Chattin'

Wah!  Whose idea was this?

I'm glad I'm going to visit Patrice and everybody who's sittin' on the porch today.  Sure wouldn't be doing that visiting on our deck.  This was my view when I woke up.  So, I'm just grabbing my knitting and running.  Oh, I forgot...back to get some carrots for Wendell.

 
Whew! Made it...what have I missed?

What did you have for breakfast this morning? I had fruit juice, a bowl of yogurt with a chopped pear then topped with flax seed, sliced almonds and cinnamon.  And a cup of nice hot tea.  

What's your favorite kind of juice?  My favorite is mango-pineapple juice with  some veggie juices mixed in.  

 Have you tried Pinterest yet?  Nope.  Haven't even looked.  My addictive brain can only handle so much. 

I can't wait for __________ from my garden (or farmers' market/CSA/neighbor with green thumb). Fresh tomatoes...warm from the sunny garden.  That's the very best way to eat a tomato.  Unfortunately, it's not one of the early producers so I'll have to be patient.

The worst job I ever had was __________________.  I've never had a job that I would describe as the worst.  The fact that I had to show up for work even when I didn't want to was about as bad as it ever got.  I always enjoyed my work whatever it was.  I've had quite a few jobs but no worst.  

Thank you, Patrice,  for hosting this morning.  If you'd like to visit just hop on over to Everyday Rurality.

Me?  I'm still looking at this view.  And it is still coming down.

Emerging

I am slowly coming back to the world.

For the last two weeks, I have been immersed in the world of King Arthur.  Reading this book, I have indeed gone beyond the mists into Avalon.  I have dwelt in Camelot and met the most amazing cast of characters.
The Mists of Avalon is on my list of challenge books for the Birth Year Reading Challenge 2012.   It's been on my one-day-I'll-read-that-book list for a lot longer. This was the perfect opportunity.

I didn't enjoy the slowness of the reading experience.  The prose is turgid to the point where I skipped some paragraphs and wished I'd taken an Evelyn Woods speed-reading course. I haven't read a fantasy novel for a very long time and then it was more science fiction  - as in parallel or alternate worlds.  I steered quite clear of the 'sword and sorcery' stuff.  This story  marries the two genres.  

But there were some things that I did enjoy and I'm glad I read it.  It was really interesting to review the Arthurian legend from the perspective of the female experience of that time.  And, maybe that's why it was so-o slow.  There was so much more emotion and feeling from the characters than was ever present in other accounts.  And, of course, it was more relevant to my own experiences as a woman.

Even more interesting to me, though, was the life-and-death struggle between the Christian and the Druidic religions for control over Britain.  This was a compelling narrative throughout the whole book.  And although we all know how the struggle ends, the theological discussions which take place between the characters are high level stuff.  It made me think which is always the mark of good writing.  If you pick this book up, be prepared to invest time and mental energy.  And be prepared to wade through the first third before you start to feel anything at all for the characters or the plot.  If you stick with it, you will be rewarded.

This is candle number two...hurrah!

Sunday wonders - N

N is for Nemisia.

I love these brightly-colored  flowers that we plant every year.

I like their little faces...

that remind me of smug cats.

Or maybe a surprised cat?

The color variety seems endless in some...

And just perfect in others.
These little flowers are summer to me - I can't wait for them to bloom again. 

Saturday stash

This week I really have been reducing stash.  For the past while, it's been more about using recycled yarn.  So far this year,  I've made three sweaters using wool frogged from two older sweaters which are now too big for me. 

The Big Easy is another winner!  Oh, I love this cardi.  So easy to knit it was ridiculous.  And just as easy to wear.  Warm and toasty without having long sleeves to get in my way.  And just enough garter stitch for a hit of texture.   I can see this being worn a lot.  A much better use for the yarn than sitting in a box under the bed.  I'm glad I did it. 

And I made up two little bitty sweaters for donation.  I had some extra pink acrylic, so I knit up the same baby pullover, Telemark, as last week.  However, I thought it needed an extra touch of girliness, so I added a picot edging on sleeves and collar.  Looks pretty comfy to me. 

And this one is Just Ducky.    I found this pretty spring green yarn in the cedar chest just waiting to be used.  I don't know why I've passed it by before.  The pattern is Baby Sophisticate...I replaced the shawl collar with a continuous band.  Somehow the shawl collar didn't look right in such a feminine color.  I love the little duckie buttons that I found -  I was so happy there were four. 

Speaking of buttons: they are the reason the red Dragon cardi is still not finished.  I can't decide on the buttons.  The way the pattern works is to have them just button through openings in the border pattern.  But that means quite small buttons.  I'm thinking of just making it a zip front.  Stay tuned for some kind of decision being made by next Saturday.  I want to wear it!

Today, the sump pump is being replaced.  Of course, they don't make the kind that's currently in place.  Don't you hate when that happens?