And so it begins...

...although, in reality, it began on lulu.com, but I never could get the hang of where I was supposed to go to make updates, or get the photos quite right.

So, here it is. Blog the First, as NonaKnits would say. Me and knitting, me and writing, me (and Kelly) and life at "The Ranch." Or not. It will depend on the stars. Or the weather. Or not.

Party - Planning for Kelly's law school graduation party is in full swing. Yeah, right. That's almost 3 weeks away. Besides, with the wacky weather down here, we could be planning for an outdoor "do" and be stuck with 110-degree heat like last year. We learned our lesson; we'll do the serious planning the morning of the party.

Owies - Have been to the chiropractor 6 times now since the accident (car smash; driver and I are okay) and think I'm beginning to see some progress. Luckily no broken bones, and I still have almost 3 more weeks of treatments, so I have high hopes that I'll regain full range of motion in my arm.

Knitting - In between the hats for my GP's staff, I've made good progress on Blue Moon Fiber Arts "Rock 'n Weave" socks (STR medium-weight in Lemongrass - yummy). Even though I think they might be a tad too big, they look *wonderful*. I like the idea of starting with a strip-cuff and working the sock down from there. And I need to go find me some deadly cute buttons. Also making progress on the modified "Marble Arches" socks for Kelly using JoJoLand yarn, but since he likes his socks relatively high on the calf, I've still got at least another 5 repeats to go.

Teaching - Six classes offered at Madonna's since April and only one student, for the very first class. Teri's tried different things to market the classes, but she's getting very few sign-ups for any of them. And not just my classes, but also Aggie's, hers, and other teachers. I took some new signs over to the shop today to pump up this week's cable class; maybe cables will be the "it" thing that catches a potential student's attention. On the other hand, the Monday "Oddball" group is doing quite well with their toe-up socks. The toe technique is tricky, but once you do it a couple of times it "clicks." The short-row heel is easy IF you remember to count and not lose track of your wraps. The students are getting a little frustrated, but they're doing better than I did when I first learned the technique!

"The Orchard" - Six star jasmine, three euonymous boxwoods, two tomatoes, two lilies, one Meyer lemon, one blood orange, three wine grape vines, four table grape vines, four pumpkin plants, one black raspberry, one red raspberry, three garlic, two lily of the Nile, one rosemary, one flat of star creeper. Plus 12 moonflower seedlings and 12 pumpkin seedlings started. One grape vine seems to have mites; it's been treated. One may be getting too much water; it's been cut back. One pumpkin may not have made the transplant, and the two jasmine under the kitchen window are probably parched. But they all look wonderful.

Randomness - Getting excited about cruise... Got an incredibly pleasant surprise when I picked up our tax return this afternoon... Stitch 'N Pitch at the end of the month... Very glad to be here in Pookieland...