Big Excitement

So much has been going on at our house since the last time I blogged. Let's see, I spent nearly a week on the East Coast for work, which was so much better than the last time I had to go to the East Coast for work...with the old job. Travel time means extra knitting time and I do have another finished object to show for it, which is later in this post.

But, even more exciting than that is the big tree that is now lying across our back yard.

Today I learned that it is absolutely impossible to get a decent picture of an 80+ foot tree when it is sprawled across my lawn. Good thing we have a big yard!

Why is there a huge tree just lying about, you might ask? Well, it all started yesterday when the hubby came in from the backyard and said "Honey, I think one of the trees is leaning a bit". Master of the understatement, that one!

Let me just say that we have a lot of trees in our yard and most of them have one issue or another - some are planted too close together, others are growing at odd angles, one has some sort of bug infestation that makes it look really ugly, etc. However, before yesterday none were leaning quite like that.

Anyway, the hubby spent the morning today calling around trying to find a "tree guy" to come and take the tree down before it fell. None were available...who would have guessed. So, the hubby called our very talented and handy neighbor to see if he had any ideas about how to handle the situation. Next thing I know, the hubby comes into the house and says "Honey, I think you might want to come see this". Again, master of the understatement. When I walked outside, the tree was on the ground, just like that.

This picture shows the bottom of the tree, which hubby and the handy neighbor had denuded before the big chop down happened.

Turns out that the neighbor's chain saw was on the blink, so hubby got out his little hand saw and just started sawing. He says he sawed for just a minute when he heard a loud crack and the whole thing fell over. It was definitely time for that thing to go. Thankfully, somehow, they managed to miss all children and other trees, landing the thing in the only open spot big enough on the property! It did smash my very favorite rose bush, but I am told it should recover by next year. Overall, not too bad, all things considered. Now comes the fun job of cleaning it all up...

On the knitting front, I finished another pair of socks.

Pattern: Lava Flow Socks, Yarn Plymouth Happy Feet, Colorway 15

Nice simple pattern, perfect for travelling. They were my first short row heels and I think they came out well. I used Cat Bordhi's technique for hiding the wraps and can not recommend it enough!

The yarn was actually great too. I will be interested to see how it wears. The final fabric is very light and soft. It is very reasonably priced too, which certainly adds to the appeal.

It did pool very oddly on just one of the socks though...looks a little like a tie-dye. By the way, these are the first gift for Christmas 2008! I am so pleased with myself. I hope to get lots of Christmas gifts done this summer, but we'll see how it goes...