Happy solstice!
We've had a string of the most lovely days you could imagine, which is quite unusual for here. I think the last three weeks have been the nicest start to summer in the four years I've lived here.
Well, until yesterday anyway.But it was a good thing as it was getting a bit too dry. Looks like the whole weekend will be showery as well. Hopefully it doesn't mean a return to the bugs because I think the dry weather resulted in one of the easier bug seasons in memory.

Weather can't bring my happiness down at finishing Caister, except for those pesky buttons I forgot. Here she is, hanging around with some jeans on the porch:I'm going to save my "official" photo shoot and notes for when I finally get buttons, hopefully not too long from now.

One of the great things about the nice weather is that I'm actually getting a ton of blooms in my flower boxes already. In a normal, chilly year it seems like it takes until July to get many flowers (they're also in a shady location so I'm working at a serious disadvantage), but this year they're going crazy! Here's one of my double impatiens, I think they're so pretty!I also see a ton of flowers on my tomato plants already, so maybe this will be the year that I actually get a bumper crop! Not really--these are also stuck in a shady spot so I'm lucky if I get some in August, but a girl can dream, right? ;)

Holy cow, has it really been two weeks since I last posted? Bad me! Of course it doesn't help that I don't have any new, exciting knitting to show off. Work has just been so tiring and often stressful over the last few months that all I want to do when I get home is eat high-cal food, watch movies, and cuddle the kitty. Even knitting just seems like too much mental exercise sometimes! Unfortunately it is going to continue this way at least through the end of the year--I just got put in charge of another public hearing for late August, ugh. The funny thing is that my first couple years on this job I thought it was so stressful and hard, and now looking back the first couple years were ridiculously easy! If it could go back to being like that it would be awesome! Of course now that I am one of the most experienced (and dependable) staff members I get stuck with all the big projects. Ah, well--in the big picture I know that I have a relatively easy life.

Speaking of knitting, I was certain that I would have a finished Caister this week:But, you won't believe this...I went on our big shopping expedition last Saturday and I FORGOT TO BUY BUTTONS! Grrr! It was one of, like, three things I absolutely needed to get and I forgot!

I ended up hitting another stumbling block anyway. I've been working on putting it together, as you can see above, and I did a preliminary try-on once the shoulders were seamed and the placket put in. Well, the pattern is intended to be a bit cropped-looking, but this thing is verging on belly shirt! I think I'm going to attempt to unravel the bottom and add another inch or so knitting in the opposite direction. I just did a little swatch to test out this technique and it seems to look just fine.

Now, it is a bit embarrassing to be finally doing this about a month after everyone else, but here are my "seven random facts" (I think it was supposed to be seven, right?):

1. It's my opinion that beer might possibly be the most perfect beverage in the world. Plain old water probably ties with beer though. I drink plain water almost exclusively and can't feel hydrated from anything else!

2. My dream job might involve cuddling with kitties all day (pet sitter?).

3. I somewhat regret not majoring in math or history in college. I'm not sure what career path those could have led to, though. All I can think of is math or history teacher/professor.

4. When I feel particularly stressed, I find comfort in reading about astronomy and cosmology. Life's problems seem to melt away while pondering ekpyrotic theory or looking at the Hubble ultra deep field.

5. If I won the lottery, I would open the Farm Animal Sanctuary for Wayward Chickens and Pigs (other animals welcome).

6. Although I enjoy looking at fashion, I am the world's most boring dresser. I basically wear some variation of jeans and top every day, and I'm too lazy (and I'll admit it, cheap) to ever be fashionable.

7. Nothing is more exhilirating to me than finding something beautiful each day, like this wild rhodora that I photographed the other week:
Hope you enjoyed reading these, and NO I'm not going to tag anyone else! ;)