Whatever happens to strike my fancy, but surely some sort of fiber content.
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| Like The Queen Whatever happens to strike my fancy, but surely some sort of fiber content. |
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3 Comments:Nooo, don't go to Frederick Co.! The rest of us will be in Howard Co. :-) Have a wonderful time! (And that red yarn is just gorgeous!) I am so looking forward to your review of the Fair. It's the next best thing to being there. Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Thursday, April 30, 2009  SHE KNITS!Or at least she casts on. At last, too. With beautiful soft red yarn sent to her by A, her regional yarn swapee from Canada. I'm using one of the 6 stitch ribs in Charlene Schurch's first sock book. The yarn is superwash and very fine so I'm using a #1 needle. It is so much more fun to knit that rayon ribbon. I am not sure I will ever even fondle that stuff in a shop, much less buy it. Ms.Horoscope tells me: Venus is doing some interesting things over the next few days, clashing first with Pluto and then aligning with the karmic lunar nodes. The clash with Pluto signals where we need to let go of dead wood in our lives to allow for transformation. The link to the Nodes shows where we are getting celestial help. For you, you need to let go of something connected to: your finance, or related to romance, a creative project or a child. And your karmic helping hand will help you out so that the way you live your life is more as it should be. Hmmm. Maybe not quite what I want to hear on the eve of MS&W. Of course, I could always let go of my money in my romantic relationship with yarn, or my creative efforts at drawing. I haven't any children any more - just big grown up guys. But there are some ways of living my life as I should that I would really like to expound upon - as in ... More Vacation Days, More Time With Girlfriends, More Slow Eating. Yeah. I can do that. Off to Madison County and the library director's meeting with a stop in Culpepper for treats. Then it's Frederick County Her I Come. posted by Bess | 7:11 AM 2 Comments:Waterford trumps all. Period. Ha! It's always good to remind people to appreciate you when they forget to. I say they made up for the many months passed your 30 year anniversary. Well done and congratulations! :)
By Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Wednesday, April 29, 2009 30 YearsSocial networks are vital as a source of support and you'll be reminded of just how much you get out of key friendships in the next two days. Surrounding yourself with like minded groups of people not only helps encourage you to be authentic, it actually improves your luck as well. The concept of belonging is important as you get clearer on the kinds of group dynamics you're most comfortable with. An inclusive attitude is your best accessory as you strive to stay connected to those that share the same interests, hobbies and past times as you do. Two or more people sharing a love of something can create more joy and pleasure together than one person alone. How will you unite with others to amplify your sense of satisfaction now?Oh la! How's that for a horoscope when you're going to have lunch with your cousin today, go to a library director's meeting tomorrow and head off to MS&W on Friday with a girlfriend! And it's so much nicer that MrHoroscope's who says I have to hold a difficult conversation. I do not like difficult and I don't think I know everything nor do I need to pretend I do. So there. He must be talking about some Other sign by mistake. I will stick with MsHoroscope's exciting, happy predictions and plan on nothing but Good Days Ahead. But at yesterday's board meeting I had real proof of the integral role I play within the social network of a community. When you work for an organization that is governed by a board you could have 5 or 12 or 20 difficult bosses or you can have 5 or 12 or 20 guardian angels. I have been fortunate to have the latter for my whole career and in addition to some stellar demonstrations of their support for me, there have been 30 years of knowing somebody always had my back. Not just somebody, but a dozen people, who, while they had expectations of me and expected nothing less than my best efforts, would go to the mat for me if the need ever arose. For one or two serious issues, they did go to the Board of Supervisors – speaking out in defense of the library budget and gaining much needed funding. Like a good marriage, it's not so much the milestones that cement everything together, but the long years of day to day support that makes it possible for you to face life with confidence and joy. I've been blessed with such a board for 30 years and more. But. And this is a BUTterfly but – for it's a funny happy sort of thing. Recently I received two invitations to celebrations “in honor of 30 (and 20) years of service” for two colleagues. And I am delighted that there are other library directors who have great and appreciative and supportive boards. And I truly don't compare my life with others as a judgment but only an observation. Truly. We are each of us unique people in our own unique situations. Still and all, my own 30 year anniversary rolled past last August and nobody said a word beyond “You don't say. 30 years? That's a long time”. And I had harrumphed to my staff yesterday about how nobody was unveiling my portrait and la de da . As a true E on the Myers Briggs scale, I do solve my problems, discover my feelings , and come to conclusions by talking out loud and by the time I was through muttering I was laughing at myself because I know that it's the 30 years of being there for me that's their true appreciation and not any sort of ceremony. So you can imagine my slightly embarrassed surprise when, after the board meeting yesterday, somehow when I wasn't looking, a cake appeared and silver forks and Northern Neck ginger ale and a present and toasts and yeah – it was a Thank-you Ceremony from my very own board, who's had my back for 30 years. And to think, even my own BH knew all about this and kept it a secret! So of course I had to tell them how I'd been grousing around all day so they could enjoy the good laugh at me. And the present? Oh My. My favorite of all and soon to be gone forever.   Who loves me, baby? Thank you dear wonderful Library Board. Thank you 30 times. posted by Bess | 8:00 AM 0 Comments:Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Tuesday, April 28, 2009 One More Day Of WerkYou might think that you've already worked hard enough for five people and that you're due a little time off. Perhaps you feel like you should be allowed to indulge yourself in funny daydreams and all manner of romantic escapism. And of course, to an extent, you should. Certainly you need to give yourself a break from time to time. But the skies today are adamant about something - for Virgos now, the path to happiness is pave with good old fashioned hard work. So keep on doing what you've been doing oh so well. Well MsHoroscope – you couldn't be more accurate in your prediction for today. I have a library board meeting for which I am only partially prepared. I am going to have to scramble to get my act together today – but I shall, never fear. I spent a good bit of last week assembling the facts for my reports – today I just need to write them down. But I can assure you that after today I am On Holiday Mode. Not that I am off on a holiday quite yet, but the work from 5:00 p.m. today on is all play and fun, not werk, for Wednesday is Story Hour day, which is my favorite day of the week, and Thursday I'm off to a library director's meeting in Madison county and then it will be Friday. Not just any Friday, mind you, but the First Friday in May – and you couldn't be reading this and not know that the first Friday in may is Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Yes! It's fiber time again and I am off with my girlfriend K, my companion from last year and I'm going to meet up with my girlfriend C from Florida and we are going to have two glorious days of fondling, strolling, eating, petting, shopping, ogling, spending, perusing, lusting.... you know, just your average weekend out with the grrrls. I am still glutted with yarn from last fall and am not actually lusting to buy anything but I'm not stupid enough to think I won't come home with new yarn or a new spindle or something new in the fiber play category. But I am not looking to pack the car full. I'm actually torn between being surprised with what's out there and buying one thing I truly know I want ... and have wanted for a long time. Rats. I can't find a picture of it. It's a sweater kit. I know someone in the Southside Knitters group either knit this or knows someone who knit it because someone posted a photo – and I've seen it at both MS&W and at Stitches. I can't believe I don't have a photo of it and I can't remember which booth sells it. It's mostly yellow, but it's multicolor and it's a proprietary design, a diagonal knit sweater with every stripe different. It is a cardigan. It's also fairly priced at about $125 but I just haven't ever had the oomph to plunk down the $ for it. But Stitches East has moved to Connecticut and Stitches South is in April – Duh, Thanks - when I'm saving money for MS&W. And with the economy the way it is – untrustworthy – I am thinking it might be a good idea to get this sweater kit now. Who knows what will be happening next year. So. I may pop the big bucks this year and buy nothing else. I just don't know. But I do know this. I'm sure ready to have a heck-uva good time this weekend. If only I can keep my nose to that grindstone for 10 more hours. posted by Bess | 7:16 AM 0 Comments:Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Sunday, April 26, 2009 Springtime Tours of VirginiaI can't believe it's been so long since I've posted, since I can't blame lack of time for the silence. It's mostly been figuring out how much I want to say and how to say it as interestingly as possible. Everyone knows TheQueen can be excessively wordy. MissLoquacity, one might call her. Also – this post will have photos and in this case I have over 100 to pick through, and while it can be fun, it can also be tedious.(It's proving to be particularly tedious - my satellite link keeps breaking. I'll come back later and post the rest of the photos) Last week was a confusing, stupid complicated week, impossible to organize and on a course aimed at a collision with frustration. That it ended on such a happy note is one of life's sweet treats. BD was supposed to have surgery on Tuesday. Suffice it to say, due to mix-ups, screw-ups, and bad secretarial procedures ( If you are Tiffany from Surgery, and you leave a phone message encouraging us to call if we have any questions, please leave a call back number) – it got canceled at the last minute. And here was TheQueen with all these days off, and believe me, she wasn't about to give them back. Besides, I'd been through the time sheets and realized I had almost 4 weeks of vacation accumulated. I was at the use 'em or lose 'em stage. So. I took the time off – and had a splendid time of it too. Tuesday I met with my sister and the guy who handles our parents' finances. They are okay, in spite of this dreadful economy – largely because beyond housing and the most basic personal needs, they spend nothing. I was able to visit both parents too and I even got an art lesson from Mama.  And on Wednesday, BD and I headed off on a jaunt to visit Montpelier – the home of the Fall Fiber Festival, but also of James & Dolly Madison.  I've been to the grounds a lot, but I've never visited the house. In fact, I was surprised to find that the house is across the highway from the fairgrounds. It has been undergoing tremendous restoration activity. The already large house was more than doubled when it was bought about 100 years ago by the DuPont family. When the last descendant died it was willed to the National Trust along with bow-koo bucks to turn it back into a Madison museum, beginning with tearing off all the DuPont additions. Wisely, they left the beautiful walled garden pretty much alone.     This was a perfect time to be visiting the Virginia piedmont. Soft green is just filling out all across the landscape, still thin enough to peep through forest cover, but colorful with the gold of nature's first green, the vivid whites of dogwood and sarvice berry and the first of the azaleas. Most of the daffodils are gone but the tulips are beginning to leaf out and of course, in a museum type garden, there is also the lush rich green of grass. But as interesting as all the man made vistas are, BD was really interested in seeing the old growth forest.  There is about a mile of snaky path through the woods and we thoroughly enjoyed scrambling over the wooded hillsides, imagining the fun a little boy might have had growing up in such a setting. The tour is very well done and the entrance fee is reasonable. We didn't have time to visit any of the visitor center displays because we had a dinner date with friends, but that only means we have reason to go back. But we did have dinner plans, so off we zipped down 20 to Charlottesville and then south into Nelson County where we met up with both old and new friends. M&C and their two boys we were expecting, but CK was a complete surprise. She's an on-line knitting buddy whom I had never met. Just that morning we were chatting on facebook and she asked me if I knew C. I shot back that not only did I know her, but was having dinner with her that very evening. What a surprise to see her coming out of M&C's house! And what a doofus I was to not get a picture of the three of us. It was so special to catch up with M&C. The boys are almost men now – a senior and junior in high school. We usually get together in the summertime, but this year slipped by without a visit. What a change 2 years makes. Thursday we drove deeper into the county, down St. Rt. 56 to Crabtree Falls, another of those surprises you discover if you're a map lover like BD. He's always finding interesting places to visit, expanding my knowledge and deepening my love of the Virginia landscape. It was fairly early in the day when we parked the car at the foot of the mountain. There was a chill wind blowing, though the sky was brightly clear so I bundled up in both jacket and sweater and in spite of the vigor of the climb and the strong sunshine, I wore my jacket the whole time. You hear the waterfall before you see it, that hissing gushing sound of water over rock. It drops about 1500 feet in three rather distinct phases. There is an easy path, full of switchbacks that takes you up to viewing platforms all along the falls. Something about the power and energy of all that falling water, its music, its movement, makes me excited and energetic myself. We took our time, stopping for anything that interested us; wild flowers especially,    but also interesting rocks, caves and always, the magnificent view of the falls, so we never got tired, though it's Sunday now and I can still feel a bit of tightness in my calves and hamstrings. We made it to the top, where sheets of water cascaded off the rock face, and a little beyond, to where the stream smoothed out into a gentle little watercourse. The whole climb took about 4 hours. It was a stunning experience, views to thrill you, spring flowers to delight. A big thank you goes to the kindly engineer who kept the slopes on the path at an angle gentle enough for any reasonably fit person to enjoy. And we were hungry! Oh how hungry we were when we got down. That deep into the county there are no restaurants and we hadn't packed anything so we headed off to Charlottesville for food and drink and then took the interstate home because by then, I was missing the dogs. Besides, I didn't want to sightsee anything else – I wanted to keep the thrill of that mountain climb along the tumbling water pure and undiluted by other beauties. We were home before dark, ready for hot baths, snack dinners and lots of doggy love. A perfect Virginia tour in the gentle green lace of springtime. 2 Comments:Congratulations on number 35! I'm glad you had such an idyllic day -- the perfect way to celebrate. So glad you had such a wonderful time. I can't believe the color of the sky in your pictures. What an amazing blue! We don't get such skies up here, we have lovely ones, but never azure like that. Beautiful flowers too btw :)
By Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Sunday, April 19, 2009 Starting Year Number 36Thank you, my dear friends. We did have a perfect day on Friday and made sure it truly lived up to the astral advice – it was all play. We did it all, too, the breakfast in bed, two good long walks, a little time on the river, some outdoor play with my camera and a good restaurant dinner. Breakfast was French toast and coffee, and then we started out walking down the lane but the farmer was plowing and it was just windy enough to make us not want our path to intersect his dust clouds. Instead we ambled on down the woods path, looking at the signs of spring. There is a plank bridge over the middle swamp that snakes across little islands surrounded by leafy wetness. About 15 years ago BD planted several dozen cypress trees and we like to go see if we can find forgotten ones that have finally popped up tall enough for us to see. Usually we just follow the paths and view the swamp from the banks, but this time we crept up much closer to the edge of the swamp looking for knees. We found a few, but most of the trees, though tall, have yet to throw up those primordial aerating humps. We really poked along on that walk ... I went so far as to lie down on the swamp bridge and just look up at the trees silhouetted against the blue blue sky. You cross the middle swamp and have the option of taking the straight path that will take you out to the mailbox or you can veer left and go down the secret path to Mossy Point - which is a high point that overlooks the marsh, the islands and the river across to Westmoreland County - it's a glorious view of maybe 2 miles of upper Tidewater. Once up there, though, BD said he wanted to take a canoe trip up Farmer's Hall Creek so we turned around right then. He had to bail out both canoe and motorboat first so I puttered around the house a bit - working on some pencil sketches for some paintings I might want to do. Alas, my hand is not strong enough yet to do much paddling - it began to throb a bit and we turned around after a couple of bends. The tide was running out so it was much easier to go home than to paddle up stream. At home BD suggested a walk down the lane - and we went all the way out to Robert's Landing, just soaking up the blueness and the springtime and sunshine. The wheat is getting tall enough that only the heads and backs and tails of our dogs rise above it when they walk through it, hunting for prey or other surprising scurrying things. In a week or so it will be so tall they'll have to actually leap up out of it and then we get about 2 weeks of Wheat Dolphins - sproinging dogs leaping up to get a bird's eye view of the fields. It's the most precious thing to watch. Back home, while it was still afternoon, but the sun had begun to angle down towards the west, throwing sharp shadows on the landscape, I got in some great shots of the last of the daffodils.  They've lasted a long time this year because we've had such a cool wet spring. If it's a hot windy one they'll bloom and fade in 3 weeks but we've had a solid 6 weeks of them and they're truly spectacular this year. I particularly like these with their cheeky bold yellow centers.  They're standing along the edge of the forest like so many royal guards. Shot against the blue sky the colors are particularly vivid. With such stark contrasts, they're perfect for using to practice drawing shapes and shadows.  Obviously not a daffodil, but lilacs and butterflies are surely an April treat.  Twin Double Tulips - more opportunities to explore shaddows and sunshine.  There is a golf course in town that has a nice little club house restaurant building. When it first opened in the late 90's the chef was quite good but he ran into financial difficulties and it closed. Now and then different people have tried to reopen it but it's never quite worked out. It's a terrible location, behind Walmart on a little insignificant street. If you don't live around here, or if you aren't a golfer, you'd never find it. Thus, most of its potential clientèle is going to be local and the new folk running this place are just that - they understand that nouvelle quisine with it's dainty portions, isn't going to cut it among the sons and grandsons of farmers and fishermen. We had a splendid meal, so good, in fact, we passed on desert. Didn't want to erase the delicious taste of suculent shrimp and sweet and salty oyters. The evening was mild enough, though not warm, so the drive home beneath stary skies was sweet. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day full of walks and talk and happy remembering. I could wish such joy to everyone I know. posted by Bess | 8:37 AM 3 Comments:
I think we can do that.I think you can, too! Happy Day, Bess and BD! Happy anniversary! I hope your inner children hae a great time! Are the pictures really of yourselves?
By Happy Anniversary!!!! You have 5 years on us and you are a great inspiration to us! Have a great weekend! Jane Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Friday, April 17, 2009 Happy 35th Anniversary to us! This is how we met!  This is how we felt.  And this is what MsHoroscope suggests we do today! I think we can do that.
posted by Bess |
8:21 AM
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And it's a finger! :) I can understand you feel exposed. After all that pain, you think a gust of wing might break it again. Here's to your little finger getting stronger every day. I'm so impressed by the flowers I see popping up on people's blogs these days. Up here flowers are barely poking their shoots out of the ground and trees have yet to wake fully up. I'm hoping by next week we start seeing little budding leaves in the trees.
By Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Wednesday, April 15, 2009 Unveiled Yep. The splint came off yesterday and I walked around all day feeling exposed and vulnerable. And flexible!  There is still healing going on – hence the band-aid on the tip – I'm not letting that tender skin be exposed to be bumps and bashes that sprinkle themselves through the kinesthetic life of a person who does everything with her hands. But more than half the nail has grown back and, though it's pretty discolored, it's smooth and flat and I am satisfied. But goodness who would have thought one little finger could interrupt someone's life to such a degree? At this point one might have thought I'd have picked up knitting needles first thing – and in fact, I did pick them up and dump them into a tote bag, just in case my knitting group wanted to meet yesterday – but nobody did. It was absolutely the worst rainy day we've had in a spring full of dark rainy days. I woke to such a roof drumming all I could think of was curling up in bed with a cup of hot tea and a good book – of which there are many on my bedside table. Alas. It was not to be and not only did I dootifully go in to work, but I also gave full praise to the rest of my staff who so womanly braved the storm to come to work. But back to knitting – I have finished one tube of ribbon on the cap-sleeved summer top I'm working on. Here's a schematic drawing. The lines inside denote decreases and increases to create a waist shaping.  The plan is to alternate the two ribbon colorways in stripes. I'm ready to start the second colorway. I'll know within a few rows if it doesn't create the effect I want. This is a quick pattern to knit but I have to knit slowly if I don't want the needles to split the ribbon. Plain stockinette because this crinkly rayon ribbon creates enough texture all by itself. What I did spend time on last night was the preliminary drawing for a painting I want to do. On Easter I took my camera out and captured all the glorious blossoms lifting their heads in praise. This one captured my interest because I'm fascinated by all the different colors that make up a white blossom in bright sunshine.  As for the nitty-gritty of the Life-0-TheQueen ... well, the taxes are done and paid, the attic is emptied of ancient wardrobe detritus, the rush is on with outdoor yard work and the rush is on towards MS&W. I will be there this year, with friends, happy to say, and I am sure I will be shopping – but I am still sated, no, glutted by my Stitches Scores last fall. It may be that I do very little actual spending. But I am ready for some festival energy, looking forward to seeing long lost friends, and I plan to take both camera and sketchbook. I expect to have a very good time! Happy Hump Day to you all. 1 Comments:Happy Easter Bess :) We had a lovely, albeit cold, Easter Sunday driving around the country side and looking at the landscapes roll by. Good luck with the "finger unveiling" tomorrow!
By Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Sunday, April 12, 2009
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Wow! Thanks for that video! I can't believe it's real, they had to have used tricks or something. Amazing!
By Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Friday, April 10, 2009 Thanks Audrey. I do love to spend time in this beautiful outdoor setting – in fact I'm going to do so in just about 15 minutes. I'm taking a slightly earlier walk today because I'm off to play with my cousin and her daughters about 9 o'clock. Every other month I work a Saturday and this month is it. I actually love working Saturday because it's shorter hours and it brings me in contact with a different group of library patrons. Also, the rest of the professional world is off on the weekends so nobody can call and complain about whatever task I've done wrong or even left undone altogether. It's like getting two days off instead of one! Still being a sluggard about my knitting, but in an attempt to dazzle you with my fiber acumen I offer here this video clip. I can't take credit for finding it, though. It was sent to me by Joe of my favorite yarn shop On the Lamb, in Staunton, VA. Love ya Joe! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw&feature=player_embedded posted by Bess | 6:21 AM 1 Comments:What a beautiful landscape! It beats muscular instructors at a gym for me ;-) I never tried ribbon yarn, but I'm guessing it must make a very light top for summer. Perhaps you will like it better when it is washed. Sometimes we knit wool and think it's going to be scratchy, but after washing the wool becomes soft and fluffy. It's probably not the same with synthetics, I'm not sure. Have a happy Thursday too!
By Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Thursday, April 09, 2009 Chilly SpringOne thing I am determined to do, now that the sun rises earlier in the day, is get in a good brisk walk outdoors. I love my gym membership and I am ever greatful for the friendly, skillful personal trainers they hire and the luxury of a swimming pool in winter, but it's important for me to spend some time outdoors too. Just being outdoors has it's benefits, but adding a little activity, a little movement, seems to flatten out the bumps and dips in my psyche. With a full time work schedule and short winter days I only get to wallow in the outdoors on weekends, but once April gets here I can take advantage of the sweet hours in the morning to savor the pleasures of dawn risers: the birds, the sun, as it peeps over the eastern tree line, the dogs who are clamoring for a walk. But lawsee it has been cold the past few days. Yesterday I was in down vest, sweatshirt, and wool hat & mittens! In April!With Easter just around the corner. Poor little daffodils are shivering and it seems to me the trees are clinging to their lacy thinness longer than usual. Next week is our anniversary (35 years!!!) and it seems to me the forests are usually pretty full by then. Of course, a lot can happen in a week. So – here is what it looks like in the Land-0-Bess at 7 o'clock in the morning.  The cap-sleeved ribbon top is going slowly and I don't know why – or I think I might know why but I'm not sure. I am knitting it in the round. It's nothing but an EZ seamless yoke sweater without the sleeves. But I've got it on a 36 inch needle and I think that is too long. Not enough stitches bunch up beneath my hand to “feel right”. I have to stop at least 3 times and maybe 4 on every round, to push those stitches up onto the needle tip. Fortunately I'm using an interchangeable needle and I believe I have a shorter cable I could switch to – I just haven't done it yet. I wanted to be sure I liked it enough to keep on knitting with it. I believe I do – but just barely. I tend to be an animal fiber knitter. The plant based fibers tempt me less and with ribbon there's a little scratch to it and almost none of that rayon drape drape – the main reason anybody ever uses rayon anyway, right? I am not sure I would buy ribbon yarn again but I will persevere with this one, finish the garment, wear it and then come to a final decision. And, of course, nothing is ever final when it comes to fiber. The next clever engineer, artist, or designer will come down the pike and surprise me with a splendid new way of looking at an old friend and I'll get lured into giving it a try. After all, I once swore I would never knit again. Never say never, hum? Ta now. Happy Thursday. posted by Bess | 7:56 AM 2 Comments:I'm sure that when you are physically able to give full reign to your creativity, that your inspiration to write will come back to you. Creative people need an assortment of activities to feel fulfilled, and when those activities are limited, those that are still available to them tend to get neglected. It's all or nothing for a lot of artists. I'm happy to read you are doing better though, and enjoying some beautiful weather. We've been living under grey, rainy clouds for two weeks and even had snow last night!I’m so ready for warm and sunny weather, you have no idea! I love that picture of your dog, he really looks like he's surveying his domain :)
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Happy to hear that your finger is mending, however slowly (it's never fast enough when there's knitting to do! LOL!)...and I love that ribbon yarn. In fact, I think I have something similar in my stash, waiting for me to create a tee-shirt out of it... Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Tuesday, April 07, 2009 Yes! She lives!She's still splinted which means the letters E, D, S, W, C and X are constantly being typed by mistake, creating words that even Microsoft Spelcheck can't correct. One reason I haven't been posting lately. Another is that I haven't been knitting much either. Though I can knit, after a fashion, I can't seem to stick with it for long. There is a painting, but this one is far more ambitious – a portrait, and it's in-between stages. Unlike knitted works in progress, unfinished paintings are not particularly interesting, except to the artist. Work has been demanding and I have been concentrating on some other, inner, projects, as well, the sort of navel gazing that is not meant for public consumption. For the most part, though, I just haven't felt literary. Words have not flowed easily from me, the t urn of phrase, the music of sentences strung out in long streams of colorful poetic imagery just hasn't been there. Perhaps pain interrupted the flow or perhaps concentrating so hard on the visual messages made my brain disconnect the language circuitry. I wonder ... could that be the cause? Or am I just out of ideas and doomed to live out my life in boring mendacity or empty silence. Hmmm. Right brain? Left brain? Integrated brain? No brain? Scary thoughts. Ahh. But she has thoughts – therefor she is. And when language fails on a blog, one must fall back on photographs, so I shall start with Proof Of Knitting:  Can you see the two different colorways in these ribbons? They are part of my Stitches 09 haul and are destined to be a cap-sleeved summer top in subtle stripes that flow from orange and tan to orange and pink and back again. I know the garment shape will work – I've made it before – not sure how impressive the stripes will be but there you have it – I want to try. From other corners of my life, here is what a boat bimbo does on her BoatGuy's Birthday.  And here is a magical spot you might want to visit if you are ever fooling around in lower Essex/upper King & Queen counties.  The beautiful dragon swamp.And if you happen to be coming up my way – or down my way – or out my way – do stop in. I'll take you on a walk through the enchanted forest, to see Peter Rabbit's house!  Jack is unimpressed.  Children are delighted.  So. Life is good. Spring is spreading across the land.  Maryland Sheep and Wool is less than a month away! If you see me there, please say hello. posted by Bess | 6:32 AM |
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