Relay For Life

Today we attended the Relay for Life.  I've been involved at various levels for several years now.  I've been a team captain and a team member, but for the past couple years we've been regular attendees.  We like to support the cause and watch the girls play the games that some teams set up for the youngsters.  This years highlight was to watch them stand in a wading pool of water and see how many marbles they could get out of the water using only their toes.  Or was the highlight that hubby won a round of golf for a foresome at an exclusive private country club?  Bottom line is that money was raised for a worthwhile cause.

A Couple New Dishcloths

I knitted a couple new dishcloths for our hosts during our recent trip to Pittsburgh.

The blue one is the Criminy Jickets Garterlach Dishcloth and the yellow the Sunny Days Dishcloth from Knitting Pattern Central.

Market Bag

Tonight I finished the knitting part of my Everlasting Bagstopper.  Can you believe that all I had to do was cast off and the bag sat there on my needles for over a week?  The bag turned out great and was fun to knit.  I absolutely love the result.  Now I just have to figure out the handles. I'm thinking of using some sort of webbing. 

Great Allegheny Passage: Day 2

On Sunday morning despite the heavy rains, we were ready to roll.  We planned to ride 74 miles from Ohiopyle, PA to Cumberland, MD.  Before we got on our bikes, my brother taught me some back stretches; my sister enjoyed putzing  (see photo on left).  We were riding by 8 am, stopped in Confluence for breakfast at Sister's cafe 11 miles down the trail at about 10:30.  

My bike was covered with dirt my trunk and so much grit in the teeth of the zipper that I could not pull it shut.  I poured clean water out of my new Sigg bottle all over the zipper so I could close the bag.   Sometime in the early afternoon, the skies cleared.  We crossed an impressive 1900' bridge and rode as far as Meyersdale.  At which point we ended our ride.  I was the

one who first said (without a doubt) that I was ready to stop riding for the day.  We all plan to return to complete the 30-mile stretch from Meyersdale to Cumberland sometime in 2008.   

It felt great to be back on my bike.  I had fun hanging out with my siblings, but I was ready to return to my girls and hubby. 

Great Allegheny Passage: Day 1

After a delicious breakfast at my sister's friends' "wanna be" B&B in Pittsburgh, we loaded into the van. Truly our hosts in Pittsburgh were lovely; she always dreamed of owning a B&B so to have the four of us (me, E, A and Pop) spend the night was like a dream come true for her.  She even went out and bought four new sets of towels in four different colors (not boring white) so they would not get mixed up!

Our weekend goal was to bike 130 miles on The Great Allegheny Passage.  Pop agreed to drive the van as sag wagon.  We started riding in Boston, PA with information from a local bike shop owner that the trail was closed four miles ahead due to a mudslide. He did not have specific information so we decided to ride on. The photo to the left shows what we found. After waiting a few minutes, the dump truck pulled off and the digger stopped digging to wave us by. It was a bit slow going through the mud, but on through we went.

Day one took us 56 miles from Boston to Ohiopyle.  The air was cool and the sky was clear until the last mile into Ohiopyle when we rode through a downpour to the MacKenzie House. The days' highlights: deer, daisies, waterfalls, meeting up with Pop who rented a bike, pb & j on bagels lunch (note:  it tasted good at the time, but turned out to be too much of  a gut bomb for me, don't eat that for lunch next year).

An Early Mother's Day Celebration

My oldest daughter had a Mother's Day gathering at her school yesterday.  Her teacher compiled a booklet of recipes that the children "wrote".  She asked each child, "What is your favorite meal that your mom makes and how does she make it?"

Here's T's recipe:

"Mommy makes the best mac and cheese!  She takes the mac and cheese out of the box and puts it in a bowl with water.  She puts the bowl in the microwave for 10 minutes.  She takes it out and then we eat it!