I love you, Mom. Forever.

Wish I could bake you a cake...

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age 12

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 WWII

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1940

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1957 or 1958

                                                                             1986

Yep...

...summer Sunday in NYS...

  

Of course this is still heavy after blocking cuz no yarn disappeared but at least it's a little easier to manipulate now that it has had the bejeezus stretched out of it.  I do love those colors and the hippy dippy medallions. Maybe we'll get a blizzard this year.  

July is off to some kind of start, alright...

I'm not feeling energetic but I can't relax, in fact I'm pretty tense. A pinched nerve and watching smoke from a huge spreading fire in East County has me uncomfortable and stressed out at the moment.  Chances are slim that the fire will get to us but that's what we've thought before.  It doesn't pay to be complacent. So I need to take stock of the evacuation closet. And if only I could take ibuprofen...

I've started another project.  This vest (free pattern!) by Elizabeth McCarten is going to be a nice addition if we ever get cool weather again. Interesting that her last name is only one letter different from ours...

I blocked the last thing in my basket over the weekend:

Another cold weather item. Clearly, I need to live somewhere else.  It's a version of Lucy at Attic 24's Japanese flower scarf.  In fact, it is identical in the yarn and colors and, for the most part, in the placement of those colors within the flowers.  I like it when someone else does the creative thing and I do the worker bee thing sometimes.  Same with the vest, no creativity on my part , just labor and following directions.  Sometimes I just want to knit, not think. And it's always nice when something pretty or useful is the result!

Please keep the fire fighters and people and animals in the fire's path in your thoughts...

It was a nice day...

...for a birthday party, America!

Summer Solstice!

Earth Day 2013

Thank you, Mother Earth, for your myriad blessings.  I stand in awe and gratitude.  How amazing are these gifts of yours to us!

Warm, soft air.  With a view.

Tiny gift packages that open to reveal lovely jewels.

Plant a seed: lettuce!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or chard.

Or kale. 

Or don't plant a seed...something jumps up anyway!

Aphids? Whoosh! Here come the ladybugs. Nature's insecticide.

How do they know?  Was there a ladybug news bulletin?  And just look at those perfectly placed polka dots!

Tomato forest.  Time to transplant.

There are even ballerinas in Nature.

And basking dinosaurs.

Fields of perfume

...and bits of sunshine

...dancing

...at our feet.

Something so magical about...

...the sky through branches of  a tree.

Surprises tucked everywhere

...if we only open our eyes to see.

And, maybe my own hair isn't so wild after all.

 I hope everyone gets a chance to go outside and celebrate the planet today.  Whatever the temperature or the location, there are gifts for the taking everywhere we look!  Happy Earth Day!

Yesterday's pile

This is what went out yesterday. Believe me when I say that this is just a scratching of the surface of what has already gone out and what will go out in the future.  Just a day, a single day...arghhh. There are two actual groups in my purges at the moment (this does not include any clothing or fabrics or yarns, books, etc.):  new or newer or non-collectibles, and collectibles/antiques.  The newer/non-collectibles go in the give-away or swap meet pile in the garage.  The collectibles/antiques get wrapped and put into boxes to be sold at some point.  Which presents its own issues...how the hell do I get rid of it all...?  I don't really want to pay for a booth in an antique shop, nor do I want to get all involved in eBay, Craigslist, or the like.  I could have a yard sale (which I do intend to do at my house in NY for those things there that I'm purging.)  But here in El Cajon, out here in the boonies, a garage or yard sale is not a great solution.  We don't live in a neighborhood, a sale of this kind would not attract anyone way out here.  I'm just not sure what to do.  Consignment?  I may just get so sick of the whole thing that I will donate it all and some lucky thrift store will get a hell of a bonanza one of these days.  Cuz there is a LOT of nice stuff in the things I'm getting rid of.  A lot.  I just don't want it any more. I'm done.

A new year...

Things are moving out the door in our house lately, in great numbers.  The theme here is 'less is more.'  We are in a real clean it out and get rid of it mode.  Amazing how good and freeing it feels.  My very real commitment is to get rid of at least one thing every single day of 2013...that will be 365 things gone from the house in a year.  And most days since I've been purging there are several(!) things that go.  So, if I have to pick a theme or phrase or some such thing for this next year, that is it: Less is more.  Onward!