M is for Mooooooooo

Moo-ving from Lancaster City to the countryside for the letter M:

Driving on Rt. 322, right before reaching Ephrata, you will see a place called the Udder Choice. Do yourself a favor and stop in for a wonderful lunch and a delicious dessert. My favorite is the Holstein which, of course, is comprised of vanilla ice cream, dark chocolate syrup and a cherry on top of whipped cream. Yummmmm.

In addition to the awesome ice cream desserts, the decor is a real treat. The walls are decorated with loads of signs from ice cream companies, past and present. Then there's the display of ice cream scoops through the years and the milk pail lampshades at each table. It's just a real mooving experience. :)

Of sinus infections and popsicles

My dear husband has had a terrible sinus infection for almost two weeks. He's had an awful time of it and the Vicodin prescribed for pain didn't sit well with him so the doctor suggested he stop taking it. Yesterday I returned from a drugstore run to find him flat out on the couch in a great deal of pain. To top it off, he had taken one of the Vicodins and, along with the intense pain, he developed intense pain in his stomach, along with a continued "loss of food and fluids". And he'd been doing so well....

Long story short, I drove him to the Quick Response center, something new in town for those occasions when you can't get to see your own doctor. I'll spare you all the gory details, but he was given a shot of Phenergen and off we went before he got too drowsy. Safely at home with the two dogs watching over him, I made my run to the store for essentials. I got the usual: Gatorade, applesauce, and grape popsicles. The popsicles were for me. Box of eight. I just polished off the last one.

And Ken? He's feeling a bit better today.

L is for Lancaster Creative Reuse Center

There's a new place in town whose goal is to collect and re-distribute materials for creative re-use. Check out the article about the Lancaster Creative Reuse Center in our newspaper yesterday and, if you're in our fair city, stop in and get creative. Our logo is Scrappy the "ugly" duckling . She's smiling cause she knows there's a beautiful swan waiting to be created by someone with just a little imagination and some creativity.

Gotta run...we're open today from 10 am till 2 pm.

Keep good thoughts.

K is for Keys

The coolest thing is happening right now in downtown Lancaster, PA. It has to do with something called Keys for the City.

I'll be walking down a city street and suddenly hear a piano playing. Outside. What a concept. Each piano has been adopted by a local business or non-profit, painted in a most interesting way and set out on the sidewalk for passersby to plunk out a few notes or a sonata. It's up to the individual. The other day I saw a man playing (from some sheet music he'd brought along) to an impromptu audience.

There was the usual Lancaster worry festival before the arrival of the pianos: What if it rains? What if they're vandalized? Isn't this a dumb idea?, etc. In the end, the pianos were placed in downtown locations and the magic began. If you happen to visit Lancaster this summer, listen for the music. It just might make your day.

and, of course, K is ALWAYS for knitting :)

A B C D elephant?

L M N no elephant.

The old kiddie verse popped into my head just now as I realized that I am WAY behind on my ABC-along.

Too much knitting...not enough writing.

Well, there can never be too much knitting. I must learn to multi-task.

Coming soon: the letters K, L, M and N

J is for Journey and Joy

I guess this is a vacation from my chosen subject, Lancaster, PA, but I was invited along on a road trip to Ann Arbor, MI a few weeks ago and feel like veering off course with the letter J.

Of course, I got to knit during the eight hour car trip, going and coming, thanks to my friendly driver. What more could a girl want? Check out my beautiful shades of blue scarf, aptly

named the Lake Erie scarf. A picture just doesn't do it justice. Isn't it great to discover new yarn shops when you travel? I stopped at Busy Hands in downtown Ann Arbor and invested in some ice blue Reynolds Blizzard

super bulky yarn for the Weekend Pullover I've been wanting to knit. I highly recommend knitting a toasty warm sweater in June.......visions of snowflakes anyone?

I learned a lot about Michigan on this trip, mostly about food and friends and happy family events. Zingerman's Deli provided the most delicious food, my favorite being their mac & cheese, no, maybe it was their sandwiches, or maybe the breads and pastries..... I could go on.

Life is a journey, with many twists and turns along the way. Some of them good, some bad.

J is also for Johns Hopkins, where I will go in July in search of a diagnosis for my periods of unsteadiness that have bothered me since a year ago May. Keep good thoughts. :)

It's been a month!

Mayday! Thank goodness it's June. I ended the month with a grand bout of unsteadiness, but I'm down to a slight wavering motion after three days.

I finished my Clapotis on the car ride to Ann Arbor, all but the last few stitches, which I'm saving for knit night at LYS. Today, I completed a pretty little baby sweater for my daughter's new niece, Violet Mari Hinton. The pattern called for Plymouth's Fantasy Naturale, a 100% cotton yarn. I'm a bit nervous about the yarn choice, but summer's here and it's a pretty little sweater. All it needs is ribbon for the neck closing.

So, all that remains is to take pictures and add to Ravelry. Happy endings :)