Family Mellmann

This is it - our last evening of Spring Break.  One whole week of no school, no alarm clocks, no homework, and no lesson plans.  One whole week of catching up on neglected tasks, addressing some rental projects, and cleaning out emails and to-do lists.  One whole week to relax and knit.  Gardening would have also been on the plan for this little vacation time, but right in the middle of the week we got three inches of snow.  Snow!  How did *that* happen?!  However, I didn't let that stop me from grilling dinner.   This is the project I finished during break.  It was a kit I bought last year some time. It's called The Beachcomber Shawl.  I like it.  It is knitted in a fingering weight cotton, so it should be a fun summer shawl. This is the new project.  I bought this yarn at the same time I bought the Beachcomber kit but since most of my knitting (until now) has been in wool or alpaca (good winter yarns), I hadn't found a good (...

 Patrick continues to progress through his college classes, preparing to wrap up his sophomore year in just a few weeks.  Since starting college, he has become a pilot, earned his "instrument rating" (he can fly through the clouds, not just on sunny days), and completed aviation and "core" classes toward his BS in Aviation Science.  It's hard to believe he is almost half done with college. Currently in his "commercial" training, this semester has been about building flight hours, learning some additional skills (he calls them "maneuvers"), and fine-tuning his control; where he might have had to maintain an altitude of +/- 100 ft in Private Pilot training, now that number starts getting smaller showing that he can more strictly control the plane.  This phase of his training has involved a lot of night flights, late nights, and last minute dashes out the door when a plane becomes available or the weather is just perfect for something he needs t...