pending...

When I was growing up in the Northwest, the 30's and 40's (weather-wise) were something to bundle up for and brace yourself against.
Now? Well, in the past two days I've heard the terms "heat wave", "warming trend", "Spring has arrived" and "Coat? We don't need no stinkin' coat!" used alternately and in a single sentence without taking a breath. Of course, those who know better remind the overly exuberant that we do still live in Wisconsin and it's only February and not to get too excited.
Well, I'm home sick with a cold, so today I'm a realist. But I am also hopeful, so I will post a happy Spring-like picture for those who've gotten ahead of themselves or are simply biding their time, waiting for the warmth to finally settle and stick. Which, of course, they will immediately begin complaining about and crank up the AC whilst pining away for cooler weather. Sniff. wheeze... never happy, these Mid-westerners. Where's the Pug? I need my foot warmer and another pot of tea...

kindred spirit

Met a young lady today who knits. She was bursting over with the joy of it: patterns to plan for, projects to dream about, wrestle with and oh, the excitement of sharing with someone else who understood the fascination, the compulsion, the sheer love and madness of the craft. She spoke of soft, squishy fiber, wooden needles that click as you go along and wondered about the meaning of and how to execute a "T3b".
What is it about taking a long skinny piece of string and messing about with sticks that brings out the twinkle in someone's eye and connects two people who've never met in such a way that you feel as if you've always known each other and could probably talk for hours even though you've just met and there are at least 35 years difference in your ages and would probably have nothing else to talk about otherwise?

funny...

I've been reminded lately that my life is not my own. My time, my thought life, my goals, my dreams - every breath I take was bought and paid for by the blood of the Lamb. I am NOT my own...
How many days do I fritter away, accomplishing nothing of what I imagine to be either earthly or heavenly merit? I'm not comfortable with the true answer to that question.
Even so, I am overwhelmed with the sense of His presence, even in the seemingly unimportant and frivolous moments of each day. A bit of sweetness in a random snatch of melody, heard in passing. An unexpected fresh, light breeze in the middle of a humid afternoon. A note from a friend reminding me that I am not alone and someone has been thinking of me.
Being reminded that, "before you were born, I knew you"...

funny.

I've always thought I had to be doing BIG things for God for Him to be pleased with me. Maybe it's enough to simply whisper "thank you" to the One who calls me His own and reminds me in the small things that He is so very, very close...

oh that's right... I have a blog.

The knitting has been put on hiatus for at least 1 year so I can concentrate on other things.
The pug is still annoying.
I'm not bored with writing, just not sure what to post about anymore.
I've been working hard, and playing a bit more, too, which is a good thing.
Friday Night Worship is on vacation for the summer, so not obligated to rehearsal time - which I love and would really rather be doing nothing else BUT that, but there is eating and providing shelter for my kids - which makes work necessary, I guess.
I still feel like I need to pack for some reason... like I'm not going to be in this house for another Christmas, but I don't know why, really.
I should be doing laundry right now, or cleaning something.
Instead, I'm spending 3 hours attempting to upload photos to Facebook "successfully".
Thinking about going to my high school reunion - I've sent the money for the dinner, but i haven't bought the plane ticket yet... what does that say about me?
It says, 'you are a big fat chicken' is what it says.
I bought a new camera - one that actually makes you think, if you want to. The Princess is taking a pre-college course this summer, which includes drawing and photography. I figured her shots taken with a point-and-shoot are great...she needs something more professional to work with. Because it was expensive, it's officially mine - with visitation privileges.
I'm having fun with it, too. Next up: PhotoShop lessons.

six sentences

The swollen Molly rests in the lower left corner of the brightly lit tank, fins spinning like propellers to keep itself upright in the shallow indentation it had made in the aquarium gravel. The bulging belly, says the pet store attendant and internet photos of other bloated Mollies, will last nine weeks or so before the fry appear, wiggling free in the miracle of live birth. Kyle and I wait, heads together resting on forearms and kitchen counter, eyes forced wide to keep from missing the moment in the wee hours of the morning, together in concern and curiosity over our scaly ward.
The fish rocks and wobbles, the small round mouth opening in rhythm to the swaying, it's unblinking eyes staring past us to a focal point on the wall behind and I am in the delivery room eighteen years ago focusing, breathing, rocking, eager to meet the boy standing now so silently next to me. Focused again on the small white mouth - open, close, open, close, open.
Hearts caught in throats, the sweet soundtrack scratching to a halt just as the flutes begin to swell, we stand in disbelief, wondering if it's alright to cry when a fish dies.

(check out http://sixsentences.blogspot.com)

you never can tell what you'll find...

I was looking for colored pencils...

back to life, back to reality...

"Flumonia's" done and over with. Back to work, slowly back to home routine (I'm currently avoiding housework, if you must know) and just in time, too! Fall is so very in the air! I find this time of year completely energizing. Fresh air, necessary rain without the added humidity... feels almost like I'm still living in the NW corner of the world, Pacifically speaking. One curious thing, tho. While tomatoes have been weighing down the open market stalls for some time now, mine are still struggling to gain their full color. But they are going through an amazing burst of growth. The cherries and grape variety didn't fare so well, but the yellow plums are huge! I've also enjoyed a fair number of ground cherries from the single plant I put in. It's almost time to harvest the items for "tea" making... 2 kinds of mint, lemon grass, lemon balm, and of course the stevia. I have lemon verbena (hmmm... maybe she likes lemon...) as well as two kinds of basil, onions and small leeks. It's a small garden. I grow small things. Except for weeds. There is a very large prickly thing growing out of the crack/hole in my front step that rivals the main character in "Little Shop of Horrors". Maybe it will scare away the ants come spring.

Fall. Time for breathing deep, harvesting, tidying up, digging out sweaters from storage and deciding which unfinished projects to pull out and work on as potential Christmas gifts. I finally finished the 10-year blanket project - not because it was done, but because I was decidedly done with it. Large, sea-green acrylic stockinette square with garter stitch border. Unfortunate use of my time, but it was started before I knew what I liked and what was practical. After binding off, and using it for a short period of time - it snagged and ran. Big time. (sigh) It took a full hour to "unsnag" it, stitch by stitch. It did give me a better understanding of stitch construction and insight as to why people may have created stitch patterns... less chance of snagging and running. More time for hunting and gathering, or whatever they did when they weren't knitting.

Here are a few pics from the early garden... Happy Autumn!

yay...

kosher flu. no pigs involved. going back to sleep now...

mommy...

please make the flying piggy go away...(insert long, drawn-out, self-pitying groan here).
Dear God, if you're going to force me to stay home and not go to work for an extended period of time, next time, please make it for a good reason, like, "I have some unfinished knitting to do", or "there's one more lake I haven't paddled on in this county and I need to get it in before the snow flies", or, "I need to catch up on my blogging". You know, good reasons.

lovin the laptop...

I'm sure this is not a big deal to anyone but me. I am outside on my back deck, enjoying having given at least 100% at work today, not having to cook for anyone (including myself), knitting AND blogging about it! It's not 3:00 a.m., I didn't have to beg my kids for 10 minutes on the computers...this is just way too cool. The only competition for my attention is the occasional mosquito - but they can be dealt with. Ahhhh... feel that? Slight breeze wafting through the trees. Mmmmm....Hear that? Wind chimes somewhere over there, birds chirping, the hum of someone else's lawn mower...I am truly "knitting on top of the world". Speaking of Nicky Epstein, I normally won't buy a book with someone else's patterns in it, if I can help it. I really love stitch dictionaries, technique and "how to" books... but I shelled out the big bucks for this book for one pattern only: the "Celtic Hooded Coat". Nicky used Lion Brand "Wool -Ease Chunky" in "Fisherman", which was unavailable and also not so cheap, for a Lion Brand product... or maybe not. It's been a while since I've bought anything not yarn-snobbish. So, instead, I ended up using two strands of a nice wool I can't remember the name of right now and got guage nicely enough to get going. I also opted for a lovely foresty-green rather that dirt-and-black-pug-hair-magnet off-white. Anyway, the rest of the patterns I could take or leave, except - um... (pauses to quickly flip through the book...) um, ok. No, I'm pretty sure the book will go back on the shelf or be donated to the local library, which may or may not make up for the stitch dictionary I "borrowed" 4 years ago and forgot to return.
Ok. The mosquitos have converged... I thought it was odd not to see more than one in a 10 minute time span... it is afterall midsummer in Wisconsin... (sigh). Guess I'll have to come down from the mountain top after all. Fun while it lasted, though.

back to blogworld at last...

Facebook is fun for finding and catching up on old friends. I feel more comfortable here, though. There, unless you turn on all sorts of blocks, etc. EVERYONE knows what you're up to, whether you want them to or not. Here, I can write away to my hearts content and only people who know I'm here and kinda sorta care that I'm here will know what I'm up to. I'm also not completely lost everytime I go to log on... there's something to say for constancy. Anyway, I'm watching "Beyond the Sea" on my laptop and making "Victoria Sponge Cake", just in case y'all need to know. Later, I'll knock off a couple of rows on my latest knitting project and maybe let the dog sit by me on the couch, if he's nice. Which he is, for the most part. At least he has a great smile...