After 100 days of Hope I struggled a bit to figure out what to post today. So I decided to just empty my brain and write.
It was a week of ups and downs. On the upside…as my snowdrops faded, the forsythia started to bloom! On the down side COVID has struck close to home. And while it is not in my house (that I know of), it is just too darned close for comfort and any plans I had for the weekend have been reduced to just staying home.
I thought I had a plan for my Daytripper Cardigan but as I colored, it was nice, but just not exciting. So I colored more. And still more. But finally, I left the plan and tried something different. And then I tried something even more different and the excitement grew! There is some real magic in finding the correct gauge AND the best colors for a project! Now, I just need to make a new “color” chart and I can cast on!
Out with the dark grey and the beiges, in with purple, raspberry, and a spring green!
While I am not trying to make the months go faster, I am excited for April because April is National Poetry Month! And this April will be the 25th Anniversary! I am so ready! I have a stack of “new to me” poetry books! I am really looking forward to immersing myself in poetry all month long. I am late to the joy of poetry. I read some poetry in school, but just did not “get it” although I had a grandfather who had memorized poetry and shared it often. I liked listening to him recite poetry but I did not really fall in love with poetry until I read Kym’s blog as she shared poetry during National Poetry Month! This April, I am going to join her and Bonny as we each share poetry with you all!
I am so excited about all these books!
I had been really hoping to go get a hair cut soon-ish. However, the Close Encounter of the COVID kind plus this has put that on a back burner for the foreseeable future. However, I did do a little online therapy at Ulta and I can tell you that this is some awesome lip color! Also, these foot treatments and this hair treatment are the perfect things for a mini-spa day at home! (also, I have been watching Messy Bun tutorials on YouTube and while I am not 100% hair-styling proficient – I am trying to get better, but does it really matter in Pandemic Living?)
That is all I have for this week, I will be back on Monday to share an update on my word! Have a good weekend all!
It feels like I survived the wars this week, and came out standing!! Nothing takes your mind off the insanity of politics like a plumbing problem… however, I hope we are good on plumbing for the rest of the year! LOL
There were some lovely little bright spots this week, though…
I was excited to see a trailer for Between the World and Me, airing tomorrow on HBO (and HBOMax) at 8PM.
And, finally… I have a baby in knits! Winston has finally (sort of) grown into the vest and socks I made for him! I think it will fit him for at least for a little while. If I can’t hug him in person, it is nice to know he is snug in something I made him – each stitch filled with love, prayers, hope for his future, and joy in his being.
That is all I have for this week. I hope your weekend is full of good things! See you back here on Monday!
Every Friday, I like to high-five myself for getting through another week on little more than caffeine, willpower, and inappropriate humor. — Nanea Hoffman
Hello, Gentle Readers and Happy Friday!
I hope that none of you suffer from triskaidekaphobia and that today is simply the gateway to the weekend!
Here in the ‘Burgh, its been a week of all.the.weathers! We have had sunny, clear days with temps in the 70’s, we have had soggy, rainy days with loud claps of thunder for extra emphasis, and this morning… a hard frost greeted Sherman and I as we went out for his morning constitutional. This meant it was a very short trip, with lots of those “looks”… yes, his little toes were cold! lol
This week, I found some very good things to share with you all!
First up, contemplating Thanksgiving with a group of your family or friends? You might want to utilize the COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool. It also helped Steve determine the risk for everyone at his office (they have a 27% risk) and thus, lay the law down about mask wearing at all times…no exceptions.
Thanks to Andy Slavitt’s podcast this week, I discovered Livinguard masks and we ordered some! But I found especially useful the parts on grocery shopping, which I confess have become quite lax on the amount of time spent in the store… wandering, looking, dawdling. A wake up call for me…in Allegheny County (where I live) if there are 50 people in the store the risk jumps to 72% (yikes! and there are usually more than 50 people there, so yeah.)
Finally, Good Knitters, TODAY IS YOUR DAY! It is Cardigan Day! I mean… it is a day made for us, amirite?!? That this coincides with World Kindness Day is just the icing on the cake. Because the most famous Cardigan wearer in the world was also the kindest person ever. So get your cardigan on and spread some kindness today! However, you all have LOTS of work to do to beat Sarah! She wins Cardigan Day, hands down!
Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on. — Thurgood Marshall
Thinking About —
This from the NYTimes. The hardest thing for me is this…58% of white men and 55% of white women voted for Trump. How the eff?
I don’t know how to heal this, how to get over this, or how to fix it and that is the thing that most upsets me.
Grateful For —
Laughter. It is certainly necessary! I found this most brilliant, and yes…the internet remains undefeated!
Live look at the White House bunker where Trump is trying to stop the counting of ballots.
The tenacity of the Black community. Thank goodness, they did not give up! They truly saved this election! I am so proud of Philadelphia, whose wise and wonderful voters just gave Joe a lead of 5,587 votes in PA. (And let’s not forget Detroit either… their final results: Joe Biden, 93.51% and Donald Trump, 5.06%… oh hell yeah!)
BREAKING: Joe Biden has taken the lead in PA by 5,587 votes.
It is me, or do the weeks somehow seem longer. I don’t know why that is, but boy… this week felt so.darned.long! I am chalking this up to the fact that COVID-emic-ELECTION days are some of the longest days ever, amirite? Anyways, this week felt like the perfect time to do a little TGIFing.
Takedown
Obama was in Philly on Wednesday and his speech was exactly what I needed this week! In case you missed it, or you need another dose of glorious Obama Eloquence, here you go!
Grieving
One of the best parts of my morning routine is listening to Tracy K. Smith share some beautiful thoughts and a poem. Sadly, this week she announced that she is leaving The Slowdown and at the end of the month it will go on hiatus until they find a new host. I will miss Tracy’s voice in my morning. I love her perspective, how she expanded my horizons, the poets she introduced me to, and especially how she made me think! I am trying to wrap my head around this change and how it will alter my mornings and mourning this loss.
Installing
Some months ago, the kitchen faucet was dripping. Okay. It was a the tiniest drip which was fixed with a firm shut off to the handle. Enter this the past couple of weeks and that is no longer working. Because, of course…right? End result…Steve is off today, and we are going to pretend we are plumbers and attempt to install a new faucet. Why us? Well, I called around to plumbers to get prices… and about had a coronary. Ummm, for those prices you’d think they were replacing the faucet, sink, and countertop!! Keep your fingers crossed that this goes well (and we don’t kill each other, lol) AND that by the end of the day I have a working kitchen sink with minimal extra trips to the hardware store! Ha!
all the FEELS
I know some of you are seeing your families on the regular, and I am happy for you… most days. The hardest thing I have ever done is this separation from my kids and grandkids. My kids are stressed, which makes me even more stressed. It sucks. But!! I know that I am not alone, there are many in blogland who are in the exact same boat I am and I want you to know I see you, I think about you, and I think about your kids scattered far and wide. My fervent hope is that things will stop being so damned urgent with more rising cases, and that a vaccine will become available that will be safe and effective…soon. Sooner than soon actually. I am not sure how much more I can take.
And that is a wrap for this week! I will be back on Tuesday to join Honoré to share my update on my word.
