Deadlines & dragonflies

Hi readers,

"I love deadlines.  I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by."

-Chris Messina as Eric Powell in Julie & Julia

Well, July 31st was my big self-imposed deadline to get my big knitting project finished, the one I can't quite reveal yet (sorry).  And the date came & went and I am not anywhere near being finished.  But that's the beauty of that whole "self-imposed" business - no one's going to fire me for it!  So, there is a new date to work towards - Thanksgiving.  And I'll be very thankful when my little project is finished so that I can start some new things I've been wanting to put in the queue!

 

The good news is that I finished my 5-year-old's knitted toy last night & it turned out great!  She loves it and I love it.  It all came together at the end - I was doubting myself a lot as I was finishing it up.  I'm so pleased with it that I'm going to submit it to knitty, the online knitting magazine.  Their website is here for those of you not familiar with it.  Wish me luck on getting it published!  So, that one's under wraps for a while too, I'm afraid! 

Today, I went to Slate Run for a little photo shoot.  I was at the park for a while & then explored the Wetlands.  I could not believe the amount of bugs at the Wetlands - it felt almost prehistoric!  There were tons of cicadas especially & they were so loud that I couldn't hear the focus beep on my camera.  A very large bug - cicada probably - landed on the back of my pants at one point & I shrieked (the kids weren't with me so I didn't have to put on my brave-with-bugs-face) & I swear that bug shrieked too when I swatted him off!  Here's a pic of one of the many cicadas (actually, it was neat to see so many - usually at home we hear them, but rarely see one):

   

I had set out to get some butterfly shots.  These were both taken at Slate Run Wetlands.  I don't know what kind of butterflies these are - the first one I know is very common, I see him all the time:

I was feeling especially ambitious, so later this afternoon I packed up the Bachsters & we went to one of the parks for a dragonfly program.  I didn't get any good shots to share, but I'm happy to say that my oldest caught 2 dragonflies!  She's so proud of herself - and also amazingly fast!  But it was a hot day & after a while we were all ready to pack it in.  Smoothies & air conditioning to the rescue!

I hope you had a nice weekend too!
Cheryl