I’m glad to say that the circular crochet cardigan, really more of a shrug, has had a burst of progress and I have a photo. I plugged away at the individual motifs, because it was way cooler to work on small crocheted shapes than a large blanket. When I started attaching them to the inner circle, growth seemed to happen quickly, and now I’m at the stage of crocheting shells all around the edge. So far I’m about half way around (the shells go from the top, around the left side, and finish at the bottom of this photo). I’ll probably do some more rounds of something after that, but this is a spontaneous design, so I haven’t a clue what I’ll be doing yet. Having tried it on, it fits as I’d hoped, and the back looks quite impressive. I will have to confirm yarn and hook size later because I don’t have the project near me as I type. I still have plenty of yarn left.

I recently had a manicure and pedicure – free – from a friend. We sat outside on my deck on a warm day with all her tools of the trade spread out on the table. It was lovely to be pampered, especially the hand and foot massage. I haven’t worn any sort of cosmetics for, I think, about 8 years, and I know that nail polish is full of noxious substances, but I bought a bottle of “natural” water-based polish from the health food store that avoids all the nasties and doesn’t need remover – it just peels off. It certainly wasn’t cheap, and it didn’t last long. Walking on a sandy rocky beach and going in the lake meant that it was starting to peel off all by itself the next day. I guess it was nice while it lasted.

Here’s my view from my beach chair last week, at one of my favourite beaches, feet up on the cooler that held all our snacks and water bottles!

I met two friends and their kids and they had a blast on this raft. Actually, two of us mums had a blast on it too – we swam out and joined the kids on it when they took it out a second time.

We’ve been to the beach both days this weekend – it really is the only way to cool off at this time of year. Yesterday ds2 and ds3 were extra desperate to cool off as they went to a birthday party and played outdoor laser tag and by the time they finished they were dusty, dirty, sweaty and thirsty. Our kayaks are getting a lot more use too. Only three more weeks of summer….