The thought of digging a cave into the side of an iceburg sounds really appealing these days. It’s been too hot here lately. How hot? I had to hose down the roof to help out the air conditioner, which you couldn’t tell was working unless you stuck your face right up to it. The heat has been relentless here, but today it seems we get a little bit of a break. Instead of 107, it is 101 with a slight delta breeze. That little breeze makes it all bearable. If it gets any hotter here, I will be able to put raw meat in the car and have a nice finished roast in a couple of hours. I bet you think I am kidding!

I know I have been unusually quiet as of late. Too many things going on in life. For the 4th we had a nice BBQ followed with a fireworks show and some idiot with a lighter decided to set off something illegal that went flying through the air and came at me and the kids. A couple of feet left or right would have done some damage, either hitting the kids and I, or setting my landlords house on fire.

The London bombings (which I know everyone has heard about) really shocked me. As many of you know, I did live in England many years ago, and part of my heart is still there in the countryside. I literally spent days searching the BBC news site for all the information they had, and have been searching through the victims list for anyone that I know, with one person in particular that I now know is safe, thankfully. I feel horrible in saying that when so many others died.

The day of the bombings I did receive a package from my secret pal. That was the bright spot of my day. I was so horrified by what I was reading online and watching on CNN and then in the mail there was a surprise package that she didn’t even let on about. It’s those little kindnesses that are so wonderful in life. Again, thank you so much Secret Pal!

She sent me the cutest card, a knitting journal and a pair of the cutest earrings that scream wear me!

And a close up of the earrings

Then a little over a week ago, someone came into my yard while I was home with the kids and stole the kids swimming pool. I can’t imagine who would be low enough to do that. The next day it took two and half hours of driving around town to find a store that still had any of the large inflatable pools in stock. Walgreens was down to their last 3. Luckily we were able to get one of them.

I have spent quite a bit of time knitting. The Irish Hiking Scarf is finished! I will be working on a matching watch cap for it soon for the coldest of winter days around here. Even though this is California, sometimes we get that wet bone chilling cold here in the Valley. And it’s always nice to have nice wooly things to keep warm with.

I have also played around with some lace knitting. I started and completed the Flower Basket shawl from Interweave Knits Fall 2004. I used the alpaca lace and followed the pattern to the “T”. Looking at it, if I make this again, I will use smaller needles, and add several repeats to make it longer. As it is, it is still pretty and makes a nice accessory just as it is.