Lately...

Lately, we've been enduring drought and ridiculously hot weather. I've been hiding inside as much as possible, but still enjoying life. 

Here's some photos of what I've been up to lately:

I finished the towel and dishcloths for the auction basket I put together. I think it turned out really cute, and the pattern was oh, so easy. [The basket included this hand towel, two dishcloths, a pot scrubby, pan scraper, two bottles of hand soap, some recipe cards, a wooden spoon, and spatulas.] Of course, I forgot to take a picture of the baskets once I had put them all together! [I also donated a tea basket, including a mug, tea caddy, and sampling of different teas.] Definitely planning on making more of these towels -- these make great gifts and don't take too long to knit.

A dear sister in Christ and I celebrated our birthdays (hers is only a few days after mine) with our college girlfriends. We enjoyed dinner at a winery, complete with fabulous company, delicious wine and food, and free birthday dessert!

  

We "kidnapped" the seniors in our youth group as a last farewell before college starts this fall. After visiting the Science Center, we made a quick stop by the Seminary before dinner at Seamus McDaniel's. What a fun day in St. Louis!

     In the kitchen: We had a few cooler days this past week, and I really wanted pizza but was looking for something a bit healthier and cheaper than purchasing it from a pizza chain. Behold: homemade pizza, complete with bacon, pepperoni, peppers, onion, and yummy cheese. Of course it was accompanied by a quality Lutheran beverage, in the form of Sam Adams' East-West Kölsch.

Tonight, I needed a little extra freezer space from my recent stock-up of meat, and had some mashed bananas in the freezer that needed to be used up. Chocolate chip banana bread smells so good, and I love this recipe I got out of my favorite church cookbook! North Dakotans definitely know how to cook!

On the needles: My Wisteria Lace Shawl (this year's Ravellenic Games project) has been progressing fairly well. I've only had to fix a few mistakes so far, but I'm further behind than I had hoped by this point. My goal for tonight is to finish Chart A. [We're ignoring the fact that the goal has remained the same for a few days now...]

D's Vest has been my go-to knitting for Knit Nights lately. 17 inches of stockinette is pretty hard to mess up, and as with most Knit Nights, we enjoy knitting almost as much as talking. :) At this pace, his vest may actually be completed by the time cooler weather finally arrives.