Clouding Up

I wonder if it's supposed to rain today. Probably, since I watered the garden after mowing yesterday evening. I know it's supposed to heat up today and tomorrow. I don't feel quite as sleepy today as I did yesterday. I never did feel awake and it was very easy to go to bed at 10:30; I think I'll try for 10 tonight, just for a treat. Did I ever tell you that I walk a mile when I mow? Yep, almost exactly. It kind of amazes me since our yard's not that big but I wore my pedometer once or twice and that's what it said. Pretty cool, huh?

June 29--Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Diana and Actalon. It felt great to stop hiking through the forest and sit beside the stream. Di took off her boots and thick socks to cool her feet in the water. It was so clear that she could see every rounded stone on the stream bed. The small silver fish that darted away when she first dipped her feet in came back to investigate the tiny air bubbles trapped in the downy hair on her feet.

And that's when I conked out for the night. I vaguely remember putting my notebook and glasses on the nightstand. Enjoy your day. Make it a good one.
--Barbara

Summer

It's definitely summer now. Spring was kind of a bust with all the rain and cool temps, but the hot and humid is on the way. Yesterday was one of those absolutely perfect days bright, breezy, and topping out in the mid-70s. Ahhh. It could stay that way until Christmas for me. Durwood would like it a degree or two warmer but he can deal, right? It's most important that I am happy, don't you think? I was very proud of him yesterday, he was stepping right out when we were walking through the third (and last) store on our round of errands. That must mean that his gout-y toe is feeling better. Plus he's got to train so he can hunt fossils with me and walk to see the geysers and bubbling mud pots on our Western adventure in August. Eeee, I'm getting excited. And on July 16 I get to go to The Clearing for a week. Can't wait! What are you looking forward to?

June 28--Roman, Sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysus and the Seasons. "This is not comfortable," he said frowning and shifting. "Oh, quit complaining, Dion," said Winter, "at least you've got a ride. The rest of us have to walk." "Yeah," said a chorus of small voices from below his feet, "try being small in this mob. We're just waiting for your lion to trample us." The tiny human-like creatures twined around the lion's paws and darted under the other seasons' legs. Winter drew a deep breath and blew into the horn he wore on his shoulder. Dion's lion mount turned and growled toward the source of the chilly wind roaring across the crowd. Over Dion's shoulder Spring held cymbals that drowned out Winter's roar. She clapped them together, the warmth of the notes lessening the grip that the master of the cold and dark held over the young god.

Again I wanted to go on but fell asleep. How come I'm too sleepy at night and can hardly wake up in the morning? I try to sleep from 11 to 7, isn't that enough?
--Barbara

Okay, So I Lied

I didn't come straight home and post, I went to the bank (once in the car and once on foot), talked to Durwood, and peed, but here I am now and I'm pleased that at least it's before noon. It's a gorgeous day today too, sunny, cool and breezy. I wish I could take my sewing machine and ironing board out onto the patio and work out there instead of in the basement, but it'd be too much of a pain to drag all that stuff up and then back down. So maybe I'll dart down there, sew a little, and then come up to bask outside (weed or clean the wasps' nest out of the birdhouse) for a while, and then go back. Up and out, down and in, back and forth until it's time to go knitting tonight. Even though it's not Friday night I'm going to meet a few different friends (well, some are the same) to knit for a couple hours at Harmony Cafe. Should be fun.

June 27--French, Jacket. You know she chose the fabric very carefully. It shows in the way the green of the skirt is echoed in the jacket. It's not difficult to tell if it was for a special occasion or for everyday. Well, for someone like me it is. I'm not educated in the history of fabric or fashion but then it was a much more formal time. It was probably an afternoon dress for calling on friends. A lot of that went on in those days of servants and idle women. It must have been frustrating. For who? For any woman with an ounce of brains and interests that extended beyond the trivial or gossip. Oh, gossip. I can see the woman who wore this talking behind her gloved hand passing on a juicy tidbit, can't you? You certainly have a vivid imagination. How do you find all this in a simple photograph? I don't know, just lucky I guess.

I realized as I wrote that I was imagining a conversation between women in a museum but I was too lazy to put in the quotes. Actually, too tired. Go out and play today.
--Barbara

Henny & Penny... and Lemon Cake

Well, I can't show you a picture of the lemon cake (just imagine an empty plate with a fork on it. No crumbs, no smears of lemon glaze, nothing but a memory and a smile) but I can show you a picture of the front of Penny and the back of Henny. They're pretty shy and, well, chicken. DS & DIL1 say that they need to handle them and give them time to get used to people. I found myself researching the chicken variety online today and wishing I was off work so I could go over there to sit on the ground in their pen letting them get used to me. And I don't even like animals, but I want them to like me. Nuts. Sorry I'm posting so late again today. I don't know what's gotten into me lately, I just can't seem to manage to get moving most mornings. Tomorrow I'll go walking with Dusty at 8:30 AM and I promise (cross my heart) to come straight home and post. Really.

June 26--French and Chinese, Mounted Vase. "Oh, for God's sake, don't tell me that's where you want to put him." Julia kept her hand on the Chinese porcelain vase with the gilt bronze mounts that she had taken out of the china cupboard earlier. "What's wrong with this vase, Leo? Perkin and Sons can make a cover that will look as if it belonged. None of the, well, none of him will get out." Leo shook his head. "That's too disgusting to even think about. No, Julia, you'll have to choose something else. Adrian promised her granddaughter Tia that she could have the vase as her inheritance. She's not going to want Nathan's cremains too."

Ooh, ick. What an odd thing to think about for a story. How'd you like to inherit a beautiful vase with someone in it? Sorry I'm sending you to bed with that image in your head. Sleep tight. I need to finish my cake.
--Barbara

P.S. Oops, did I say there's cake left? Nope, no cake left, not here, no lemon cake, move along.

Grand-Chickens

Henny and Penny have been in their new home for about 5 days so we got to go see them today. They're still getting used to the coop and to being away from all the other chicks, so they tend to hide in the corner. DS & DIL1 stretched some chicken wire (oh, that's what it's for) around some stakes so that the yard service chemicals don't get on their grass and they're not allowed out into it yet. Henny and Penny are teenagers in the chick world. They were born around Easter and won't be laying until September. Most of the time they peep like little chicks but if they're startled they'll let out a cluck or two. Henny is smaller and darker but is the bravest one. Penny has more copper on her throat and she's a bigger chicken, in all senses of the word. But they're pecking around in the grass and one of them captured a worm earlier but didn't know what to do with it beyond pecking at it. DIL1 said the worm was putting on speed to escape, but really, how fast can worms go?






















A bunch of lilies are in bloom. The red-orange and yellow Asiatic lilies are in front










and the pink & white "Lipstick" lilies are on the edge of the yard in with the milkweeds that draw the Monarch butterflies all summer.










The spiderwort is blooming its little purple flowers all around the tiny, struggling red rose in the garden. Soon there'll be a sea of daisies there. This year I'm determined to move some of them around before they spread and take over the garden.












The Early Girl tomatoes are making fruit and my yellow bell pepper is too. The baby bunny is nibbling on the Brussels Sprout so that's getting a chicken wire cage today.











I've been working on Bandwagon Block #6. It's easy to knit this red-orange colored yarn, and I'm sure it doesn't look it, but I've added more to the sock too.

Lunch Date

We are invited over to DS & DIL1's for lunch today to meet Henny and Penny, our grand-chickens. DS requested that I make a Grandma Stephan's Lemon Cake so I did (mmmm, lemon cake), and I lucked out and found a yellow cake mix without pudding in it. You can usually rely on the cheap "house" brands to have basic, unimproved food when you need it. I get tired of all of the "new" and "improved" foods. What's wrong with plain old food? There's nothing better than fresh steamed veggies with a tiny bit of salt, pepper, and butter, I don't need all the sauces and stuff to make it more palatable. But then I can be a bit of a grump about certain things. My neighbor is out on his riding lawnmower. I can't figure out why he has a rider, his yard is pretty much flat and not that big. Maybe he's just lazy. I don't get that. Isn't it better for your joints to walk around? I have a self-propelled mower so I don't have to push so hard, but I like walking that mile, back and forth and around, it gets my joints moving and my pores sweating. Makes me smell bad and feel good all in one package. What's not to love?

June 25--French and Chinese, Mounted Vase. Tia loved to trace what she called "the 'flies" on the vase in Grandma's china cupboard. If she was very good Grandma took the vase out of the locked cabinet and allowed her to run her finger over the delicate designs. When Tia drew she drew the ruffled and polka-dotted butterflies that were on the vase. Uncle Leo said that the vase was the first thing that she had really looked at and that "the 'flies" were her first words. She knew they weren't because Mom had written in her baby book that "hot" was. That Uncle Leo sure was a tease box.

I like that the 'flies look like flowers until you study them. Then you can see the antennae and wings. Time to get back to the crossword puzzle.
--Barbara

Summer!

It came to town last night! It's sunny and warm today so I blew off blogging this morning, zipped to the grocery for a few things, and then went kite flying with my friends, Skully and Cookie. We had bought ourselves "wing" kites at Goodwill a while back so I rousted them and we went out to the university soccer field and flew kites. Skully had never flown a kite so she was in heaven. It was a good thing we had the wing-shaped ones because there wasn't enough wind for the diamond ones. I tried to fly one and it wouldn't. We agreed that doing fun stuff like that is wasted on kids. It was good to be out in the sun and fresh air with a kite at the end of a string tugging on our hands. We saw a pair of hawks and a few well-shaped college men running. Away. We're past the age when men run toward us, at least Skully and I are. They might still sidle up to Cookie, she's only in her 40s.

June 24--Jacob van Strij, Landscape with Cattle. Oscar loved cows. He had grown up creaming of the day when he had his own herd. In the margins of his notebooks, where the other boys doodled cars or airplanes, he drew cows. He liked their broad backs and their sturdy legs. he liked their dark and liquid eyes that looked at him with a kind of understanding. His wife Minna was another story. She didn't like cows except as shoes, purses, or steaks. She didn't want cow pats in the front yard bringing the ripe bovine scent into her rooms. Oscar didn't understand her objection at all. He thought that cattle made excellent front yard decor.

I'm off to the basement to play with a website I found called Library Thing. It's a way to get a handle on all the books around here. Should be interesting.
--Barbara

Gray...

with a chance of sun later. Whatever that is. I didn't plug in the fountain today. There's no use spending the electricity to make the water tinkle and splash, nobody's out there to enjoy it. I'm working all day today (le sigh) but I don't have to work tomorrow. Yay. If it's nice tomorrow maybe I'll round up Skully and Cookie to go kite flying. I need some crazy fun with my crazy friends. I got the map bag made yesterday. It turned out well but it might not be big enough so I'll probably make another one. It was easy enough. The only problem was my lack of precision so the flap pocket (which is clear vinyl so you can fold a map and tuck it in there) needed last minute trimming. No biggie. I like it. You'll notice I found map fabric to make it with. The sides are an awning stripe, as is the lining but that has map sides. Very creative, don't you think? See how wet it is out there???? Everything is soaked and I'm sure the skeeters are in hog heaven.

June 23--Ji Eon Kang, Dress. A sound like hundreds of tiny bells preceded her arrival. "I don't think I can sit in this dress," Margaret said to her friend Gail as they paused in the doorway. Gail looked her friend up and down, front and back. "I can't figure out how you got the darned thing on my yourself." Margaret shrugged, a musical gesture in itself. "I called Mrs. Owens next door and she helped me. We nearly giggled ourselves sick but I'm in this dress for the duration." Gail shook her head at the thought of wearing a silk sheath covered with hundreds of metal disks as a fashion statement. "You look amazing. I just hope you don't have to pee."" Giggles threatened to overtake Margaret again. The dress began to chime but she got herself under control just as she spotted her boss Ursula. "There she is. Let's get this over with."

And each metal disk had an "M" on it. Interesting idea but a pain to wear, I presume. I'm off to work with my knitting and more fabric to cut out. I love having the nice big tables in the back room to spread my fabric out on. I love my job.
--Barbara

Drizzle

I feel like this is how our summer's going to be. I'll have to do some La Nina research or consult the Farmer's Almanac, see what they have to say. I'd like to be able to have my coffee and read the paper on the patio in the morning but have only been able to do it once since the snow melted. Once! and it's past the middle of June already. What's this world coming to? I mowed the lawn after getting home from work yesterday, finishing about 10 minutes before it started pouring rain. Whew. One of these days I need to weed the garden and put down mulch but it has to stop raining all the time for me to do that. I want to make a rhubarb cobbler today too. I found the recipe on The Pioneer Woman's website and it looks too yummy not to make. Oh, I know what else I've been meaning to tell you... through another blog (Jane Brocket) I discovered BBC Radio 4's interview podcast Desert Island Discs. The premise is the interviewee, or castaway, gets to choose 8 records to take along if they're marooned, one book (besides the Bible and Collected Works of Shakespeare), and one luxury. I'm riveted. They've got over 500 of the most recent ones archived so you can download them to your computer or listening device, so I've picked names I recognize and have been devouring them. I was disappointed that Bill Bryson, whose books I love, is an absolute bore in an interview, but I intend to go trolling through and listen to all the poets and authors whether I recognize them or not, and then the rest of them as I can. It's like there're 500 new people just waiting to meet me! I am madly in love with my iPod Touch and the worlds it has opened to me.

I was so tired last night I could barely keep my eyes open to write, in fact, I didn't as you'll see.

June 22--America, Baltimore, Desk and Bookcase. It was too ornate for Lanie's taste with its orange stained doors and gilt panels. It had been passed down to them by Bert's mother so there was no way to refuse it. There were stuck with the enormous thing. She wouldn't have it in their bedroom. It clashed with her lovely Asian...

Whatever. The furniture piece was a monstrosity, totally not my taste. Now I'm off to the basement sewing area to make a map bag for keeping our maps (duh) and tour books and motel guides and Internet print-offs for our trip out WEST in August. Later Durwood and I are going to the woodworking store to see if I can't find a pattern for a child's chair I like better than the one shown in the catalog for the workshop I'm taking next month at The Clearing. Stay dry today.
--Barbara

Socking It

One good thing about sitting in one after another clinic waiting room over a day is that you get a lot of sock knitted. I'm enjoying the colors, the pink, green, and purple all together please me no end, and remind me of Easter eggs.

The ride home on Sunday from Goshen was good for knitting on Bandwagon Block #5 and I finished it once we were home.

Next comes the second red-orange block. I'd have made the whole afghan out of blocks this color if I'd have had it on hand.

Shining Sun!

What place is this? The sun hasn't shone here in at least a week. I'm not sure I know how to dress for work in the sunshine. I want to stay here all day and sew or knit or maybe even unearth my watercolors and splash paint around. Wouldn't that be fun? But instead I'll be showering and taking myself off to keep the world safe from scuba diving.

June 21--Georges Seurat, Monkey. "Do you think it's a monkey?" Geordie asked. "Don't be daft," said Sam, "it's a squirrel." "A squirrel? Are you crazy?" Geordie pointed up into the trees in the park. "When did you ever see a squirrel swinging by its tail? Only monkeys do that." Sam folded his arms across his thin chest. "Well, possums hang from branches by their tails, maybe it's a possum." "Possums are pale gray, almost white. That thing's black. It's a monkey." Geordie stood on the trail with his hands on his hips daring Sam to contradict him. "It's Wisconsin, Geordie, no monkeys live in Wisconsin except maybe in zoos. It's too cold here in the winter. They'd have to immigrate to where it's warmer like the birds do." They walked farther into the park as they argued, their eyes glued to the high branches of the trees watching for movement. "Migrate, you mean, birds migrate, people immigrate." Sam shrugged. "Migrate, immigrate, it doesn't matter. It's not a monkey," he insisted, just as a black monkey with a white face dropped out of a tree and came toward them on the path.

A-a-a-and the sun's gone behind the clouds already. Ah well.
--Barbara

Mist...

with intermittent rainy periods. So no lawn mowing today, besides it was "doctor day" for Durwood, and, no, it wasn't anything fun. It was 3, count 'em, 3 doctor's appointments for various things, ongoing checkup kind of things. We did have a nice lunch in a hospital cafeteria but still it was tiring. You know it's funny, you don't really spend all that much time with the doctor, but all the waiting and driving from one clinic to another because God forbid all your doctors should be in the same building or even on the same side of town. Naturally after the last appointment we stopped at Sam's and Festival Foods for salmon for supper, and then I zoomed off to the fabric store(s) for a bit of stuff to make a map bag for our trip west. I figure I'll cut it out tomorrow at work and then sew it on Thursday. Having time to cut fabric or knit at work makes my friend Skully laugh. I can't ever get a real job. I'd suck at it.

June 20--August Renoir, Nini in the Garden. Her sewing fell across her lap like a blanket of flowers. More than one inquisitive honey bee buzzed up to the bright flowers she embroidered on the white linen of the tablecloth. Nini's needle flashed silver in the sun's rays as she plunged it into the fabric to form tiny stitches to make the design. When she was small, four years old or maybe five, her Maman sat her down and taught her how to hem a towel. Maman was only pleased by small, even stitches. Many small squares of linen were stitched and then unpicked to be stitched again with more precision and skill. Eventually a small store of towels and linens began to accumulate in the chest in the parlor. Nini spread her hands over the tablecloth in her lap with satisfaction. She might not have acquired a husband yet but she had amassed an arsenal of beautiful work good enough to quiet the most particular of future mothers-in-law.

I could have kept going but it was late. I'm hoping to be able to mow de lawn when I'm off on Thursday. If I don't get to, does anyone have a hay rake and baler I can borrow this weekend?
--Barbara

So, The Wedding (lots of photos)

Last weekend we went to Goshen, IN for a wedding. You know that. We drove through Chicago and I bought some souvenir yarn. You know that too. It was amazingly hot and humid, especially to we who dwell in the cool and rainy tundra that is Green Bay, WI this season, but we adapted. I thought you might like to see a few photos from the wedding. FYI--they put this all together in 3 weeks.

Here's the tent where it all took place...







here's the important stuff happening...









I think they might be in love...















Mom (she's barefoot) & Groom dance while Father of Groom looks on...




Parents of Bride with 10-month-old twin grandsons Atticus & Joachin...









Mom of Groom tries out the grandma thing...









On the way home I was thinking about living in a big city like Chicago. I love the idea of walking to shop and having interesting things around every corner, but then I thought about how much it'd cost to live in one of these towers and how it's never quiet and how you'd never see stars because the city lights never turn off...








and I'm glad I live in poky old Green Bay where this rose that Dad planted in my front yard 25 years ago is there to greet me when I come home.

Rain

This week it's all rain, rain, rain, rain, rain. All week long. Maybe not on Friday, but they're not making promises. Tomorrow's the first day of summer, you know, and I suspect that our summer's going to be like this, cool and rainy. Yesterday when we left Goshen it was nearly 90 degrees. When we got home about 3 PM it was 60. That's 30 degrees difference in 330 miles, if you're too menopausal to do the math. Talk about culture shock. I had to go buy some tank tops and a scarf to cook up a semi-appropriate outfit for the rehearsal dinner. And I learned something else, when you're hot and sweaty dangly earrings stick to your neck. It's not pretty, not pretty at all, and not comfortable either. I nearly put on my swimsuit and witnessed the wedding from the edge of the pool but at the last minute I chickened out. Plus they wouldn't let me eat in the pool and the food smelled good, so I stayed dressed in my khaki slacks and red embroidered top and sweltered. Not like the bride, of course, but I was plenty hot enough.

June 19--Gu Jue, Brush Holder.

He carved a world
in three inches of bamboo.
Craggy mountains,
lush forests,
boatmen, philosophers,
scholars,
and a donkey.
All alive, all busy,
all on a piece of grass
you can hold in your palm.
~~~~~
I had more to say about that but I was too tired. Maybe another day...
--Barbara

Happy Father's Day

I got a surprise reminder of my Dad when we got home from our weekend jaunt today. He planted this rose bush years and years ago when he and Mom lived here. When we left there were just tightly closed buds...

Thanks, Dad.


The wedding was great. The drives down and back were uneventful. And DS & DIL1 made supper for us, well, for Durwood but I got to eat some too. Meatloaf! Fresh asparagus! Baked potatoes with all the fixings! Yum.

June 18--Marcel Vertes, Textile Design with Kite Motif.

Diamond of smiling pink paper
against a blue sky
carries childhood up
into the memory
Windy spring days
are the engine of happy
times to hold dear
for years and then shared
with generations to come.
~~~~~

Sorry I'm so late. It's time for bed--and writing tonight's prompt.
--Barbara

Souvenir Yarn!

While Durwood napped this morning I investigated the local yarn shop, Ewe-Nique Knits. Look what I found! And brought home with me, of course.


This is Dragonfly Fibers' Dragon Sock in the Baltimore Oriole colorway. Since we've finally attracted a few orioles to the feeders in our yard, I had to buy it. Had. To.




Hanging on the edge of a display was a Knitting Pure & Simple Bulky Shrug. I've been wanting to make a shrug and, wouldn't you know, there were 4 skeins of Cascade Magnum in the 30% off bin in a pretty green. That came home with me too, along with the pattern.

Belated Posting

Well. We were unexpectedly invited to the rehearsal supper yesterday so we helped with the prep and watched the rehearsal. I got to play with a baby. He's a 10-month-old identical twin named Joachin. His brother Atticus wasn't as friendly but Joachin was a most excellent playmate. He liked my earring and learned that if he grabbed a handful of the hair behind my ear, the shiny earring was perfectly placed for touching. I was surprised at how long he was happy with a stranger but then I'm endlessly charming. Just ask Durwood and Mom. They know. They think I'm swell. Today we don't have to be anywhere until the wedding at 3 PM. Durwood's napping and I think I'm going to see if that yarn shop I visited last summer is open today. I think I'll do that now. Oh, here's the tiny writing from last night...

June 17--John Singer Sargent, Thistle.

Lure of purple fluff
guarded by thorns,
soft on the eye,
weed to gardeners,
symbol of a nation,
I love you
when you're artichoke.
~~~~~

And that, kiddies, is that. It's hot and humid down here. Kind of a surprise to us tundra-dwellers used to the chill of "up north." I had to go buy a tank top to survive last night's outdoor supper. I'm off.
--Barbara

Car Travel is So Good for Knitting

We drove from Kenosha, WI to Goshen, IN today. I knitted on Bandwagon Block #5.








It was hazy when we were driving into downtown Chicago on the Edens but I think the silhouetted buildings look kind of interesting.













I worked on the Easter Egg Ankle Sock toe. It's going very slowly and I can't figure out why, but I'm going to keep knitting and it'll grow.







When I wasn't knitting I took pictures from the Skyway Bridge over Gary, IN and caught just the edge of Durwood with Lake Michigan far in the distance. On the other side of the bridge is the glory that is Gary. Hey, don't knock it; that stinky, gritty city and a bunch like it built this country. I like seeing the rusting evidence of all that capitalism. Besides the Jackson 5 came from Gary.

Pack

We're packing this morning so that I can zoom home after work, load the car, Durwood, and drive away. The son of our friends is getting married in Goshen, IN and we're going to watch. And help celebrate, of course. I've already had the yarn/knitting project mental exercise, you know, when you think you'll have way more time to knit than you actually will so you take too much yarn. I have to consider the drives down and back too, so my knitting bag is ready. We also need to put fresh sheets on the other bed because DS & DIL1 have to refugee here for a couple nights this weekend. Their sanitary sewer backed up and a plumber cleared out 67 ft. of tree roots growing right up to their drain. Now a different plumber needs to discover if he can fix the problem remotely or has to dig up the street, so their pipes need to be un-watered for 48 hrs. before he shows up on Monday. Therefore they'll be sleeping over here since they can't flush or wash or anything. Maybe there'll be supper when we get home Sunday night. That'd be nice, wouldn't it?

June 15--Mesopotamia, Babylon, Panel with Striding Lion. Fletcher always ran through the galleries and exhibit halls ignoring ancient art and dioramas. The only reason he liked to visit the museum was to visit Jacob the lion. From the first time he saw the panel of bricks that comprised the Babylonian lion, he loved it. His mother thought he'd be afraid because it's a fierce lion but instead Fletcher tried to get out of his stroller. He babbled at it, reaching out his little arms as if to embrace it. Once he was able to talk he insisted on spending his time with Jacob. "Why do you call him Jacob?" his mother asked. Fletcher looked up at her and said, "Because that's his name." "How do you know?" The little boy fixed her with a level look. "He told me." She didn't argue. The curators at the museum all knew Fletcher, and Doctor Davies who was in charge of the Babylonian exhibit took great pleasure in having the boy tag along when he did his regular tour to make sure the exhibit was in good shape.

It's another humid, dreary day. I've been up for an hour and a half and I feel like I could go right back to sleep. Yawn.
--Barbara

Shark!

Aunt B reads my blogs every day. I love her for that. I find myself being more mindful that what I write before the writing is amusing or informative. So thanks, Aunt B, for helping me be better every day. She commented on yesterday's post about the fish she sees from her dock on the intracoastal in North Carolina and said that they'd seen a 4-foot shark off their dock. I don't think that they're right by the coast, I think that there's some distance of waterway between them and the big, wide, shark-y ocean, but isn't that cool? I'm sure they'll be a bit more careful when they're swimming out there but I'd love to be sitting on her, or my, dock and see a shark swim by. As a scuba diver I've learned that there aren't that many sharks in the ocean, that you don't have to part a carpet of them to jump in and then they slam back together over your head. In fact, I'd probably done 50 ocean dives before I ever saw one and it was a Nurse Shark (I met a diver once who thought they were called "Nerf" sharks, and no, she wasn't blond) but I was way more excited than scared. Since then we've seen sharks, lots of them, in Grand Cayman and when we dove in Palau we saw big ones on every dive. We even saw one coil up and eat something on one dive in Palau. That was crazy awesome but our dive guide dragged us away just in case the shark wanted a nip of tourist for dessert. I could go back to Palau any day except for the jet lag, I thought I'd die of the jet lag. And there was just a downy woodpecker trying to peck my vinyl window frame. Go peck on the fence, bird!

June 14--Peter Paul Rubens, Bust of Pseudo-Seneca. Piet grew up believing that there was a wire connecting his eyes with his right hand. How else could he explain his ability to draw what he saw? From the time he was small he could look at a person or a scene and it would appear on his paper. Not just a replica either, he had the ability, the gift to draw the personality there too. His family was poor. Most of the time there was no money for paper so he drew on stones or plaster walls with pieces of charred wood from the fire. When Piet was nine, the Italian professor up the street heard about his ability to draw and offered his father a place for the boy to help him with a project. Suddenly Piet had his own bed, enough to eat, and scraps of paper for his very own to draw on once the day's work was complete.

Once again I have dawdled too long doing crossword puzzles, talking with Durwood, cutting rhubarb for Bob, and posting this that I've got to take a speed shower and beat it out of here. Late, dudes and dudettes.
--Barbara

So Much to Share

I just realized that I've been slacking off posting this week. I have a lot to show you, not all from this week but most of it. The oldest thing I have to show is all of 10 days old. My friend Skully wanted a fanny pack so I gave her one I made a while back. The first time she tried to use it the zipper broke. D'oh. So I made her a new one AND I increased the width and the depth so it would hold more. I hadn't sewed in a long time but evidently it's like riding a bike, you remember how. I think it's freaking beautiful.















Sunday night after knitting on it all afternoon at the World Wide Knit in Public Day event in a downtown park, I finished the Carnival Ankle Sock. See how the pink pools on the one side? I decided to put a few (6) rows of k1, p1 ribbing in the instep to shift the color arrangement. All it did was move the pink from one side to the other. I don't really mind it, I just wanted my little fudge to work better.






Skully lent me her copy of One Yard Wonders last week and I copied a couple of the patterns. They're very clever and I've been more and more interested in making clever things with fabric. I bought some designer remnants of drapery and upholstery fabrics and I've acquired a stash of fat quarters so I've got the raw materials for many of the patterns. Yesterday at work I cut out one for a trash bag to hang in the car (working around the pressure of my one customer of the day) and sewed it last night. I'm very pleased with it.







Mom sewed an outfit for an American Girl doll for a raffle and it's so darling, you have to see it. She's so talented, a much better seamstress than I'll ever be, and she has such patience for getting things just right. Look at that little hat! She made it from scratch, can you believe it? I think she's a doll clothes making genius.

















The lettuces are happy with the cool weather we've been having and the biggest patch of poppies (poppies!!!) is a-bloom in the garden. I'd have a whole yard of poppies if I could, but I wish they'd bloom all summer.






I keep thinking that I have more pictures to show you but for the life of me I can't remember what. This is enough for now anyway. I'll add more later if my brain shifts back into gear.