If I were wittier, this would have a title

In honor of there being a mere 7 weeks until my 21st birthday, here are 7 summer tidbits.

Starting with the saddest first...

1. Fishy Frank Sinatra passed away last week. For those of you familiar with me, you'll know he lived a long fruitful life. (Or, as long and fruitful as a betta fish can expect to live.) He was a present for my 19th birthday , a gift from a dear friend. During his fishylittlelife Frank Sinatra had many adventures. He traveled with me. He traveled on the Amtrak lines, by car, and by foot. This was sometimes a bad idea. (I once dropped his Nalgene and watched it roll for about 10 feet, fish flailing inside. He became the victim of our kitten, Stella, who knocked him out of water and left him for dead. But he survived two years of college, which is more than I could say at some points.

2. My mother has been making preserves all summer. Cherry, raspberry, strawberry, currant, and all sorts of other Farmer's Market delicacies have been boiled, canned, and stored. Imagine my delight when, upon going back to Chicago for a weekend, I received four jars (one already being eaten) of preserves. They're delicious!

3. The flowers you see were a surprise from my boyfriend. Lovely, sweet, and really put me in a good mood.

4. The Sidewinders I had been working on are no more. Back to the frog pond, due to my lack of row gauge. Luckily the flowers and preserves counteracted any woe on my part.

5. I've spent the last three days rebuilding the plaster in the hall of a house we're working on. I'm spending the summer in Kalamazoo, helping the College renovate houses built in the 1800's. This isn't as glamorous as it sounds - it's mostly just painting and sanding, but I like the job. We did have some amazing finds. One of the houses has a perfectly preserved dormitory room in it's attic. Three beds and desks jut out of the wall, all in dark, hardwood paneling. A flight of stairs opens into a low, wide table in the center of the room, and the windows let in just enough light to cast a gentle and eerie glow across the abode of K students past. It was magical, and still kind of haunts me.

6. I have been making amazing headway on the Riding Jacket from Teva Durham's Loop d Loop book. I started this lovely coat over a year ago, after my mom got me handspun merino yarn as a Christmas present. But I found the pattern trickier than meets the eye, and the coat sat in a bag for too long.
One of my goals was to try to finish all my WIP's and work through a lot of my stash before leaving for London. This was the big, looming and somewhat daunting task to finish, but I am quite happy that after only a few days I'm almost done with the body, and ready to knit the arms. And am I ever excited to wear this when it's done!

Now if only I could go ride the hunt in England, this jacket w0uld be perfect!

7. There is no real 7. I'm torn between Harry Potter coming out today, and the fact that we're going camping. Both are pretty exciting to me. So, number 7 will have to share. I am going camping and THEN going to read Harry Potter!