casapinka

Pink Daisies

Holy cow, busy times at Casapinka. Here's a bouquet of flowers for all of you and I should be back to blogging full time soon. We've had lots of house guests which is fun but busy! 

A Knitting Photo Essay

I have a bunch of loose ends that need weaving in on my latest knitting design. New family member KitKat has wedged herself between me and the edge of the couch. The sun is streaming into the knitting room so I can hardly blame her.

Keep in mind that every time I put her down she jumps right up again and resumes her activities, the majority of which involve pouncing on my delicate merino/cashmere/silk sweater. Snagging Tosh Pashmina with one's claw is not a way to win over humans. That's right, knitters: I can hear you collectively suck in your breath. She should really be banished to the cellar.

Again she jumps back up, napping for a while, convincing me she is reformed.  Scarlet looks on from the beanbag chair reproachfully as though to say "When will you learn?"

I think KitKat is relieved that Junior has started Kindergarten: No more being carried around in his new Beyblade backpack while being fed salami through the hole in the zipper. She's also clearly realized that she's been adopted by a family whose matriarch is a sucker. 

Cast On, Baby!

The Irish contingent is still here at Casapinka and we're off to Block Island today. Forget food; I'm making sure to pack my knitting for the ferry ride over. I was sent this video the other day after a knitting night at Bonnet Shores Beach Club here in Rhode Island. I took my Mother-in-Law with me even though she's a non-knitter. I think she was expecting a bunch of octogenarians (Sorry, Ann - no offense) in rockers bent over their wool but the group in the video is more what she found. We enjoyed wine, food, beautiful views and a gorgeous sunset.  We often call our love of fiber the "Legal Addiction" and you can see why from the video. Could it be any dorkier than to dance around to this? Thank God my kids are still relatively small. 

Crocheted Stones

I apologize for lack of posts. Our family flew in from Ireland and I took the kiddos to NY to meet them and spend a few days.  On arrival back home I awoke at 2 am thinking Husband was stabbing me in the flank out of rage at having pink crown molding. Alas, it was a wee kidney stone, which was to terrorize me for a week. I didn't feel like blogging, knitting, or doing anything - and with a houseful of guests staying in bed is just the worst. I'm now feeling like Pink again and up running around, knitting, hosting houseguests and preventing Junior from pulling the tail of our new kitten, KitKat, which Juniorette got for her birthday. 

 

If I were a urologist, I would hang pictures of these crocheted stones on my waiting room walls. They're so much better than the labeled diagrams of the male urinary tract. I wish urologists would think outside the ureters a bit more. I think they should offer humor and optimism to people who are in pain or know that they're about to have the kidney stones agitated right out of them, industrial dryer style. It might also lighten the blow for females being prescribed Flomax, which I thought was strictly for the prostates, but apparently helps kidney stones along the river, too. It's sure is great to drive up to CVS to pick up one's Flomax.

What medicine are you waiting for?

Mumble mumble to the cute pharmacy tech.

What? Could you speak up, Miss?

Flomax!

Raised eyebrows. Ok, can you spell  your name?

Mumble mumble.

The indignity of it all.  I'm sure I'll get major spam from the prostate people now that I've named Flomax and Prostate in one sentence. I'm sure to become the leading Pink Prostate Blog, you just watch. 

 

August Flagpole Flowers

I imagine some of you have flagpole holders. It's a fairly common dwelling accoutrement in the USA. The day we moved in, I dutifully flew some fake flowers, struggling to cut the wires with my best sewing scissors. Word to the wise: Bad idea. Well, now that it's August 1 and we have been living for four months in Casapinka, it's time for some rituals. Today, the Changing of the Flowers begins and I'm trying to decide if I should go with purple or pink.

And while on the topic of flowers, I was having a bad day yesterday (and thanks so much for all the pizza in the bath support - a girl needs that.) I was leaving the house and saw that someone had left two sets of flowers on the porch. I was so happy to see them although I don't have a clue what you do with that six pack of pink prettiness. I really like the neighbors around our neck of the woods - they do things like this often. I especially liked that I was miles from Casapinka in a liquor store yesterday afternoon, picking up kids from the camp bus and  buying a bottle of Mommy Time Out. Up walked this woman with four jumbo bottles of Franzia, Boone's County or whatever and said, "Are you Pink? I'm your neighbor up the street - I met you at the 4th of July parade!" She didn't leave the flowers on our porch but maybe she'll share her honkin' bottles of wine when I have another pizza in the bathtub kind of day. Another very pleasant Rhode Island moment. 

 

Bath Pizza

Does Michelle Duggar make you feel like a little mole with no energy? Me too! Maybe if Husband's work hadn't gotten so busy I'd feel more Michelle-like. This blog is worthless if there isn't some disclosure or honesty, though.  So, you think you're bad? Ever feed the kids dinner in the bathtub, knowing full well there would be no dishes, all the crumbs and face sauce would wash right down the drain? Ever follow it by having them brush their teeth while still in the bath?

Well, me neither. Don't point and judge - it's not like I home school them in the tub.

Rainbow Towels

Between swimming and camp, our towels keep disappearing. I hope these new ones will stay around longer, or at least step in front of the kiddos and say, "HELLO, remember me?" 

Knitting Lunch

 

The knitting lunch was fun and full of wonderful company. I didn't photograph the food because I served shrimp curry and it's not the prettiest dish around. I covered one of our ugly brown couch cushions with this flowered fabric (see corner cushion) this weekend. One down. We don't have a coffee table yet so I rescued a table from the cellar and put the baby blanket I designed on top. The table needs little crocheted leg warmers, don't you think? And the light fixture will eventually be replaced.

We still don't have anything on the walls but slowly it's transformed into a nice common living space. The little box in the fireplace is the Virgin of Guadalupe made out of reclaimed barn wood from Mexico and fake flowers. We bought her at the Albuquerque flea market and she has a very sweet face. I'm glad to have a place of honor for her.

I made a salad in my favorite thrifted yellow bowl which never fails to cheer up a room. Our kitchen is pretty dark so anything like this does help. 

A single dahlia in tinfoil from a friend was much appreciated. Difficult to capture its color, though. I'm now off to do a ton of laundry (next goal - a washer and dryer!) and work on my fun project. Have a great Tuesday, everyone!

Aqua Yarn

This is the yarn I'm working with today as I chug along on my big project. It's Madelinetosh Vintage in Robins Egg Blue. And a bit of pink,  perhaps.

I was working on another part of the project but yesterday had to rip out an entire week of knitting. Pink, nobody has a 14 inch neckline - what were you thinking? About Pat Benatar, apparently. Pretty mindless for someone who is taking a weekly class in mindfulness, meditation and yoga. If you throw enough pies at a wall, some eventually stick, or so I keep hoping!

And somewhere in all of this - a medical crisis. Forget mindfulness - it's here that I excel. Poor Junior got heat exhaustion at camp and was actually sicker than he originally appeared. By the time I got him home and into bed, he had a 103F temp that lasted all night. Luckily, Doctor Mom mode always feels easy to me -I'm effective. Cold baths, rehydration and sponge baths with the fan on him. The next day spent watching Ninjago and snuggling with mommy and he was all better. Add a shattered lamp, Juniorette slamming the car door on my neck while I was buckling in Junior, and a large fallen tree branch from a thunderstorm and you have a pretty typical week at Casapinka. 

And finally, I just realized I'm having some knitting friends to lunch on Monday. I need to decide what to serve and maybe use this as an excuse to hang some pictures on the wall and get some cushion covers made. This tart is from Sweet Paul and although I have no clue what a tart dish is, I'm going to give it a try. I think I'll do the one with spring onions, honey and pecorino, minus the pecorino for those who don't like cheese.

Pink Yarn

This is a picture I snapped at one of my local yarn stores, Unwind. This is what I look at when other thoughts come into my mind, like: I let the pool turn green...then brown. Guilt. The cat brought a live mouse into the bedroom and I was responsible for its repatriation into the wild. Anxiety. Junior stuck a huge wad of chewing gum on the bottom of my flip flop. Aggro! Jun'ette made Kool-aid on the living room floor at 6am and I stepped in it. ARRRGH. Junior packed a sugar cone filled with pink cake sugar for his camp lunch. Resignation. Oh yes, they are in camp this week and next. Time to work on my aforementioned exciting project which includes this hot pink yarn, Manos Maxima in the aptly named "Shocking."