Summer Vacation

So it seems I've taken an extended vacation from posting about my knitting exploits, but I've noticed that others have done the same thing - so much to do in the summer!  I've been enjoying various blog posts about vacations and there have been some wonderful pictures to go along with them, like woolythyme's trip to Africa and along the Maine Coast, Gale Zucker's blog about her trip to Maine (Maine was very popular this summer!) and, of course, any photos that are posted by loritimes five.  If you don't follow her blog, head over there to take a peek; she is a really amazing photographer and a very fine knitter.

We took a trip to Southern California for a wedding and made a trip to the Mission at San Juan Capistrano, home of the swallows who return every March from South America:


                                                                                     

  The mission built a huge church and it was the pride of the mission system, but unfortunately, it was destroyed in the earthquake of 1812 and was never rebuilt.   The remains of the church are still there and it is to that spot that the swallows come back every year to build their nests in the ruins of the church walls:

                                                                                        

 

These are the original bells from the church:

One of my favorite things to do in the summer is to go to our nearby lake, get in some swimming and sit in the sun and read.  Here are a couple of books that I read this summer:

                                                                           

                                                                       

The End of Your Life Book Club is really a wonderful book and not at all depressing, despite the title.  If you are a reader, you will enjoy this story of a son and his mother who read voraciously and discuss the books throughout this story.  At the end of the book is a list of all the books mentioned and I marked off the ones I wanted to read as I went along.

And, oh yes, I did a little knitting, including the following projects:


The Freeport Vest by Elizabeth Smith:


                                                                                 

A pair of Opal Nightlife socks:

                                                                                    

And my current project, Carrie Bostick Hoge's Sibella:

                                                                              

  I'm using Quince and Co's Chickadee yarn in the color Bird's Egg.  Not much to look at yet, so here's a picture of Carrie's sweater:

                                                                                             

       

A little more detail:

                                                                   

  
That's it for now; looking forward to catching up with what everyone else has been knitting!