Belated Birthday Shopping

My clever and crafty DD gave me a yarn shop gift certificate for my birthday--to her LYS in Lexington, Kentucky 600 miles from home. That meant that Durwood and I had to come and visit her. Very sneaky, that daughter, hmmm?


We ditched the historic cemetary walk (see previous post's discussion of day-long rain) in favor of a visit to said Local Yarn Shop. Yarn was fondled. Yarn was procured. I fell madly in love with Cascade Eco + first for the color (a deep red) and then for the size of the skein (478 yds.). So I bought 2. I envision a lovely shawl or shrug made with over 900 yds. of lovely Aran weight wool.





I also picked up one skein of Peaches & Creme ombre in apple green, brown, and light blue for dishcloth making. I love me some variegated yarn. Can't pass it up.


Only 2 more rows on my Khaki Cardi until I split off the sleeve stitches. Squee!

I've Gotta Type Fast

We're in Lexington, KY and I'm having a devil of a time staying connected so I'm hurrying. It took us 14 hours in the rain and the traffic to drive down here yesterday and that's why I missed a day posting. I've written today and yesterday's prompt and I'll put them on here. I'd make two entries but I have no confidence in this motel's wireless.

October 9--Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, detail. She doesn't have any eyebrows, you know. I never really noticed it before but she doesn't. Usually you're not allowed to get very close to her. She's been stolen before, you know, so they keep people pretty far away. People have wondered for years about her. Legend says that Leonardo never delivered the portrait to the person who commissioned it, but kept it with him until his death. Either that means he loved her or he thought it was his best work and couldn't part with it. Or maybe he thought it was crap and spent the rest of his life trying to fix it. No one will ever know the truth of it, but that doesn't stop the expert and the not-so-expert from propounding theory after theory.

Eh.

October 10--Egon Schiele, Landscape at Krumau. The streets were so narrow that Lisa felt like the old buildings were leaning in, looming over her like giants. The uneven cobbles were like traps that caught at her feet making her stumble. She had left her tour group at the foot of the main street. They were heading toward yet another gray stone church with tiny windows up high in the walls that kept out more light than they let in. She had heard there was a little linen shop in the town that sold handmade lace tablecloths. Her sister was getting remarried in a few months and she decided that a lace tablecloth would be just the thing for a second wedding gift. But she was lost in the gray stone maze of the town and it was time to get back on the bus.

Duh-duh-dun.

We had a blast at the harness races today. I didn't win much but we sure had fun.
--Barbara

I Have an Excuse...

Sorry I missed posting yesterday but we were on an endless drive. We left GB at 8:00 a.m. for a 9 hour drive to Lexington, KY to visit our daughter. It started to rain in Milwaukee and never quit the whole time. It was my turn to drive when we crossed the state line into Indiana. Traffic was at a standstill most of the time so I managed to advance us 70 miles in 2 hours. Gah! We didn't get to our hotel until 11 p.m. EDT, which means we were on the road 14 hours, taking two hours out for meals, we were in the car, and in the rain, for 12 hours.

I packed my knitting and my tea,



Durwood is never without coffee,



and autumn has arrived in Kentucky. (I think it came with the day-long rain.)

Writing, Not Napping

Two o'clock in the afternoon is a very dangerous time for me. It's when I can barely keep my eyes open. On my days off, I like to sit on the couch to knit after lunch and, oops, have a little snooze. Mrs. Boss frowns on that. Oh, she doesn't mind if I knit here but she objects to her employee taking a nap. She seems to think it gives the customers the wrong impression. I have no idea where she got that idea.

October 8--Jean-Baptiste Simeon Chardin, The Young Draughtsman. Simon squirmed in his pose. His tight coat and the shirt collar that choked him make him feel like he could barely draw breath. Papa had insisted that he sit for this stupid portrait, wasted afternoons when he could be drawing himself. How did Papa think he was going to pass his classes if he had no time to do his work? Simon knew that Papa owed a debt to the painter, the Monsieur Chardin who was so particular about every little thing. Three times Herve had to retie the ribbon in his hair, then a stray bead of sweat ran down and straightened one of the curls that Monsieur had fixed just so on his left cheek. Maman had retired in tears on the first day when she was kicked out of the parlor where she sat thinking she would watch the process. Simon knew that she only wanted to prattle on about nothing and pick up gossip to pass on to her friends at tea. He thought the painter would have learned by now to shut out that kind of distraction. A fly buzzed past and landed on Simon's sleeve. He dropped his gaze to watch it investigate the folds of cloth and he nearly fell asleep. Monsieur Chardin snapped his brush down onto the table in disgust and said they might as well take a break since Simon was too much of a baby to even sit still for an hour.

Artists! Tsk.
--Barbara

A Fun New Toy!

I was reading the ShopKo ad last night after supper and happened to see that there is now a Wii Fit Plus program that lets you program a routine and has more fun exercises and activities. I got on the Nintendo site to see about it, then I got on Walmart's site to see if they had it, and they did. So I threw a hoodie on over my sweatpants and no-bra t-shirt, slid my feet into my Crocs, and went and got me one.

That was the end of knitting for the evening.


Naturally I had to try it out and "took a bike ride" and got my heartrate up so I had the devil of a time falling asleep. But it was fun!



I made a program of the yoga poses I wanted to do this morning and it let me do them one after the other and it only took 22 minutes instead of 45 to work out. Yay!

Feeling the Need

I'm feeling more like writing lately. Thank god. For a while there I was afraid I'd spent all my words and should just break my pencils. I cranked out 4 first draft pages on my latest novel yesterday afternoon, which gives me hope that I'll be able to push out 50k words in November for NaNoWriMo. It's a crazy undertaking but it's fun. Plus it's a great excuse to slough off chores and other onerous duties because, "I have to write!" said, of course, with the back of one hand pressed dramatically to one's forehead.

October 7--Japanese School, The Picnic Hamper. Every child loves them, those small boxes with the intriguing exteriors and insides fitted with more containers of various shapes and sizes. I think that's why I've always loved picnics. You carry a heavy hamper full of enticing smells and interesting clanks to a spot overlooking a lake or stream, maybe a view of the local hill or even an orchard in bloom. Your thumb works the latch and you lift the lid. Folded carefully on top is a soft, colorful cloth that you spread on the ground. Once small stones are found to hold down the edges, the unpacking commences. Small boxes of vegetables and bowls of pickles are laid out, wine is uncorked, a cheese is unwrapped. Ignoring the knife fitted into the lid, a loaf of crusty bread is torn and crumbs draw ants from the entire acre. Even if your sole companion is a good book, the pleasures of a picnic are to be savored.

If it weren't so danged chilly I might just take my supper outside tonight.
--Barbara

Schizo Weather

I know, I know, that's not very politically correct, but it's the truth. Monday it was sunny, yesterday it rained so much I started to build an ark, now today the sun's out and the clouds have disappeared. Schizo. As long as the weather calms down for our drive to Lexington, Kentucky on Friday I'm fine with it, really. Driving that long and far in crummy weather would be a true pain. Keeneland thoroughbred racing will be running so we'll be at the track for part of the weekend. Yippee! I fully intend to spend the entire weekend without a trip to the ER, too.

Not much knitting to show you. I finished the wide ribbed brim of Foster Hat #2 and started the top on my new Crystal Palace circs. So far, so good.


I'm learning to knit jogless stripes on Stealth Knitting #2 but I can't show you that. Sorry.

P.S. I'm happy to say that I'm comfortably wearing a pair of pants I haven't worn in so long that the lip balm accidently left in the pocket was spoiled. Yay, me!