Phew

The boys having a ¨serious¨ talk

It has been over three weeks since something was posted here.  In that three weeks three major cities were visited:  Minneapolis-St. Paul, Phoenix and Seattle.  While in MSP I spent tons of time with the ¨kids." And of course there was extra time with that growing grand daughter.  She is currently in ¨stranger danger¨ mode but will let me read to her.  And it is clear she's a little girl read to a lot.

A smiling Miss M

I also met for the first time my new grand beagle, Gussie.  She was recently adopted and has been a breeding female for most of her 8 years.  Gussie is very happy to now reside with her new family, has become very attached to my daughter-in-law and is very unusual in colouring for a beagle.  She is a dark brown where most beagles are black.  Meet Gussie:

Gussie resting, note her brown colour

The temperature for most of my time in the Twin Cities was in the mid 30 degree F or -1 C which is remarkably warm for late-January, early-February.  But just before I left the temperatures dropped to single digits F or around -13 C, a reminder that I had been very lucky with regard to the weather.

Then off to sunny and beautifully warm greater Phoenix.  My folks are down there for the winter and I thought I'd stop by for a quick visit.  Dad had recently been hospitalized with pneumonia but seemed to be doing well.  I helped with a bit of errand running and soaked up the sun.  Here's a shot taken on an evening before we could see the International Space Station pass overhead.  Sunsets are so lovely with the palm trees and pinkish-purple sky.

I arrived in Vancouver on Tuesday and Wednesday morning we crossed the border (again for me) driving to Seattle to watch Paul's son speak at the University of Washington.  It was a very quick trip, really only an overnight affair, but gosh it was fun to see a presentation about his research in Uganda.

So little knitting was done during this time frame it is not worth mentioning.  But you can be sure since I have taken such a long break the motivation to get back to it is strong.  There will be updates about the Jelly Yarn, the Upscale Baby Sweater and another sweater for Gussie.