the past 2 weeks, weather-ly speaking

It's hard to talk about anything other than the weather here. Right now the air conditioning is not working and it's 100 degrees and screaming bright outside. A week and a half ago, though, there were crazy storms and nothing but sticky, humid weather and nightly storms and tornado warnings.

The weather is sunnier and warmer and so begins the summer, it feels like it. so many things are blooming and opening and ripening. a great excuse for my favorite, cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches:




we're trying to take advantage of the warm evenings and the hot afternoons as much as possible before the heat and humidity get too insufferable, so we packed our things and went to the sunset symphony next to the river this past weekend and it was fabulous!



perfect weather, a great excuse to go down to the river for a gorgeous view, and so much fun. we packed snacks and wine and water and chilled out on picnic blankets and listened to the orchestra and music and watched the awesome fireworks.

Living in the South: flowers in season

Walking around the house once a week is an adventure. with everything blooming at different times, looking for new blooms is a real blink-and-you'll-miss-it endeavor. i can't tell you how many gorgeous and unexpected flowers i missed out on when i told myself i'd take a picture of them 'tomorrow' or 'later' and they were gone by the time i went back.

Duck update 3

These were taken Aug 25, and I am just amazed at how big these little guys are! They haven't been by since (or at least not when I'm looking) but as I pulled into the apartment complex the other day I could have sworn that they had an adolescent growth spurt and are bigger and covered in black feathers. I think there are a couple of duck families hanging out in the area, so nothing confirmed.

Duck pictures #2

Hey, sorry if this is redundant for anyone. I posted an album a few weeks ago on facebook combining pictures from this post and the next one and I forgot to upload them here. These were taken a few weeks after the first post, and a few weeks before the following post. Look at how much they've grown!

Last Weekend

just a couple of pictures to summarize the past weekend. Made 450 lbs of trail mix because someone in the house can't stop eating it. The knitting picture is a shawl being blocked. It's just a straight stockinette shawl with the bottom of the Haruni pattern that I did earlier this summer in grey. This new one is really light, very soft (Malabrigo lace), and a gorgeous, clear jade color. Also, the obligatory cat photo, because I clearly need a job. She likes beer, but then again, who doesn't.

New Neighbors

Because we are fancy, we live in a place that has 2 little stocked lakes that a resident duck family seems to enjoy. I guess it's a "thing" in the South to have an apartment complex on a bigger piece of land and to have little amenities like that. Curious!

Anyway, the above text is just an excuse to post 200 pictures of the cutest procession in the world. These guys were literally right outside our front windows and door when i went out to get the mail.

If these pictures don't make you feel rainbows then I don't want to have a conversation with you:

We've moved!

Well, my friends. It took about 4 days. We traveled 2,100 miles and we only stopped to gas up and sleep. We were on the road for about 12-14 hours every day and no matter how early we went to sleep we never really managed to get more than a few hours of sleep per night before dragging ourselves out of bed and doing it all over again.

The drive itself was really pretty, and it was a true shame that we didn't have any flexibility with our drive that would allow us the opportunity to stop and just take it in. Since I've only lived in the states for 3 years, it was very cool to drive through the country and just take in how big everything is. The thing that struck me the most was the different pockets of climate and landscape and how that gave way to different cities and lifestyles.

New Mexico was absolutely gorgeous. We watched 8 different lightning storms all around our cars, following us through the state. And I can't even describe the sunset against the purple mountains... unbelievable.

So, we got here in one piece, more or less. We got in on the 4th, and wouldn't you know it, but the country was so excited about our move, there were fireworks everywhere! (why yes, the world does revolve around me, thank you.)
Mike drove in with us, and we got in around noon. We all showered and visited , then tried to fill as much Memphis into Mike's few hours in the South before catching a flight at four that afternoon. So we went to Corkys and then the boys drove around downtown so he could take a bunch of pictures. A day later we unpacked the moving van and then collapsed. And then, just like that, we were officially in Memphis.

We're moving!

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Well, friends. It is finally time to announce that we are moving. Andy was offered a job last Wednesday and we will find ourselves on the road in less than a week. Andy and Mike will trade off on driving the big moving truck and i'll putter along behind them in one of our regular vehicles. And I don't really feel like i need to say this aloud, but there are two snack coolers and they are both filled and ready to go.
So for the past week i have been packing and running up and down stairs with boxes and finishing up work stuff and having goodbye lunches. but mostly packing. and pretending like i'm completely prepared for the disgusting weather we are voluntarily moving to.