A Baktus I will wear :)

Lacy Baktus, that is....... so much fun to knit and just as much fun to wear.

I'm sensing a pattern here (no pun intended) ...if it's blue, I will wear it.

It'll be keeping me cozy this morning as I drive to the Conestoga Area Historical Society for a pre-season visit. I can just imagine some pioneer woman sitting in one of those Conestoga wagons wearing something like my lacy baktus. I'll be wearing mine in my car, thank you very much.

E is for Eek!!!!!!!

Eek!! I'm late.

You'd think the letter E would be EASY! Well, better late than never. Perhaps I was waiting for Easter eggs?

A combination of the old and the new in Lancaster City is Eastern Market. Historically, the city had several markets. Central Market is the coolest of the remaining markets and well worth a trip to shop and eat and eat and eat......... more on that later. Southern Market now houses our Chamber of Commerce and hosts public meetings. But I digress.......

Eastern Market has been brought back to life as an open air market that operates from June through October at 308 East King Street. The

market offers locally grown produce, mult-cultural cuisine, flowers, coffee, live music and arts & crafts. The resurgence of this particular city market is part of a larger effort by the East King Improvement District.

Oh, yeah. They have a Carmen & David's ice cream stand. Yum!

Moving right along, E is also for Jacob Eichholtz (1776-1842), a native Lancastrian, who helped to bring portraiture into the homes of middle-class America back in the day (that would be the 19th century).

The Eichholtz House on South Lime Street is much as it was when he resided

there, with original wooden planks and window hardware. I was lucky enough to attend several Historic Preservation meetings there a few years back and was in awe of the architectural details and the history of the home. History is no stranger to the outside of the house. The rear of the home has beautiful plantings, a few of which were planted by Robert Eichholtz, the eighth child of Jacob and his second wife, who lived in the home until his death. Robert also left an etching of his signature in one of the home's larger windows.

Egad! That's enough of the letter E...time to think about flowers and Fulton and....oops. The letter F, coming to a blog near you. Stay tuned!

D is for Delicious!

For the longest time, all I could think about was drifts. They were everywhere. Check out the massive one outside my church last Sunday. I really didn't want to waste the letter D on those relics of winter, but my brain was stuffed full of them.

Then, today, I saw the daffodils trying to poke out of the dirt. Delightful!

And tonight? Hubby and I drove Downtown for First Friday and I made a wonderful discovery: D could be Delicious!

All I had to do was see all that delicious decadence displayed in the Bonbonniere's windows, and visions of drifts danced out of my head. This little confectionary shoppe contains a wonderful selection of candies and handmade chocolates from all over the U.S. and as far away as Japan. My eyes glazed over, and making a decision became very difficult.

In the end, it was the cocoa crispycake treat that traveled out the door with me, destined to be dessert. Yum!

Chocolates,

Toffees,

Caramels,

Licorice treats,

each wrapped up with a beautiful bow.....

Drum roll, please :)

C'est finis! I think I am blocking it correctly, but sooo many points to consider........there is not a picture in the world that can do this yarn justice. Even my husband commented on the completed product. Hooray!!!!!!!

And the gold goes to.......

Not me. At least, not yet....... My dear Ishbel gave me another humility lesson on the final night of the 2010 Olympics. Not to worry though. I made friends with it again, after tinking two rows and finding yet another oops moment.

So, I have entered Section D, and am busily knitting the last several rows before the finish line.

Life is good.