120. Random flowers from the grocery

Anemones


The name anemone comes from the Greek, loosely translated to WINDFLOWER. It is said in Greek Mythology that the anemone flower sprang up from the blood of Aphrodite's slain lover, Adonis. The name "windflower" signifies that the wind that blows the petal open will also, eventually, blow the dead petals away.
That's all the random I can dredge up for today. Some days are like that.

119. Time for a soak and a pin up job

Forest canopy shawl in a bubble bath.
Trying to make it sweet smelling, I used:

Sweet is not the word I would use to describe the scent of this wool while wet. P. U.
Then I set the washer to Spin in the handwash cycle to take some of the water out. I learned that lesson on my first Rhinebeck trip as some might remember with the perpetually wet sweater.

I found 25 cents in the washer. Mine now.
The shawl got some acupuncture:

Lounging on a dark blue towel becomes our little Forest Canopy, doesn't it?


The smell in the room? Pure Grace? no, no, nothing that wonderful (and it IS wonderful) it was more like
THIS <---------click
They may be cute, but P.U.

118. Finis

Forest Canopy Shawl, finished (still not blocked yet) with a cherry (tomato) on top.
I love the look of it. It did not make me into a converted lace knitter. I just don't have it. It takes all kinds of us to populate the knitting universe and I'll take colorwork anyday. Garter stitch? Bring it on! Stockinette? YEAH BABY! Lace? Love it. But not for me.
I'm over it, though. Somebody had better break it to my long languishing Creatures of the Reef shawl, poor little thing.
In the "It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring" category, it has been raining buckets all day long and more to come. I love it. I suppose it's weird that I don't like too many SAME days in a row. I like it to mix up the weather, keep it real. I was so ready for a cloudy, rainy, cozy day. Of course, it would have been a tad more enjoyable to be home cuddled up on the couch instead of at the place of employment cozying up to the work.
Tonight? I'll enjoy every chilly, driving raindrop.

117. Imagined lace

Picture, if you will, a pile of lace. You are either a lace knitter or not a lace knitter but we've all seen the actual pile of lace before it's blocked or we've seen a picture on a blog somewhere. Picture that. In a soft alpaca yarn in off white. The picture would be here but is not. For no reason really except that it just isn't.
Yes, I finished the Forest Canopy Shawl last night even though I felt like my left arm may just fall off my body, which it did not. I'm not sure why:
1. the cast off row seemed so long
and
2. it hurt my left arm so much to cast off that long, endless row.
But cast off I did. It looks very unimpressive as lace does before it's blocked. But that's okay. I got through it without any severe errors. (Now, this is the moment when selective memory sets in so please, nobody remind me of the 5 rows from hell, please)
Saturday was for movie watching for me which is very conducive to lace knitting. Or knitting in general, as you know.
The first movie I watched was indeed, Ratatouille. That is one of the most beautiful movies I have seen in a long time. Then I watched 13 going on 30. That was such a sweet movie. My favorite lines:
Jenna: I want to be just like those people (Pointing to a magazine)
Her Mom: Oh, Jenna, those aren't people, those are MODELS.
heh.
The next movie was called Thumbsucker. It was a very weird movie (Li, you may like it) Quirky and dark. A bit odd but very well acted.
Lastly, I watched Reign Over Me. What a tearjerker! Adam Sandler had such a dramatic role and did so well with it.
Good movies all.
Needless to say, not much got done. Except the lace knitting that you pictured up above. (Please, go ahead and picture it again. Block it too, if you don't mind)
P.S. I almost forgot to post today. GASP. It's true. But it did not happen. Phew.

116. Saturday Shadows

Not quite the sky but shadows from the sun shining through the window!
Now, excuse me while I watch Ratatouille (One of my favorite movies) and finish (bob willing) that shawl!

115. Knit(ty)-cat

cat:

Bethany took this wonderful picture of Fig basking in the golden evening sunshine. She has quite an eye for a great picture, noticing the beauty around her all the time. I'm pleased to think that she may have gotten that from me. It's a pretty impressive photo considering it was taken with her phone camera!
and a knit(ty):

The challenging forest canopy shawl grows despite myself. The last 5 rows have been quite a challenge for me. I knit forward, I tink backwards. Forward, back, forward, back. I think I have it conquered but who knows.

114. Bathroom humor: OR Bathroom Humour (for the rest of the world or is it wourld?)

Let's get right to the bathroom talk, shall we? I will be a potty mouth today. Sorry for that.
I have 2 funny/embarrassing bathroom stories to share with you today. (Yes, this is how desperate we become with this 365 blogging thing but I'm going to just believe that I am sharing a bit more of me with you)
Years ago, practically in another life, single with boyfriend, I attended a drive in movie with said boyfriend. Drive in movies. There's a dinosaur. Yes, younger knitters, that is when a movie was played on a huge screen outdoors, the audience all sitting in their cars with crappy speakers hanging on the windows to listen to the sound. How I miss drive ins.
Anyhoo, towards the end of the movie I had to go to the bathroom. While I was in there, doing my thing, the door opened, a man yelled out "ANYBODY IN HERE" to which I meekly said "yes" which he did not hear (that is a recurring theme in my younger years, not being heard. Story for a different day, I suppose) and then the lights went out and the door locked. Um. Hello? I'm in here.
I finished what I needed to do, groped my way to the sink (Yes, I still washed my hands). That is when I started hearing cars starting up and driving away. The movie was over. I groped my way blindly to the door in the dark feeling full panic. In that panic I actually believed that the boyfriend might somehow believe that I had abandoned him at the drive in and leave with out me. Which was silly. But there you go. I started pounding on the door with my hands and kicking it with my feet, yelling at the top of my lungs HELP HELP! I'M LOCKED IN HERE!!!!!! Over and over above the din of cars happily driving home. HELP!!! My hands were so sore from pounding the door! My voice was hoarse. It felt like an hour but I'm sure it was only a minute or two. I started to cry envisioning myself in there all night long with GOD KNOWS WHAT!!! Finally I heard a man approaching the door. He said, and I can quote this even with the passage of time, "Lady, Reach down and twist the lock on the doorknob".
"oh"
Well, okay then. And I did. Unlock the door and left the bathroom: tear stained face, crackling laryngitis, hands beet red from beating the door, toes practically broken.
I walked away with not a lot of dignity left but as I recall, I only felt relief when I realized I did not have to spend the night in there!
~~~
Story number 1 is now concluded. Every bit of it fact.
Here's number 2. Heh. I said NUMBER 2. Sorry. Couldn't resist.
This one takes place at my current place of employment, about 8 or so years ago. I arrived in the stall, closed the door (I thought! That latch was not working properly and you had to make sure it was fully turned which it was not). And as I sat and started, um, the stream which could not stop at that time in my life the stall door opened. Before I could finish the thought "Well, at least nobody is in here right now" the door opened and someone came in. I yelled out something like "Don't come in the last stall, the latch did not blahblahblahblahblah" and Mary (one of the grumpiest and secretly most lovable curmudgeon I have ever met) walked right into my stall (which was the big one in the room), looks at me peeing and says "OH, CHRIST! Why didn't you shut the door?"
Um. Could you just shut it on your way OUT?? Please? And thank you.
She never mentioned it again. I can't help but think of it and laugh in that embarrassed way you do when someone has seen you with your pants down, which is not a good look for anyone, I don't care who you are.
~

Got any? Bathroom stories? Go ahead, get it off your chest. You'll feel better!
Please wash your hands on your way out.

113. Wallets, 7 mice and flying toilet paper!

~When I got home from work, my wallet was not in my purse or my knitting bag. I frantically tried to think of where it could be, drawing a blank. When I told the fam that I was going back to work to see if it was there (Fingers crossed) someone said to me "Where did you leave it?". The obvious answer was, of course, "If I knew where I left it, it would not be lost" right? I did not answer fliply because I was too busy having those tingley feelings that I have done something stupid.
As I drove back to work, I could remember reaching inside my checkbook for a pen. Checkbook is in the wallet. I went into work, not finding it and about half way home I finally "saw" that I was reaching for the pen to make the tick marks for my knitting, still the Forest Canopy Shawl for those playing along at home. (I had a horrible incident with the center stitch which involved a non existent yarn over which wreaked havoc as you can imagine. It's better now. Minus 6 rows but finally on the positive again).
Where was I?
Yes, halfway home. So I turned around and went back to work, this time entering the cafeteria where I did that knitting and there was my wallet sitting on the chair.
PHEW. All in tact. Thank you, Co-workers.
~I had the weirdest dream last night that I was kidnapped and realized I had to make believe I loved the kidnapper so I could be treated better. And then I really did fall in love with him. And while we were out somewhere someone slipped me a note that read: YOUR BOYFRIEND KILLED 4 CATS AND MADE THEM INTO A SHAKE AND DRANK THEM.
Okay. I don't care WHO you are? That is some weird stuff.
~The other day, I heard a squeaky kind of noise in the kitchen. I thought it was a bird or whatever, not giving it a second thought. Until later that night when I heard the noise again, realizing it was coming from the cabinet. Upon closer inspection, a tall beer glass (about 12 inches tall and very narrow, brought home from Bethany's Germany trip) had a little baby mouse in it. The poor thing looked like it had been in there a while as it left, well, you know, what mouse leave? And lots of them in there. I felt bad for it, in typical Sandy fashion and instructed Andy to deposit him outside with a cracker. After giving me a weird look, he did bring Mr. Mouse outside and I did not hear the end of it all night long. Feeding the enemy and all.
Still later in the night, Andy proclaimed that a mouse ran over his foot on it's way to somewhere important no doubt. Realizing that 1 mouse already indicates more and two mice confirms we got out the snap traps and loaded them with peanut butter. Don't worry, Andy did point out the irony of me feeding one mouse a cracker earlier in the night and then whacking them off with a peanut butter suicide machine later but a family has to do what a family has to do. While I think mice are tres cute outside and in cages, they may not run amok in my home, breeding and chewing things. Not allowed.
By the end of the next night? 7 little mice murders. Not one of them made into a shake and drank, I promise you.
~A woman at work had a very unfortunate bathroom incident which had her sitting there for quite a bit of time. Poor thing. Apparently the lights are on a 15 minute timer and they went off on her. She is sitting there in the pitch dark wanting the lights back on. She told me she balled up a bunch of toilet paper and tossed them in the air to try to activate the motion sensor on the lights. Which of course, did not work. After sitting there for a couple more minutes, she threw the spare roll of TP in the air, out of the stall, triggering the lights to come on. And of course, at that moment, someone walked in seeing the lights turning on, the roll of TP flying through the air and a pile of paper all over the floor.
I only wish it were me that walked in there at that moment. I'm dying laughing just imagining it all!
~Which reminds me of a funny bathroom incident of mine but I think I'll write that out tomorrow because I am getting quite wordy tonight and well, that hopefully will make you come back tomorrow. That strategy may backfire because I'm sure there is a segment of any population that would rather not hear bathroom stories no matter how funny they may be.
~Don't forget that I mentioned knitting in this entry. Thereby qualifying me this month as a knitting blog.

112. Embracing my inner non-Martha with wrinkles in my tablecloth or: the number of the day is 1

The morning sun was shining in on my wrinkled tablecloth setting the mood for the whole day. This has been the kind of wonderful weather day that inspires regular people to write poetry. The perfect kind of day with temperatures in the 60's, a light breeze keeping it comfortable and some puffy white clouds showing off above. The sun is warm and bright and inspiring.
Even though I ruined my most favorite pair of jeans in the world this morning as I was trying to run out of the house late (AGAIN) for work (the zipper totally fell apart. Teeth everywhere. Not a thing a dentist likes to see or a woman late for work. Ever) this day has been beautiful.

EARTH DAY POEM by Jane Yolen

I am the Earth
And the Earth is me.
Each blade of grass,
Each honey tree,
Each bit of mud,
And stick and stone
Is blood and muscle,
Skin and bone.
And just as I
Need every bit
Of me to make
My body fit,
So Earth needs
Grass and stone and tree
And things that grow here
Naturally.
That's why we
Celebrate this day.
That's why across
The world we say:
As long as life,
As dear, as free,
I am the Earth
And the Earth is me.

Number of pairs of jeans I ruined? 1

Time I was late for work? 1 hour

Enchiladas that I ate for lunch when I should have eaten my turkey sandwich? 1

Number of bowls of veggie soup that I'll now have for dinner? 1

Time that I will walk today? 1 (Half an hour)

Times I cheated on this 1 list? 1. That 1 (half and hour) instead of writing 1/2 an hour.

How many earths do we have? 1. So let's take care of it, k?

111. A Nelson*

While it's no marathon, I walked my 1.4 miles today all the while thinking about those marathoners. I always love to watch the running (on television, not in person) on this day just to watch in awe. There is so much excitement in the air, so much hope. I only watch the beginning of the race, before the reality of the 26 miles sets in. The winner ran the race in 2 hours 7 minutes. That is simply amazing. I walked 1.4 miles in a little under 30 minutes. No one will cheer that on. I think I could not drive 26 miles in record time. I wonder how they do it. I admire them. They inspire me to walk my measly 1.4 miles and get that turtle moving on his merry way towards his 100 miles. Can he do it? I'm not sure but maybe. I hope anyway.
It sure feels like a marathon to me at this point.
~~~
*111 = a Nelson. It's true. Apparently an Admiral Nelson had that darling nickname because towards the end of his life, the poor dear had, and I quote, "One eye, One arm and One ball". Which I'm sure referred to the number of formal dances he attended in his life.
Yes.
~~~
Go little turtle, go!

110. Bermuda pictures

I was playing with some old photos lately, trying to upload my favorites from my 2002 Bermuda trip. As I've said before, I've always been fascinated with doorways and while these aren't all doorways, they are my favs. (Especially the Bermuda children at the bus stop)
(Click to go to flickr land and see the mosaic in all it's glory)

~~
Making dinner for the inlaws tonight. This marks the first cooking on the grill for the season. If you smell marinated steak tips, it's dinner time!

109. Today I have spent about $300 on groceries and I carried it home in 5 of the Whole Foods Shopping bags. UGH! So, let's just look at some nice sky and pretty stuff, shall we? I mean, the bags are huge, but STILL!

108. A swallowtail flew my way

Sometimes, do you ever wonder how you got so lucky? For instance, this:

arrived in the mail yesterday. You could blow me over with some laceweight yarn. Cookie knit me a shawl. Not just any shawl, but the most gorgeous one in creation. (now, you may indeed have a gorgeous shawl but not a gorgeous Cookie shawl, so hush)
The yarn is malabrigo laceweight in the colorway Sealing Wax which is the most wonderful shade of reddish I have ever seen. And reddish, as you may know is the most challenging of colors for the digital cam to capture.

There are Nupps everywhere! I tried nupps once. Notice it was ONCE. They are not easy! Or thrilling! But oh so pretty!

Shawl on porch.
This is about when I got the great idea to get a modeled shot. Those are "Our" favorites, aren't they?

Um, Yeah, NO. That's not right. (how ugly is our old red roofed multi colored shed, though. Note to self: paint that sucker)

Oh, yeah, there is the shawl at least. But not quite right that time.

Where is the shawl?

Sadly, this is the best one. The one with the dried up old man hand. See, Cookie? How wonderful it looks on me?!?
♥
Thank you, Cookie.
I thought I'd try one more time.

But then I thought better of it and saw this little guy sitting in my newly budded lilac tree. Good news all around, right? Shawl, me giving up on a modeling career, blue skies and buds on the trees.
Life is truly good, especially while wearing and fondling a swallowtail shawl made by a good friend.
How did you get lucky today?

107. funny pink tale

This is my purse. It is a bit of a variation on the Sophie purse that was in the online magazine that once was. Magknits. I hear it has gone missing. I have been carrying this purse since 2004. Oddly enough, I can't find much mention of it on my blog for some mystery reason that is obscure to me now. As I've said, I love this purse and mostly carry it year round. Sometimes I have to give it up for a while in the summer when the hot and humids come around because who wants a large furry creature that feels hot to the touch when it is icky out. And I always try to carry it into my favorite wine store because one of the women in there recognizes me for it. She is a knitter too and that is my trademark in the wine store, I guess. Hey, a person can have worse things to be known for, especially in a wine store, right?
I remember putting a lot of thought into the striping sequence. (The yarn for the purse, by the way is peace fleece in the georgia rose colorway with some bartlett yarns for the stripes). I finally settled on the stripes and painstakingly knit them. After felting, I remember thinking that all of that effort was wasted because the stripes kind of blended together into a nice looking block. It wasn't as I pictured it, it was very different, not worse, just a mind shift. I loved it anyway, as is evident by it's advancing age.
Here's the stripes:

The other day at work, I was looking at the hole that has shown up lately, pondering it's existence and demise.

The funny thing is, that even though I've pondered that hole many times as of late, this would be the first time that I viewed it as the camera is viewing it for you. From the inside of the purse. All of a sudden (kind of a head slapping motion kind of moment) I realized that in the 4 years, 1470 days that I have been carrying this around, enjoying it's fuzziness, enjoying the fact that I made it with my very OWN hands...I have been carrying it INSIDE OUT! Good golly miss molly! What the..?? Honestly. Why did it not occur to me ONE SINGLE TIME? Not once.
Now, THAT is funny. You have to admit.

Those stripes did not come out half bad~ time lapse statement, 4 years later.

106. Exclamation Points love me, ellipses fear me.

I put them in willy nilly. I don't even realize I am using them. They are like crack! (!!!)

EPo=Exclamation Points
Like
JLo= Well, I don't have to tell you do I?? !!
I started this entry off by finding some of my favorite doorway pictures that I took in Bermuda in 2002 but the photo program I saved them with was acting so funky that I had to take a time out. And I am not one of THOSE types that have all kinds of entries saved in a queue. I then had to fly by the seat of my pants.
Never a good thing.
But it's done now. It's not too painful.
Tomorrow? I'll show you one of the silliest things you have ever seen, knitting wise. Ever. Guaranteed. Or your money back!!
(!!)

105. Am I too late to this pahty? Will you pahk my cah?

Hey, Bloggahs! Are you from Boston? Do you think you could fit in around heyah? Take the quiz:

You Are 92% Massachusetts

Wicked pissa! Now go down to Dunkies and celebrate.

104. would be a high fever

~I finished The Book Thief. I am stunned and had to pause to cry for a bit. What a book! I hope you are reading it too. (Who's reading it? Who is waiting for it still? Can we set a date?) I have not read a book so moving in a long time.
~I'm trying hard not to pepper my writing with so many exclamation points. (!) After a conversation about !THEM! with Norma, I realized that I am always emphatically talking!!! But then I realized that by using them (!) I am diminishing their effectiveness. !! So, I hereby claim that this is my last exclamation point! The last. Unless I really really need one. Or two.
~I was asked by blogless Janeanne:

Could you address green bagging etiquette? i.e. Using Krogers reusable bags at Target.

103. A thousand words?

102. lunch wagon

The lack of any knitting to speak of and the lack of new chin hairs to rant about, let's talk lunch!
What to do when you are hungry and don't want a sandwich or a bowl of cereal.

I whipped up some crab cakes for the first time today. I have always loved Crab cakes but thought they were hard to do! HA! I laugh! They are super easy.
Here's what I did:
I opened a can of crab, I used Bumble Bee Lump Crabmeat which has been hibernating in my cabinet for a while.
In a bowl with the crabmeat, I put about 1/4 cup of mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard, salt, pepper, about 1/2 teaspoon of Old Bay Seasonings, a dash of cayenne pepper (I wanted to put tabasco sauce but I had none), a couple of splashes of Worcestershire Sauce, 1/2 cup of bread crumbs and 1 egg. Mix carefully but thoroughly.
Gently pat into shape (I made mini cakes), coat in breadcrumbs.
Saute until brown in olive oil.
Yum.
They were delicious and so easy. I am a Homemade Crab Cake convert!
This would be good with some leftover salmon too, wouldn't it?
And for dessert?

The most delicious yogurt and fruit imaginable. I mixed plain yogurt with a couple sprinkles of splenda, about a teaspoon of vanilla and frozen fruit, still frozen. (I used Dole Wildly Nutritious Berry Blend with strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries). Let it sit on the counter until fruit is defrosted and the juices are ready to mix in with the yogurt. This is so delicious! NO high fructose corn syrup in this! HA! Take that food manufacturers! I ate yogurt and fruit!
~~
What did you have for lunch/dinner?

101. Dalmations*

Regarding yesterday's poll:
My favorite thing is Maryse saying HAG HAIR. I chuckle every time I think of it!
109 of you voted.
49% would tell her.
35% would not.
10% would not in a zillion years.
6% of you would leave a note.
3% of you were OTHERS:
Mainly bringing up the subject in a roundabout way, perhaps talking about mine (HEY! Have you been looking at MY hag hairs??)
And the thought that if and only if it IS indeed a hag hair would they bring it up but if it were one of those lovely little soft wispy hairs, they would not mention it.
I, I have to admit, fall into that NOT IN A ZILLION years category. I cannot. I've tried. I steel myself to say it but I cannot choke the words out. There are certain people I could do that to, but this woman is not one of them. I wish I could. But I cannot.
My second favorite thing? (I mean, BESIDES the fact that we have now "talked" about chin hairs for 2 days) is that I'm sure every one of you have gone to the mirror and plucked. This is good, though. I have had a small part in blogland having some beautiful, hairless chins. I wear that badge proudly.
And let me just add that if you ever see me and I have one of those huge hairs sprouting from any part of my face, promise me that you'll tell. Raise your right hand and do it. Promise right now or I swear to bob I'll pinch you with these tweezers.
Our oath: Never to let another knitter walk around with a hag hair.
~~~
Did you join the Green Bagging challenge? Do it. For a month, at least. Or a lifetime, whatever. I'm thinking that you may have enough plastic bags tucked under your sink and in your closets to clean out the cat box for a while. But if you don't, Someone (I can't find you!!! WHO are you??) mentioned that the produce bags would do just fine!
~~~

Fig says:
Do I have any hag hairs? You'd tell me, right?
~~~
* this entry has nothing to do with Dalmations. I just couldn't resist it with the number 101. It's like peanut butter and jelly.

100. Would you?

First a bit of a fanfare for the 100th post! Please, feel free to throw some confetti around, hang some streamers. Just don't expect me to clean up!
:)
So, a bit of fun for the 100, okay? You game?
Answer me this question:

Who doesn't like a good poll?

99. Save a tree: Save some plastic pellets

I have a vision of us all using those wonderful grocery bags and saying NO THANK YOU to all the plastic bags. No paper or plastic for us, thank you WE BROUGHT OUR OWN!
Who's in? I envision calling this the Green Bagging Movement! (When we bring our lunches to work, it's called brown bagging. Bringing grocery bags with us to the store? Green Bagging!)
Snitch the button that wonderful Margene made me! Make one of your own, leave a link here and we'll go and steal yours! Always, needless to say, being thoughtful and saving to our own servers but of course. (THANK YOU, MAHHHGENE!)
~~~
I heard this song 2 times today and then I heard an interview with REM on NPR. (LOL! PDQ, ASAP, MYOB, BYOB,CEO, HEH, ROFL) (I could not stop with the acronyms once I began)

Is it a sign? Am I losing my religion? Is it our Green Bagging anthem?

98. It's not Wednesday, but I'm doing random anyway

Random 1:

Good breeding consists of concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person.

-- Mark Twain, Notebooks (1935)

How I love this quote, let me count the ways! Don't you just hate it when people go on and on about how freaking wonderful they are? You'd think if they were so wonderful, we'd come to that conclusion ourselves. They go on and on. And ON. I've always had a bit of trouble being a braggart. Tooting my own horn is a challenge. I build myself up in my mind! I'm a veritable QUEEN there. But in real life, I'd like to believe I live modestly. (Promise me that if you ever hear me saying how GREAT I AM (without my tongue firmly in cheek!) that you will bop me one. PROMISE!)
OH, how I know some people that I would like to tell them what I really think of them. But I don't. And I won't! (No, not YOU!) They are so annoying and taking up space with their non brains. It's a bit unsavory.
Random 2: (My! Random 1 went into a rant dinnit?) In our local paper today there was a police report of a fight at the Beverly Depot. Apparently, 2 people gave each other a dirty look on the train and when they got off the train a fight broke out. About a dirty look. That must have been some dirty look huh? Good thing I have not been beat up when I've given those! (see random 1)
Random 3:

Shopping bag alternative, an addition to the conversation at Norma's. I love these bags from Whole Foods. $1.00 each. When you use them there, you get 10 cents off your order. I know, 10 cents, schmen schments. But you can see that they may just pay for themselves after a time and let's not mention being Green is the thing to do. It's not easy being green, as Kermit says. The hardest part? Not the recycling or the reducing. It's the remembering the flipping bags. You must bring them INTO the store for them to do any good. It's a challenge. Maybe we should make a bloggers challenge (we love those, don't we?) (we'd need a button) You know, use no plastic or paper bags for 2 months (Or whatever). I'm up for it. Green for an Eon type of thing. Green is not Mean. Um...Bag it...Green bagging (kind of like brown bagging).
Random 4:

Random 5: There has been a water main down my street that has been bubbling, wasting water since last week. After shutting the water off to the neighborhood for one whole evening, 11 pm to 5 am to no avail there are trucks every where and our one way street is closed off today. Our water will be shut tonight again for that same time frame. The last time, I had water dreams all night long because I knew I had to get up a bit early to run the water until it cleared up. Water. All. Night. Long. I suppose tonight too.
See you in the pool!
Random 5: this was quite the eclectic random post, was it not?

97. Put one foot in front of the other

I can't tell you how happy I am to be out walking again. Terry nagged, erm....encouraged me to go out and walk during the winter doldrums but did I listen? Nope. I am now. I bundled up again today and braved the stiff cold winds and walked my little heart out. Even though that breeze was quite chilly, it was better than yesterday when there was drizzle. Well, it was more than a drizzle and less than rain, perhaps it was a rizzle.
So tonight I was thankful there was no rizzle and the gray sky even parted a bit to show me a bit of blue sky even though it only lasted for a minute or two.
But among my first minute or two of the walk, I spotted 2 slices of tomatoes and a piece of lettuce on the ground. And all I could think of for 1.3 miles was "Why? Why 2 slices of tomatoes and a piece of lettuce?"
It nagged me, it became my mantra. Every step called out 2 SLICES OF TOMATOES AND LETTUCE.
And soon I was home, feeling refreshed, not noticing the cold anymore and no closer to an answer.


Go little turtle, go!

96. Make new friends (lace) but keep the old (lace)

Forest Canopy Shawl, looking lovely in cream lounging on the finished Charlotte's Web, my only lace success. (not really because the mirror images of each side are not such mirrors at all but their own entities) (not that there is anything wrong with that) Back when I knit the Charlotte, I thought there might be a future for me as a lace knitter. Yeah, not so much. It is just something that is not easy for me. But this Forest Canopy is a pleasure to knit.

Hey, Annie, remember this Charlotte? This was a gift from Annie who was my Secret Pal way back when the Secret Pal thing was new and fresh. What version are they on now? I can't even keep up. My journey in blogland has changed from wanting to be a heavy hitter in knitting blogs to now just wanting to maintain the wonderful friendships that have been introduced into my life, enriching me. (Okay, FINE, if you insist that I should be a heavy hitter, than I shall wear the title...haha. Only kid-ding)
This lace knitting has been fun and reminds me that I can branch out a bit and still be okay.
It's all good.
I thought Little FCS would grow a bit last night during the watching of the Bee Movie but it did not. I just sat there and enjoyed the movie! Have you seen it? You should. It was hilarious! Funny and amusing for children but savvy enough with the jokes for the adult to chuckle along. It was really good. (I may think twice before swatting at a bee this summer)
It's been the perfect Sunday so far with a leisurely start, some knitting and I even cleaned the kitchen counter. Please, hold your applause. It had to be done. I even shined up the stainless toaster. It's looking spiffy in there. If you don't turn around. Well, the day is young!
I am planning another walk today, time to chip off another 1.3 miles from those 100 Nora miles. It is NOT spring today though. Winter rears it's cold fangs again. But I have wool. I am not afraid.
~~~
One word about the Book choice for next time. The book is The Book Thief and I'm thinking that we can take a bit longer than a month so we can allow the people (Julie!:D) to get it from the library wait list.
Sound good?
So, read away, wait for it's arrival and let me know when is good for the discussion.

95. Searching for Spring, paging Spring, Are you here?

As the temperature approached 50 degrees F today, I thought it was well time to go outside and take a walk and start on the 100 miles or bust along with Nora. I knocked 1.3 miles off of that 100, not a shining start, but a start nonetheless. The fresh air and exercise did me good and I purposely kept my eyes peeled for signs of Spring, something we all need a good dose of right now, I'm sure!
So, join me as I spotted Spring, in action!

Here is "MY" water. Our little corner of the Atlantic Ocean. The tide was super low today.

Dogs cavorting and people out and about at the beach. People coming out of their winter cocoons, a sure sign of spring!

Art students (most likely) playing frisbee on Beverly Commons. It's always funny to me to see the ahem: youngsters wearing short sleeves when it's not quite time for bare arms. They must have thought I was quite the sight with my wool sweater, turtleneck, gloves and scarf wrapped warmly around my neck! (HEY, the sea breeze gets chilly around here!)

A bunch of purple crocus (crocii? Crocuses?) in a neighbor's front yard! Life!

Pot of Pansies in front of the Catholic Church downtown.

The local coffee shop has their tables outside and it is being used! As I got closer to this guy, he was smoking an ugly, horrible smelling cigar and talking loudly on his cell but he WAS sitting outside drinking a huge ass cup of coffee too! Ahh, Spring!

And back at home, Fig snoozing in the late afternoon sunshine! That is a sight to come home to!
I know that Spring comes and goes in this part, but for today, It came, I saw and I conquered!

94. Heroes

I have been reading a lot lately about Martin Luther King, Jr. I was 7 years old when he was assassinated but do not remember much about that turbulent time in the world. I lived in a small town (it has to be said) inhabited by all white people. I lived with a mother who was (and still is) a terrible racist. I grew up hearing all kinds of derogatory remarks about any person different in skin color to us. Even as a small child, this offended me. I used to argue endlessly with my mother about using these horrible words to describe people that she did not even know. The argument got me nowhere but made me feel better.
I do remember what we called BUSING and sitting with tears in my eyes at the news reports of the Little Rock 9 trying bravely walking into school surrounded by soldiers to the jeers of the crowd. How brave they were to calmly walk forward. How afraid they must have been. Teenagers trying to go to school.
Imagine if that were your children.
Here's a bit of what I've read:
Remembering MLK's Prophetic 'Mountaintop' Speech
Nobel Peace Prize Winner, 1964
Wonderful slide show of MLK murals around the US
I guess I've had a day of thought and reflection. Which honestly, is not all that good for me. Living in my head and all.

93. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 14, hike?

A list for a Thursday:
1. I'm trying so hard to resist the urge to order pizza for dinner. Thursdays, for some reason lately find me pooped.
2. I used the phrase "To celebrate the first Wednesday of the week" and this had some people scratching their virtual heads. This is a phrase that the younger me used with her younger crowd. You know, as in Let's go out to the bar and celebrate the first Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday (etc) of the week. It was a way to be able to go out and party any day. It seemed funny at the time. It is clear to me now that it was not a bit amusing.
3. I think that this:

is so hilariously cute, I had to buy it!
4. My feet are so cold even though it is nice out.
5. What are you having for dinner?
6. 14 of me:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 14 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

92. Tart and flowers

Raspberry Tart made for a co workers birthday (and an extra one for the tart fans at home)
Shortbread tart shell recipe found here.
Vanilla Pastry Cream recipe found here.
Raspberries provided by the talented Mother Nature.
Okay, that picture had nothing to do with Mother Nature. But I tried and tried to find an appropriate picture or link for Mother Nature and nothing struck my fancy. So, sheep it is. Who's to say that Mother Nature is NOT sheep? I mean, can you prove it?
I thought not.
:)
I digress.
Where was I? Yes. The tart is scrumptious. The shortbread shell is quite a wonderful touch. Crispy and shortbread-y. I wish I could send you a piece.
The recipes can also be found in the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook If you don't have that cookbook I recommend it. (no sheep in that link, sorry)
But there is in THIS LINK.
Flowers:

To celebrate the first Wednesday of the week!
~~
BTW: The red Specialized bike in the Noro scarf pictures is Derek's bike. He loves it and rides often. Well, not yet this year as the weather hasn't quite turned.
~~
Is that it? I have the feeling that I forgot something. Well, tune in tomorrow. Same time, same channel.
In the meantime, eat tarts, smell flowers. Bee happy

91. No joke

It may be April Fools day, but the following is no joke. I swear.

I'm sure you know that lace knitting is not my favorite thing to do. I admire all the lace knitters out there. It takes so much concentration. But Nora kept badgering, er...encouraging me. I have knit this shawl before. And I have NO IDEA where it is. How can things like that happen? I did not wear it once. I intended to wear it as a scarf. In fact, here is proof: http://www.sandysknitting.com/archives/001240.html. Not that you can tell that it is a Forest Canopy Shawl, but why would I set up that lie a whole year and a quarter ago. Seems like extensive effort to set up a lace lie, doesn't it?
Like I said, Nora was badgering...er...encouraging and Cookie is always inspiring with the lace beauties she is knitting. I started to wonder what a solid color FCS would look like and lickety split, there it was. The yarn is Misti Alpaca in case you want to know which is one of the top contenders for the Softest Yarn Ever Award. That yarn started out as another scarf, yes, quite a lacy one. I lost some hair over that knitting experience. It is gone now. Let's not speak of it again please. http://www.sandysknitting.com/archives/001391.html
The birth of a knitting idea and the progression of a yarn choice always fascinates me. It's a science. One that even the best scientist would never understand, I'm sure.

Looks suspiciously like lace, doesn't it? You don't get to see that around here very much. A rarity indeed.
I guess you could say that I am knitting with Nora. No joke.

The following IS indeed a joke. Because you have to have at least one joke for April Fool's Day:

What did the fish say when he hit a wall?

Dam!

VERY IMPORTANT STUFF HERE:
It's Kim's birthday. Mob on over and say HEY. No joke.