It has been a topsy-turvy week here… we went from having temps in the teens on Sunday… to this morning an unbelievable 63°F. It smells like spring outside… and the birds must be thinking so as well because there was so much singing as Sherman and I trekked out this morning. The best thing might have been CLEAR SKIES!!! Those clear skies afforded me a glance at a Wolf Moon that was slowly setting.
So with a topsy-turvy week, my thoughts are sort of topsy-turvy as well… but an every once in a while you just need a good Friday brain dump, right?
Wolf Moon in pink skies…
Re-thinking —
This week Bonny posted about The Barbie Movie… which I have not seen. Then Kym sent some more encouragement my way about how I just might enjoy it… because it is fun! And then the icing on the cake came this week with the Oscar nominations… of course Ken was nominated… Which seems to me to highlight life for women… we do all the hard work, make all the things happen (and generally on time) and our reward is… no notice at all. So, this weekend I will be tucking in with my Great Cabled Sweater and watching The Barbie Movie with thoughts of solidarity for women everywhere.
Impetus (reignited) —
Speaking of that Great Cabled Sweater… well, I fanned the flames on it a bit yesterday and cruised through the button holes and made a LARGE dent in the shawl collar… I have a few repeats of increases and then a tiny bit of straight knitting before arriving at the Short Rows Portion of the collar. I am thinking the other band will go much quicker as I won’t have to make button holes… and I am thinking that The Great Seaming will happen in early February!
(a mighty) FINE (sewer) —
One of you asked earlier this week what I was going to do with my “pages” when I am finished sewing them. When I went to pull fabrics for this 100-day journey… I stumbled across all sorts of bits of fabrics from things I had sewn for Heidi’s kids… things that no longer fit (as happens with growing children) and I thought that putting them all together for her in a sort of a memory book would be special to her. Page one turned out so well… and page two is looking mighty fine as well (of course, I am biased) but I think it fits for Heidi’s “farm!” I am having so much fun with this project… most especially the timeframe… 15 minutes a day. It is a wonder what you can accomplish in just 15 minutes.
Days One and Two… and I think you can see my faint pencil lines of where I am heading later today…
Finding (answers) —
There has been a mystery that has puzzled me for a few months now… at first I thought it was a “one off” and the toilet paper scoring machine was having a moment. But then the next package had more of the same strange scoring on the TP… waves… ripples… not straight. (And honestly, I thought it was because we bought our TP at the Costco… so I thought they might be getting the “imperfect” lots.) But no… that is not the case at all! Leave it to Slate to uncover the toilet paper perforation mystery!
And there you have it… I am itching to get back outside in this unbelievable January April weather! See you all back here on Monday!
I had other plans for today post but life got in the way yesterday… bigly.
A small-ish issue with Sherman required some extra attention yesterday morning and a rather lengthy vet visit yesterday afternoon. But we have some new meds to try and I am hoping he is feeling better soon!
My plans for reacquainting myself with my painting spot did not happen … and it might not happen this morning either. I will have to see how Sherman is doing today… but it is absolutely on my radar!
I am falling back on the simplicity of a bit of a Friday RIFF… so let’s get started!
Re-adjusting —
Kym shared some links this week that I had been contemplating one of them until I saw this fun little knit from Leila Raven and I realized that this is exactly what I need.. fun, stripe-y, and I have the yarn in my stash! This is the motivation I need to finish my Pressed Flower wrap because I want to knit this next!
This week I saw a *new-to-me* butterfly in my back yard, Google told me it was a Great Spangled Fritillary… a member of the Nymphalidae family of butterflies. It was so fun watching it hang around for all of Wednesday afternoon. A lovely addition to the plethora of Monarch’s that are in love with my butterfly bush this year!
Today I am going to hope that Sherman has a good day and I can spend some time refreshing my painting spot. But… I am not beating myself up if I don’t because outside of that my week has been very productive. My *computer desk* has been decluttered and I have used it! My calendar got some “face time” with me… and that felt so good! We even had a bit of rain yesterday… not enough, but some is better than none.
That is it for me this week! I will see you all back here next week. Have a great weekend everyone!
It has been a week my friends. Hard things… so many hard things. So this LONG weekend my plan is to just be gentle with myself.
Rejoicing —
This year my poppy feels like it looks like this and while it is not quite that amazing, this morning there are 17 blooms open with at least 3 dozen more waiting in the wings! Don’t ask me about the remainder of my garden… it has been a rough winter/early spring in my yard. However, I have become a Master Weed Cultivator! HA!
Interesting —
Here in Pittsburgh, we are so blessed to have Rick Sebak… he is our Local Treasure and loves to bring to light all things Pittsburgh in the very best way. He has a new podcast, Gumbands, and I have listened to the first two episodes and I love them. They are brilliant. If you once lived in Pittsburgh – you will love them. If you ever visited Pittsburgh – you will love them. If you ever contemplated moving to Pittsburgh – you will love them. In other words, you don’t need to understand Pittsburgh or Pittsburghese to get them. He has smart conversations with fascinating people…
Fledgling —
This word has been niggling around inside me for the past couple of weeks now. I have been a diligent watercolor student for almost a year now… and yet… stepping outside the lines of the lesson strikes fear into my heart. But my latest class has been all about values… and this has me thinking about the practice of watercolor in entirely different ways! Ways that include trying my hand at paintings that are not “a lesson.” I got a new, larger sketchbook and have been doing a few pencil drawings. My next step is to do some Value Studies and begin the process of taking all that I have learned (it is is so much!!) and making it my own.
Final Friday —
It is the last Friday in May, the start of the long Memorial Day weekend. For me today, I won the battle and purchased some plants to fill a few planters. (Steve thinks buying flowers for planting is the largest waste of money on the planet.) I have some tomatoes that will go into a few containers as well. Nothing says renewal to me than having my hands in the dirt with the hope that what I am planting will grow and flourish. I need some of that renewal badly this weekend.
I hope that your long weekend provides exactly what you are in need of. See you all back here on Tuesday with my May Word update!
This quote sort of sums of December for me…the end of a year, the end of a word (which has been a very good word for me!), the end of my being 62, the end of my Year of Gnomes (yes… I am doing a +1 in January… there is no way you can quit gnoming cold turkey! haha)
And with all those ending things, it is so hard to not look ahead to what is coming.
I don’t want to do that and so I am going to daily remind myself to savor the day… be full of the moment… and not filling myself with the anticipation of what is to come.
Do I need to do some planning and thinking about January? Yes, I do… but I am not going to allow that to overtake the Celebration of December!
Now, how about some things that have been on my mind recently!
Remembering —
Christine McVie. Her death came as a gut punch to me this week. I will forever remember her singing this:
Infatuated (with) —
Three hand knits have found me circling back to look at them for a while now. I have been in the ‘wait and see’ mode… waiting to see if this infatuation I have for them will grow into a lasting love… which will mean I can cast on with confidence!
Kate Gilbert’s Nouvelle Vague (From Knitty Deep Fall) or really… a Clapotis Gradation. IMO, the Original Clapotis has the preferred shape and I had I had knit one eons ago but maybe I need a new one? I don’t know, but I am enamored of the idea of doing one in the Fade Fad. But the fad idea has halted me from moving this from infatuation to project.
Drawing Sweater. Oh my. Sweater as a work of art… absolutely. And when I first saw this, if I had the yarn to knit one in my stash, I would have instantly cast on. But then I saw this….
Flutter. Wow, right? Anyways, in my brain, I would do this and steek it. Flutter is just so lovely… and maybe more useful than a sweater?
(be) Fuddled —
Imagine my total surprise when Spotify notified me that my Spotify Wrapped 2022 was ready for me. Huh?
We regularly listen to Spotify, but we *always use Steve’s Spotify* … as in I make the food, Steve does the music. I know, it is a massive contribution that he makes! LOL
Anyways, the *only* thing I have used Spotify for in the past year was to listen to podcasts that were only on Spotify.
However, the list was even more befuddling… I have never listened to any of these songs, nor has Steve ever selected any playlists with any of these on it! WTAF Spotify, WTAF!
(some word) Forethought —
As my year with Full draws to a close, I have had the curious incidence of a new word nudging me for some time now. I ignored it at first, but the nudges persisted and became more frequent. I have settled in to the idea of this word, but it is a bit scary as I contemplate “the how” of this word so I have been contemplating it lots. In lots of ways. So to make sure that I capture any and all ideas that pop into my head during the day… I have started an Apple Note(s) for it. Some ideas I am sure will be hilarious to look back on, but I am capturing them all. And, while I think this technically might be Word Cheating, I am happy to be filling the tiniest bit of my days with Word Planning 2023!
And I am even more excited to sign up for Ali Edwards OLW 2023 “class” and this year I think my word will work in such a way that I can do some journal documentation! Stay tuned!
And there you have some very varied RIFFing for this first weekend in December! See you all back here on Monday!
First up… before any fun begins… I want to give a bit of a reminder to check your voting registration… in PA you have until October 24th to register to vote in the November election AND there is still time to get your mail-in ballot! You will find your state information here! There is so much that is not on the ballot, so who you vote for has never been more important.
No matter who you vote for, the most important thing is that you vote! (and with that I will get off my soap box and return you to your regularly scheduled blog post)
Now how about some excellent RIFFs for this chilly Friday!
Radiant —
A clip of the video below showed up in my Twitter feed one afternoon this week and I just needed more. I thought this might be the perfect way to usher in Friday. Brilliant, joyful, so uplifting and I believe that this was exactly what Mr. Vivaldi was hoping would happen with his music! This week, the Goede Hoop Marimba Band has given me the best “ear worm” ever! I hope you enjoy it as well!
Indigenous (Mapping) —
Steve had the day off on Monday for The Holiday Formerly Known as Columbus Day. In all honesty, I never spent much time thinking about the greatness of Columbus on this day. But recently I have been thinking much more about the silliness of celebrating a day of discovery of a land that was already discovered… and had been for roughly 25,000 years. I had so much fun with this map that NPR shared this week. It shows a well-inhabited North America… and drilling down to my neighborhood, I now know that I live on lands of Osage and Shawnee as well as the ancient tribe of Monongahela Indians.
My library does not contain many books so the fact that I have a copy of Dryer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style should tell you that I thought this book was important and very necessary. Reading his article has reminded me that I am long overdue for a reread.
But… this could have been written for me: “Good writing, I think, ultimately exists between the twin goal posts of as-few-words-as-you-need and as-many-words-as-you-want. I, a natural natterer, lean toward the latterer.”
I am thankful for Dryer’s reminder on my over use of very and actually… at least for the moment! LOL
(and) Finally —
A bit of a vacation blogging schedule notice. Next Thursday (10/20), we head off to my most favored of places on the planet – Mississauga Lands (otherwise known as Presque Isle in Erie, PA) for a bit of a rest and rejuvenation! There will be an Unraveled post on Wednesday (10/26) but that is it. I don’t know how much making and reading I will have accomplished while on vacation, but you never know… I might even surprise myself! Ha!
I will be here as usual next week. On Monday the docent will have a new Museum of Me exhibit, and of course, there will be some Unraveling on Wednesday. I will be closing the week out on Thursday with A Gathering of Poetry installment and I’d like to invite you all to join in with us and share a poem that you might have stumbled across recently. Or share a poem that is near and dear to your heart. Really. The more the merrier… life can never have too little poetry!
And with that I will let you all get on with your day! Happy Friday All!
