Hey! Ho!

It's been a whirlwind of a month. The big picture: there were three weeks away from home, and one crazy week at home.

You know about the work trip in Germany, but I forgot to show you some of my fun purchases. The theme here is enamel. Somehow I never noticed all of the enamel goods available in Germany shops, but this trip they really caught my eye.

I picked up a couple of white enamel cups, planning on keeping them in the van for our road-trip camping. Even though they aren't the most sensible for winter camping because of the lack of insulation, I couldn't resist! The green sugar container and pitcher are for the house. C loves using the picture when he's steaming milk for morning coffees, which warms my heart and cup. And finally, possibly my most favorite purchase of the trip ~ that's an enamel lunch container on the left. It has a rubber seal and tight locking lid ~ perfect for preventing leaks as I bike to and from work!



Guess how you spell/say enamel in German? It's the original email!




You also know about the new four-legged addition to our home. But I never told you how we found him.

We have to thank these guys::
That's my sister Kris and her BF, Ryan. I think they're each other's bff, and they're the proud owners of this pup, Dutch::

Don't let that sleeping shot fool you, she was wiped after a weekend of hiking and camping {she had a lot of hikers to keep track of}. Dutch is an active and uber smart Australian Cattle Dog. In addition to Dutch, they like volunteer as a foster home with their local shelter, and that, my friends is how Ca$h came into our lives. He was their latest foster pup, and they realized that he was just too good to let go. C and I weren't actively looking for a dog at the time, but we knew we wanted one, and we're smart enough to know that you don't let a good one go! We also have Ryan to thank for the creative spelling of Ca$h's name, I guess Ryan's the dog-father.

Here are the two pup bffs together::

And look, some knitting! While we were out on the walk, I noticed that Kris and Calder were wearing some of my knits gifts. Warms my heart as much as the steamed milk in email!

And the hats bring me to week three, because unfortunately during all of the fun and adventure of Thanksgiving C's hat was left in CA... in fact, he had already left it in the Bay Area by the time those pictures were taken, so now I'm scheming up a new one in time for Christmas.

Speaking of knits, the two projects in this post have traveled with me from place to place. I'm happy to report that both are almost done, but have to stay under wraps until Christmas!

So, that brings me to this past week. A week spent in all-day meetings, many in rooms without windows. At night my brain was a zombie, but I was still able to fit in a good amount of holiday knitting. Along with the secret projects, I put together some jingle-bell garland. I tried to take some evening photos in the dark hotel:: Um yeah. This was an easy and fun project. I'll give you more details and better photos soon!

Wow, it was fun to catch up! But now? The next month is going to be spent at home! I have plans for decorating, baking, and of course, a bunch of present crafting. Let the holiday fun begin!