No, my Secret Pal is the best!

Yesterday The Spouse and I went out to take care of some errands (including dealing with a typically Israeli optometrist) and then went for a walk on the beach. We sat on a jetty of rocks at the end of the Tel Aviv beach, where it melts into Yaffo, and watched the waves crash. On the way back to my car we passed a family having fun on the beach--a mother and her two bikini clad daughters. One daughter was busy writing "Free Palestine" in the sand. I wonder whether they realize that, if they get what they say they want, the beach they were on would become part of Palestine -- and they would no longer be allowed to walk around it in bikinis?

When we got home, this was waiting in my mail:


And inside?

This cute card (hey, it looks like I did when I was a kid) with the pattern for the poncho inside. Gotta find these--what a cool concept.


And under the wrappings, a package from my Secret Pal!


Fleece artist sock kit in two beautiful purple shades. I'm not knitting it up just yet; I'm too busy petting it. Soooooooooooooooooooooft……

Burt's Bees lip balm (in a tin!). I'm addicted to Burt's Bees for my lips. I have a tin in my purse, a tin in my dobb kit; the only place missing a tin was my desk, so I kept robbing my purse tin all day long. No more--now my desk gets its proper respect and I can BB as often as I want.

Small colorful post-its for the Great Wall of Mama

Knitting note cards (got a lot of bread-and-butter notes to write soon, as we start our fall travels)

a travel-size Neutrogena hand cream, which is already residing in my travel purse

stitch markers and a large stitch marker tin with a clear cover -- the markers are on Cinxia, the tin is full of all my larger stitch markers (you all know what a marker ho I am)

and a needle gauge in US, British, and mm sizes. Now I can shop at home and away! I spent my lunch hour today using it to start sorting through a huge (I do mean huge--about 30 lbs) bag of needles two retired ladies from Delray gave me over the summer.

I feel all Scarlett-ish: As G-d is my witness, I'll never need to rip a needle out of a WIP to start another project again!

Cotton count:
Harvested:
4 bolls brown
6 bolls white
7 bolls green

spun:
3 bolls brown
1 bolls green