or my husband is talking.  Sorry, hubby!  Is it my age or all that chemo?  Probably the first and not the latter.  :)

The yarn I'm using is called Sloth in the Sinful Signature colorway by YarnLust.  It's a pale greenish blue that I'm just in love with.  I hope you can make out the colors in the photos below.  It's 50% superwash merino wool and 50% tencel fiber.

I'm hoping this photo from my stash at Ravelry shows the color better.

Okay, I don't have a crochet needle small enough to secure the beads onto the yarn so I'm hand sewing each one on.  Ugg.  What I did not want to do.  Here's what the first sock is looking like.

I ripped the sock out this morning.  I hated the beads on the yarn and the sock stretched too much to get on my foot.  It looked horrible.  I'm looking for larger needles hoping this will correct the problem with stretching.

I decided to go with a different pattern.  I'm using A Pair of Hearts by Donna Edgar.  Okay, what is wrong with me?  The sock was way too large so again I started over and over three more times until I gave up.  

Today (Thursday, May 2) I started over yet again.  This time going with the Dragonfly pattern I'd used for two previous socks.  I hand strung the beads onto the yarn and knitted them into the cuff.  I am happy with the sock and have started on the heel flap.