Aunt B commented on yesterday's post that she liked the idea of "No" Day, likening it to an "S&S" (sit & stare) Day. She says she has those every once in a while. I try but rarely if ever get there. I thought I'd make yesterday a "not much" day and ended up going to the Social Security office (which to my great amazement was a quick and easy stop), to the yard waste to dump a basket of weeds, to Wal-Mart for a couple items that turned into more than that (of course), to Copps grocery for Rxs and a couple of Friday Freebies that were expiring, and finally to Papa Murphy's for a pizza for supper. In between Wal-Mart and Copps I did sit on the couch but while sitting I trimmed a pattern to make LC a swim shirt. See? I'm no good at "not much" days, how could I ever just "sit & stare"? I plan to give it a try on Saturday (I already have plans for a haircut and to work on the knitting guild library on Friday). Maybe if I gather enthralling books and knitting around me I'll make it, at least part of the day. Time will tell.
In Wal-Mart they had a bunch of fishing lures in the Clearance aisle. I know this grandson who likes to fish so I picked out these cute ones. They didn't say anywhere on the package what kind of fish they were intended to lure (they expect you to just know that stuff?!?) but I figure these are small, maybe for panfish, and if they're not right he can turn them into earrings or hang them on the Christmas tree (after snipping off the hooks, of course).
Speaking of knitting, I wove in the tails on Sudoku Strip #3 (didn't cast on #4 yet) and after supper I finished June Preemie Hat #3, weaving in its tails too (didn't cast on hat #4 yet either), but I did sit with my feet up and an ice pack on my left ankle.
Seems like a yoga practice plus all the errands and house stuff I did yesterday was too much. There's a line of storms headed our way later and my barometer of a left ankle is broadcasting. Don't break your ankle when you're 64, don't do it at any age really, but I feel like it's been forever (although it's not fully 3 months recovery yet) so I'm kind of in a perpetual, low-grade pout about it. Not a happy camper although I did find some denim capris and a couple cute summer tops on the sale rack at Wal-Mart, that helped. I'm wearing them right now and look very nice, if I do say so myself. I think I'll stop in at Lane Bryant and see about getting a decent bra on my way home tonight. I put on my last "real" bra this morning and my shoulders and upper back are thanking me. I guess I'm too old and too busty to wear sports bras for the rest of my life. (TMI? sorry.)
Look what I found at the dollar store last week. They were just stocking them and I grabbed a 2-pack. They're called Grab Bags and they're "as seen on TV" reusable shopping bags that clamp onto the sides of a shopping cart so they stay open as you load them, then you grab the handles, lift, and walk away. Two for a buck, can you believe it? What a deal. (Oh god, that's such an old lady thing... I'm old *sniff*)
June 22--Karl Weatherly, Cowboy on Horse.
Yellow aspen leaves blur
behind the red horse
Man and horse move as one,
centaur of the Plains,
race ahead of winter
through Autumn's last glow
~~~~~
A-a-and that's it for me today. I need to drop off the organics recycling on my way to the dive shop so I'd better wrap this up, slap on a few pix, and head out. Later.
--Barbara
The weather changed last night and the humidity and heat went east so as soon as I rolled out of bed I opened any window I walked by so the fresh summer air is flowing through our house. Ahhh. It's like a magical tonic, isn't it? The sheer curtains at the bedroom windows are billowing at the slightest puff of air. I love it.
Last Saturday when we were making potato salad we used the last of the celery but saved the bottom inch to plunk into a little dish of water and, LOOK!, the center is sprouting already. We are having a lot of fun planting pits and such. I'm thinking I'll put the pineapple tops out on the patio table so they get the benefit of the summer sunshine. I'll discuss it with my co-farmer later.
Waiting rooms are excellent places to knit on mindless things like Sukoku Strip #3 which I finished yesterday afternoon. I'll weave in the tails later today and cast on Strip #4 right away. It's the perfect thing to knit at Friday Night Knitting too because there's very little thinking needed and I'm very busy talking and laughing on Friday nights. Very busy. I also pontificate a lot too, which takes lots of energy and focus.
June Preemie Hat #3 is ready for the crown decreases. I'll get that accomplished today and then Hat #4 will get started immediately too.
June 21--Robert Malcolm, No Day.
~~~~~
My brother-in-law, RJ, calls us when he's driving home from work after 9 o'clock (our time) so he stays safely awake and I answered last night. He said his son had sent him something about this week's "commemorative" days, for instance, I just googled it and today is International Yoga Day. (Woohoo! Good thing I did my yoga this morning so my celebrating is done.) (it's also Skateboard Day and Peaches & Cream Day) Anyway, he suggested that we celebrate "No" Day, a day where the answer to everything is "no." I wasn't especially a fan of the idea but when he suggested that I write a poem about it and leave the lines blank my (weird) funny bone was tickled. So this one's for you, RJ. Enjoy your day off and I hope the fixit guy gets your upstairs a/c working so your kids and grandkids don't melt when they come visit.
--Barbara
So I went outside this morning and did summer things.
I watered my patio garden. All of the tomato plants got turned 180 degrees so they don't lean and I picked off all the "suckers" which are those little branches that sprout between the main stalk and the branches. My Grandma Angermeier said that suckers spend energy making leaves that the plant can put to better use making tomatoes. I believe her and try to keep on top of them. We want tomatoes, not leaves. This is pineapple sage which is growing like crazy between the two flat-leaf parsley plants that were bedraggled and are working hard to catch up.
Then I harvested a whole lot of rhubarb, washed it, chopped it, made some of it into rhubarb bread (oh, man, does the house smell great right now), and put the rest on a big cookie sheet to freeze. I'll bag it later so we can make rhubarb things in the winter. Mmm. I also watered the blueberries and chopped off all of the chives because the stalks of the chive flowers are woody and a pain to cut out individually so I just lop them all off and let the chives grow back which they do in a jiffy.
The poppies are done blooming, except for one lonely one hiding in back, but I like the way the seed pods look. I remember being little and Grandma A cutting me a dried one to shake the seeds out of for next year's planting. These flowers look like Queen Anne's Lace to me but I don't think that's what it is. Probably it's a weed that I should root out of the planting bed.
As for yesterday's knitting, in the evening with my feet up and an ice pack on my ankle, I worked on Sudoku Strip #3 (there's about 5" to go) and added a couple more stripes to June Preemie Hat #3. These tiny, sport weight yarn hats make the ones I usually make look like they'd fit a Wookie but I figure each of them will fit someone so I keep making them. I'm careful to make them in acrylic yarn so that they're wash and dryable and they could even be sterilized if need be. Wool I save for grownups who have the time and energy to worry about washing a hat like lingerie, parents of newborns, especially preemie newborns don't have that kind of time or room in their brains.
June 20--Karl Weatherly, Bike Race Start. The starter's pistol shot echoed from the buildings on both sides of the street. Drew was in the middle of the riders hoping he kept his balance. If he fell he'd be run over a hundred times and would probably start a domino effect of falling cyclists. He tucked his head down and focused on keeping his front wheel between the rear wheels of the two bikes in front of him. He was glad he had wormed his way this close to the start because the elite riders moved away and rode faster so he had more room. He kept his balance better the faster he went. Didn't everybody? Just as he started to breathe easier someone bumped his rear wheel and he began to wobble.
We're going to spend a Burger King coupon for lunch today. (Oh, goodie, fast food.) We usually go for the healthy stuff so fast food is a treat. Durwood's got an appointment this afternoon so a quick burger helps us stay on track time-wise. The bread's about done so I'm going to follow my nose into the kitchen. I sure hope it tastes half as good as it smells. The potato salad was good yesterday, not as good as Mom's German potato salad, but we needed no crunchy stuff because one of the diners had big-time dental surgery last week and is on a soft diet. We'll enjoy the leftovers this week.
--Barbara
This morning when I went out to plug in the fountain the sun was filtered through the maple tree, I liked the way it looked. The ferns are happy; I love the yellow green color of the fronds. The little rows of bleeding heart blossoms are so sweet dangling there and quivering in the slightest breeze.
I finished Minie, the second tiniest of preemie hats last night. One way to finish it was to run the yarn through the last stitches and draw it closed. The other way, the way I chose, was to knit a couple inches of I-cord to tie into a top knot, mostly because it's such a tiny hat I thought it needed some help. The top of the kitchen chair is barely bigger than a golf ball so you can imagine just how tiny this hat is.
Then I cast on the next bigger size, Meenie, and decided to add stripes once I got past the rolled brim so I added turquoise to the lime green and I think this is going to be one wonderful hat for some tiny person.
The big thing I want to accomplish today is to de-nest the couch area where I basically resided for the last 2 1/2 months. Now, I'm not saying that there won't be a yarn holding area, a knitting basket, and a knitting bag there, and I am confident that there will be patterns, recipes, magazines and assorted tools littering the coffee table, but those are all "normal" clutter. What's changing is the little adjustable table goes back downstairs as does this laundry basket of knitting stuff that has collected. The little bin of markers, thank you notes, crossword puzzle books and other entertainments that spent the time under the coffee table will be disseminated too. I feel this is another step toward getting back to normal.
June 19--David Stover, Crowded Pool. Herschel could hold his breath for a long time, long enough to eel around and through the legs of people standing in the pool. He liked it when he came up for air to see them looking down with little frown lines between their eyebrows. Of course the lifeguards saw him, saw what he did. Debbie, the pretty brunette with the birthmark that looked like Italy on her left calf, warned him not to knock people over. "I see you swimming around down there. A lot of bad swimmers get themselves in a bit too deep so be sure you don't scare them so they thrash around and get into trouble." He nodded and looked at the pool deck so she couldn't see his smile. She watched him. He watched her too.
I'm thinking this should be called "Birth of a Creeper." It amazes me the stuff that comes tumbling out of my pencil late at night.
Happy Father's Day to any dads out there in blog-land. I hope you have a festive, no-necktie-gifts day. We're going to a picnic later. We made potato salad. Do you know how hard it is to find a plain old potato salad recipe? A recipe without fancy ingredients like capers and Italian dressing? Hard. I finally found one on allrecipes.com that came close and changed it to our taste. I'll let you know later how successful we were. Yes, I did write down what I did so I can reproduce it if it's a success. Happy Sunday.
--Barbara
Today was Worldwide Knit in Public Day so a few of us found the most public place we could find, on the City Deck along the Fox River just north of the Saturday Farmer's Market, plunked our chairs in a circle, and put out our new blackboard sign. It was a perfect morning, warm and breezy, and we got a bit of attention from passersby. It was so nice that we think we might go there to knit one Saturday a month, until the snow flies that is.
A V of white pelicans came over on their way up the river from the bay, a couple paddle boarders (board paddlers?) went past. I'd sure like to try that but my balance is pretty much shot so I'd better not but there's a kayak rental place right there, they even teach you how too, and that really tempts me, but I promise I won't give it another thought until my ankle is all better. All all better. Cross my heart.
I finished the June Seamen's Cowl at Friday Night Knitting last night and then I cast on a new pattern for Preemie hats. This one's for Sport weight yarn (of which I have a couple bags of that are soft and bright and would feel good on tiny, tender babes' heads) and comes in four sizes called, from biggest to smallest--Eenie, Meenie, Minie, and Moe. I decided to start with Minie. I'm about at the place to start the crown decreases and this looks impossibly small. It breaks my heart to know that it will fit someone's baby. I'll keep making them but I think I'll go up a size just so I can knit them without being on the brink of tears most of the time.
We're making potato salad to take to supper tomorrow afternoon-ish. One of my biggest regrets is not making sure I knew how to make Mom's mom's German Potato Salad before Mom kicked the bucket. So we're going the other way, making mayonnaise potato salad with a touch of honey mustard and some hard-boiled eggs. It's amazingly difficult to find a plain, old potato salad. I hope it's edible.
I didn't write last night so... sayonara.
--Barbara
...today I feel like myself for the first time in 2 1/2 months. I had a lot of stops on my errands list today, walked every necessary aisle, and still felt like myself, not an invalid. I will confess that I did park in handicapped spots at all but one, no, two, no, three stops... okay half the stops... but still, this is good. Once I was home and had things put away I fixed myself some lunch and sat on the couch with an ice pack on my ankle for an hour so, never fear, I'm still minding my mending. Oh, and I did my original 20-minute, on my feet yoga routine this morning too. I had to fudge the plank and the tree pose when I'm supposed to balance on my left foot (the right one works just fine but I did a very short balance on the left, then braced with my right foot, short balance, then brace, back and forth for the allotted time to build strength but not overdo it) but I did it and feel great about it. I feel more yoga-d, more stretched and stronger after doing that one than the chair one. The chair one was good for keeping my back and shoulders flexible while I was stapled to the couch but there's nothing like a real, stand up yoga practise.
The mint plants are loving life. From the left we have chocolate mind, then spearmint, and apple mint. They're perking up and growing fast. I think tomorrow I'll rotate all the pots so the plants grow straight. I uprooted a clump of sprouts courtesy of a chipmunk that's burying birdseed in one of the tomato plants. I'll take a picture before I yank out the next clump.
The peony is almost done blooming but the bleeding heart has had a resurgence and the honeysuckle is blooming all over. Still haven't seen a hummingbird but the birdie juice is slowly going down so someone's drinking it.
In yarn news, I was busy at work so I only got half of the other ankle of the sock done but I did manage to make two tiny pompoms for June Preemie Hat #1.
It didn't rain on our Knitting Guild picnic and the Waikiki meatballs were a hit, only 3 left to take home to Durwood and then he dissed the sweet & sour sauce. Humph. Actually he's allowed not to like it, in fact, I would have been surprised if he had.
June 17--David Stover, Cyclists.
Knees pump
up, down, up, down
fast like pistons
like train wheels
How do they balance on those
narrow tires?
Don't the hard seats
bruise their butt bones?
I'd rather have a car.
~~~~~
It's late in the day and time to make a big salad for supper. We've got lots of spinach, some spring greens (fancy leaves), ripe avocados, grape tomatoes, a piece of cucumber, and some of that grilled chicken. Mmm, sounds like supper to me.
--Barbara
The only thing I have to show you today is my progress on the Autumn Cumulus sock. Remember the other day I knitted a long column of stitches and couldn't figure out where I was going? Yesterday I figured it out. The directions had me pick up stitches all along one edge of that column and then knit short rows (which curves the knitting to turn the heel, or half of it anyway) until I got to the number of stitches that are in the "standard" scallop. Then I just followed the same instructions as for all of the previous scallops.
The first picture is a side view of the knitting trick of making the sock heel. See the gentle curve? The next picture is a top view; you can see that today's knitting will take me down the other side of that long column, through more short rows and then end up opposite where I ended last night. After that comes the leg and then the cuff so I'm kind of rounding the clubhouse turn into the home stretch. (I've been wishing I could go to the track and watch horses race lately, can you tell? Maybe we can get to Lexington in the fall while the harness racing's still on and I can lay down a few bets. Nothing big, mind you, only $2 per race but I do love going.) (My quibble with my "new" refurbished camera is visible in these shots too. See the shadow in the lower left? It's the lens blocking the flash and I don't know how to get around that, except with an external flash and that negates the whole "camera in my pocket" thing.)
Congrats to Aunt B in NC for having a nest of fresh wren hatchlings in her front porch flower pot. I haven't heard our wren in a few days. Evidently his nests, at least the ones in our yard, were rejected by the lady wrens, dang it.
June 16--Mike Vaughn, Dad w/Baby Underwater.
They spend their first nine months
submerged
Swimming lessons should be like going
home
But after a few months spent breathing air they
forget
sputter
cry
~~~~~
Hey, today's the Bay Lakes Knitting Guild's annual picnic. I've got my crockpot full of meatballs and sweet & sour sauce all packed. I even remembered a slotted spoon so people can serve themselves--although they smell so good I might want to "forget" to take them along. Nah, I'm not that greedy, besides I kept a few meatballs for Durwood and me, and I can surely make more sauce. Enjoy your day, it looks like rain. Of course it looks like rain, it's a picnic day and I do believe that we have never had a picnic that it didn't rain on, okay, maybe one but it was overcast, chilly, and started drizzling as we packed up to go. It better be not rainy on Saturday because it's Worldwide Knit In Public Day and we're planning to sit on the City Deck along the river downtown and knit. I want to go and not get wet. So there.
--Barbara
Aunt B commented on yesterday's post that she liked the idea of "No" Day, likening it to an "S&S" (sit & stare) Day. She says she has those every once in a while. I try but rarely if ever get there. I thought I'd make yesterday a "not much" day and ended up going to the Social Security office (which to my great amazement was a quick and easy stop), to the yard waste to dump a basket of weeds, to Wal-Mart for a couple items that turned into more than that (of course), to Copps grocery for Rxs and a couple of Friday Freebies that were expiring, and finally to Papa Murphy's for a pizza for supper. In between Wal-Mart and Copps I did sit on the couch but while sitting I trimmed a pattern to make LC a swim shirt. See? I'm no good at "not much" days, how could I ever just "sit & stare"? I plan to give it a try on Saturday (I already have plans for a haircut and to work on the knitting guild library on Friday). Maybe if I gather enthralling books and knitting around me I'll make it, at least part of the day. Time will tell.
In Wal-Mart they had a bunch of fishing lures in the Clearance aisle. I know this grandson who likes to fish so I picked out these cute ones. They didn't say anywhere on the package what kind of fish they were intended to lure (they expect you to just know that stuff?!?) but I figure these are small, maybe for panfish, and if they're not right he can turn them into earrings or hang them on the Christmas tree (after snipping off the hooks, of course). 
Speaking of knitting, I wove in the tails on Sudoku Strip #3 (didn't cast on #4 yet) and after supper I finished June Preemie Hat #3, weaving in its tails too (didn't cast on hat #4 yet either), but I did sit with my feet up and an ice pack on my left ankle.
Look what I found at the dollar store last week. They were just stocking them and I grabbed a 2-pack. They're called Grab Bags and they're "as seen on TV" reusable shopping bags that clamp onto the sides of a shopping cart so they stay open as you load them, then you grab the handles, lift, and walk away. Two for a buck, can you believe it? What a deal. (Oh god, that's such an old lady thing... I'm old *sniff*)
