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Cheering up

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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere I go.  Especially since my everywhere includes the bedroom, where an amarylis is growing and the living dining area, where the tree is up and decorated and my little swirling candles and chimes are up.  Tim put the tree up and hung the lights then I tossed what I could from a relatively standing position.  I put together and cleaned my little angel chimes and am always amazed at how flimsy they are. Today I tried to find a replacement but apparently it’s difficult.  The original company went out of business when the market was flooded with cheap imitations from China and now supposedly the production has moved to Turkey, but I am dubious. They are very sweet because when the air heats up from the candle flames, the angels spin around and ring the brass bells.  I bought a much more substantial version this year from Germany made of wood.  But alas there’s no sound.  There are instead, choir angels who circle around a pipe organ and it is so authentic that the sheet music is actually a traditional carol.

We’re ahead of the game this year though because I went back and read what we were doing on the Winter Solstice last year.  We were on Deal Island and had just found our tree on a day when we also saw a double rainbow!  Then I started thinking about people we met last year and went to read about the Sydney – Hobart race, which begins on Boxing Day.  We met more racers from Victoria who participated in the Tassie Trio, and they many stopped by for a barbecue and good night’s sleep before heading home to Melbourne.

As an end note, sometime over the next couple of days, there will have been 20,000 page views of this blog!  Whodda thunk?

I finished my shopping and are waiting for final gifts to arrive.  Everything else has been wrapped and we are ready to celebrate.

Different couch, same guards

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Couch guardsI think they may be using me as an excuse to lay around on the couches. It works for me. Neither one has come close to my cast or foot. Very strange how they seem to know. Tim’s taking good care of me but also said he’s ready (after one day) to invest in  long term care insurance for me!

My knitting is progressing. I finished the lining for the Fiddlehead mittens in the hospital and the Pinstripe Slouch hat is well underway.

Fiddleheads

Pinstripe slouch hat

Thanksgiving

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I turned my kitchen into a disaster zone today in preparation for the holidays. While I chopped, boiled, stuffed, fermented, steamed and tasted I was thankful for family and friends. This is our first Thanksgiving in the United States in two years so tonight we are having Pad Thai. Our bigger celebration will be on Saturday to accommodate travel schedules and a multitude of commitments. Our guests will be turkeyed out but not us, we’re pacing ourselves.

I am thankful I developed a passion for fiber arts: knitting, spinning, weaving, dyeing and quilting and have met interesting women around the world with shared interests.

I am thankful I was able to put my loom together without any leftover pieces. I even understand how it works. Now I just have to DO IT!

I am thankful I finished this runner in time to grace the Thanksgiving table.

Fiber frenzy

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Let the games begin. How will I ever accomplish all the projects I have in mind, especially since I just brought home (but haven’t reassembled yet) a floor loom? Is it materialistic when you acquire objects for the sole pupose of making other objects? I count a full set of knitting and crochet needles, 2 sewing machines (including a vintage Singer Featherweight), one spinning wheel, three drop spindles, a rigid heddle loom and now a 4 harness floor loom.

Now I have a backlog of projects people have requested or I have in my mind. I see myself jumping from one project to another in a fiber fantasy frenzy. What fun!

This weekend alone I knit two cowls and three earwarmers. An earflap hat is on the needles and a shawl and leggings are in progress. A table runner is on the loom and a quilt is pinned and I have more fabric for the next one. I need elves.

During my trip south I found a moment to see the Fire Island Lighthouse, my old neighbor.
Sent fom my Palm

Brussel sprouts grow on a tree?

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I’m on a new food quest. We joined a local farm, a year round Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), two weeks ago and have embarked on new adventures in dining. Yesterday I butchered a chicken. Well not exactly, but dismembered it. I also made rye crackers from flour, which were delicious with smoked salmon. And cut the brussel sprouts off the branch so I could store them in the refrigerator. Today I julienned beets and carrots and made gnocchi, from potatoes and milk from the farm. Next I will figure out what to do with wheat berries and these brussel sprouts.

Brussel sprout tree

We are not alone here

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Well of course not. We have the cats with us. But even during the storm last night, a boat was tucked in behind the lee of the island. They must have been waiting for the tide to change because the weather didn’t really get better until later today and they were gone by early morning. We had several hours of sun today, which was very nice and brightened our moods. Even the cats were a little stir crazy. We were all happy to be out for a while today. Lobsterman were back out and a tanker went by about 3 miles south of the island this afternoon. There’s a hawk, which circles the east and south sides of the island and a few seagulls about. There’s an assortment of migrating birds passing by and attracted to the light.

Enterprise

I accomplished a lot of knitting yesterday and now find I like to have several projects going at once. I used to be almost exclusively a serial, monogamous knitter but there are so many projects. Some I have to focus on and others are more mindless. I’m knitting a “one stitch lace scarf” for patients who receive chemotherapy at the hospital, in a teal, machine washable blend. It’s simple garter stitch, with a dropped stitch lace pattern, and great to knit while we catch up on old episodes of Dexter.

Knitting trio

The gray and pink lace scarf was a mistake but now I’m so far along, there’s no stopping me. The stripes, combined with the lace, are too busy but I’m six feet into it so there you are. The pattern is Traveling roses, a pretty pattern but 43 stitches by 43 stitches for one repeat and this old mind just hasn’t been able to memorize it. I have it on my Kindle and insert a note to remind of the last row knit.

Monkey socks

The third project is a pair of socks for me with knitpicks stroll in a heather. Very pretty yarn and I have made myself a pair of socks each time we have been here (I’m wearing my pair from 2008 now). So I want to keep up the tradition. It’s a nice reminder all year of the wonderful time we have on Seguin.

One stitch lace scarf

Traveling roses scarf

Seguin 2011