It's Friday--4 More Days 'Til DD Arrives!

Woohoo!  I love me a countdown, don't you?  Especially counting down to something so eagerly anticipated.  Now we just need the capricious March weather to cooperate so her drive home is long but uneventful.  I'll be whipping up a cauldron of chicken soup this weekend and encouraging Durwood to figure out some menus for the week (I'm putting in my order for Chicken Bengali), and I found out yesterday that DS doesn't have a beer event on the 15th after all so maybe we can get everyone together for a meal the night before DD leaves.  Wouldn't that be great?

I finished up the Ugly Bunny for Telaine's Girly last night and at work yesterday I cast on a swatch of a cable I'm thinking of using for the Knitting Guild design challenge... that I have to have designed, written up, and knitted by the second Thursday of April.  Eek.  I like the cable, I even like the color of the yarn, but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make it do what I want it to do.  What I really need to do this morning is enlist Durwood's help to get the wire coil for my Beware the Idiots of March art challenge strung up so it hangs, which is the only way I can get the rest of it assembled.  I don't "art" very much but I'm enjoying this.  I guess sewing and knitting are art-like but since they produce functional items (at least that's my intent) I think of them less as "art" and more as "making stuff."

It's supposed to get into the 30s and 40s this weekend.  D'you think I should get out my shorts?  Should I put my longies and boots away?  No to both, this is Wisconsin and moderate temps in March are just a teaser, and the nail tech told me the other day that she heard that it's not supposed to really warm up until June.  Part of me recoiled in horror and part of me thought "yeah? so? sounds normal to me."  This is sure a fun and exciting place to live.

There were a bunch of squirrels trying to get around the baffle we put on the peanut wreath yesterday morning and Durwood just called out that he thought the tree rats are massing for another assault.  They can assault all they want as long as they don't succeed and I have to think of another idea.

March 7--Lucas van Leyden, The Archangel Gabriel Announcing the Birth of Christ.  All of his clothes were stained with brown ink.  He used iron gall ink that rusted as it aged so what started black turned brown in a very short time.  Gabe spent so much time at his drawing that he had a hard time straightening up.  His pieces were very detailed and he spent hours drawing the thin shading lines.  The iron gall ink was much easier to get than the blood he had used before.  People complained at the deep red color of it and he tended to bleed himself too much and too often.  He fainted a lot before he found the formula for the iron gall ink.

I get to meet my guild friend, AT, for lunch at Fazoli's (breadsticks!) and then we're going to that flower/embroidery/art quilt/antique show at the botanical garden.  And it's Friday Night Knitting night.  But the weather guy said we could enjoy a "wintry mix" later today.  It's always something.  

LC says, celebrate your Friday.
--Barbara