TGIF

DH took me out to lunch today. That's the benefit of working within 10 minutes of each other. We went to Olive Garden. That's a bit of a drive, but it was a slow day at work. I must have gone there after about 2 years! I used to work in the complex where this restaurant is located and would go there often for lunch, but ever since leaving that company, I haven't been back for some reason. It was nice to go back.

Two of my friends came home in the evening and while we were chatting, DH made us some potato-tikki sandwiches. He rarely cooks so it really nice gesture on his part. The tikkis were pre-made frozen ones but still.
Tomorrow, I am going with them to Diwali Festival. Should be fun! I haven't been to one of those in years. I am looking forward to the chaat (snacks)! And the dresses too.

Why is this post all about food? Moving on to some other topic -
Mehul is doing well now. That cough was hard to hear! It sounded much worse than it actually felt (as it says online). He was back in daycare in time for the Halloween Parade at school. We went Trick-or-treating in the evening. Here he is in his Horse Rider dress (picture taken earlier last month). Those are my parents in the background. I promise to put some nice pictures of them up here.


That's all I got. I'll be back with Library makeover pictures. Wallpaper and paint are done, now we just need to hang the curtains and move the furniture back in.

Pictures!

Let's get right to it.

You've already seen my first scarf ever.

My second scarf. Look how messy my edges are. They are improving now :)

Pattern:
Knit 4 rows
K3 *(K2tog Yo K) repeat from * K3

Mom made this one. It's plain garter stitch.


Same pattern as the one above. Only wider.
The picture in the background is a Paint-by-Number done by my sister!


I like this one the most. This is in Mehul's school colors and my most recent finish. Love it. Excuse the pillow fibers please! They shed more than my hair. LOL!

Pattern:
K3 *(K2P1) repeat K3
Knit next row

The bootie! A bit tight for Mehul but I love it. I'll be making the other one soon. Ran out of the gray yarn.

Pattern : here (pdf). I didn't add the straps because I am having issues with doing them. Still need to make the other one.

Dishcloths. Both started by me and finished by Mom. LOL! I don't like the cotton yarn much.

Pattern: Feather and Fan.


Can't remember what this pattern is called.

I started the Black and White striped scarf today after much frustration yesterday with it. I got some wonderful advice on the Wagon. It's looking nice:)

Ah, the fun has ended

I was on vacation for the last week. Went to Niagara Falls and New York City with mummy papa. The whole trip was so much fun, but it was lightning fast, specially in NY City. We had a flat tire 30 minutes away from our hotel while arriving that threatened to spoil the vacation, but we hadn't planned on driving in the city anyway. We took the local train couple of blocks from the hotel while the car was at the dealership. All in all, it was a fun, memorable trip. (Luray pics are from August. I just hadn't posted them yet. I also have tons of DC pics to edit. Statue of Liberty island pics are missing from here too.)

Now back to reality tomorrow. A new set of enhancements begins tomorrow so I assume I'll be very busy for the next couple of weeks, but I enjoyed the break so can't complain.

I've added the pictures in my Flickr album. Click on the pictures to see the entire albums.


Niagara Falls Album

NY City Album

Luray Caverns Album

In other news, I picked up my Angel of Love today! Last time I made any significant progress was in May. I have no idea what I did the entire summer!!

My favorite photo

Recently, I've taken loads of photos but this one is by far my favorite. This will (hopefully) go as a 20x16 poster in M's room! This was taken at the beach last weekend. I just LOVE the sand on his nose.

Mr. M

Sorry I'm not finding too much time for blogging. Work is busy as usual, and we're out/doing something almost daily at home. This weekend we're going to hit some museums in DC - Natural History, Air & Space, and probably the National Art Museum. Hopefully, we'll go to the National Zoo as well. Mehul wants to ride on a bus so we'll be taking the Fairfax Connector to the Metro and go by Metro. As far as I can remember, he has never been on a bus!! Except the shuttle at the airport which goes from terminal to terminal. We always drive to the Metro station, or we drive straight into DC. And ofcourse, this will give my parents a chance to see the buses here. This should be fun :)

Enjoy the 3-day weekend!

Zoo Pictures! (AKA Long and Photo intensive post)

We made it to the zoo yesterday. The weather co-operated and we had a great time. We deliberately took the Metro to DC instead of driving as Mehul enjoys the ride and is *very* into Trains and Trucks rightnow. Though he wasn't as impressed as I thought he would be. He loves seeing trains approaching from outside, not so much the ride itself.

Anyhow, since we were there last year, National Zoo has built the Asia Trail. I think it was opened last September. The Giant Panda trail is a part of it now. They also have Sloth Bears which are quite common in India. This time we saw the Red Panda again. We have gone to the zoo atleast once every year ever since we've lived here in VA, and had only seen the Red Panda once before. Another animal we have only seen once are the Golden Tamarind Monkeys - they still weren't there this time.

Mandatory Giant Panda Photo first

They are always so far away, it's hard to get a good picture. This is Tian Tian (I'm pretty sure).

Cute Red Panda

Sloth Bear Statue

- Their expression is curiously alike.


How cute is the Chimpanzee!


They've also added a brand new Kid's Animal Farm.


Pizza Garden! This is new as well. So many changes in less than an year.


Invertebrae section. I just LOVE sea life.

The Corals

I messed up the setting of the camera after taking coral photos and it started taking really fuzzy pictures inside the exhibit. It was just fine outside. There were these really cute, really transparent jellyfish - without the tentacles, whose veins shimmered with Blue, red dots as water traveled through them. No pictures, sorry :(

Butterfly!

DH took this picture of a butterfly in action. So vibrant.

Komodo Dragon.

Totally cute. Loved having his pictures taken :)


After this, on to the Olmstead Walk. This is where the birds are. They have 2 sections - Indoor Bird House and Outdoor Bird Cage. The outdoor area was closed by the time we reached so we missed seeing the Flamingos, Storks, etc. I had taken great pictures of Flamingos previously and was looking forward to getting some with my DSLR. Oh, well. There's always next time :)

Seals and Sea Lions

- They are the last thing we always visit because of the where they're located. There is a nice pool area with steps for sitting and we always sit down here. The sea lions were very playful (it was already evening) and totally hamming it up! LOL. This was way better than any Dolphin show we've seen. And they were putting up a show all by themselves, no trainers. So cute.


I took these pictures of some Hydrangeas that came out good, I think. If you'd like them (or the butterfly) for wallpaper, click on the download links at the end of this post :)

Pink Hydrangea

Hydrangea Closeup

Download Butterfly
Download Pink Hydrangea
Download Hydrangea Closeup
Download Corals
Download Sea Lion (Thought I'd put this here as well)

I took some cute pics of Mehul as well, but you'd see them in LOs for sure so I'd rather not add to this already photo intensive post! LOL!

More Photography

Belated Happy Mothers Day, and here is what I received from Mehul. He brought this card and flower home from the daycare. The card had a really lovely message and his handprints inside!



DH took this one of the mini Taj Mahal.


I am in an ATC card exchange (well, I was until April). This is all the cards I've sent or received! Pretty pretty.



My first closeup with Manual Focus.


Now he knows to smile for the camera


We have prepped the Family room for painting so we'll be painting the first coat tonight. Here is the plan-

Wed: First Coat. 1st Fan to be assembled.
Thur: Second Coat. 2nd Fan to be assembled.
Fri: FR Fan to be hung, paintings/photos hung on the walls, etc.
Sat: Rods for sheers attached, sheers and curtains hung.

Dang, we were planning to go to the zoo this weekend. Doesn't seem likely. I want to practice my photography and Mehul wants to see the birds. I might have to move the Saturday work to next week.

Amateur Photography

Taken with my brand spankin new Canon Rebel XT. Here are some photos taken very early in the learning process. Long ways to go ...



Mommy, let's go outside..


Some bloomage.


My sister gave me this pretty jewelery box when I got married


A milk moustache. Charming.


My companion when I run..


I gave this doggie to DH when he was coming to the US after we were engaged. Yes, we still have it in a (relatively) good condition. Mehul plays with it.


And a WIP Update.