by Kat | Oct 19, 2023 | General, Poetry
The poem I selected this month seems apropos since I am not home right now. I heard this poem read by Pádraig Ó Tuama some time ago and I think of it often (and I highly recommend listening to Pádraig read it… you won’t regret it!) I did not need to worry about anyone answering the door, we have the code to our Airbnb. But this poem evokes such imagery of being welcome, welcoming the stranger, and so much more.
I give you The Listeners by Walter de la Mare.
The Listeners
by Walter de la Mare
‘Is there anybody there?’ said the Traveller,
Knocking on the moonlit door;
And his horse in the silence champed the grasses
Of the forest’s ferny floor:
And a bird flew up out of the turret,
Above the Traveller’s head:
And he smote upon the door again a second time;
‘Is there anybody there?’ he said.
But no one descended to the Traveller;
No head from the leaf-fringed sill
Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes,
Where he stood perplexed and still.
But only a host of phantom listeners
That dwelt in the lone house then
Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight
To that voice from the world of men:
Stood thronging the faint moonbeams on the dark stair,
That goes down to the empty hall,
Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken
By the lonely Traveller’s call.
And he felt in his heart their strangeness,
Their stillness answering his cry,
While his horse moved, cropping the dark turf,
’Neath the starred and leafy sky;
For he suddenly smote on the door, even
Louder, and lifted his head:—
‘Tell them I came, and no one answered,
That I kept my word,’ he said.
Never the least stir made the listeners,
Though every word he spake
Fell echoing through the shadowiness of the still house
From the one man left awake:
Ay, they heard his foot upon the stirrup,
And the sound of iron on stone,
And how the silence surged softly backward,
When the plunging hoofs were gone.
This poem is in the public domain.
Bonny is gathering the poems today, so be sure you stop by and read some poetry… and better yet, share some! We’d love for you to join us!
See you all back here next week!
by Kat | Oct 18, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers from the midway point of our Erie trek!
I would like to think that I am making and reading up a storm but realistically that is not likely happening… or if it is, it is in very small doses. I have brought my Pressed Flower socks for company… as well as some wound skeins of Koigu KPPPM ready to be cast on… lol.
Steve is NOT a reader and he hates that I read on vacation so my reading time is limited to at night when I get into bed.
I am hoping that you all are making up for the void of making and reading in this post… please tell me what you are excited about this week! I will be back next week and will be delighted to catch up on what you all are up to!
As always, please share your post below and I will be back next week to tell you all about my trip!
by Kat | Oct 11, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
For me, this is the Day Before Vacation and so I have a bit of housekeeping to share with you all. First, next week there will be an Unraveled post… it will be a bit different… i.e. I have it already written, so there won’t be much from me on the making or reading, but I know you all probably have been making and reading lots, so please share!
The only other post I have pre-planned is for Bonny’s Gathering on Poetry, which is the 19th.
Outside of those two posts, it will be radio silence here, but I will try and post some things on IG to share the glory that is autumn on Lake Erie!
My making this week had a bit of a detour! The call of The Gnome was strong and I went with the flow…
Gnatalie Queen Cole
Meet Gnatalie Queen Cole! She is the alto for my little gnome quartet… but she missed the part that the alto is not the diva… because she is all diva! She sort of reminds me of Charlie Brown’s curly haired girl…except more! Her dress has some sparkles and she loves how it gleams in the spotlight!
I followed this pattern for the her…but I knit 10 more rounds on the dress before I began the ruffle. Her hair is the beard from this gnome… again, I knit roughly 18 more “straight” rows before beginning the decreases. To get the best curls, I washed and “set” them before unraveling. I think she is just too fun! Now all they need is the tree to sing around!
The other detour was The Spinning of the Scrappy Sock fiber… oh my. I just could not stop! And once I had two full bobbins, I could barely wait for the second bobbin to rest before plying it up! It has had a bath and I am In. Love! Oh my… This is the most fun I have had in forever! It is thicker than my usual spin… it is roughly between DK and worsted weight! Two ply with all the glorious barber-poling one could imagine! And soft! Oh my… it is so soft! I am thinking this will be the perfect Honey Cowl. I have just over 400 yards, so I will have enough to cast on 180-ish stitches.
A riot of color!
Such delightful detours! But let’s get back on track and talk about my reading! It was a delightful week of reading! I finished Tracy K. Smith’s To Free the Captive which will be published November 7th. It is beautiful writing (as one would expect from a poet) and the story is a bit of Tracy’s history and it is told so beautifully. One phrase has stayed with me and will likely for a very long time… The Free and the Freed. Powerful phrasing!
I also have been racing through the second Marlow Murder Mystery… it is even better than the first! I should finish it up today. (and then my vacation reading will slow dramatically… although I just began reading Old God’s Time last night … so no thoughts yet!)
But what about you? What is occupying your time?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Oct 9, 2023 | General, In This Moment
Has an extra-big list!
Yes, that is what my Monday is looking like. My list is long… as it looks like it will be much cooler this week than we anticipated. So just to be safe, I am prepping some warmer coats, hats and yes… mittens! Ha! My mantra is there is no bad weather only bad clothing choices! I am also making the suggestion to Steve that he pack some things to keep warm and maybe this year he will listen! Ha!
On top of my usual Monday List, I am thinking about Indigenous People’s Day and I looked over the weekend for a list of books to read…and yay New York Public Library! Of course they have a list! I have read some of the books, but there were a good number I have not!
Finally, Israel is also very much on my mind this morning.
Now, I better get to that long list! See you all back here on Wednesday!
by Kat | Oct 6, 2023 | Currently, General
It seems surreal to me that we are in the final quarter of the year. It seems just moments ago that it was waning spring and summer lay long before me. Now, I am seeing trees start to turn… my neighbors dogwood has more peach-colored leaves every day.
And yet, here we are… so what am I currently doing, thinking, hoping!
Stitching —
January through September
One thing I have absolutely loved this year are these temperature circles. They have done more for grounding me in this year than anything else. The simplicity of this project is perhaps the best thing. I have an established routine where I sit down once a week and “catch myself up” and in that time I think about the days I am stitching. I have no plans to do another year of temperature circles, but I am absolutely contemplating what I might do next year that will give me the same grounding, the same satisfaction, the same contemplation. I have been doing some Google searches but nothing has sparked my curiosity. If you have ideas, I welcome them!
Anticipating —
The remaining squares to finish
The next phase of my appliqué project. I have roughly 20 more squares to go… I am making a few extra so I have some extra choices for the lay out. I am taking the stack of fabrics to Erie next week with hopes of getting close to getting them done! Then I can stitch the squares together and then I can begin quilting. I am excited for that part… my intention is to do it by hand over the winter. I have not done hand quilting for eons… and I look forward to reacquainting myself with the process.
Restarting —
Painting… I have been thinking about all I have learned and contemplating where to go from here. I want to do more than “just paint a lesson” and so I have been trying to find the path forward. I have been doing some sketches but have yet to pick up a brush. Beginning again is not easy… and because that is the case, I am going to share an update each month with you all here on the blog… something to keep me accountable! I have not picked the day yet, but I am leaning towards one of the Monday’s.
Reading —
I am also thinking about all I have read this year… it has been a very good year of reading. I have read so many amazing books this year! And it has been my best year ever with Netgalley. This year was the first year that a publisher has emailed me with a book they thought I would enjoy. That book was My Friends which I think will be the best book I have read all year. I just got another book from the same publisher… I have not started it yet, but I have high expectations! I would like to expand my Netgalley reading next year… there is something quite delicious about reading a book first and sharing my thoughts about it. But I also have let go of the “I have started this book so I must finish it” guilt. If a book is not working for me, I can move on from it. And that, my friends, is the best thing I have done for my reading time!
One Little Word —
This year, I did something new with my word… I kept a bit of a journal. It is not fancy… or artsy…and it is definitely not something I am going to share, but it has helped me tremendously this year. One thing I am doing is taking a photo of myself every month (I know… the struggle is very real) but doing it is such a good thing! But as I wind down with my word I have a unique situation this year (perhaps because of the journal??) Some months ago a word began showing up and it still is very consistently. I am very excited for next year… it will be a very different sort of word for me and confessions… I am very ready for that! I am going to be continuing the addition of a journal… with pictures of myself! Maybe by this time next year I will be able to report that I have achieved comfort with having my photo taken! Ha!
Letting Go —
Soon (as in this month!) we are canceling Netflix, Hulu, and Starz. We had several years ago “cut the cable” but it was not really cutting the cable, we added in a plethora of streaming services. Perhaps the “dark quarter” is not the time to do that but we will continue our review and cut the cord on a few more services!
And there you have a few of the things that are currently on my mind!
Have a good weekend all and I will see you all back here on Monday!
