Saturday Stash

A little knitting this morning. A phone chat with my daughter.   A lazy brunch of Eggs Benny on crab cakes and a leisurely stroll through the park.  Now I'm back to share my stash news for this week. 

The reason I was knitting first thing this morning was to finish this little cardi for Gabby.  Had to have something to show for a week - plus an extra day!  I have had these little airplane buttons for ages and this was the perfect blue sky project for them.  How high can you fly over the leafy treetops? 

I also tried my hand at another pair of slippers for donation.  They are supposed to have flowers on the toes and I made the first four petals.  But then I got bored and the petals were too big.  So, I made bows with buttons, instead.  I think somebody's grandma will like them. 

Last up, is another pair of the Lismore Cable socks.  I needed to test the pattern I've written up.  It still has to be typed and PDF'd for ravelry but the process is in motion.  These are anklets and I think they are the perfect Easter sock.  Remember those white cotton anklets we girls wore with our new Easter dress and hat? 

I'll leave you all with an Easter bouquet.  My sister brought these over the other day as a thank you for looking after her two dogs.   That pitcher is at least a foot tall so these are massive blooms.  And such a sunny yellow.  Or spring chick yellow.  Your choice. 

A - Z Challenge: G

G is for Garbage.

Taking out the garbage bag to the wheelie bin this morning it occurred to me how our garbage habits have changed.  This is a fairly big bin and it used to always be full.  And not that many years ago, either.  A long weekend like this would mean a compacting exercise was in order because regular pick up service was delayed.  If we missed a week - whoo boy!

When I opened the lid I noticed there was only one other bag inside.  For the whole week.  Where did all of that garbage go?  We now have two composters.  The more fresh fruit and veg you eat the more composters you need.  And our garden is very happy with the leftovers. When I was a kid we always had a compost bin.  They were big homemade wooden boxes and my Dad was always turning the stuff over. 

We recycle all our paper, most plastic and our glass and tins.  And all the newspapers - they have their own bag.  I remember my Dad had a burn barrel out in the back yard.  We lived in a town - small but definitely not rural countryside.  And every week he would burn whatever was burnable.  Clean stuff got burned in the fireplace, too.  I'm still trying to remember what happened to newspapers.  They were saved to start fires, I know that.  And I have a vague memory of them being bundled up and collected by someone. 

Anything that was too big to burn  - or not burnable at all - went to the dump.  A wonderful place that I loved to go to with my dad.  Sure it didn't smell pretty but what was exciting to me was the stuff lined up at the entrance.  There were people who had the right to salvage and sell things that were discarded.  I thought this was a great thing.  We still have to truck no longer usable items to the transfer station but there is no salvaging allowed.  Now we live in the big city and the theory is that we can separate and recycle almost everything.  What gets dumped is no longer worthy of anyone's attention. 

All our wire coat hangers  used to be collected by Cubs and Scouts who made a bit of money selling them to recyclers.  They also collected all our bottles and cans for their deposits.  But big business has discovered that all these things make money.  And there are folks who comb the streets balancing their bulging bags full of cans and plastic bottles over their bicycles.  What's sad is that people think it's OK to just toss this garbage on the roadside or in someone's yard.  And it's definitely too bad that take-out coffee cups have no deposit.  They're all over the place.

Garbage has changed.  Some people's behavior has changed.  It's amazing what a little financial incentive can do.   Obviously, respect for our own environment isn't enough to get us all reducing, reusing and recycling.  We're still working on improving.

A - Z Challenge : F

F is for Fun.

It's been a little glum around here.  All work and no play...you know what that leads to. 

So a day outdoors with friends is just what the doctor would have ordered.

Let's pretend that we're floating away to - does it matter where?

We can take some time to smell the flowers...

And let last year's grasses filter the view of this tiny part of the ocean.

I discover the fronds of new growth as the yarrow pushes its way past old stems.

At the end of the day, I felt exactly as this white-crowned sparrow...let's just open our beaks and SING!

A - Z Challenge: E

E is for Empty. 

I had a much different plan for this post but my mind became far too busy with the idea of emptiness.  I had to find a way to empty my mind.  Now my mind may be full of nonsense but it is always full.  The only time I can empty it - even the littlest bit - is in tai chi.  And the best I can do then is focus on my breathing.  So, in...and...out...is my mind empty?  Not quite. 

I went and stood under the shower for a few minutes hoping that I could let the water wash all that busy thinking down the drain.  But I am inspired in the shower.  That's where I do all my best thinking.  The mind is free to empty and fill again with a whole new set of ideas.

The thing is, empty is just a word.  I don't see it as a negative.  Empty for me is  a positive: it has potential.  An empty box is just waiting to be filled.  An empty beach is waiting for me to experience the pleasure of a walk of discovery.   I never saw an empty shelf that I didn't love.   An empty square on the calendar means a day full of surprises.  I have so much I could put in it: it's a day to read, or knit  or putter in the garden, or, or, or.  A few empty hours are a gift. 

Now I'm wondering:  is emptiness an illusion?