I have been doing a lot more reading than knitting lately. This is mainly because at some point in the last two weeks, one of my needles for the shawl project broke. Perils of using wooden needles I guess, but I prefer them anyway. I limped to the end of the row by switching out the broken size 6 needle with a new size 7 (interchangeable) but I don’t want to go on like that for the last ten rows. So in the meantime as I wait for my new set of size 6 interchangeable to arrive, I might just work on my other wip. I hope. The summer is slipping by much too fast.

 

 

Pretty

It looks like the Luthien, Haus Meister’s wooden Annapolis Wherry Tandem rowboat, will at last be hitting the waters at a not-so-distant date.

He’s worked on this as and when he can, and while he would have loved to have her in the water two years ago, we’re happy that it will be this summer. He’s proud of his boat, and we’re proud of him.

He pieced together this “Star of Luthien,” an emblem Tolkien himself designed and left in one of his sketchbooks. Originally the boat was going to have my first and middle name, but I thought if he was going to put the star on the boat anyway, why not call it the Luthien? The vote passed unanimously.

(Real)

A builder’s work is never done. As soon as the Luthien is finished, he’s going to begin the restoration of Thomson & Thompson, our 1960s Thompson motorboat that Rascal named after the bumbling detectives in the Tintin comic book series. The Thompson is also the place where the kids like to watch Dad work while he’s in the shop. And leave behind a cola can, apparently. Posey is smiling for Princess and Rascal, who were keeping her company as she maintained her perch there.

Happy

Trooper used to hate fireworks. Now he loves them.

While watching his Dad set off bottle rockets on July 4th, pre-haircut.

Laughing his head off at the ground display out front, July 5, post-haircut.

Funny

It takes fireworks to get my kids to line up for a picture. Fireworks, and grandparents.

Not pictured: Posey and Miss M, who had both fallen asleep before our July 5 fireworks from having been up partying past their bedtime on July 4.

Well, almost. And Miss M was NOT happy about being awakened by the pops of the firecrackers and cheers of her siblings.

(Real) 😉