Herp 'n' Knit

Baby Redfoot

My new baby redfoot, Vern, will be arriving tomorrow!

I am so excited!

I purchased this little guy from redfootranch.com. The owner, Bill, sent me this picture.

Morton National Wildlife Refuge

I have decided to add a new feature to this blog that may actually prompt me to post more often. :) My husband and I like to go for nature walks with the kids. We usually go on a weekly basis, but at least twice a month. We thought that it might be interesting to chronicle each of the parks that we go to; there are so many on Long Island and we like to explore ones that we haven't been to before. Maybe there will even be someone else who reads this who lives nearby and is inspired to visit one of these parks.

As a graduate student, I was often frustrated to hear others complaining about the lack of nature on Long Island; although it is the case that there is quite a bit of development here, there are also many beautiful parks and reserves that are worth the time.

So here goes; if nobody else finds this interesting, at least it will be a nice way for our family to go back and check out all the places we have visited so far!

A book that we have found very useful is Lee McAllister's Hiking Long Island: a Comprehensive Guide to Parks and Trails. I would definitely encourage anyone living in this area to purchase this if they have any interest in exploring nature on Long Island.

Morton National Wildlife Refuge

Morton National Wildlife Refuge is located in Southampton, New York (on the South Fork). It is a reserve run by the federal government. Part of the reserve consists of Jessup Neck, which is a peninsula that stretches into Noyack Bay.

We went here on October 20th, 2007. One of the charming features of this park is that you can feed birds right out of your hands. The views from the beach area are breathtaking. Most of the peninsula is closed from April to August because it serves as a breeding area for two endangered bird species (the piping plover and the least tern). Although it was open when we went, we didn't make it very far down the beach because of the stroller. However, the wooded area that we went through to get to the beach was very scenic as well.

Below are some pictures from our trip, as well as a map showing the park's location.

View Larger Map

No clever title, funny photo

Seen across from the Morehouse Merino store in upstate NY (picture taken last year following the NY Sheep & Wool Festival at Rhinebeck):

Papaya fest

Today I rewarded my tortoises and turtles with a nice meal of papaya. They scarfed it up in about 5 minutes. Here are some pictures of happy box turtles, a redfoot, and a sulcata chomping down. The box turtles are Eastern box turtles that were rescues.

I also managed to produce a vanilla pudding for dessert tonight. I think the banana slices add a nice extra touch.

Sulcata chomp!

Sulcata tortoises are such chompers -- watching them eat is so much fun! :) The sound in the background is my son little E. commenting -- among the babbling is "baby munch", "turtles", and "please".

New Magknits!

Oh yes, the new Magknits is up! It has some great patterns this time. I especially love this one:

 

Finally, another post!

The last few weeks have pretty much been crazy. Between running around to the beach, weddings, and other happy occasions, I have had very little time to knit. However, I did complete a felted Mobius basket (from Cat Bordhi's Second Treasury of Magical Knitting) for a wedding, as well as a "baby bib-o-love" from Mason-Dixon Knitting for my husband's coworker's granddaughter (now that's a mouthful). Unfortunately, I have not had the chance to take any pictures of these FO's. I will have to be a better blogger in the future and include pictures of my knitting. I also started a project from Victorian Lace Today, and am working on a washcloth from Mason-Dixon Knitting (nice mindless project with just enough going on to keep me entertained). During my last trip to WEBS, I purchased a magnetic chart holder, which is truly a lifesaver when knitting lace. Especially with two young kids, there's zero change of remembering where you left off on a lace project, so this handy gadget is a real help. I am knitting the lace scarf out of Schaeffer Anne, in a variegated brown colorway. I will have to add the details of the pattern I am using and the colorway once I am reunited with my knitting. Anyways, just wanted to check in to let any potential visitors know that, yes, I am still blogging, albeit infrequently. Have a happy 4^th!

 

 

Summer Knitty

Yay! The new Summer Knitty is out!

I just briefly perused the patterns -- they look great! I will post a more in-depth review later.

Woolly trip

We had a great time at the 2007 Massachusetts Sheep and Wool festival. Not only did we Festival, I was able to make it to Webs. I will have to post separately about my yarn and accessories haul from there. For now, some pics from the festival.

Spring flowers

Here are some flower pictures from last weekend in our garden. Can you spot the yarn picture? This is a hint for my SP. :)