Yarn Along: 30 March

Joining Ginny again this week...

Oh another Wednesday Yarn Along.  My favorite! I missed last week as my computer was sick.    That sickness is of a human variety now in our house; some are effectively staving it off and other are falling prey.  I am usually the last man sanding.  We'll see this time...

My funny little blue blanket is turning itself into a sweater, I say.  I am working on the neck right now on the B.O.B.  One fear confirmed and another allayed.  The length of it is going to be just fine, but I am indeed going to run out of yarn.   Luckily, there is someone right here in my town (love Ravelry) who is going to sell me hers at half price.  Whew!

And reading... still The Good Life.  Those Nearings were quite an impressive pair.  Not sure they would become my best friends, but I could darn sure learn something from them.  Wow.  When I am not reading that, I am obsessively looking up information on chickens in preparation for the arrival of our new friends.  

I will likely finish up some reading this week and am looking for a good, practical book on homeschooling, one that will help me set up shop next year.  Any recommendations?

Garden in Waiting...

This is the first year I am growing anything from seed and I am finding it... challenging.  I have direct sown some seeds right into our beds (in Northern New Jersey, peas can go into the ground on St. Patrick's day, and lettuce can go in shortly thereafter) and I have planted some in flats indoors to be transferred around the middle of April.

My peas have taken a long while to sprout; I just saw the beginnings of the first one today nearly a month after it was planted.  I have word, though, from a local master gardener that I should not worry.  They will come.  The sheer mystery of it confounds me, really.  I know that seeds do this in theory, but I am sure that they will not do it for me, here in my yard, at my hands.  Only for scientists and experts, not for me.  But that first little sprouted seed is proving me wrong as I write this.  I too can bear witness to the mystery of life.  Amazing.

My indoor seeds are faring less well (evidently).  They had a few factors working against them~our house gets relatively little light~what light they did get got dimmed when our baby napped~and, most importantly, I have no idea what I am doing.  I watered them too much, I watered them too little, I left them outdoors too long, and I have no ability to pluck out seedlings that are competing for obviously limited resources.  Hmmmp.  

I am going to give indoor starts another try with tomatoes and peppers in April as they don't go into the ground until May around here. Spinach, broccoli, cauliflower and the rest will have to go directly into the ground.

Nature Study Monday: The Common Grackle

Oh you Grackle, you!  I am just not one of your fans...  This very large bird scares all of my little bird-feeding friends away from our feeders.  And instead of taking a bite and leaving, he remains there for a long while.  

Evidently I am not the only one who is not a fan...  The Grackle is an enemy at large of corn crops.  They gather in large numbers and destroy crops on a regular basis.  

Somehow this does not surprise surprise me.  A menace, I say...

Nature Study Monday: Baltimore Oriole

Oh I spotted something yellow at the feeder!  At long last!

We have here what (I think?) are two female Baltimore Orioles.  They visited us a while back; I haven't posted about them yet because I have not been entirely sure what to call them.  I keep coming back to this identification so I think I will stick with it.  If you know better, please enlighten me!

These birds don't generally spend their winters this far north which has only confounded me more.  They do however spend summers with us, so maybe some early migrants?

Orioles are songbirds whose nests are gourd-shaped and hang from a trees branches.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  

Amanda Soule

Yarn Along: 16 March

Joining Ginny again...

Houston, the sleeves are connected!  and I am pretty sure that the sweater is going to be several inches too short but we won't let that disturb the victory. Oh yes, the B.O.B. is coming right along and it has provided me many moments of knitting and watching quiet this week.  

The actual connection of the sleeves was new knitting for me.  They are not seamed in, but rather knitted into the garment (which is not a top down knit).  Tricky and fascinating process this knitting in of the sleeves; it gave me a whole new respect for pattern writers as I still have no idea how it worked, is working. I do though have significant doubts about the length.  Still, onward and upward! 

Right now I am working on the neck and getting ready for the button band.  Buttons!  For ME!  Why oh why have I not knit something for myself before this?  It is glorious! as long as the bottom of the sweater covers my belly button.

The reading has been very good this week as well.  I am loving The Good Life; although I must admit, I am more than slightly intimidated by their construction of many many buildings out of stone.  I think I have some pretty serious character deficiencies that would prevent me from ever adding that to my personal list of accomplishments.  Namely I am more of a "let's get it done-er" than a planner (I am working on this one though because it has cost me in time, in appearance, in sturdiness).  Could my sweater fit have anything to do with this ? And, while I am in constant motion, doing doing doing much of the time (also trying to work on this one), I aim for perfection and accept much less.  So the intricate details about their stone work left me pretty confounded; the chapter on gardening, though, has me riveted.  

And finally, Chickens In Your Backyard has crossed my lap a few times this week.  We have four baby chicks on the way next month so some preparations need to be made...

Garden Markers

Please forgive me for posting about painting and gardening while Japan is in the midst of such a tragedy.  I don't have a lot of words for what is happening so I will stick with the words I have...

With the emergence of warm weather, I do not do a lot of thinking about how we will spend our afternoons.  When the older two are done with their quiet time and the littlest is up, we simply go outside.  There are trucks and mud, sand and bikes, shovels and pails and any combination of the aforementioned. Built-in entertainment.  I.love.the.outdoors.

Lest I lose perspective though, this is March in the Northeast.  March is not exactly balmy.  I am overzealously putting on my bathing suit (not really, but almost) and mother nature is still blowing some freezing temperatures our way.  

All of this is to say that we do still have some indoor days in our immediate future.  If not from freezing weather, then at least from rain.  I am trying to come up with a store of springtime indoor activities that can hold our attention inside when we can not be out (we have all had just about enough of Candyland).  Last week on one of those rainy days, I broke out the acrylic paints (I do get some cold sweats with those though.  Acrylics and preschoolers and dining room.  Ack.  Acrylics, preschoolers, dining room, and blue plastic tarp makes it slightly better).

I got the plywood rectangles at our local Michael's for 99 cents each and then I ordered some of these to anchor them in the ground.  We have some more plaques on the way that I ordered online so we can finish the project up on another rainy day.