Another Busy Day

Today I feel like I was in motion from the time I got up until sitting down after a late-ish supper to knit, until I realized that it's after 10 o'clock and I hadn't made a pot of coffee for Durwood or taken out the trash or gotten in here to blog.  *sigh*  Pretty soon I'll have some time to relax, really I will.  (she says hopefully)

As soon as I finished my morning yoga I flung on some clothes (jeans I haven't been comfortable in for years--woohoo!) and zoomed to Walmart for window shades and curtain rods for the rental side, then to Home Depot for a roll of screen and some spline so I could repair the screens in both storm doors.  I had to zoom because the carpet cleaners were scheduled to arrive at 10:15.  They were a little late which was okay.  It only took them 45 minutes to clean and Scotchgard the carpets next door, and Alex even had some magic solvent that removed most of the couch rubbing stain on the living room wall.  He said he thinks another session with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser might finish the job.  I'll try that as soon as the carpet's dry.  Tomorrow.

Yesterday afternoon I came back from an errand to find my knitting friend, HH, here visiting with Durwood.  She lost her mom about 10 days ago and she's just lost.  She's single and has taken care of her mom for as long as I've known her--maybe 6 or 7 years--and to have that abruptly end has to make her feel off balance.  Anyway, she collected the flowers from her mom's funeral last Sunday and stopped by to share a few of the roses with me.  They're huge, beautiful, and they smell great.  She said she hoped I didn't mind "funeral flowers" and I assured her that sadness and death never sticks to something that beautiful.  It was very thoughtful of her, don't you think?

You know that today is the first day of Spring, right?  Well, it might say Spring on the calendar but here's feathered proof that Spring hasn't arrived, no matter what the bulbs in my front yard think.  This is a junco, one of the birds that migrates south from the Arctic to winter here where it's warmer.  Yeah, warmer.  I stubbornly took a walk this afternoon, froze my nose nearly off in the cold wind from the northeast, but I got to listen to the next installment of The Walk.  Exciting things happened in the story which makes me want to walk again tomorrow.  Maybe it won't be so windy.




Last night I cast on and knitted a few rounds on March Preemie Hat #3.  It's a teeny tiny preemie hat which shouldn't take too long to finish.

This evening I was pawing through the bin of yarn etc. I keep in the living room and found myself casting on and knitting the ribbing of O's Packer Barley hat.  This cheap acrylic yarn is pretty scratchy but I'm hoping a bath in creme rinse helps it feel a little softer once the knitting is finished.

March 20--Amadeo Modigliani, Portrait of a Woman.  Paula stared out at the gray day.  Morning mist had thickened into fog that clung to the trees like spiderwebs.  Shapes appeared and were obscured by the shifting fog.  At times it looked like the pine forest was marching toward the house.  Her fingers clutched the fabric of her skirt, pleating and smoothing it in turns.  Her dark eyes flicked up to the treetops.  They followed a flock of crows as the birds squabbled from branch to branch.

The best news of the day is that we have a tenant.  The woman from my caregivers' group stopped by after work today, walked through, asked a few questions, filled out an application, I called her references, and she took it.  She'll bring a check later in the week and I'll hand over keys as soon as the work in the kitchen is done.  Hallelujah!  And whew.
--Barbara