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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0 Comments:Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Saturday, June 12, 2004 We went to see Harry Potter 3 last night, BH, GF, and I. This girls’ night out was a first for us, and a chance to see a NotForDarlings type of movie. The Darlings, supposedly on a camping trip, were chased in by deplorable weather, though, and at 5:30, just as we were leaving for dinner, I got a call from the BD. “We’re back!” “Wonderful. We’re going to the movies, though, in an hour.” “You mean I’m not invited?” Moderate pause “Of course. But you must be at the theater at 7. We’re going to see Harry Potter.” Much longer pause. “That is the one movie I would least like to see in the world.” “Well then, we’ll see you about 10” BD didn’t like the first one and I watched HP2 by myself. As noted before, I read the first 4 books in a 4 day marathon back in 2000. I didn’t read all of book 5, though perhaps I shall now. I only had a brief time to give it a go, since all our copies were on the reserve list. I just skimmed a bit; decided I didn’t care for the sour sulky boy he was becoming, even if most people think that is both normal and typical of teens; read the last 2 chapters to see who died; and returned the book. So this brings me to an archetype I have a lot of trouble with - which people seem to find endearing. The silent sufferer. Peter Mayle did it in A Year in Provence. James Herriot did it in All Creatures Great and Small et. al. Chaim Potok did it with The Promise; to the point it made me sick. The one who is put upon and never complains. The one who is tormented, trashed, crushed and destroyed without complaining. What is it about complaining when injustice is done to you that is considered ... unmanly? impolite? rude? weak? Why would anybody admire the little Spartan youth for letting a fox chew through his body? He sure won't make much of a soldier now. Why is he so afraid of the punishment he’s going to get he’d rather die? And what if no punishment is involved? Why in the heck does Harry Potter sulk around and mutter under his breath and take blow after blow and never ever goes to anybody in authority to ask for help? In the end, the complaint of even the Columbine killers: “we were teased and tormented by the cool kids” rings hollow in my ear. If you are so miserable, so tortured in your daily life, why don’t you complain to those with the authority to change things? If you are merely being ignored, you aren’t being tormented - find something to do with your time. Believe me, among all the wealth of this world, there is plenty to do. But if you are being tormented enough to make you want to kill your tormentor - you are a fool not to find help. You don’t deserve my sympathy. I hated it at the end of book 5, when Dumbledore weeps about not giving HP enough credit (at 15, fer god’s sake, in England you can rent an apartment at 16!) to understand the entirety of his position. I mean, it’s not as if he hasn’t had evidence of the threat he faces already nor given proof of both his understanding and ability to fight back. What about just sitting down, leveling with the kid, and enlisting his obviously superior talents in his own defense? I'm supposed to think Dumbledore thought what was happening to him hadn't already eliminated the chance for a normal childhood? Give me a break. But there would be no story, you say? No drama? No action? No suspense and tension and resolution? Well. Yes. That’s the difference between drama and real life. You have to have people act like idiots so that near disaster swoops in and our hero can save the day with his heroic abilities. But if, as I believe, we are supposed to get our societal cues from our literature, I think the stoic sufferer who turns sulky is a reeeeealy bad cue. I would much rather read about someone who acted with logic, practicality and wisdom, and still mounted the seemingly insurmountable. I would have a lot better opinion of the author of said drama. Is it hard to do? You betcha. At least, it’s hard if you are trying to keep the story interesting. But it’s a worthy goal. Okay. About the movie. I really enjoyed it. I hadn’t read HP3 in 4 years, so I’ve forgotten much of the story and all of the details. What I remembered was that HP&Co. hid from the Prisoner till they discovered he was a good guy. I’d even forgotten Sirius could become a dog. That made the movie much more enjoyable for me, because I wasn’t too upset about anything that was left out. That central plot movement - of tracking the prisoner while hiding from him - was the right thing to pick and since they had set a time limit for the movie, I think they did a good job. It’s fun to see these kids all growing older. It was interesting to see more diversity among the students. There were cameo shots of darker skinned children among the students. Filming to an American audience? British? I don’t know. It was just a little something I noticed. The big change in this story was the emphasis on the DigitalActionHero stuff - the digital animation, which I didn’t care for. I kept waiting for Skelator to come out of the forest. Well, that’s wrong. I didn’t mind it, I just wished it hadn’t given such a center stage role. I prefer live actors to pixels. (I admit it - I gagged at the promo for The Polar Express - with digital Jacky Chan waiters doing mega-flips in the dining car.) The thing I liked the least was the short shrift Snape was given. I think he’s the most important character in the stories, outside of HP himself. I think the relationship between the him and HP is the most important one. How that is resolved will, imnsho, be what makes these books classics or leaves them just above the Animorphs series, in children’s literature. This is one of the universal issues a child has to deal with in order to grow up - the adult who hates him, for no reason, and is unfair. How those two work it out is the crucial issue after the obvious one of surviving annihilation by the Demonic Force. Since most of us won’t have a DemonicForce to worry about, the issue of Someone Who Hates Me and Has Power Over Me (teacher, boss, bad spouse, parent) is much more important. Of course, these are my opinions. Who knows what the author wants to do. I certainly understand that action is required in a move-ie. Character development is difficult enough to portray on the written page. Transferring it to film requires a clever and concise mind and a precise eye. A friend complained that there was no awarding of points at the end of the year. I think I agree with her - but only because it’s one of those things I remember from the book and always felt good about. I loved all the wizardy stuff that had to do with what the school was really like. I suppose the producers figured the audience already knows. They have videos and dvds of the first two films. They don’t need to be reminded of it. But that was a lot of the charm of the books and the films. There was one scene of quiddich and one with the magical candy - but I could have sat another half hour to watch a few more. I missed them, though I don’t think the lack of them ruined the movie. In fact, the movie works well as a stand alone flick. It’s a fun, just scary enough, magic story. Definitely worth the $6 admission I paid and yep yep, I’ll enjoy watching HP4 when it comes out. No fiber news at all. Bad Bess, Baad Baad Baaad. But I have a lovely long weekend free of obligations. Let us see what I can accomplish. posted by Bess | 10:20 AM 1 Comments:Love the socks, especially the fair isle pair! You are quite the industrious knitter! You had a wonderful mini vacation and just the thing I would do (minus the cleaning, lol) if I had a few days to spend as I wished to. Hope you have a good week at work and more of the same at home!
By Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Sunday, July 05, 2009 Full summer beginsThank you all for the kind comments about my socks. Much progress was done over the weekend and now I have another pair completed, allowing me to cross off 3 of the 14 on my list. There are photos of the Finished Objects at the end of this post. What follows next is a little catch-up of what has been going on at TheCastle. Prepare to be sprung from your prison. Expect, soon, to be given the key to your cell. But be ready too, for a reluctance to leave the familiar comfort of your old environment. You have been unhappy with a situation for a long time. You are in the habit of complaining and of getting nowhere. Shock may be your first reaction when the door that you have been pounding on opens up. You may suspect a trap. But, slowly, you'll come to like the inspiration and the opportunity that presents itself to you this week. It's going to be an amazing month... Thank you MrHoroscope. You have been promising me a pleasant change for a long time. I've been waiting for this since oh... January? Yeah – about that long. I am completely ready to be “released” and looking forward to an amazing month. I am also pretty doggone relaxed after 3 and a half days of doing exactly what I wanted..... which wasn't much, barring a marathon cleaning burst on Saturday. I'd cut out early on Thursday, a day of perfect summertime weather: sunny, breezy, clear and dry. Somehow, I just couldn't make myself stay at work till 5 and with a bank of vacation days saved up and plenty of staff on hand ... well there. What would you do? Well, what I did was go buy enough groceries to make it through the weekend, pick up the first 2 Harry Potter movies from the rental place and zip on home about 2:30. The air was so sweet and tempting I convinced BD to join me on a walk out to Robert's Landing and, for me, at least, a swim. Oh how the water felt – so silky and sweet as it flowed past me on its way to the sea. Tide was going out and little leaves and floating bits slipped past me as I dug my toes into the sandy bottom. BD is not much of a swimmer but he never minds sitting on the bank and talking while I'm playing in the water. Virgos may be earth signs, but I must have many planets lurking in the water signs. Water is my medicine of choice for whatever ails me .... drinking it, swimming in it, bathing in it ... I adore water. Friday I rented the Rug Doctor from a store in town and cleaned the rugs and upholstered furniture. It's exhausting work because the heavy rugs have to be vacuumed, flipped, vacuumed on the back, flipped and vacuumed once again, all the while the year's worth of dirt tracked in off the farm by man and dog must continually be sucked up off the floor too. That is a heckuva lot of flipping and vacuuming. Then you start using the wet vac. The products that go with it are remarkably effective, though, especially the pet odor remover which you can use as a spot treatment or dump in with the soap and hot water. In particular, that is needed on the blue couch in the den where three dogs think they are welcome to lounge no matter what swamp they've been sloshing through. I went to bed Friday with aching limbs and stiff fingers but the rest of the weekend it was fun to wander from room to room, sitting on clean furniture, lying on clean floors and saying “No No Out” to begging dogs at screen door. I will relent after Wednesday, when we have guests coming, for dinner but for now, no dogs in the house. But after all that effort I just didn't have it in me to do another thing all weekend. At least, not another thing that required getting dressed. I've been in my pj's for 2 whole days and it has been delicious. I didn't even take a walk! I just knit and read and watched the first 2 Harry Potter movies and the second disc of TLC's What Not To Wear. What a fantasy that is. $5,000 to spend on a new wardrobe with fashion experts to tell you how you really look in what you're picking out. Yum! Also, I really like the guy who does the hair for the victim's makeovers. BD wanted to be close all weekend and the best way for us to do that is to let him read to me while I knit. I had recently picked up Mort d'Arthur on tape, read by Derek Jacoby. Oh what a grand job he is doing too – with his perfect classically trained voice. Ahh I wish there were more Brother Cadfael DVD's out there. I, alas, have seen them all at least twice. A discussion with BD about Mallory lead to talk of Spencer and his Faerie Queen and the next thing you know I'm listening to this complex and sexually latent tale as I knit socks. What fun it's been, especially since I know I'd never read it myself. I have enough dyslexia issues with normal spelling as it is. I could never plow my way through the secret code of Spencer's Spelling. BD, with all his years of 17th century research and also his perfectly visual way of reading, can breeze through the strange pronunciations and keep the elegant pace of the poetry. Much knitting was done as these photos will attest: I finished these plain jane stockinette socks for me. This is a beautiful Spirit Trail sock yarn knit on #3 needles.  This is a Trekking sock yarn I bought at Stony Mt. Fibers ages ago ... it's what I call a "guy" color and these socks are intended for BD. I'm not sure what happened since I bought this stuff at least 4 years ago, but I don't think there was a full skein here. Fortunately, this color, #66, is still available. Neither BD nor I care if the dye lot matches all that well. These are, after all, men's socks. They will be felt, not seen. Again, plain stockinette sock knitting.  Of course, I like to have an upstairs sock and a downstairs sock going and though there are still at least 4 more half knit pairs in the queue, I couldn't resist starting something different. This is another Spirit Trail sock yarn combo - an almost solid green with a beautifully coordinating handpaint. I've been waiting for just the right inspiration to knit these two yarns together. The yarn is still from the downstairs stash I inventoried a month ago so it's legal to knit it up this summer.  I'm using the first reticulated pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. It's the blue and yellow pattern - but look at the color match between the book cover and the sock yarn! Pure coincidence, but isn't it ... coincidental?  I chose the other pattern because this particular yarn isn't truly self striping and I wanted to be sure enough bits of the handpainted colors showed up. And now it is Monday and it's back to work. A busy week with a guest author, dinner guests at my house as well, and prep for the coming library board meeting. Yes. It's July again. Happy Monday to you all. posted by Bess | 3:58 PM 1 Comments:We didn't get any high drama wind and thunder, or even any drops of rain but, for whatever reason, the temp dropped a bit last night. It was wonderful to just experience the rapid change. However, I think it's going back the other way again today. Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Thursday, July 28, 2005 We gasped our way through the last of the solar oven days yesterday. My car got so hot in the parking lot that I was nearly home before the a/c actually cooled off the metalNglass enough for the conditioned air to actually fill up the interior. Fortunately the library is new enough that the h-vac system actually works. A good portion of the older county buildings have either window units in them or fans. All of them smell like mold, too - what else could you expect from centuries of architecture standing 8 feet above sea level between two marshes? Though I had been home only an hour or so, the air was so oppressive I couldn’t remember how to make a salad and ended up eating blueberries and bananas for dinner. But about 8 o’clock the front rolled in from the north, complete with dancing forests and lightning flashes and a weird greeny pink sunset. We dashed about the house, throwing open windows and propping doors wide with heavy objects. The air was not cold, like it is when you get a direct hit with the rain, but it was a good 15 degrees cooler than the house. Priss, our one dog who is really bothered by storms, danced in and out of the house, trying to decide where she would be safer - indoors, or wherever mama is. Eventually I decided to remove myself from the lightening strike zone and sit on the back porch, and she settled down in my lap. Been a long time since I’ve been willing to hold a dog on my lap. We stayed out on the porch for one sweet hour, just enjoying the excitement and movement and coolness. A little bit of rain fell, but not much more than would wet down the walk. The change in temperatures, the furious wind and surrounding storm sounds left me disinclined to go watch a movie with BD so we chose instead, to read to each other. We’ve been working our way through the 15 minute version of the Harvard Classics, and sadly, not finding much that we’re inclined to go back to. I had now idea how pompous Robert Browning was! - but yesterday’s offering, Goethe’s Hermann and Dorothea, turned out to be a rare treat. Yes it’s grammar structure is a little archaic. This translation, pre 20th century, is strong corroborative evidence that something in the water of 19th century England produced a generation of Tolkein-esque grammarians. And they all must have learned German - because really that’s what this sounds like - continental sentence structure written with English words. Nevertheless, we are enjoying the beautiful word paintings. I am also trying to read Harry Potter VI. I thoroughly enjoyed books 1-4, which I swooped through in a single, 3 day marathon, vacation read. I eagerly looked forward to book V last summer, but it was such a disappointment to me that I only skimmed a few chapters, and actually read only the first and last. I was never a whiny teen and I certainly didn’t raise a sulky brat boy either. Harry at 15 was such a bore. Nor do I find the “I don’t want to talk about it” stoics particularly sympathetic nor interesting. Just a little quirk in my personality. But it seems to me that if you can’t accept something then you ought to speak up about it, for, how can anybody stop irritating you if you don’t tell them exactly where the irritation is? At the end of the book, when Dumbledore gave HP the weepy speech about how he just wanted Harry to be a normal little boy with a normal little childhood - well, I mean - get real. That’s the same thing that turned my stomach with the John Grisham book The Client. Make me vomit, please, with some pathetic plea for the chiiiiiiiiildrun. Rather turned me off Grisham mysteries altogether. Dumbledore, more than anybody else, ought to have known that a normal childhood for HP wasn’t possible. He would have done better just schooling his little prodigy the way little gymnasts or violinists or ice skaters are trained. That whole book just had too much pop psychology weaving through it, and not enough artistic editing done to it. The bratty pose doesn’t have to be on every page - I get the picture - got it in the first chapter. Art isn’t supposed to copy life - detail, by boring detail - it’s supposed to imply reality, sketch it, give us just the outline and let our minds fill in the rest. Do you really want to read hours of transcripts of the last fight you had with your teenager? Or your mom? I mean - you can just go home if you want that sort of entertainment. Alas - having only the gist of the plot of Book V - and not remembering some of the important, but new characters - I find Book VI goes a little slowly. HP is a more bearable character now, so I am going to plow ahead. Besides, I’ve already read the ending so I know where he’s headed. I will do my all to find out how he goes about it. I spun only the littlest bit of the red wool last night. I’m spinning a soft twist yarn similar to last week’s yarn. Goodness - I haven’t even measured to see how many wraps per inch it is. Hmmm. As I contemplate my spinning and the eventual garment, it all takes on more of a “Project” aspect to it - and I am considering making up a whole notebook about my efforts - both the successes and the failures. Besides - there is something so delicious about buying a new notebook. Of course, I must keep reminding myself, shopping for a notebook does not a swing coat make. La - I do hope this is a project I actually finish. Perhaps I ought to make a project out of finishing all the unfinished ones littering my house. Call it the Come to Completion Project. Ah well. But not today. Today I spin red wool, visit the gym, return videos and try try try to get a full night’s sleep. posted by Bess | 5:45 AM 7 Comments:
I'm trying to decide if your repeated use of "Bumbledore" instead of "Dumbledore" is a freudian slip or a joke...
I had similar thoughts when I finished book 6. I think it's all a ruse to get Lord V to finally come out and try again.
Idiot me! It's a total freudian slip - Goodness - I wish I hadn't posted it on KR OT. Teach me to venture where I don't belong! As God is my witness, I'll NEVER post on OT's again! I'll NEVER even LOOK at the OT's again. I know, sweetie, I'm pretty ticked off on your behalf. I'm sorry! I was almost ready to fire off a response in support when I saw that Amie had already done it - sorry for the mix-up on the name. I agree that the OT section is generally to be avoided for most of us, I've been sorry most times I post there and always think 2 or 3 times before I do these days. And as for HP, this book definately seems like a set-up for the next one in many ways. My two favorites are the first and third books, the ideas are fresh and the interactions between characters seem more "real" to me. Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Monday, August 08, 2005 WARNING! Harry Potter spoilers at the end of this post.Oh I love it when Blogger remembers my log-in info. Can’t tell you why this little convenience tickles me so, but it does. Alas, if I turn off the computer, blogger seems to forget. Probably a cookie issue. But though storms marched across the land to the north of us, they didn’t trigger any power blinks, so this a.m. the blogger screen opened up in my file. And this morning delicious cool zephyrs are creeping over the windowsill, caressing the back of my arms and neck as I type. Even if the day degenerates into another August meltdown, we know, don’t we? Autumn is on the way. Sweaters. Colored leaves. Hot soup. Birthdays. Just around the corner, now. All we gotta do is hold on. We had a pleasant surprise visit from K & Family, incl. dogs. It was half a doggie play-date and half just two families catching up with each other. K got her older lab about 3 weeks before we got Ike, The Dog - that stunningly amazing lab who came to live with us for 4 short years. Those two boys played together often. After Ike died they stopped bringing Echo up to see us and for the past few years their lives have gone in different directions from ours. We see each other in neutral places - after all, T-town has only 2,500 people in it - we see everybody sooner or later. But we haven’t really visited and they had yet to meet Capt. Jack, Dog of our Senior Years and Object of Total Slavish Devotion. Since their last visit another lab, Loki, has come to keep Echo company. This was his first visit to us. Taking your dogs to someone else’s house is always an iffy proposition. I never take my dogs anywhere but the vets, because, for one thing, Priss runs away and doesn’t come back when you call her, but mostly because dogs are very territorial and it isn’t fair to take my puhfekt diddle puddy behbee doggies over to some other dog’s marked grounds, thank you please. Besides, we live on a farm, where our pets have fields and marshes and forests and the river. They don’t need a chance to run and sniff and wallow. I don’t mind if others bring their dogs here, just so long as they understand that if the dogs don’t get on with my pets, their dogs have to go in the pen. Since K&all not only understand this, but subscribe to my dog-opinions, and they asked first, if they could bring their dogs, of course we said yes. And since we have only girl dogs and a very friendly pup, while they have boy dogs, the visit really turned out to be fun. Priss is such a slut she runs after every boy dog she sees and plays kissy face with them. Socks is utterly horrified by strangers and hid away the whole time. Jack was fascinated with the leg lifting lessons. Later in the day the rugs all got Rx from the rented Rug Doctor, preparatory to weekend guests who may or may not come. Amazingly, I am cool with this - totally ready for all, some or nothing. Odd how I can get my knickers so twisted over some things and be totally cool with others. People really are crazy. I did a bit of knitting on a sample for a Christmas Sock class I want to teach this fall. It’s in purple, pink and white - not Christmas colors, but it’s from stash yarn and otherwise I never get to knit with these colors, since I mostly only knit for myself. I’ll also make a red white and green Christmassy looking sock as a class demo - and it is just barely possible I will make one for me too - since I have an idea I’d like to try out, and besides, there is no holiday stocking in the house for moi. But that last thing is just an idea at the moment - time alone will tell if it ever becomes an object. I finished HP last night - and had HP dreams afterwards. How about that. Okay - so. What do you think? Is Snape really bad? Who was he obeying? Did he murder the pleading Bumbledore, or did he put Bumbledore out of his misery. Was B actually begging S to finish him off, since all that poison he’d drunk was going to kill him slowly - and perhaps painfully - anyway? Was Snape’s grimace evidence of misery at having to kill an old friend or lust for the dark power? After all, he’d botched Voldemort’s plans by not letting Malfoy kill Bumbledore as M had been ordered to. And Snape didn’t do any fighting - at least, none that we heard about, after Bumbledore’s death. He also had known a good while that Harry had Snape’s own potion book. For that matter, he was fairly non-committal about his role within the Death Eaters, in the early chapter when he was talking with Malfoy’s mother and aunt and it took absolutely no persuasion by M’s mom to get Snape to swear the unbreakable vow. Sounds suspicious to me. After Bumbledore’s abject admission of his doddering sentimentality at the end of book 5, ought we not to have expected him to reassess all his assumptions and come to the realization that Snape was a bad’un? I don’t buy Harry’s assumption that Snape’s "proof" of his reform was his admission to Bumbledore that he’d told Voldemort about the prophecy. That’s a logistical misfire. Besides, Snape has been such a rotter throughout the whole series, he rival’s Voldemort in evil. You can’t have two antagonists, any more than you can have two protagonists. All supporting characters have to be less interesting than those two adversaries. At least, in good fiction they do. Life isn’t like that, of course, but fiction is not life. It is Symbol of Life; Representation of Reality; it is Metaphor. I have always thought Snape the most important character after Harry and that their relationship was the important one, too. So. We shall just have to wait a while to find out if I am asking more from the author than she is prepared to give. I give book 6 a C+ for entertainment. I had to slog through many of the chapters, but at least I was able to do so. Book 5 got a D from me, while books 1-4 all made the honor roll. OTOH, Rowling gets straight A’s from me for the artistry, craft, effort, and sheer work involved in putting such a fun story together for us all. P.S. Don't you think Hermoine would make a great headmistress for Hogwarts some day? posted by Bess | 7:02 AM 1 Comments:
Ah Bess, you and I know that the movie is just 'research', right? Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Wednesday, July 25, 2007 Today I plan to sneak away from work early and watch the Harry Potter movie. I’ve wracked my brains - I’ve scrabbled through the hours on my calendar. I just can’t find a block of time when I know I can go to the movies and I want to see this one on a big screen. This is the one HP book I didn’t read so I want "Just the Facts, Ma’am," which is all any director is going to have time to cram into 100 or so minutes. While in the past I’ve complained when there wasn’t enough fun magic in the latter films, this time I’ll stay mum. I’m going to have enough trouble with the sulky Harry, the Brave Little Spartan silence among them all, and the utterly smarmy (BH knows what pejorative I’m thinking now) Dumbledore with his weepy creepy speech at the end. But I do want to know the high points of the plot, things I could only surmise when I read Book 6. I’d like to see Nevil grow in importance, since he had been pretty peripheral ever since Book 1. I’d like to see the horcruxes come into focus and I’d like to see how Dumb. looses his hand. I would also like to skip out of work early today. There’s a 4 o’clock matinee at our little local theater. I’m gonna be there. Knitting away on a pretty lace sock. I’ve had to rip it out twice because the lace did strange things that weren’t in the pattern - all by its self, I’m sure, since I would never have done it on purpose. In fact, I tried to do it on purpose, because I came to like what it was doing very much - and then it stopped - and I couldn’t duplicate it. Lace is like that, for me. It likes to play these sneaky little tricks on me that stranded colorwork or cables wouldn’t dream of doing. They have way too much respect for my eyesight and mathematical skills. Lace, otoh, knows it’s slippery and shifty and crafty and beautiful and it knows that it is Mama’s Favorite; that TheQueen loves it best. TheQueen will forgive lace the sort of behavior she’d never permit from a cable. Lace knows that there is a large wooden box in TheQueen’s Chamber full of lengths of beautiful lace that never had to do a durn thing but exist and permit itself to be stroked now and then, or laid against a piece of silk or velvet. Lace knows that it has a hold on TheQueen’s heart that is permanent, that it taps into a secret frilly girly sugary core that is welded to the royal persona, that defines, for TheQueen, her very being. Lace is beautiful. Lace is special. Lace is just like the spoiled pretty girl you went to elementary school with, the one you forgave all sorts of things because nobody that pretty could have meant to be so mean. What Lace may not know, though, is that the frilly girly core is made of Damascus Steel and though flexibility is one of its many fine qualities, this is the substance that conquered the world and it is going to conquer lace as well. So. Ta. I’ll be back tomorrow. posted by Bess | 7:39 AM 2 Comments:
Glad to hear all the good things that happened yesterday. We just went through cataract surgery (at that very same hospital) with my dad, both eyes, two different surgeries, four visits, etc., etc., so I can relate, (except for the long drives you've had to endure). I'm so glad all went well, have a good week, Jane
By Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Friday, July 20, 2007 Yippee! Sock #2 of Christmas pair #1 is as good as done. Surgery was loooooooong yesterday, or rather, waiting around was long, for the doctor told me it took much less time than he’d allowed for. Evidently other patients took longer than planned, and we had arrived earlier than we needed to. Even with a foray into the cutest dress shop and a stop at the Starbucks - both of which were just across the hospital parking lot, I had time to turn the heel, finish the gusset and knit the foot before BD was released. Nothing but the toe to finish up tonight. But how I wish we had rented a hotel room in Richmond. This repair requires him to keep his nose pointed to the ground or else lie on his right side (6 foot man in Nissan Sentra - no way). We could have stayed somewhere with a/c and a big TV and whiled away the time being indolent. Instead, poor BD had to keep his head down the whole drive home - 2 hours - and will have to go back tomorrow and then come home again - 4 more hours. Poor baby. So. Fingers crossed, this will be our last trip to the retina man. Cataract man is next, but we’ll say eyeball chants so that will be a few more years down the road. And now? This glorious weekend? Well. Now we have only a house to clean, laundry to do and a Harry Potter novel to read. And if we can’t get any rain, at least we have dry cooler weather for patients to stay in bed and care givers to sink into books. posted by Bess | 7:13 PM 3 Comments:
Hello, Dear Bess. I'll be keeping you both in my prayers as you go forth for surgery. How lovely to be so companionable in the car with your Sweetie -- knitting, driving, whatever. Enjoy, and travelling mercies.
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I have read the Monica Ferris books and found them to be entertaining and enjoyable for when you want light reading. I enjoy her frequent references to whatever needlework she is concentrating on at the time, and like that she had trouble learning some of them. Linda
By Not the best way to get some guiltfree knitting time, but so good that you have a productive way to pass the time while you wait. All the best to BD for a successful outcome. Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Thursday, July 19, 2007 More surgery. That was the doctor’s news yesterday. Less invasive, less pain, quicker recovery, but stil,l more surgery. So off to the hospital we shall go on Friday. Thank goodness this is a weekend I am not needed at the parents’ since outpatient surgery means you have to be back at the dr’s office at crack o dawn the next morning so he can see how healing is occurring. Whew. But good news really. This could be 1907 and BD would just have gone blind. Besides, we always enjoy getting in a car and talking to each other. Haven’t run out of things to say yet and we don’t seem to mind repeating ourselves either, when we’re saying kind or loving words. I could wish that I didn’t have to do the driving, but this route is sweet, especially if we remember to leave in time to drive in a poky way instead of edging the speed limit. I’ve knit the heel flap of the second Christmas sock and will turn it this a.m. before I leave for work. Then, on Friday while I wait, I can knit that foot - maybe even challenge myself to get to the toe by the time BD’s out of recovery. The only serious things on the agenda this weekend are to clean the house and read Harry Potter. Knitting takes second place , or even third, since I have to get the library copy into circulation as fast as possible. I do not want to own a copy but the rest of my staff who want to have ordered theirs so I expect everyone to have her nose buried in the book all weekend long. And now - a personal note to Marg. [[HugsHugsHugsHugsHugsHugsHugs}} I am so glad you are posting again. What a treat to see the sheepie photo and hear about misty blue and green Scottish heaths. posted by Bess | 7:13 AM 2 Comments:
Isn't it amazing how often what we plan and what we do differ almost entirely? The sock I was planning to finish is almost where it was the day before but the scarf I'd been ignoring is almost doubled in length. Errands have been rescheduled for tomorrow instead of yesterday. But I had a long, wonderful day with my daughter.
The sock looks great! You made great headway on it!
By Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Monday, January 14, 2008 Are you 'werking' and 'dootying' your way through the Well – turns out I was werkwerkwerkin' through the weekend. In addition to the usual Saturday housecleaning and laundry, there was a literary labor of love that took me away from other planned pursuits. BD is at the point in his latest book where he needs a proof reader. I am always amazed when he asks the queen of dyslexic non-spelling to proof his work – but I also know that a manuscript never hurts from a multiplicity of proof readers. Besides, I am a boat bimbo and a dabbler when it comes to 17th century English and history. I have some knowledge but I'm no expert. If there is something I don't understand, a phrase or an expression, chances are the average customer will struggle with this too. A tweak here or there to please me will, in the long run, be an improvement.  (my isn't she fussy?)This book is way behind schedule, due to all those eye surgeries he suffered last summer. Time is of the essence, though, since it's a boater's guide (with charts and maps) to John Smith's Bay voyages – which mostly took place in 1608. He wants this thing on the shelves when warm weather arrives so that kayakers, canoeists and boaters can follow along with these epic explorations. But there was time to cast on those socks – see?  This is Brown Sheep's Wildfoote sock yarn in a handpaint color called Brown Sugar. It's going to take daylight to bring out the rich burgundy/brown of this color - which I will have for you one day soon. I love it – the color and the scrunchy bouncy way the yarn feels when knit into a fabric. It has a different, less stringy feel to it than BS's usual sock yarn. I thought a little chevron stitch would make for an interesting display of those rich colors – and I am pleased with it. Putting in an afterthought heel just because I always knit heel flap heels. There was also time to rip out a couple of inches of the Milan. I don't do that much flat knitting and I'd made the classic beginner's error of letting the yarn wrap around the needle between a purl and a knit stitch, adding another stitch when I came back down the row. That error has been corrected and I'll try to be a wee bit more careful with this in the future. So, with reading, cleaning and knitting the weekend slipped away. I never did get a chance to tell you about the wonderful children's book I have almost finished reading.  This is a rich tale that affords opportunities for thought and discussion on several levels. It's certainly full of fairy tale magic – girl fans of Harry Potter ought to like this – boys, I'm not so sure. Of course, Swan Maidens were the first feminists – women who left their husbands and children to go off to work, albeit their work was magical self fulfillment and didn't necessarily bring anything back to the family. Lots of meat here for discussion on several levels. The conclusion is a satisfying balance of commitment and fulfillment – and of course, I like the hero – and I am always going to like a book where the male character is someone I admire. This is a first novel by author Heather Tomlinson, and I will be keeping my eyes peeled for more. Monday is here, though and I still have one enormous (GINORMOUS) home task left to do before the werkweek rears it's demanding head. Whew. Lots of juggling going on down here in the country. posted by Bess | 7:00 AM 2 Comments:
I'm like you in that I can also not look at what I don't want to see. Problem is, I don't get all that much joy from housecleaning, either, so, pigsty it remains.
Book 3 is my absolute favorite, I think because Sirius reminds me of a certain man I'm married to... this is also likely the reason I found him in the movie to be "all wrong" (of course, he wasn't, he just wasn't a dark version of my husband) Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Sunday, June 24, 2007 I feel a little silly about how really good it feels to have a sparkly clean house. I am sure it’s the Virgo thing, because we are both lazy and clean, which means we can not look at what we don’t want to see a lot better than many other folk, but we know and care more about what we’re ignoring. Anyway, I am feeling really good because the house is clean and the whole of a day stretches before me with only my own choices - nothing that will whisper all day "If you don’t do thissssssssssss now you’ll be ssssssssssorry nexxxxxxxxxxt week." I am watching the Harry Potter movies again, in preparation for the upcoming summer premier of #5. This was the book I liked the least - the only one I didn’t finish and the one that almost made me skip book #6. I I liked Goblet of Fire the best of all the books. I liked the interesting introduction, that long international quidich match and the overall opening up of the Hogwarts folk to the international wizard community. Of the movies, Sorcerer’s Stone and Prisoner of A. are about tied for favorite for me. #1 because it was such a thrill to see all the magic and #3 because I liked the expansion of the plot to a wider environment. But I was disappointed in the movie version of Goblet of Fire, which I felt was so edited to make it fit into the financial plans of theaters that there was only plot and not much fun magic. So. I hope this year’s blockbusterentertainment will be better, i.e. have more magic. And I’ll get to find out who all those new folk are and what happened in Order of the Phoenix. Is this a knitting blog? Yes. Socks. I am knitting socks. Who would have believed that? What is taking so long on these socks. And guess what the July Knitters Almanac says I’m supposed to be knitting? Socks. Yep. Christmas socks that can’t be shown because they are gifts. posted by Bess | 10:07 AM 4 Comments:
With my "real" name I got Fleur Brocklehurst. But with my online name (fillyjonk) I got Cassandra Durmstrang, which seems much more dramatic and "darker."
Olive Shrivelfigs, reporting for duty! I quite like that.... Your very welcome! I've had to change my name for online for the blog to go with the sock swap so for now just call my "Lily Pettigrew". Good thoughts for BD's surgery and recovery are coming your way . . . I'll wave my wand in your directions ;) Millicent Trelawney here. I have a full day of errands and picking up that book is one of them! Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Friday, July 20, 2007 Oh! Suddenly something interesting has cropped up, changing my knitting plans in the nicest way. I am still knitting away on that second Christmas sock, planning to durn near finish it today, in fact. And there is a second pair of Christmas socks that must be knit as swiftly as possible. But in the mail yesterday was a box of sock yarns from Spirit Trail Fiberworks, each yarn asking for its own sock pattern. Yep. Just as I’m getting all fascinated with the many permutations of sock pattern designing, along comes a request for me to do just that very thing. This wasn’t a total surprise - I knew J wanted me to come up with a ‘nother design, but in the box were four different yarns, twisted into colorful nests; each a mouthwatering temptation, each inviting my fingers to curl into its springy wooliness. I’m so excited I want to stay home and knit all day. Which I can’t, of course, but I can knit all day today, when I am not driving, that is, and I can hustle along on my Christmas projects AND I can also start working on the commissioned designs, because, as a Totally Fractured ENFP, I am happiest when I have several projects going on at the same time. That way, completion can sneak up on me and I’m more likely to avoid Completion Grief by just not finishing a project. I know this is a bizarre attitude, but I also know myself. Neatly stacked, all in a row, everything in its final resting place, that’s one good job well done, is not an ENFP’s preferred state of being. It may be one we most admire, but it’s definitely guaranteed to make me feel Loss, Nostalgia, and Depression. We should always be in harness. We should be in charge of all toddlers. We need work that never ends in order to feel, not just safe, but immortal, for, as long as there is Work To Do, we will always be Necessary. Er. Ahem. Er. Mmmmm. Yes. Well. (Look a bird!) (an ENFP joke) I succumb. Sorry. I just can’t keep a linear approach to the world today. Here is a random cluster of things I am noticing right now. * J and C, two of my favorite mute bloggers updated their sites this week.  Click me. Which tells me this: You have successfully transfigurated yourself into Fleur Quafflepuncher. This is good. I like being a Fleur and I rather like Quiddich too, so I am satisfied. Got to admit, this is cute. I am sure there are Harry Potter-things all over the web these days. I haven’t looked for any, but I did stumble across this and I wanted to share. Thanks, M. * Oh C. Oh wicked twin. I think I shall put one of these out in front of Daddy’s house too. Honestly, they'll publish a book about anything these days. So. My dear hearts. Off to the city now. Accepting all prayers, wishes, good thoughts and white lights for BD’s successful surgery and speedy recovery. And for those of you who have sent them already, M, R, J, et. al? Fortylevendyhundredthousand hugs of thanks. 1 Comments:How is B.D.'s eye? Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Monday, June 18, 2007 Heat is here at last. We’ve had a reprieve for the past week. Cool crisp days, some clouds, no rain, some gorgeous blue skies. As I was driving back from the doctor’s on Saturday I thought “Oh, if only every summer day could be like this.” And then I sighed. But real Virginia summertime is rolling in today. It got up to about 90 yesterday but the humidity was still down in the 60% range. We’re in for it this week so I am glad I’ll be spending my days in the A/C world of library books - even though today is Day 1 of SRC. Yep. It’s that time again, summer reading club for children 3-11. I’m expecting that everything is in order for the opening day. I have good staff. But for the life of me, I don’t know that it’s all right and tight. I just know it’s going to be Some Heckuva Monday. One nice thing about losing my archives is that I can write the same old stuff all over again. I am sure in the archives-that-were there is a rant about that stupid rainbow fish book. I felt a tad bit guilty writing yesterday’s rant knowing that I’d been over this ground again. But I notice, now that only 20 people a day are logging on and I suspect those are the sort of loyal readers who don’t mind me stepping up on the soap box again. The ubiquitous sock knitting went on yesterday afternoon, along with some monumental dustbunny eradication via suction. Harry Potter & Co. hunted down the Basilisk. I’m re-watching the first movies, honestly? Just because I like the special effects magic. It’s something I do when BD’s sleeping since he is not an HP fan. So. It’s Monday. Let us hope it is a smooth sailing one. posted by Bess | 7:38 AM 3 Comments:
In your dashboard, click "Change Settings" then click "Comments". You want to click "YES" for word verification (that's the funky letters at the bottom that computers can't read, so it slows or stops spam) Thank you sweetie! It's done. Okay, I'll be your test commenter, let's see if the comment verification works! Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Tuesday, October 11, 2005 Rats! How do I get advertising posts out of my comment section? Does this mean I have to have people subscribe in order to comment or what. I really don’t want to have to study blog code instructions right now - there isn’t time in my life and I’m sadly not that interested. If anyone out there has figured out a cheat sheet for preventing this sort of thing (see last comment in yesterday’s blog) please drop me a line and tell me how it’s done. The book discussion group was fun yesterday. This is an interesting group of mostly women that has been meeting for about 10 years. It started out as an alumni club and has morphed into something more connected with the community college in that county. We had a great discussion about the book, All of us pretty much agreed: The class distinctions weren’t well enough drawn, the dialogue was to vague, Freddy was the only one we’d like to have as a neighbor and let’s all go to Florence. Now I have to hurry and finish the book my library’s book group will be discussing at the end of the month. I haven’t really been in the mood to read it (It’s Wish You Well, by David Baldacci) and I must, since there's a waiting list for the library copies. I have been in the mood to finally read Harry Potter V, which I only skimmed, and the details of which are quite unknown to me - only the beginning and the smarmy ending. Not sure where this lust to know came from but there it is - I’m just ready for it. Along with my usual fall reading, which is mostly re-reading my favorite children’s books, I have bunches of meetings and activities to prepare for. Yikes! October is suddenly collapsing into primal core material. My library board meets in October. The Virginia Library Association meets in October. I have a fall knitting class and handouts to prepare for the KRRetreat. Who stole all my time!? Worse than all that - when I look back over the year I can’t see that I’ve actually made anything except one Christmas stocking, one felted bag, one sock, and one baby sweater. The Waves of Hearts sweater sits in a bag by my bed, untouched. Christmas approaches with it’s pointing finger of "Not a Real Gift Unless You Make It". Everyone I know is knitting up a storm and I have nothing to show for a year of talking about fiber. (this looks bad - I am starting to beat myself up - gotta get aholt uh myself - after all, I’m not in the business of fiber - but the pleasure of it) Hmmm. Well, there is some spinning completed - but my aim had been to start knitting up the Wall of Color fibers sometime around November. Not gonna make that one. Okay - I’m stopping this right now. No more scolding fingers. Tonight is Knitters Night, and yeah, I was trying to think of what to take, so no wonder I was feeling so bad about my lack of productivity. Also - I am feeling a tremendous urge to (gasp) Start A New Knitting Project!!! Yup. I want to pull out of my stash, some large quantity of yarn that has languished in hidden storage, and cast on a sweater. Something big and time consuming and new and different - and also - something that would free up a drawer or corner or box. I’m really taken with the poncho/skirt (I would wear it as a skirt, dearies) in the new Holiday Knits book. I’m thinking of using all those odd lots of Aurora8 to make a striped sweater. I’m thinking of the Dream Catcher sweater in Loop-d-loop made out of one of the Brown Sheep Handpaint yarns I bought years ago. So - hmmm. Here’s the deal I’ll offer myself. The moment I finish the handouts for the KRRetreat I may paw through the stash and select a Brand New Big Project and Cast On. So there, oh nagging conscience of mine. Just suck it up. posted by Bess | 7:52 AM 0 Comments:Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Friday, August 12, 2005 Just a dash through today to rejoice at the good news. Favorite Cousins are coming to the reunion and will spend Saturday night with us. I always want Favorite Cousins to come but this year my house is all a-jumble and I couldn’t really make it nice no matter how hard I tried. I can get it clean. I can even get it picked up. But it’s not right these days and I can feel it every time I open the front door. So I am glad Favorite Cousins will be here only long enough for me to wallow in the love, and not start to worry about the inconvenience, discomfort and all round wrongness of this place. Now mind - I have a darling house. Much of it is super and some of it is absolutely super. But it’s not right. It’s got too many crowded stuffed full places. It needs to be swept clean. * * * * * Long Pause While I Write A KRForum Post About Harry Potter 6 * * * * * * Yikes! It’s after 8 and I have to be in town by 9. I’ll write more about our comings and goings sometime this weekend. Knitting on the heel flap of that christmas stocking. TA posted by Bess | 8:10 AM 1 Comments:
OUCH - rest up and enjoy your unexpected day off. Can you learn to treadle with your right foot?
By Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Monday, August 01, 2005 Yo Rebecca - don’t you worry - I rested most of Sunday. Oh, I thought about finishing up the kitchen, but it was so much fun to just look at the already cleaned up parts, I never got around to creating more of them. Every time I’d walk through the kitchen I had to open each drawer and sigh, open both lower cabinets and just stare, bemusedly, at tidy, organized, dust free surfaces. Had I been ambitious, I could have cleaned the cabinet under the sink or the one with all the fancy dishes in it. Had I bustled just a tad more, I could have cleared out the corner where all the cookbooks are. Alas. I was far too satisfied with what had been done to prompt myself to do more. And now it is Monday and there isn’t time. Add to that the fact that I wrenched my ankle on a walk with BD just as the sun set -Handsome Prince Consort hurried back and got the coach, to transport HisQueen back home - and I really ought to spend the day in bed, with my foot up. Ought to and shall, in fact. Mr. Horoscope may say that today is one in which to seize life - I believe I shall seize Harry Potter instead and finish it up, lying on my bed with the fan pointed directly at me. Alas. Twisted ankles mean no spinning for me. Boo Hoo Too - since I had just thought of something I wanted to try with this week’s color. BTW, I got 84 yards of pretty red yarn from one bobbin full of singles. Plied it from a center pull ball. Then I waltzed into the den where I rummaged through the bag of W-0-C fibers and chose the warm spring green for this week. Since it wasn’t all that late in the afternoon I experimented around with yarn design. All this fiber is basically mohair and some slight to moderately coarse wool, carded together with a bunch of bits and cuts and odds and ends of different colors, though all still the same 2 fibers. This means that now and then there are little half inch curls of mohair lock tips or tangles of wool or mohair that guarantee a slub. It seems to me it has been through a high quality electric carder one time, since some of the blending is very well mixed and some is not. The actual spinning experience varies from a relaxed hold on the well blended, where I mostly sit and let the yarn pull out of the bat on its own, to a very active process, like playing serious ping-pong or racquet ball, where my fingers have to be ready to pounce or draft, leap or backspin, vary my treadle, and decide quick quick quick that this is acceptable yarn before it zips onto the bobbin. At these active times, I do a good bit of stopping and re-spinning, breaking off and joining again, but not more than is fun. And the next thing you know, I’m back to the smooth self-spinning stuff - just in time to give me a break. No matter what I do with this fiber it is going to spin into textured yarn - be it highly textured or only modestly so. The spring green fiber, though, seems extraordinarily well blended and I thought I’d have a go at spinning a thick and thin slub yarn and ply it against a tightly spun smooth fiber. I have some Finn, undyed, but it would do for a sample piece. Making those fat slubs, the sort of horrible things you made when you first picked up wheel or spindle, followed by thin sections that are not over spun, but twisted just tightly enough that when you ply them they will match your smooth worsted spun single in twist and grist is Hard as H**L - but it’s also a deeply rewarding challenge to meet. The thing I was least satisfied with, while spinning the single, was how long the thick bits were and how great a distance between them the fiber tried to stretch out. And thank goodness for that second bit of frustration, for it lingered in my mind so that when I had plied the sample yarn and wet set it I was still obsessing about it. Looking at the finished sample, though, I realized that, for knitting purposes, I really want those slubs far apart. I want to knit a moderately smooth fabric with random slubs popping out on the surface - not an overall bumpy fabric. Best of all! I realized that this is true for when I add beads to the yarn as well. I don’t want beads all over the place - I want them to pop out here and there on the surface of a somewhat smooth fabric. So! Just the sort of thing to go into the Project Notebook (which I have yet to buy) so that I will look wise and scholarly and as if I take my craft seriously - or else really anal. No, no. I am sure the urge to make a Project Notebook is pure mnemonic. Like writing notes in a lecture, it’s a way of reinforcing the learning process. And maybe it will give me an opportunity to brag. But it will also give me a chance to share and teach and show others what I did and save them some time. Ahh the dual nature of TheQueen. If I were going to spin today, I'd spin up another slubbed sample, this time with longer stretches of smooth yarn between the slubs. But there shall be none of that today. I treadle with my left foot - this week’s twisted ankle foot - so instead I will knit away on the socks or drop spindle a wee bit of the merino top - both of which I can do in bed. And read. I am enjoying HP, but I can’t seem to stick with it for long stretches. Perhaps my brain is too scattered these days, or I am too ADD, or ENFP-ish to stick with anything, even an HP novel. There seems to be a humming going on in my brain that makes focusing particularly difficult these days. When I spin, I can let the humming have its will with me - but when I am reading it’s a decided nusicence. Fortunately, HP isn't so riviting I can’t put it down and pick it up after my brain cools. The important thing is to Rest That Ankle so I can function properly the rest of the week. So. I am off to rest. That ankle, of course. But perhaps I’ll hobble through the kitchen first, and look at Clean Cabinets. posted by Bess | 8:27 AM 2 Comments:The last time Girl was home she devoured four Harry Potters in three days and took the fifth one home with her - she hadn't read them before because of the weight of her schoolwork and job, and she was instantly hooked. She's already seen the newest movie, the little rat. I have contractors in my house all weekend again, so I don't know when I'll get there, but I will go soon. I think I'll watch the other movies on DVD to whet my appetite.
Blogger hasn't recognized me in a very long time. Not that that's any consolation. Several of my daily read blogs have noted the decline in readership or number of hits. I wonder if it's a seasonal thing or if the novelty has worn off. Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Tuesday, June 08, 2004 I've quit telling Blogger to remember me. It refuses, so I am resigned to having to log in each time I open the program. I've also noticed that more and more of the blogs I read on a daily basis are shutting down, shifting gears or going into hibernation. While I feel a twinge of sadness when someone stops blogging, I also understand exactly how something that was fun can stop being fun. I have no trouble utterly abandoning things that no longer feed me. For years I gave big parties in the spring. BIG parties. 200 guests. I had a lovely garden full of roses to show off. I enjoy being in a crowd when I'm on secure turf. I like to perform. It was always fun to see how elegantly I could pull something off on my budget (which is extremely small) It was the only way I could justify buying a(nother) really fluttery dress and flowerdy hat. But the year I realized that everybody, husband included, expected me to give a party, even began telling me what to serve and what to offer, was the year I stopped. Dead in the water, I haven't given such a big party in 4 years. The itch is on me again, though, and very possibly I will throw one next spring. Just that ... I'm not obliged to. To the busy, tired, or bored ones who have moved on I send you my thanks for your lively, entertaining words and good wishes for your new ventures. Yesterday was such a drag - having to be at work when I could have been designing new sweaters. And if only I had arms like Shiva I could knit two sweaters at once! Of course, since Shiva is the destroyer, maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea. My reward, though, for being such a good girl and actually going to work and even doing a little labor while there, was to find this and this in my mailbox when I got home. I haven't done a strict page by page comparison of this new Nicky Epstein book with her Knitted Embellishments, but I see enough different designs to justify the second book. This newer book has lots of ruffles - something I am interested in mastering. The Fair Isle book was pure indulgence. I know I will knit a pair of them. I suspect I shan't knit all that many, though. And I already had both glove and mitten patterns, so I didn't actually need a whole book on the topic. As I said - this was indulgence. Another treat coming my way is a half day today - or at least a partial day. A dear friend is hostessing me at a reception and showing of Van Gogh at the Virginia Museum in Richmond. (Hmmm. Is that the verb I am seeking? Members and guests, the invitation said, so, since I am a guest and she is a member doesn't that make her one of the hostesses?) We'll take off sometime in the early afternoon and get home about the same time I usually get home on Tuesdays. An added bonus will be that I'll have that lovely drive to get in some knitting. I am 2 rows behind my proposed knitting schedule. I would like to catch up. Step-son B will show up today and later in the week all three darlings will head out for a camping trip down the Rappahannock and up the Potomac. I think I'll take advantage of the resulting empty evenings to go see Harry Potter. I have thoroughly enjoyed the other movies and I expect to enjoy this one. I don't remember enough about the 3rd book to be upset if they don't give a blow by blow account of each detail. I read the first 4 books all in a spell of about 4 days, one summer, when I needed to escape from reality. A good way to do it if you can get away with it. As I recall, I never got out of bed till about 5 o'clock, when I insisted that BD take me to a restaurant for dinner so I wouldn't have to bother with kitchen duty. He did, too. 3 days in a row. He really is one of the good guys. So - looks like there's a little time to knit purple mohair. Off we go, then. posted by Bess | 7:09 AM 0 Comments:Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Monday, June 23, 2003 And the answer is “Yes”. I am still working on the yellow yarn. At least I am plying it, but I spent the day flitting from one thing to another, staying on-line waaay too long, and reading the new Harry Potter. It’s rare that I snatch up the hot titles people are waiting impatiently for, but now and then I do. Besides, I am not as interested in this one as I was the first 4 so I shall probably not read it thoroughly. This is no criticism of the book, either, but a hint about the mood I am in these days, which is flittery, of course. I don’t seem to be able to drop into the trance of absorption that real projects require. These insubstantial moods usually bespeak the embryonic stage of a NewProject, but you can’t hurry these things. I shall just have to wait till passion ignites. Oddly enough, the more concentrated I am in one thing, the more I am willing to dive into other things, while when I don’t feel a deep passion for whatever I am doing, I don’t tend to be interested in anything. Does this mean I like to be under stress or scattered? eh? who knows? who cares? We are what we are. And I got one of those F-word phone calls last night which has put me in a really rotten mood. Even though I should know better and should consider the source. Rats. I wonder why those crappy little digs from family members have so much power. posted by Bess | 7:01 AM 0 Comments:Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Sunday, July 22, 2007 Not a Harry Potter Spoiler. Just a word or two to say I think Rowling wrapped everything up nice and cleverly. Most people will like the ending. She won’t have to write any more HP books but she could if she wanted to. She closed the door, but she didn’t lock it. There were no surprises, no sudden character revelations that shifted your prejudices, and no disappointments, either. She did a good solid job and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I also stayed up into the wee hours to do so. And I read all day yesterday as well, so I didn’t get a lick of housework done .... no. I did get a lick, and a swipe, but only so as to keep the dust dragons at bay, for they’ve been slashing their tails up above the baseboards and dressers for a week now. Today a real housecleaning must be done or I shall become depressed. The Dr. gives BD encouragement about his eye, but he’s got to lie about on his right side half the day. We don’t go back to again till next weekend. You just have to love a doctor who has Saturday hours. But the instructions are - No Sailing and No Swimming for 2 weeks. Maybe, just maybe, BD will be cleared for the river in time for TheReunion, but no promises. Well. That’s the way it is. We couldn’t have gardened this year either. I have seen the drought get worse than it is right now - but it’s just mid-July - plenty of time for it to do so again. We’ve driven through Hanover County (pronounced HHHah nova) enough times this summer to see the truth, and the results, of scattered showers. The grass is green in peoples’ lawns. The corn is tall and straight and just beginning to get that ripened look. There are no yellow poplar leaves, no red black gum leaves and no orange sassafras leaves. They look like July. We look like - well. We look like disaster relief. You can almost hear the 2 inch soy bean plants crunch as the little animals scurry across the fields. So. I am thinking Rain and even Hurricane with minimum winds, say or a long slow northeaster. And seeing the little plants go Ahhhhhh as the ground soaks up wetwetwet. And trees! The trees. Seeing them relax into emerald splendor. Tomorrow I get together with Sister, Dad, and financial planner. Sister is still trying to find a place for him to move. Dad suddenly doesn’t want to move to the Stony Point location and she’s actually glad about that. But he’s making more and more emotionally charged, franticly foolish decisions. So far, only a few of them have been costly, but we want to see that he doesn’t do too many more dumb things with his money. There’s certainly enough for both Mom and Dad, but that doesn’t mean he won't fritter it all away in a flailing attempt to prove that he can make decisions for himself. We want to get as much of the $ stuff on autopilot as we can. In the mean time, I have this delicious day ahead, with low humidity and no reason to hop in the car and drive down the road. Hope your Sunday is full of good Sundayish things; strong spirit, love, good food, and good knitting. posted by Bess | 7:14 AM |
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