Hey Roz!

How's it going? Did you get a lot of knitting done today? It was so crowded, I didn't even get to see what everyone was working on. Maybe I should arrive earlier, hmmm. Say hello to all the sheepies for me. See ya.

New Toy

The May issue of Smithsonian Magazine has an article about a guy who uses his scanner like a camera. Which, I guess, is basically what it is. So I snipped an iris from the yard, covered it with a plastic dish, backlit it with a reading lamp, and hit the button.

WTF Wed. April 25

While looking for something else in the bookcase, I came across this knitting book I forgot I had. Discovered in a used-book store in England, it has patterns from cute to bizarre. Wool underpants for little kids? ah, no thanks. Reprinted in 1949,and frustratingly devoid of an original publishing date, it probably appealed to the post-World War II Brits still dealing with shortages. (Britain had meat rationing until 1956.)Makes ya grateful, no?


This little round thingy was crumpled up on the grass at a yard sale this past Saturday. The embroidery looks quite old. The back is just like the front, only "loopier", perhaps to serve as a hotplate for something dainty, like a silver teapot. Cost a dollar.

Friday Eye Candy April

Bought some stuff for the garden. Orange poppies, purple salvia, periwinkle clemantis. Not shown : zucchini, Better Boy tomatoes.

Also, current reading : The Landmark Trust Handbook. Very cool buildings in UK, very old, restored and fitted out for an alternative to b&b's. There are several that are small enough, and cheap enough, for one person. Hmm...

Snow on Tulips

Photo taken this morning. You can't tell, but it was still snowing.

Gratitude

(Photo of my front yard this afternoon, posted for no reason at all.)
There's a small cabinet next to my stove. Yesterday the paper towels rolled off the top, nestling among the dust bunnies on the floor behind the cabinet. This was momentarily irritating because, according to my housecleaning ethics, I was honor-bound to pull out the offending furniture and thoroughly clean the exposed area. I was resenting every nanosecond of the experience, when I had a flashback.

Spring Cleaning. When my brother and I were kids, we had to help Mom with spring cleaning. She cleaned the house from top to bottom. Everything pulled out of drawers and washed or cleaned. The drawers cleaned inside and outside and new liner installed. Bureaus without the drawers dusted. Walls washed. Floors. Drapes, curtains and sheers. Closets. The kitchen. It was no fun for any of us, and I worried that when I grew up, I would be burdening myself with this ritual as The Price of Being a Grownup.

I got over it. I'm so glad I'm a grownup. I still have to do tedious chores, but any obsessive compulsive behavior is my own. Did I mention she observed Fall Cleaning as well?

For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her

She's back! Six weeks and four days. Feast your eyes, and say in unison with me, " o my god " and then laugh. That's what I do.
Let's go listen to some Simon and Garfunkel.

Horsey Stuff in the Country

Yesterday I drove out to Ann's house in Hanover County. She has these things that horses jump over, bars held up by posts, and she wanted cartoon-type paintings on panels at either end. Sorry I can't explain it better than that. I'm a city girl.

Here's the fox and the hound. Here's the barn Ann and her husband are building. Here's an old shed down the road, and a birdhouse and a chimney.