This is My Massachusetts

It was great to spend some time in my home state, but it is nice to be back in my adopted state. We spent the weekend reconnecting with our current home. On Saturday we traveled into the city to spend some time with the penguins at the New England Aquarium. These are African penguins, aka jackass penguins due to the sound of their bray. They are quite loud once they get going.





On Sunday, we drove north. The first stop was a hike at the Lynn Woods Reservation - it's the woods surrounding a part of the region's water supply and one of the few places dogs are welcome. I'm not sure why this tower was built, but there was a notice on the door that a group is looking for donations to restore it. For the little girls, it's the stuff fair tales are made of. Can't you just see Rapunzel at the top letting down her long braid?



From there, we headed to Plum Island, toward the border of Maine. There are a large number of houses for sale, if anyone is interested in waterfront. It was sunny when we started but it started to rain between the tower and the beach. The rain stopped by the time we reached the water, but the skies were still moody.







In between stops, I was working on what I am hoping will become a felted purse for my cousin. I cast on extra stitches to make it a large purse, but looking at it, I'm not sure it will be large enough. I know how much things shrink down.
Should I (a) Frog and start over

(b) set it aside for another purse and start a new one for my cousin

(c) turn it into a make-up purse and start a new purse or
(d) just keep going since I've been trying to get
this started since May?

This is how UFOs get started - indecision. Just put it aside while I try to figure out what to do

next. A few months and several projects later I come across it again and still don't know what to do with it' I've been told that clutter is also the result of indecision ... could there be a connection? Hmmm...

The great welcome home gift from dh was that he had weeded the garden! It wasn't an easy job, either. The plants have been neglected since June and we've had a ton of rain. The weeds had flourished in my absence, happily filling in all blank areas and choking out the invited guests. He even tackled the incredibly invasive cat mint (?). The house was a mess, but the flowers looked great. This is the silly hibiscus - a ginormous flower on a little itty bitty plant.