Dawn in the Desert

After a very long night with Eric, I spent a few minutes enjoying the first light of dawn in the desert this morning. Yes it was chilly in the mid 60's but the view was incredible. The colors were soft the saguaro's majestic. Yes the birds were very active today and chattering between themselves. I am very thankful for the beautiful desert that I am able to enjoy on a daily basis.

I don't know which was better the view or being outside with out a hat and sun glasses to shield me from the sun. I hope that the few minutes of peace and tranquility will follow me through today. Have a great day and take a few minutes today to count your blessings today.

Tuesday

I had grand plans for today. Getting out of the house, a lot of shopping, lunch with a friend, and of course knitting. But I am sad to say that after getting roomba started I made the mistake of sitting down on the couch in a very quiet house. Two hours later I woke up from an apparently much needed nap.

I did try clothes shopping today but my body just was not into it. I did however find a new bath mat that was on sale for 50% off and used a coupon for an additional $10 off. So for less then the cost of lunch out we have a new bath mat to replace the one that is a little past its prime. I am sure that I can find a dog who will love our old bath mat and not mind the frayed edges.

I also decided that it was time in Tucson for hot cocoa and marshmallow's after all the temperature has fallen in to the low 80's during the day and it is very cloudy with a good chance of rain. So while at the grocery store I pick up the fixings and plan on having some today.

I still will get in some Wii and knitting. have a great evening and enjoy your families.

Monday

It was a very busy weekend which settled into a very busy Monday. Since Eric was home sick I made a long to do list which is 3/4 finished. I can actually say that I am caught up on laundry for the moment. We all know that I will have at least 2 full loads tomorrow. Such is life when Eric feels that it is one of his chores to make the most laundry possible. He is usually good for 10 to 12 loads of laundry by himself per week. I do have the market cornered on Tide and Downy. Now if I could just get him to fold and put his own laundry away. Yes I know that will never happen.

My roomba decided to go on robot strike this weekend. It was more like I am just going to sit here in one spot and spin.  John did do his best to fix roomba and politely ignored Teri's comment ;" but did he add a flame thrower, the roombas not really fixed until you add a flame thrower :P".  As this is a right to work state we went right out and got the latest model of Roomba that Costco had, the 550-1. I have to say that the new model is a little different but even easier to use. Roomba actually talks and tells me what it wants. Plus it runs very quietly. I am able to get 2 full cleaning cycles out of it per day. I tend to vacuum a little more during change of seasons because of all the dust.

I am currently in a clean and throw mode so if it is not nailed down it will be tossed, go to charity, recycled or put away. Now that I have a burst of energy back I will go back to my to do list. I hope that you are having a great Monday too.

What to Knit

Like many other knitters I struggle with what to knit next. There is just so much lovely yarn. So many good causes for those in need. There are projects for family and friends. Of course there is Project Gratitude for our wonderful service members. Also the feeling that if I just come up with the right thing sales in my Art Fire Studio would take off, by the way the link is http://www.tinyurl.com/handmadebysheri . There are also a lot of patterns that I would like to make for myself.

I know that I should not feel guilty for knitting for myself, but I always seem to be the last on my list of projects to start or finish. I would like to know how other people deal with this dilemma. Please leave your comments below. The winner will be picked by a random number generator on October 15, 2010. Oh yes the prize will be some one of a kind stitch markers.

Thank you for your input. I look forward to your solutions. Have a great weekend and enjoy your families.

Five Guys Burgers & Fries

I had a late lunch at Five Guys Burgers and Fries at 2802 N. Campbell Avenue today. Just in case you are wondering the cross street is Glenn.  This is a very easy to find sorta of fast food restaurant.

When I arrived the line to place my order was lined with peanut oil, peanuts to snack on while you wait and lots of bags of fresh potatoes. The menu was very basic and everything is cooked to order so it will take a while after you place your order to get your food but it will be very hot off the grill and hot out of the fryer.

I ordered the regular hamburger with lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, mustard, ketchup and pickles. I also ordered a small order of french fries. Since I had my drink glass with me and I don't drink anything with high fructose corn syrup I asked if I could add some ice to my tea and they said that was fine. Lunch with tax came to $8.16. They also sold bottled water which is very nice.

Since the music was very, very loud and the restaurant was crowded even at 1 pm I opted to take my food outside and sit in the shade. The outdoor seating is very comfortable and there was a nice breeze, so the feel like temperature was probably about mid 90's even though it was over 100 at 1 pm.

They placed the burger at the bottom of the bag buried under in my opinion was a very large order of fries which made it hard to get to the very massive hamburger under the pile of fries. There was so much stuffing in the hamburger that I opted to eat it burrito style with the wrapping around the burger. Everything was fresh and tasty on the burger, but next time I will order the small burger. The burger was so large that I opted to skip my afternoon snack today. The hamburger was just so wonderful that now I know why at 1 pm there was a line almost out the door for burgers.

I don't know if any of you are old enough to remember when McDonald's used to use freshly peeled  and sliced potatoes in their french fries back in the 1960's ; but, I have to tell you that these fries are one step better. Not only are the potatoes fresh they leave the skin on and fry them in peanut oil. With a little bit of salt they did not even need the ketchup. The small order of french fries dwarfed the very large hamburger. They were so hot and fresh out of the fryer that I had to let them cool down a bit before I could eat them. They were cooked to perfection with just the right amount of crisp outside and soft cooked to perfection inside. By the way they are also good cold from the fridge which is good because the order was so massive. I did take about half of the fries home.

I would eat here again and plan to take John and Teri here. The one and only down side was the high volume of the music. But I do plan on eating outside again.  I would not take Eric here unless the volume of the music dropped by 50% or more. I have been to concerts that were not as loud as the restaurant was today.

So to recap. The food and restaurant were excellent. The music was way too loud.

*This is not a paid review. The opinions in this review are my own. I paid for my own lunch.

The New Cable Works

I let John use my camera cable for the greater good and was very nervous about using the new one he got for me. The good news it that the cable appears to work just as well as the old one.  So without further ado here are some of the new pictures of my knitting.


Barbara is our Guilds Chairwoman for Project Gratitude. She is modeling 4 out of the six scarfs I have made for members of the military this year.

Barbara M. With 4 of My Project Gratitude scarfs.

Have A great Evening and enjoy your families.



4 hats for Charity , 1 Project Gratitude Scarf, 1 Charity scarf.



The Snow Birds Have Arrived

Well it is that time of year again when we get our lovely snow birds. Most I have to say are pretty nice and lovely to have around. They give our local economy a boost which is great in the midst of a recession. Yes I know the recession has been declared over but in my humble opinion we are still in the midst of it.

But there are a few my northern neighbors are probably glad some of their neighbors are gone for a while. Take for instance the ones that feel that they must decide what belongs in my shopping cart. No you do not get to decide what I feed my family or publicly lecture me on what I have in my cart. Or how much I buy.

We don't get to many of these each year but please remember that Tucson is not the wild west we have somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 million people in Pima County. This means that we would really appreciate it if you do drive while you are here please have a drivers license and insurance. We do seem to get a few accidents every year in which an unlicensed driver or one with a revoked license careens into another car and comes up with the same old story: "I thought that this was the wild west and anything goes, you really don't need a drivers license or insurance to drive here".

This goes with creative driving also. Right turns from the left hand turn bays are generally frowned upon. This also applies to left turns from the right hand lane. We really don't mind if you want to drive 25 miles per hour under the speed limit but please do so from the slow lane, you know the one on the right hand side of the road. Not the fast lane on the left side of the road. A lot of people who live here year round have things to do and places to be.

Please feel free to take hikes in our many local National parks; but, please know your limits and bring plenty of water and a cell phone when you go out. Also do not hike alone and by all means let some one know when you will be back. I just hate watching the helicopters circling the Santa Catalina's looking for a lost or injured hiker.

Please feel free to visit all our museums and take part in the pelortha of winter actives after all this is why you came here. So you would not be snowed in all winter; but please don't laugh at us when we start serving soup when the temperature drops below 100 or we are bundled in our winter clothes when it hits the 70's. After all you did decide to skip summer which is the best time of the year in Tucson.

Enjoy your visit to Tucson tell your friends about the great weather and people. Enjoy our plays, musicals and other forms entertainment while in Tucson.

Please remember that we expect you to be on good behavior. We try to be a very polite city so it is expected that you open doors for mothers with strollers or people in wheelchairs. Please remember to wear your sun screen, burns are no fun and take away from play time.

So enjoy your time in the sun and play nicely. By all means invite your families for a break from the snow.  The more the merrier.