Fiber-related progress...

I realize I've been a slacker with regard to Tour de Fleece updates, but rest assured, I have been spinning every single day of the race, and pretty much all of my bobbins have looked like this once they were filled...

Team BKG decided to spin yarns to match various album covers. The first I chose to do with Joan Jett fiber (singles pictured above), which I finished plying today...

...I totally love how it turned out, even if the colors didn't match the album cover quite as well as they did in their original fiber form. The fiber was 8 oz. of Scarlett Fleece 100% Australian Merino Wool Top in the Raisin Berry colorway. It is so soft and yummy! I got just under 600 yards of a 2-ply light worsted weight yarn from it.

In the land of crochet, the Silk Garden granny square afghan continues to grow...

...I am in love with this project and never want it to end. Ever. You might think I'd be bored doing that same crochet thing around and around as the blanket gets bigger, but no. Not with Noro. The colors just keep pulling me along, like Bugs Bunny following a carrot.

No knitting news to report. Spinning and my Noro blankie have been taking up all of my crafting time. That and learning how to process RAW images from my camera, something that I've been successfully ignoring now for several years of digital SLR ownership. I'm still not sure how much I like working with them versus the JPG images I'm used to, but I'm going to continue to play and see how it goes.

And apropos of nothing fiber-related, I took this cool picture of the newly waning moon last night...

I love the moon.

What is this, Florida?

It is 70 degrees F. today. Seventy. Seven-zero. WTF? Seriously???

There is blue sky. There is sunshine. Neither of those things will I complain about because they can be rare in southwestern PA between, oh, November and April. But would it kill Mother Nature to at least offer some seasonal temperatures and perhaps some snow on the ground? Would it?? I submit that it would not! Sheesh.

Adding insult to injury here, I wanted to somehow capture the sunny, blue warmth in a photo (because I can, and because my husband bought me a card reader for Christmas, allowing me to more easily put pictures on the blog when I'm working on the MacBook), but honestly? There is absolutely nothing beautiful outside to take a picture of here at this time of year. The grass is faded and mushy. The trees are bare. There are leftover dead leaves everywhere. And even in the sunlight, there is still a sickly gray pallor over it all...perhaps superimposed by my own mind, who knows. 

On the upside, it was a beautiful day to be outside without a coat on, and I went to the gym and enjoyed both the fact that I could come out when I was done, all hot and sweaty, and not have the sweat freeze on my body and also, curiously, my knees felt far less achy today than they do on most days after the gym. I think my knees are in favor of this weather. I know my husband's formerly broken ankle sure it.

A day in pictures...

...and some other miscellanea...


I woke up today with a scratchy throat, a headache and a cough. Thus, I've self-medicated with echinacea, Zicam and Twinings Peppermint Tea. (And two Advil late this afternoon when I just couldn't take the headache anymore.) I've been bone tired all day and nearly fell asleep while waiting at the deli counter of the grocery store. Interestingly, I'm feeling somewhat better tonight (knock on wood). Here's hoping that continues, because this is not a good time to get sick.


I love the color of winter light as it falls through my front windows and creates a swath of warmth, brightening everything. Winter light, though less plentiful than that of other seasons (especially here in southwestern PA!), is quite beautiful, I think.


I'm getting used to our new, narrower Christmas tree. It's still bright and festive. That's what counts, right?


My WIP count is now down to sixteen, as I finished the Just Enough Ruffles scarf tonight. What a fun pattern it was! And the Malabrigo Silky Merino? Divine to work with! I want one for me now! (Am I all about the exclamation points today or what?!)

And a pictureless note...my washing machine is making unhealthy squeaking sounds. This washer is not that old. Only two years. Or is it three? Still, that's not old in appliance years! It is not allowed to break! Do you hear that, Universe? Not! Allowed!

Happy Monday!

And yes it is a happy Monday. It is sunny out. The first view I see when I get out bed these days is the hillside to the west of our house, all resplendent in its autumnal glory. (In other words, the trees look darned pretty! LOL) And when the sun is shining on those reds and oranges, well, they're just set on fire and look amazing. 

And, the moon? Wow...I went outside late last night -- the first time I've taken the time to do that in a while, it seems -- and the near-full moon greeted me, shining bright and clear and simply beautiful. I surveyed the constellations and realized it has been a while since I'd been out to pay them a visit, because they've moved significantly. That means, of course, that my much-loved winter sky is creeping closer every night. I'm eagerly awaiting Orion's return to my part of the sky...I watched him all last winter, and he was my touchstone for learning several other constellations. I can't wait for him to come back around.

And it is a happy Monday because I have nothing making me leave my house today. I may voluntarily leave to go to the grocery store, because we need milk and a few other necessities. But otherwise? I'm good to stay home. And other than a couple of other regular outings and hair appointments for the kids on Thursday, our calendar is quite uncluttered this week, and that always makes me very happy. 

The fact that it is a light week schedule-wise gives me hope that I might make some progress in re-organizing the basement. Seriously. With the cold months coming, that place needs a good clean-up and I need to recoup space that the kids can use this winter to get their energy out lest they drive me batty up here! 

Plus, I am dying to get my office/studio-space re-organized. I removed the love seat from the room this weekend (because, really? the only thing that ever sat on it was junk) and replaced it with an old, beat-up conference table. This will give me the horizontal space I need to finally get my yarn all organized into less random collections in the storage containers, and once that is taken care of and I am (hopefully!) able to move around the room a little more, I plan to use that table as designated scrapbooking space. 

I've not scrapped in almost two year, and I really miss it. I have so much stuff (for every obsession there is a stash), even after purging through it a while back and getting rid of tons of materials that I'd collected over the years, and I have so many pictures...I want to get back to it. I figure if I give myself a designated spot in which to do it (because right now, my yarn has mostly displaced my scrap-goods to the nether regions of my space), then perhaps I can use one day a week to scrap. That would be good. And fun!

So...happy Monday to you all. May it be an enjoyable and productive week for us all! :)

P.S. Another Monday happy bit today? I finished a pair of socks for the boy (Rav link) last night, and he immediately put them on and hasn't taken them off. I love that he loves his hand knit socks!

Friday...

"The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air." Galadriel, Fellowship of the Ring.

It's Friday. The last day of my kidless week. It's been a lovely week, but you know what? I'm ready to see my kiddos again. I dreamt about them last night. It's time! I can't wait to hear how their week was. I can't wait to see how camp has changed them, because there are always changes.

It's time for changes, I think. I am sitting here on the back porch, with my coffee and a couple of blueberry biscuits left over from yesterday's bout of domesticity (recipe* courtesy of J. L. at I Live on a Farm). 

In about six months, I will be longing for a day like today.

It is a sunny day, but there is a refreshing cool breeze, and there is hardly even a hint of humidity in the air. It's another gift of a day...a misplaced fall day dropped here ahead of schedule. No complaints from me. I'll take it! 

[Edited: the day turned out to be Irish in nature...beautiful sun and clouds against a blue sky one moment, a rain shower without warning the next. The day went on like this, only enriching its beauty.]

But the autumnal feel to the day makes me think of what is to come. The first full week of August has passed. Neighborhood kids will be heading back to school in just two weeks -- two weeks! I've always kept fairly close to the public school dates in so far as beginning and ending our homeschool year. Last year we started nearly a month early, which was nice, because it allowed us to end early. This year our schedule won't allow for as much of a luxury. Still...we will begin soon. I need to take some time between now and then to get organized.

Autumn also means a busy time outside. With any luck, we'll have tomatoes to can (if they ever decide to ripen at all!). 

[Insert impromtu garden review here...]

I saw a hint of red peeking through the vines today. Hopeful, I picked it, only to see this indignity. Someone had the audacity to bore a hole into our first ripe tomato! The nerve! So I chucked it down over the hill.

The rest of them all look like this. Green, green, green. Perhaps it is only my imagination, but these two look like they're trying to turn. Maybe? Perhaps if they glanced over to their right, they'd be inspired...

...our neighbor's tomatoes seem to have the hang of this ripening thing!

At least there are peppers! Our first two! These aren't exceptionally large peppers, but I was afraid to leave them on the plants any longer lest someone decide to munch on them as well. They'll be perfect for stuffing.

Where we lack tomatoes we make up for it in potatoes! Kevin dug our first basket of potatoes last night, for which I celebrated by making french fries. Around here, it is never potato season, but french fry season, as Kevin insists there are no better fries than those made from freshly dug potatoes. I humor him. To me, grease is grease. :}

Seriously, though, look at the size of this bad boy! He's family-sized! There were two like this!

[Back to our regularly scheduled blog entry now.]

My husband and kids will work every weekend to cut fire wood for both our house and the in-laws' house. I know Kevin has other projects in mind to complete before fall ends. Even if these do not directly involve me, I will play a support role however I can.

As discordant an idea as it might seem, while autumn brings school and harvest and winter preparations to our world, it also brings calm to mine, mentally if not physically. Maybe it is my internal clock that for so many years centered around the school year. September always meant a return to a familiar routine. The details of the routine might change, but the routine itself is still present. And it is a comfort. There is much about fall that I love, but the re-establishment of routine after the laid-back nature of summer is usually at the top of my list.

Things are changing. Like Galadriel, I can feel it in the very air around me. Stay tuned.

*Just a note about this recipe...I tweaked it to use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup unbleached white flour, which then required closer to one cup buttermilk. I'm trying to add more whole grains to our diet, and this was an easy substitution that still yielded a very tasty biscuit!

P.S. Lest the flowers feel left out, here are a couple gratuitous flora photos...

The coreopsis is finally blooming again!

Doesn't Nigel look happy nestled back behind the Black-Eyed Susans and the purple coral bells? Far happier than he was, I imagine, when he was stranded back in the weeds that were towering over his head earlier this summer! (Yes, we named our gnome Nigel. We're nothing if not alliterative.)

Sleep is optional...

It is not often I'm awake to hear the early morning bird songs as nature wakes to a new day. I can't recall the last time I actually witnessed the sky lightening or the sun rising. It may well have been last year at this time, after I dropped my son off to get on the bus for camp. Perhaps this will be an annual occurrence?

I am a night owl, not one of those early morning birds eager to catch the worm. I'll happily stay up until 2 a.m. with the knowledge that, most mornings, I can sleep until at least 9:00. Seven hours of sleep does me just fine. Sunday is the one day a week I usually have to set the alarm. Church is at 9:00, so I'm up at 7:30. One short sleep night won't kill me, though I get out bed each sabbath morning promising myself an afternoon nap (though I rarely follow through).

Today it is Sunday. This morning, very early, I took my kids to church to drop them off for the carpool to the camp buses. They'll be home late Friday night. Knowing the rendezvous time was 5 a.m. (otherwise known to me as "ungodly o'clock"), I attempted an early bedtime. Midnight. It's true what they say about attempting to change your bed time...do it slowly, a little earlier each night over a week or so, because to try and change it drastically in one night? Probably will not work.

And work it did not. I laid in bed and tossed and turned. One o'clock passed, then two. Surely by then, I thought, I should be falling asleep. It was my normal bedtime, after all! But no. Whether I was keyed up thinking about the kids' upcoming week (myriad thoughts of my own youth group trips from years ago came flooding unbidden through my sleepless brain) or perhaps it had something to do with the iced mocha I indulged in last evening (though coffee rarely keeps me awake at night, no matter how late I drink it), sleep was elusive. By 3:30, I abandoned pretense and got out of bed, allowing my husband the luxury of a bed sans a restless wife.

Sitting in the silent dark of the living room (not even the birds were stirring yet), I logged on to the computer. I checked Plurk. Only one update. I checked my Ravelry boards. Very few new posts. The rest of the world was sleeping. How dare they, when I could not?

Four-thirty finally came, and the kids got out of bed. With minimal bustle and little conversation, they dressed and gathered the last of their things, stuffing packs of Pop-Tarts into their backpacks to eat later on. I paused during the process long enough to take in the intensely black sky that showed off the beauty of the constellations even more than it had earlier in the night when I'd gone out to gaze at it. Perhaps it was worth being up at 4:30 a.m. just for this?

With the car loaded and me inexplicably wide awake, we headed to the church where we gathered with the families of eight other middle schoolers and their chaperones. Last minute paper work was cared for, luggage was tagged (that became my duty for the second year in a row) and loaded into the two vans making the trip to the bus pick-up point. Forty minutes later, the campers were blessed and in the cars, and we parents were back on our way home.

My trip home included a McDonald's drive thru, as I was ravenous after my unplanned night-long vigil. Not the healthiest way to start the day, but it satisfied.

I'm currently reading Brida by Paulo Coehlo. Early on in the story, Brida comes to spend a night alone in the forest, awake and fearful until she remembers the words her father used to say to her when she was a child, "The night is just a part of the day."

"The night is just a part of the day. Therefore she could feel as safe in the dark as she did in the light...'I learned about the Dark Night,' she said to the now silent forest. 'I learned that the search for God is a Dark Night, that Faith is a Dark Night. And that's hardly a surprise, really, because for us each day is a dark night. None of us knows what might happen even the next minute, and yet still we go forward. Because we trust. Because we have Faith.'" Brida, pages 16, 17.

There is magic in the dark night. I do not pretend to understand it, but every time I experience it, it is a gift. I witness the same aspects of God's creation day after day by the light of the sun, and for a few hours here and there by the moon's illumination. But these dark, dark nights? Where the stars are as deep as the sea and the very air around me carries the weight of a different dimension? The darkest minutes before the eastern sky shows a sign that morning indeed will come? They are rare for me.

The silence, the stillness, the uninterrupted time alone. They are a gift, and I am thankful for them this early Sunday morning. I will pay the price later as I begin to drag and my body starts to ache for lack of sleep. But it will be worth it for what I received in exchange. And I can always take a nap this afternoon.

Full moon...

...today! According to my moon phase widget to the right, it is technically full right now, though other sources say it will not be full here, on the east coast of the US, until 2:59 a.m. tomorrow. Either way, close enough. The view of it tonight will be full for me.

I love the full moon. I love the moon in any stage really, but full is...cool. ;)

Last night, around 8:30 or so, I got the urge to take a walk and look for the moon, as I knew it had to be coming up over the horizon somewhere. There are so many tall trees surrounding us that it is hard to see things close to the horizon, so I have to look for them. Thus, despite the mugginess of the evening and the summer cold I've been nursing all week, I took a walk down the road, toward the east, and as I started down the hill toward a clearing in the trees, there it was...big and reddish and just over the horizon...the almost-full moon. My heart did a little skip of joy. Really.

I love following the moon phases and am sad if the weather does not cooperate for good moon viewing. (June was a terribly sucky moon month for me...so much rain and so many cloudy, overcast nights. I missed the full moon altogether.) As the moon begins to wane and becomes harder to spot, coming up later every night, I start to feel a little sad. But then it circles back around, past the new moon to that tiny waxing crescent (I used to call it a "toenail" when I was a kid, LOL) in the sky...the first time I spot it, it makes me so incredibly happy, like seeing a good friend who has been absent for a while.

Me and the moon...I'm completely smitten. :)

Perfect day...

...or nearly perfect, but I'll take it.

We were heathens today and skipped church. Kevin headed out to do his thang after breakfast, leaving the kids and I to enjoy our leisurely Sunday however we pleased. Waking up to bright sunlight at this time of year is always a bonus, because there are some years where the sun barely shines between November and March in the 'burgh.

Today was unseasonably warm -- if we can't have real winter with actual snow, I'll gladly take 40 degree temps and sunshine. I lingered in bed, bathed in sunlight, first reading, then spending some time journaling, which I haven't done since last fall, hard as that is to believe. I also spent some time re-reading my journal from early 2007...I love going back and reading what was going on in my life a year earlier. It's amazing how much surprises me and how much I forget about until I reread it.

Being the gorgeous day that it was, the kids and I took a walk, our first of 2008. Technically, I walked and they rode their bikes.


The sky was an absolutely beautiful blue...

As I was walking, I noticed how much litter was strewn along the road. This drives me crazy. Sometimes I have the foresight to bring a bag with me and pick it up as I go. I hadn't thought ahead today, but as we were on our way back up the road, there on the ground, under some remaining snow and ice, was a plastic bag! I figured that was the universe's way of telling me to go back and pick up the trash, so I did.


Most of it was the usual -- beer cans, plastic bottles and paper cups. We had a pretty significant wind storm last week, which blew a lot of garbage cans and recycling bins over and spread the contents far and wide. I figure that was how the liquid soap bottle and some other things ended up along the road (not many people go on hand-washing binges in the car and then toss the empties out the window, you know?).

Along with two empty Marlboro Light packs, I also found...

...an empty nicotine gum packet. Wonder if they came from the same person?

Sometimes, when I pick up my bagfuls of litter, I'm tempted to be cynical and wonder just how much difference does this really make to the planet? Sure, it makes things look nicer, but does it really have an impact on the earth's health? I know the answer is "yes," and that, say, over the course of a year, all those bags add up. But I can understand why some people don't bother to make the effort...it's hard to see the benefit in what seems like such a small bit of a huge problem...like spitting into the ocean.

On the way back home, I ran into a neighbor coming the other way. I love when the weather gets warm, even just for a day, and people get out and you get to talk to them after having stayed inside all winter. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and connected.

I took advantage of the day and filled the bird feeders again, too. It didn't take long before some of the birds came to check them out...tons of black-capped chickadees...


...and one tufted titmouse that flitted around insanely fast, making it very hard to get a good picture of her. Or him. Not sure on the gender.



And as if a lovely afternoon was not enough, I stepped outside tonight, after my family was in bed, to find the most perfect sky for stargazing. It was dark and clear, and the stars were shining brightly. I took my star charts out and gazed. For an hour. It was freakin' cold, but I didn't care. I was able to clearly identify about six new constellations that I'd not located before, and learned the names of several key stars, and I figured out where Saturn is, too! How cool is that?! (I get so excited about these things.) I just stood out there, turning in a circle, my eyes glued to the sky, reciting to myself the names I was trying to learn...Wezen, Adhara, Aludra...Procyon, Castor, Pollux...Lepus and Arneb...Perseus and Mirphak...Auriga and Capella and Alnath. I love these names...they're like another language and I love speaking them...I love how they feel as my mouth forms the words and annunciates their names.

So, that was my day...my perfect, heathen Sunday. And yet, in so many ways, I worshiped God more meaningfully today than I do most Sundays that I do go to church.

In closing, let me just add this public service message while I'm thinking about it:

Dear Drivers Who Feel the Need to Drink:

Not to pick nits, but if you're going to drink and drive and then rid yourself of the evidence by tossing your empties out the car window, would you please at least be considerate enough and either a) drink canned beer or b) toss your glass bottles into grassy areas, not on the rocks? Those of us who care really do not like picking up broken bits of glass, risking cuts and god-knows-what kinds of germs infiltrating our flesh.

Also, drinking and driving? So not a good idea. Just ask my son. And if you're underage? All risks of injury to yourself or others aside, the legal ramifications of getting caught? So, so not worth the ensuing hassles and costs. Really. Just ask my son. Be responsible, find a friend's house to hole up in, drink your six pack and then order pizza, make prank calls, watch porn, whatever...just don't drive, ok?

Thanks,

Ms. Inspired

P.S. No...I didn't watch the Super Bowl tonight, but thanks to the alert from my friend Amy, I did tune in to the half-time show. Tom Petty, baby! Dude's gettin' old, but he still rocks. Not hitting as many high notes as he one did, but he pulled them off in Free Falling. Kewl. :)

Total Eclipse of the Moon...

Looking for something to liven up your February nights? Well, guess what? Yes! A total eclipse of the moon will be coming to a sky near you the evenings of February 20 and 21! Conditions cooperating, we in the northern hemisphere should have a great view of it. Here in the eastern time zone, the moon will dip behind the earth's shadow between 10:00 and 10:52 p.m. on the 20th. The full eclipse schedule can be found here, if you're interested (and, really, who wouldn't be? ;))

I will be viewing the eclipse from South Carolina, as we'll be heading down that day for my son's Marine Boot Camp family and and graduation the following two days. So, here's hoping SC has clear skies that night!

And speaking of the moon...I am tickled about that little moon phase module over there in the right hand margin! Just found that this evening. As my friends know, I can be a little (ahem) obsessive about the moon, so when I find these kinds of little bloggy-toys, it just makes me so happy! ;) (Just click the link above and get your own, customizable moon phase module for you blog! Go on...you know you want to... ;))

No Longer a Mystery!

For months now -- months -- I have been staring at the southerly night sky, seeing the same two celestial bodies night after night, the larger and brighter of the two above the other, the smaller and lower most often twinkling a fabulous red. I've looked on my star chart and tried to figure out just which two bodies they are, but I've never come to a firm conclusion.

Until tonight.

Jupiter and Antares.

Two more faces I can put names to in the night sky. Too kewl.