kitty companiona

kitty companiona

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Out of Hibernation

This past Thursday I decided I MUST join the outside world again.  I came slithering out from under the rock and was met with a wonderful warm day in the high 60's,  How delightful!

Zip has music lessons on Thursday in Hagerstown and occasionally I ride along and he drops me off at my friend Marian's.  Her house is conveniently located en route.  We had been working on a rug design together and wanted to do a little more tweaking before committing it to backing.

But just for fun we also visited the Asian Market in Halfway, MD. 


I had noticed the sign while Zip and I were traveling through and have wanted to see what they had to offer.  It is a small market, but had all the ingredients I had been looking for to make a batch of spring rolls plus the wonderful sweet hot chili sauce for dipping.  In their freezer section I found not only the spring roll wrappers but a package of about two dozen spring rolls already made up.  If only I had taken a cooler. 

Check out all those noodles!


They had some bright golden yellow mangoes that were about half the size of those in the regular grocery.  I bought one of them and that little darling was yummy!  The Japanese eggplants looked nice and fresh, but I didn't get any this time. 



This pastry is made of a delicious soft Phillipine sweet roll dough and contained long strips of sugar-soaked coconut called 'coconut strings'.  Zip and I both loved it.


Then on the way back to Marian's we stopped at the Dutch Market, which features Amish vendors selling their produce, baked, goods, meat, cheese and candies.  I was so thrilled with the variety and clean, beautiful arrangements that I forgot to take pictures.  Please believe me, it was an excellent market.  Another 'bring-the-cooler' venue!  Everything looked so temptingly good that you just wanted to BUY!

Good thing I didn't indulge too heavily because later we were invited by Willa to join her at the Lions Club spaghetti dinner in Shippensburg. 


Her husband, Chuck is a generous supporter of local charitable and civic organizations and he kindly bought our tickets.  Thank You, Chuck!  unfortunately he had to work so could not join us.

On Saturday Zip and I traveled to Ligonier PA which is about a two and a quarter hour drive to the west.  I wish I could show pictures of lovely countryside along the way, but the weather was atrocious.  Gray clouds, fog and periods of rain prevailed.

 
Ligonier is a pretty little town.  As we arrived they were having a wedding in the gazebo on the square. 

Fort Ligonier was built in the time of the French and Indian war (mid 1700's) as a staging point for driving the French out of the western part of PA.  It opened the area for further exploration, making it possible for the settling of Pittsburg.  Amazing that they had chain-link fence at that time.  LOL!


But you may ask, why did we go there??? 

Because I joined an on-line knitting group through the Knitting at Large blog by Julie Matthews.  I've shown pictures of my sweater in progress and now the participants who lived within a reasonable distance were getting together for a meet and greet day for showing sweaters and generally having fun.

Sweater parts for show and tell.  Kathy, who came from Brookville PA brought the delicious Easter eggs made by a candy company in her town.  To die for!!!

 

We met at Kathy's Kreations, a lovely knitting shop owned by Kathy Zimmerman, the designer of the Waltham sweater we are all working on.  I had not met Julie, Dottie and Kathy until now but had commented back and forth on her blog and Ravelry.  Kathy Z. was kind enough to sit down with us and have a discussion about what plus-sized women wanted and needed in knitwear patterns.  So many designers and pattern publishers only offer their patterns in S-M-L and are missing a huge (pun intended!) market by not offering plus sizes.

I was so busy talking and shopping and eating that I didn't take time to get out the camera.  I only got a few shots of the shop.  I will be returning and will do better the next time! 

And since I mentioned food, there is a delightful little deli next door where we had lunch.  The panini sandwiches were excellent.  They were so satisfying that we didn't even sample the gelatti!  For once, no pictures of the food!

All in all, it was a fun day.  I hope when we finish our sweaters we can get together again and model the sweaters.  By that time I will have decided which of my new patterns I would like to try next and will be ready to buy YARN!

The new patterns and books.  I'm doing my part to support the plus-size pattern industry by voting with my dollars!


Monday I spent most of the day sewing with Brad and Kami.  When I arrived home it was in the high 70's outside and Zip had opened several windows in the house.  The kitties were in HEAVEN!  Aaaah, smell that air!!!  I didn't get any pictures, but Penny's eyes were even bigger than usual and she had her little pink nose pressed right against the window screen. 

Deiter wasn't really impressed with the great outdoors.  He would rather lay on my shawl and sniff where I had been lately.


One of the signs of warmer days.  FLIES!!!  Izzy will protect us!


Today it's back to cool and dreary with rain.  The winter was dominated by cold.  Now spring seems to be dominated by rain!  But last week when I posted, the buds on the maple trees were only showing green tips.  Now they are blooming!

I'm going to try really hard to stay out from under the rock.

16 comments:

  1. I used to make ensaimada--a Filipino sweet roll for my children who are half Filipino. They are so good! I've never made them with coconut though--yum.

    Don't you feel like we've needed a giant crow bar to roll off the rock of winter under which we've been trapped? I think you've made a super effort to spring back to life with all of your fun outings. I tried raking over the weekend and my body wondered why it wasn't sitting on the couch as usual. (Actually, it was sobbing in dismay!)

    I love how your sweater is coming along.

    Here's to getting out and about again!
    Courtney

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  2. Wowie! The yarn shop pic is yummy! I don't know how you managed leaving there without more yarn! ;-) Leaving an opening to return, I suppose? ;-) It really does feel good to open windows and get out of the house. Too much snow over this winter... can't wait to get my hands in the dirt! :-)

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  3. I would say you a Zip sure did have a couple of nice outings.

    I remember the nice warm day in the high 70's. We had windows open even all night in the bedroom only to greeted with another cool a damp day. Oh, well so it will be hot and we'll be complaining about that.

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  4. Pat,
    Your area is so full of wonderful places to visit and explore! I'm so glad you are getting about again! We lack anything like that in this area! So cool that you connected with other knitters and that shop looks fantastic!
    Hopefully the better weather is upon us and we will all feel human again rather than hibernating bears! I so need a break from this house and all the duties which call from day to night! At least I can tag along on your adventures via blog express!
    Wonderful post!
    Cathy G
    p.s.( your kind expressions for Mr. LG are greatly appreciated.... his recent brush with the florescent tunnel of scrap seems to have renewed his energy saver abilities a tad bit.... ;)

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  5. Hi Pat, it sure is good to have you back. It's been a l-o-n-g- and cold winter and now that the sun has melted the snow around your rock I'm so glad that you are back at blogging. There's nothing like being with a bunch of enthusiastic ladies to get our mojo going.

    The cats seemed to have such a good life....

    What a nice outing with you and Zip. The food looks delicious as usual. Welcome back. Hugs, JB

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  6. gosh Pat, wish I had known - I would like to go to that knitting shop - looks wonderful. So glad you got out. I have been worried about you. Also let me know when you are going to the Asian market again I will join you.

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  7. Hi Pat,
    I can tell from this post that you are back on track. What a great post, so many interesting things to tell.
    Is Kathy Zimmerman the daughter of Elizabeth by any chance?
    Also how can one possibly diet with all that wonderful food to sample. lol
    And yes.... I looked like a beached whale laying on the grass. If I tried it now I don't think I would be able to get up....
    Briony
    x

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  8. Well welcome back! Sounds like you had some eventful days and are back in the social swing again.

    It's funny how we all seem to unintentionally hibernate during the winter and the warmer weather sees us emerge from out "dens" too - LOL! I'm bumping into neighbours that I haven't seen in months because we've had a touch of better weather :-)

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  9. Your outings are always so jam packed with fun and food. I do envy your food adventures. It all looks and sounds so yummy.
    Glad that you and Zip are out and about enjoying Spring.

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  10. Wonderful to hear your spirits are lighter Pat! That yarn shop looked like Heaven for a knitter. I hope you show us what you buy next time around. Would love to see your color choices. I bet there are tons!
    Glad that you are getting out. The weather can only get better so keep your sights on that... One Thursday you will have to let Zip go on his own to the lessons and you come on over to the hook in!

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  11. some really nice outings and lots of friendship.
    The winter was so long and it is time to get about and about.
    Cathy

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  12. Pat ~
    So glad you've crawled out from under your rock, and boy did you ever pack a lot in! Way to go. It has been a very long winter.
    Thanks for sharing all the adventures.
    Pug hugs :)
    Lauren

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  13. Greetings Pat and Dieter,

    Dad really likes it when you talk about all the good food goodies as he like to cook and bake himself and sometimes I will have a piece of his European coffee cakes that are his speciality.

    We are glad you had a chance to leave the house since this has been a very long winter season.

    Sorry it took so long to get back to you for having visited our site and commented.

    Warmest regards,
    Miss Kitty and Egmont

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  14. Pat, it was great meeting you and that crazy husband of yours! I had so much fun Saturday at Kathy Zimmerman's and I'm glad you did, too. I'm all for a reunion fashion show when we get finished! And have more paninis and chocolate - OMG. :-) Best of all, I finally got to meet my friend, Pat!

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  15. Hi Pat.... So glad to hear you ventured out and hope to see you sometime soon at the hook in..... Your knitting is absolutely gorgeous... I have always loved handmade knit sweaters... Maybe some time I can start one for me and if I get stuck you can help me.... Hint hint!..... my knitting skills amount to slippers, poncho and a sweater for my daughter. That took about 10 years to make... Take care of yourself... And have a great weekend...

    Nettie

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  16. Hi Pat ~ I was at Kathy's shop this week, too! We were in town hooking at the Woolley Fox and I always pop into the yarn shop, even though I'm not a knitter! I always find some nice novelty yarn to use in hooking ~ and did you see those great pottery buttons displayed on the counter? I LOVE those buttons! Can't wait to see your creation ~ glad you had fun! I also LOVE your new rug design ~ great job!

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