Tall ships

Yesterday was a lovely day, and the weather was nice, too! It was a lovely day because we got to see some good friends from Canada, Geri and Fred. Geri and I met about a zillion years ago on a Windjammer Barefoot Cruise, and have been friends ever since. They live in Toronto and came down with Fred's son, James, to Rochester to attend an LPGA tournament. After attending the tournament on Thursday, they drove to B'ville yesterday morning. Fred and James went golfing, while Geri, my James, Aidan and I drove up to Oswego for the Festival of Sail.

Since Geri and I first met on a tall sailing ship, it seemed fitting that we went to see tall ships! We saw the Lynx, the Unicorn and the Pride of Baltimore. The Lynx left the harbor to sail the lake:


Geri took this photo when the Lynx was under full sail:


Aidan and Geri went on a treasure hunt and the prize was a "real" pirate coin. One of the pirates in attendance posed with Aidan and Geri:


It was a beautiful day to be on the waterfront. When we returned to B'ville, Geri checked into the hotel and waited for the golfers to return. We got back together for dinner in B'ville, then strolled along the river and watched the lock in action. Geri, Fred and James return to Canada today, but our brief visit was a lot of fun.

Following are a few other photos of our fun day.

Teacher gifts

Aidan's last day of school is Tuesday. Well, it is his last HALF day of school since they are dismissed at 11:30 am. Just what is the purpose of attending less than three hours of school?

I wanted to knit his classroom teacher, Mrs. Madigan, a gift; she has been so patient and kind to Aidan since he transferred to the school midyear. I chose to knit a scarflet, which is a nice little project and a practical one in central New York. Aidan informed me that pink is Mrs. Madigan's favorite color, so I chose a pretty pink variegated yarn, Crystal Palace Panda Silk Print. It is 52% bamboo, 43% Merino wool and 5% silk, but it feels to me like 100% silk.


Aidan also formed a close friendship with his music teacher, Mrs. Schmid. They got off to a very rocky start but Mrs. Schmid took the time to get to know Aidan, devise a way to work with him, laid out the law to him, and they got along smashingly thereafter. Aidan is very sad that Mrs. Schmid is retiring this year, and asked me to knit "something special" for her. I chose to also knit her a scarflet but in a different pattern than the one I knit for Mrs. Madigan, and Mrs. Madigan helped find out Mrs. Schmid's favorite color, peach.


The photograph does not do the color justice at all; it is a lovely light peach color. The yarn is Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca & Silk, which is an even blend of silk and alpaca. It is luscious to touch and has a lovely light sheen to it.

I hope these two very special teachers like their end of year gifts, and understand just how important they are to Aidan.