It was pretty and sunny for most of the day, today, but as I drove home, you could see the clouds coming in. I pulled over into the local elementary school’s parking lot to take the picture–you can still see the mound of snow left from plowing the parking lot last week.

Anyway, the weather forecast right now is:

Tonight: Periods of snow. Low around 24. South wind between 8 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.

Um, I don’t want to complain, or anything, but, see, Jessica has been trying to have a housewarming/spinning party for a couple of weeks now. It was cancelled two weeks ago because HWJF had the flu and she didn’t want to risk passing it on to the rest of us–which was much appreciated. I think, though, that the problem was that she kept referring to March 1st as her “Snow Date,” and Mother Nature took her seriously. Just, er hopefully not TOO seriously. I’ve got that pretty blue roving on the wheel, and everything . . . and you know how Jessica loves blue!

This photo, by the way, is one I took this on our walk last weekend, when the snow was fresh, just minutes after our ice-covered little maple tree. These are our neighbor’s stairs, but there was something very nifty about the play of shadow…. Couldn’t help myself!

Fellow spinners, did you see Abby’s post about spinning sock yarn?

Okay, got to go finish my book list for the month. Happy Leap Day, everyone!

• Tags: Friends, General, Knitting/Spinning, Sky, Weather • Permalink:Whether Weather // 5 Comments »

So, on Sunday–the first day with sunshine after last Friday’s storm–we took a walk, and as we left the house, saw this. This is our teeny-tiny baby red maple tree, and it sits under the eaves of the house and, as you can see, was just covered in icicles. The timing for our walk was perfect, though, because the sun was at just the right angle to make them really shine.

In fact, see? When we got back from our walk, the sun had moved around the corner of the house, leaving the icicles gleaming rather than sparkling, but still just as pretty.

Sometimes, it really pays to bring your camera on a walk around the block.

Brought to you by:

• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday, Weather • Permalink:Ice Maple // 4 Comments »

So, what to write about tonight? There’s really not much new in the knitting and spinning since yesterday’s post. I reached the bottom of the neckband just before I folded up my knitting tonight (all together: Ooooh!), but it looks pretty much the same as it did, so . . . not very exciting to show you.

So, how about just a couple of random things?

Like, this wonderful, inspiring video of Randy Pausch, a professor from Carnegie-Mellon who is dying of pancreatic cancer and recreated his “Last Lecture” for the audience at Oprah, after video of his real lecture for his students hit You Tube and went viral. It’s only 11 minutes long and it’s wise and touching and just very much worth the time to watch. (Really!)

Any Jane Austen fans out there? Check out this site, where you can play paperdolls with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. (For that matter, this blog post has lots of nifty Jane Austen-related fashion links.) And, who knew? There’s a Flickr group for fun pictures with your Jane Austen Action Figure. I’d better get mine out of the box and take her out to play! There’s a handy list of the dance music from the movies, too. (Am I the only one who likes the tune of “Mr. Beveridge’s Maggot“?) For that matter, did you know there’s a poll to vote for your favorite Jane Austen Man?

Does anybody else watch Eli Stone on ABC? It’s a mid-season replacement and I’m just loving it. Poor, great show . . . it’s doomed.

And, really, that’s about it.

How about a nice picture of Chappy?

• Tags: General • Permalink:Random // 5 Comments »

I know, I know, I didn’t post yesterday. Apparently the time felt endless, because I got an e-mail this afternoon asking if everything was all right. I mean, come on, I only missed one day . . . but still it was sweet of her to ask (and yes, I’m teasing). I hope none of you suffered unduly at the lack of an exciting Tuesday. (Because, trust me, it wouldn’t have been exciting even if I had posted. Watching the NY Philharmonic playing in North Korea was MUCH more interesting than anything I could have summoned up to talk about last night.)

I’ve been working on my blue merino and oh, this is really just the prettiest color. I don’t think I’m going to have the heart to ply it with the other roving I bought to go with it. Which, really, is a shame because I had wanted enough to make a sweater, and I don’t think 8 ounces is going to be enough on its own. But, still . . . it sure is pretty!

Of course, I could ply half of it with itself and then spin up the black/blue roving and ply half of it with itself, and then use the other halves to blend . . . that would make for some really interesting color in a sweater, huh? Pure blue at the top, blue and black barber-poled together in the middle, and the black at the bottom? Hmmmm . . .

Then there’s the knitting–I’m getting close to having the back on my Flutter-sleeved cardigan done. I’m not sure how many rows are left, but I think I’m about midway through the sleeve shaping at the top. (he sleeves, of course, are part of the back of the sweater–not separate pieces–so the rows are longer now, but, no complaints. It’s moving along nicely, the Silky Wool is a pleasure, and I absolutely love the shade of green (though it’s HARD to photograph!)

It’s a little strange, having only this one thing in my knitting bag.

Technically, I do have a second project–these little wrist-warmers that I’m carrying around in my purse for knitting emergencies. The yarn is the handspun Aspen merino/tencel from last month and the stitch is actually the one from the Suede Berroco tote I made a couple years ago. And, in fact, the same as I used on my Sundara Black Lagoon socks, too. I figure, I don’t have massive amounts of this yarn, but I wanted to do something with it, it was so lovely, so I’m basically knitting tubes–two at once–and when I run out of yarn, they’ll be done.

So yes, technically, I have two projects going. But you know, I’ve apparently done a mental-clearing thing lately, because a week or so ago, I only had one book going at a time, too, which is practically unheard of for me. But things are back tonormal there, too–four current books. Much more like it! One history book (is Doris Kearns Goodwin ever anything less than brilliant?), a book about the history of wood (yes, wood), the original Dragonrider of Pern books by Anne McCaffrey, and a book about writing by Elizabeth Berg. A nice, well-rouned pile.

Okay, speaking of books and mental decluttering, I read the Zen Habits blog every day, and it’s filled with all sorts of tips about how to make your life a little calmer, a little less cluttered, a little happier, a little more peaceful… You get the idea. Well, he just came out with an e-book called The Zen Habits Handbook for Life, and considering how good the blog is, and how many great tips I got from his prior e-book about productivity–and that it’s only $6.95–I wanted to share. You can pretty much get all the tips directly from the blog, but paying a few dollars for convenience that you can take away from the computer with you is pretty reasonable, I think. His blog is a good one–he doesn’t knit, mind you, but he talks about simplicity, health and happiness, productivity, finances, family–all good stuff.

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning, Reading • Permalink:Don’t Worry! // 7 Comments »

I didn’t watch most of the Oscars last night, but I thought this was a particularly sweet moment–not only was Glen Hansard’s speech sweet, but when his partner, Marketa Irglova got played off by the orchestra before she could say a word, Jon Stewart brought her back on-stage with an “Enjoy your moment!” Which, really, isn’t that what it’s all about? I mean, sure, somebody like George Clooney or Tom Hanks is going to be back in other years, but a pair like this? This was their one, big, Hollywood moment. I’m glad that Jon Stewart made sure they got the most of it.

I like the winning song, too, Falling Slowly. Here’s the Oscar version.

Although, how can you not like a toe-tapper like “How Do You Know?” (Here’s the Oscar version.)

• Tags: General • Permalink:Enjoy Your Moment // 7 Comments »

Beautiful, sunny, blue sky, with sparkly trees to boot.

Homemade coffee cake for tomorrow’s breakfast.

Homemade Grandma Cake just because we needed something to celebrate.

A sad, battered tree. (Stupid Woodpeckers.)

…Which is the right-half of this “V”. And, luckily, is the half that leans away from the house.

A well-romped backyard. (The “double” tree at the very left edge of the picture is the one being attacked.)

Chappy, examining his yard, and deciding whether it still looks rompable. (Because, you understand, once it gets crusty on top, it’s not nearly so pleasant to the paw!)

A chipmunk, venturing out into the snow.

A manuscript, ready to go out into the cold, cruel world. (Send it good luck vibes, please!)

The taxes I didn’t get around to doing because I was too busy baking things in the kitchen.

And, an FO for Mom! She’s been working on this counted cross-stitch since April 2006.

• Tags: Baking, Family, General, Sky • Permalink:Serene Sunday // 12 Comments »

I did a little spinning last night–this lovely blue merino that I picked up at Rhinebeck last year. Now the plan is to ply it with that black/blue/brown roving I bought at the same time.

But . . . this blue is so gorgeous all by itself. It’s such a lovely, clean, clear kind of blue, I don’t know that I’m going to be able to bring myself to ply it with the other roving (grin).

Mom and I did leave the house this morning, and I pulled over to take this picture of these massive pine trees on our way out for coffee. The picture doesn’t actually do them justice, but it was kind of drizzling and I was taking this through the open sunroof on the car, so I didn’t want to leave it open for too long (grin). It wasn’t exactly an exciting outing, but I wanted to get Mom out of the (clean) house for at least a little while, to get her mind off her disappointment.

This doesn’t bode well for this tree in our backyard. Not one, not two, but THREE woodpeckers madly pecking away. You can see all the raw, new holes, and there was a lot of debris on the fresh snow underneath. All of those holes were new, and one, around the back was huge–not just a beak’s width, but something like an inch and a half around. Poor tree. It gives such nice shade for the deck in the summer, too, so we’re a little worried now. (Though, those woodpeckers are really very pretty against the snowy backdrop.)

Although Chappy’s being pretty philosophical about it . . . right now, he’s more concerned with how many more days he can romp in this snow? He didn’t actually have as much fun today–there was the merest hint of crust on the top of the snow. Not enough to actually hurt his paws, but he was a little reluctant to run into the virgin areas of untouched snow. There’s actually supposed to be some sun tomorrow, though, so he’s feeling hopeful.

If you want to watch (and since embedding YouTube videos doesn’t seem to work very well lately), here’s a link to a video of Chappy playing in the snow yesterday.

I had thrown his bright-orange squirrel toy, but he was looking in the wrong direction and didn’t see it land . . . he circumnavigated half the yard and STILL didn’t find it, but it was darn cute, anyway. Of course, I’m a little biased….

• Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Snowy Saturday // 10 Comments »

So remember a week or so ago, when I “caused” snow squalls by spinning my Spunky Eclectic Snow Squall Roving? Well, I finished spinning it last night . . . all more or less lace-weight singles.

But I really don’t think you can blame me for this, because it was in the forecast long before I sat down at my spinning wheel last night.

Still, we’re not complaining, because Chappy finally had some snow to play in again. Knee-deep in snow–just the way he likes to be! My office was open this morning, so I trekked through the snow–slid a bit on the roads, but didn’t have any real trouble (love that AWD Volvo!)–and made it on time, but the office was pretty much a ghost-town. About half the people who should have been there were there, and we closed at 11:45. Woohoo! (An especial “woohoo” when you consider that I basically had nothing to do all morning and was bored stiff.) When I walked in the door, Chappy was RIGHT THERE, saying (I swear), “Yay, you’re home. Let’s go play!” I’m lucky he let me eat my lunch first.

We went out back around 2:00 and played with his Flying Squirrel toy for about half an hour, even though by then things had changed over to light rain . . . but we didn’t let that stop us!

I mean, look how happy he looks, all covered in snow…. (I love the cheesy smile, too–with his eyes closed, yet–like he’s just savoring the moment.)

And, if you can’t see it clearly, you’ll note that he’s doing his sheep impression. (Maybe he’s enjoying the new lamb photos too much?) If he hadn’t been wearing his coat, he would have had these little snow balls all over.

The only way to get all that snow and ice out of his fur is by melting it with warm water, which essentially means a bath . . . he says it’s not a fun way to end all that fun romping, but considering I was out in the snow and rain with him AND he gets to sleep on the bed tonight, I don’t think complaining is really fair, do you?

All in all, we’ve gotten about 6″ of snow from this storm. About 4″ of that (that’s 10 cm) came overnight and the steady, all-day snow was so fine, it only added a couple more inches on top of it. It’s hovering right around 32 degrees right now (aka 0 cm), so any precipitation that comes down at this point can kind of go either way in terms of rain or snow, and I don’t think it’s done yet.

Oh, and this is an encouraging sign. I’ll be printing out my book this weekend, though I’m trying not to get my hopes up. Could use some good news, though….

• Tags: Family, Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Happily // 14 Comments »

Here’s the story behind these pictures. Years (and years) ago, when I got my first VCR, the only place to plug it in was in the same power outlet that was attached to the light switch in my bedroom. And, invariably, I would forget and automatically switch the light off when I left the room and . . . of course . . . turn off the VCR at the same time, so that the VCR would reset back to midnight and lose any timer programming. At some point or other, we had an electrician in the house and he said he could just disconnect the light switch so that I couldn’t do that any more. Great! And so I got in the habit of turning off my light by actual light.

And so it was for years. Then, a couple years ago, I got a ceiling fan and when we were talking to the (new) electrician about installation, I mentioned the lightswitch, and he said he could reconnect it to just half the power outlet, so that I could plug my dresser light into that and the tv into the other half, and there would be no more problems.

Except, I was in the habit by then of turning that little switch on the light every time I wanted to turn it on or off.

So, I took this cute little bracelet–with a tiny bell–out of my jewelry box and hung it on the switch. Then, whenever I reached for it, my fingers would touch the bracelet and it would chime against the light, and I’d remember enough to reach for the light switch on the wall, instead. I’ve gotten back in the wall-switch habit my now, but, I kind of like that little bracelet there, and so there it stays.

Brought to you by:

• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Lightswitch // 2 Comments »

Well, not mad, exactly, but disappointed. We were supposed to have visitors on Saturday–cousins of Mom’s who she’s only seen once (last summer) in about 3 decades–and they had to cancel because of the weather forecast.

Snow is expected to develop after midnight tonight and accumulate up to two inches by dawn. The snow will continue during the day Friday, but it may well mix with sleet or freezing rain late in the afternoon or early in the evening. Precipitation may change back to snow before ending by dawn Saturday. At this time, the forecast total of snow and sleet accumulation is 5 to 8 inches, with the highest amounts over the southern poconos and the higher elevations of far northwest New Jersey.

And, to add further insult to injury, she’s been house-cleaning like a Madwoman for weeks. Our house, mind you, is usually clean and pretty neat to begin with. Sure there may be some dust-puppies rolling around (because it doesn’t matter how often you vacuum–Chappy’s still going to shed), but the house is clean. As of this morning when they had to cancel, though? The house practically sparkled. Dad even cleaned his office. (If you know him at all, you know what a big deal that is.)

Poor Mom . . .

Not to mention her poor, tired helper….

• Tags: Family • Permalink:Mad Woman // 3 Comments »

I know, it doesn’t look like much at the moment . . . nor does it look particularly green . . . but here’s the beginning of my sweater. It’s the bottom portion of the back–I’ve just started the ribbing at the waist.

Exciting, huh?

• Tags: Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Not Much // 11 Comments »

Here’s a mediocre modelling shot of my shawl. It’s not much of a picture, but at least you can see the relative size of the shawl. (Two more pattern repeats really would have made it too big!)

I would have tried harder to get you a good picture, but I was tired and cranky and I hope you’re just grateful you got any picture at all (grin).

Why was I tired and cranky? Without whining, let’s just say, you know how, sometimes, when you take a couple days off from work and you get back to your desk and just pick up where you left off? And other times it’s like chaos totally took hold of the universe and the vortex of insanity apparently centered on your office?

Guess which kind of day I had?

(grumble, grumble)

• Tags: Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Modelled, Sort of // 17 Comments »

Refreshingly, I had the day off today–still a rarity for President’s Day for my company–but it was nice to have a Monday where I didn’t have to go to work. (Chappy, in particulary, was very happy about that, but we’re agreed that tomorrow is going to be hard.)

Anyway, I started my day off with some homemade crumb cake that I baked yesterday. I’ve made this once before (last Easter), and it was just as good as I remember . . . although the powdered sugar on top is still one of my favorite parts. (When I was little, I’d eat all the sugar off the top with a wet finger. Disgusting in retrospect, but it sure tasted good at the time.) The recipe is from Cook’s Illustrated, and while it’s a little bit of effort, it’s worth it. The link, mind you, goes to Crumb Cake MUFFINS, but looks the same to me except for the pan. The original recipe calls for baking it in a parchment-paper-lined square pan, but I made mine in a Springform pan instead.

Speaking of Cook’s . . . anyone interested in their cocoa mix comparison?

Otherwise? It’s been a pretty quiet day with some interesting weather. It rained a lot last night, and when I woke up this morning, the trees looked so nifty . . . the branches of the birch trees in the back were drying out, but the trunks were still soaked and dark. I thought it was such an intriguing juxtaposition, I took a picture through my bedroom window. And then, it was 61 degrees this morning. In New Jersey. In February. Practically unheard of. Mom and I took Chappy out for a walk around 11:30, when it was wet underfoot but otherwise just lovely, with hints of blue up in the sky . . . Came home, had lunch then . . . it was raining. And windy. Then the sun came back out. Now it’s raining again . . . all in all, an indecisive day so far as the weather is concerned.

I didn’t actually do very much with my day, other than that. Mostly sat and read on the couch with Chappy. (You’ll be pleased to know that I’ve already passed my “books-read” count from last month. I told you that was abnormally low!)

Really, considering the long weekend, I’ve gotten remarkably little accomplished. At least I’ve relaxed a little, though, huh?

Oh, and the Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm Shearing Day I’ve mentioned? The date has been set for April 19th. So if any of you are close enough to be able to go, go! It’s open to everyone, not just shareholders. And, if you haven’t been to the Flickr page lately, well, go take a look at the adorable new faces they’ve got! So much cuteness….

• Tags: Baking, Family, General, Martha's Vineyard • Permalink:Pressing // 5 Comments »

There she sits. Done and Blocked. It’s such a relief to have this shawl done!

Now, ideally, it would have had a couple more of the “leaf” repeats before the edge, but considering the size of the finished shawl, it’s just as well I stopped the pattern repeats when I did.

I was lazy about pinning out every crocheted scallop at the edging, but just gave each repeat three pins to hold them in place while they dried, but I’m happy with that. It’s mostly dry now and I think it’s going to look great when it’s unpinned.

I started this shawl, you’ll remember, last May, and knitted it in “Curry”-colored Zephyr lace yarn . . . which hates me. The pattern is from the Japanese “Let’s Knit” Book #11, but doesn’t appear to have a name, just a number. Which is a shame, really–it deserves to have a name.

Of course, since I decided to use fewer repeats, I’m left with almost two complete extra skeins of Curry Zephyr–which, knowing how well we get along, you can imagine I’m very excited about.

But, still . . . done!

• Tags: Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Japanese Lace // 19 Comments »

Chappy got another quick visit with his best friend today–a little more satisfying than the last one since there were no leashes to get in the way. We had something to drop off (not least of which was a couple of brownies that I’d meant to give to Cindy last weekend). We weren’t there for long, but the dogs made the most of it. Or, at least, Chappy and Horatio did. Princess (the Greyhound) just tried to stay out of the way. (And, Cindy, we’re sorry that Chappy took such a liking to your bag and tried to claim it as his own. I don’t know what he was thinking.)

Anyway, the boys have calmed down a lot since they were puppies.

These pictures are from their first meeting, in September 2001, when they were both about three months old. (Horatio is 3 weeks older.) They were a little uncertain about each other for a while there–at that stage, those 3 weeks make a difference, you know. I love the picture of Horatio doing a trick and Chappy just sitting there, going “Oooooooh!”

They relaxed pretty quickly, though, and it wasn’t long before they were the best of friends, and it took hours to get through one walk in the park because they insisted on stopping to PLAY every few feet.

They went to puppy school together, but I don’t have any pictures of the two of them there because they were so rowdy, we’d have to sit at opposite ends of the room to keep them from pouncing on each other. But they’ve always loved playing together.

It’s always nice when best friends can get together, huh? It was the most play-time they’ve had together since Chappy’s birthday in 2006, but like any best friends, they can pick up right where they left off.

• Tags: Family, General • Permalink:Boys // 6 Comments »

Well, this is how close to the end I was when my yarn ran out last night. So close, and yet, so far! But at least I had more yarn to finish it out.

(I wonder if the shawl would have been more cooperative as regards the yarn if I hadn’t left it in the knitting bag so often while working on other things? Or, you know, if it hadn’t been Zephyr.)

Still, it’s done. It just needs to be blocked. I made my shawl smaller than the one in the book for a couple of reasons . . . One, considering the ennui that had set in anyway, if it had been longer, who knows when it would have been finished. (As it is, I started it last May.) And, Two, I had a feeling at full-size it would have been too large for me to wear comfortably anyway. (You can see a picture of the original here.)

It looks like a crumpled mess right now, of course, as unblocked lace always does, but just give me a day or two to get it blocked properly. It really is going to be stunning. Still, though, I want my next lace project to be a FAST one. Like Flower Basket!

Do you know what this means, incidentally? At this moment, I do not have a knitting project at all. I’m thinking the Flutter Sleeve Cardi from the new Interweave Knits would be nice, though. And it looks like it would look great in the green (#008 Moss) Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool I’ve got in my stash, too.

So, what did I do with my day off today? I know you’re dying to know. Nothing much exciting, though. I went to the grocery store this morning to pick up a couple things–but that included the makings for BLT sandwiches (which you know I love, and which my Dad loves, too).

Then, after lunch, I neatened my fiber/yarn closet.

Here’s the yarn side. I was getting some overflow of yarn coming into the stash but not stored in the correct bin. The magazines are still over-flowing their racks but at least, everything looks neat and just about everything is where it belongs. The orange bin and the milkcrate to its left that you can’t see are both filled with sweater yarn. The canvas bins are for (1) sock yarn, (2) lace yarn, and (3) odds and ends. On the right, there’s another milk crate also filled with yarn–that’s usually the “active” yarn–extra skeins for projects I’m currently working on. Although the Kid Silk Haze stash lives there now. Below that are the magazines, basket of knitting needles, sewing supplies, and other crafty things. The bookcase is filled with knitting, spinning, and craft books. The loose-leaf binders on the floor are for assorted, single patterns, and the cardboard box on the bottom left is filled with leaflet/magazine-type knitting books . . . the ones that aren’t quite “books” but aren’t regular periodicals, either. And the blue canvas bin? Filled with sweaters I no longer want that I plan (someday!) to convert to things like pillows or tote bags or something….

Here’s the fiber side. I reminded myself of the fiber I have waiting to be spun and then organized (again) the miscellaneous bobbins and such that just won’t stay organized. Right now, all my Lendrum bobbins/flyers are in that clear plastic bin, all my Majacraft bobbins/flyers are in the cardboard box. The two lazy kates are sitting on top of the Lendrum bun, the spindles are dangling from a hanger in the corner, and all the spinning fiber is in the mesh bin and the basket in the front. Such beading supplies as I have live in a plastic, under-the-bed bin on the floor. (And, the bookcase? Filled with YA and children’s books that I love and like to keep handy. L.M. Montgomery, Diana Wynne Jones, Nancy Bond, Louisa May Alcott, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Sharon Shinn, Elizabeth George Speare, Susan Cooper….)

And, really, except for reading Rose in Bloom and taking Chappy for a walk, that’s pretty much my day! Oh, that, and vacuuming about another dog’s worth of fur out of the bottom of my closet. (grin)

And, lastly, my verdict on I Love Melvin from yesterday? Cute, but not fantastic. Debbie Reynolds looked lovely (great hair, great  clothes). Donald O’Connor did fabulous dancing–the number on roller skates was even better than Fred and Ginger’s roller-skate dance. The little girl playing the kid sister was wonderful, and there was even a glimpse of a really young Richard Anderson (remember Oscar Goldman from the original 6 Million Dollar Man?). But, the ending? Even allowing for the silly 1950’s contrivances in these MGM musical romantic comedies . . . it was the absolute silliest ending to any movie I’ve ever seen. Truly, ridiculously silly. But all in good fun, and that number on the roller skates was well worth the price of admission, as it were. Not to mention making Mom so happy!

• Tags: Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Almost // 6 Comments »

So, remember last week, when we had a little snow? Well, on Sunday, when we had that mini-blizzard whip through, our town had salted the roads. That, of course, turned out to be completely unnecessary since there was almost no snow at all, but, whatever. On Monday, though, as we drove on the driveway, our tires left some interesting tracks, “car art,” if you will, with the white salt.

But … then, this was pretty interesting … when it started snowing on Tuesday, the snow stuck to the driveway but melted on the tracks of salt, effectively making a reverse-image of the original “art.”

Nifty, huh? I love the “double-image” effect, too . . . Clearly, our cars are very artistic!

Brought to you by:

• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Ca’art Blanc // 6 Comments »

Well, Mom’s birthday started perfectly–with a blueberry scone from Espresso Love on Martha’s Vineyard. This scone, right here, has been hoarded in our freezer since May. She defrosted it yesterday and I warmed it up for her (a little too enthusiastically) when I was making my breakfast and then she enjoyed every bite–and is now counting the days until she can get a fresh one again. She’s had blueberry scones from other places–including homemade ones from me–but these are still her be-all-end-all scones. (Is it wrong of me to be disappointed that she doesn’t get this enthusiastic about anything I make? I mean, you’d think it was stollen, or something.)

Anyway, after breakfast, to be different, we drove out to the Paramus Park mall because it had been years since we’d been there and we needed a destination. We stopped at the Paramus Barnes & Noble, too, for a relaxing cup of coffee and chocolate cupcake for “lunch.” And where, yes, I may have bought two books. But only two!

When we came home, we took Chappy out for a walk–the first one in about a week. You can see that we had actual sunshine today, with real, blue skies. SUCH an improvement over the weather of the last couple of days, and the temperature was about 40 degrees, so it was really very nice for February (although tomorrow’s supposed to be warmer). After the walk, I put together a lasagne for supper, helped Dad with some computer questions, and found some time to sit down with Chappy and Eight Cousins. For something like a whole hour of relaxation! (Oooh!)

I gave Mom her present after supper. A VHS copy of the Debbie Reynolds/Donald O’Connor movie, I Love Melvin. And if you haven’t heard of it, don’t feel bad. I never had, either. It’s from 1953 and I’m guessing it wasn’t exactly a hit (not like Singin’ in the Rain, that’s for sure, but then that is THE classic movie musical). But, still, Mom was waxing rhapsodic about the movie last month, so I looked on Amazon and found a used copy and bought it for her. Boy oh boy, was she ever surprised when she unwrapped it.

It’s funny, too, because for the last couple of weeks we’ve occasionally talked about what we would do on her birthday, and what we would watch on tv tonight, and we’ve bounced from idea to idea–Moonstruck and Becoming Jane were strong candidates, as were various other tv shows. (Like the bootleg DVDs of Cupid I got her), but the whole time, I’ve been secretly laughing. I KNEW we weren’t going to be watching any of those things. We’re watching I Love Melvin tonight, of course! She didn’t know it, but there was never any doubt at all.

I do love being sneaky around birthdays.

Oh, and the post title? Fiftieth anniversary of Mom’s sweet sixteen . . . Although I, of course, think she’s been sweet even longer. If you feel so inclined, head over and leave her a birthday greeting at her blog.

Now, otherwise? Not much else to say, really, though it was nice to have the day off from work. Fellow book-lovers should check out this very nifty space-saving staircase. And then, this article about Sheep Circles was pretty interesting. If any of you watch Chuck, the “Buy More” Nerd Herd helpful computer tips are handy. But, beyond that? Um . . . well, it’s been a pretty full day . . . (grin) See y’all tomorrow!

• Tags: Family, General • Permalink:Fiftieth // 10 Comments »

What is that Curry-colored blob, you ask?

It’s my almost-but-not-quite finished Japanese Shawl. I started binding it off tonight and am about 1/3 through the bind off.

The problem?

This is all the yarn I have left in this skein. I have more, mind you, but . . . you can see that I’m going to have to join to the new skein to be able to finish the darn thing.

Sigh.

I keep telling you that Zephyr just doesn’t like me.

It was a gray, dreary, wet, icky day today. Judging by the amount of icy slush this morning, we must have had about 2″ of snow last night before it switched over to freezing rain, and then it rained ALL day today. All. Day. Blah. The only saving grace was that it was in the mid- to upper-thirties, so at least it wasn’t freezing as it hit. But still. Blahhhhhhh. I took this picture on the way to work this morning. (I was waiting for a train, if you hadn’t figured that out.) Luckily for me, at least, the roads were more messy than slippery. The closest I came to an accident was when three deer when bounding across the street two driveways up the street after I left the house. One of the deer actually fell herself when her hind legs went out from under her as she hit the slick pavement. I didn’t come near to hitting any of them, but if I’d been going faster or hadn’t seen them in time to safely brake the car, I could have. And then, there were three or four more waiting until I moved on to cross the road to join their friends, too. I saw them flying across the road in my rear-view mirror. But, you know how clannish deer can be.

The plus side is that tomorrow is supposed to be at least partly sunny and almost 40 degrees AND I’m not going to work because it’s Mom’s actual birthday tomorrow. (She’s a Valentine, you know.) I still don’t know what we’re going to actually do, but, well, I can’t leave her to wander aimlessly around on her birthday, now, can I? And then I figured I’d take Friday off, too, because, well . . . why not make it a long weekend?

I’ve been on a classic young-adult reading binge so far this month and just finished the seventh Anne of Green Gables book. Although, really, she’s just a bit player in the last few. The final book is interesting, I think, because it focuses on her daughter Rilla and the struggle through WWI–one of the few LM Montgomery books that really addresses serious issues. (Or at least, LMM books still in print.) They’re good, though, and it’s been a while since I got through the entire series. Now I’m moving on to Louisa May Alcott…. Wholesome, childhood books just seem to fit so nicely with gray, gloomy days, don’t you think? Although I was not drinking hot tea when I read them the first time….

Hey, let me ask you–on the Blogger blogs, they’ve got new options for leaving comments. You can use your Blogger login (if you have one), or you can use your “OpenID” which supposedly includes Wordpress logins.  Am I the only person who can NOT get this to work? Every time I try, I get a “Log into your Wordpress account” error message, except, I’m pretty much always logged in, so that instead of making it easier to leave comments, they’ve made it ten-times harder. I can use the “Name/URL” option to actually leave a comment, but since that doesn’t include an e-mail address, it makes it impossible for the blogger to respond to my comment via e-mail if they’re so inclined. Really. Is it only me??

• Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning, Reading • Permalink:I Keep Telling You // 14 Comments »

Hurray, the Writers’ Strike is over. Finally!

It’s just a shame it’s too late to bring back some of my favorite shows this season. (Friday Night Lights, anyone? Chuck?)

And, am I the only one who actually misses seeing reruns? As annoying as they can be when networks throw them in, mix things around, still . . . I enjoy a chance to see episodes a second time, to catch things I missed the first time around. But the networks tout the fact that there “Won’t Be Any Reruns!” which just means that there are going to be long swaths of time when you can’t see the show at all. Don’t they realize that not everybody has Tivo?

Really, I just need to start recording every episode I can find of the shows I like to avoid this problem.

But, still, no complaining. At least they’re getting back to work!

If you’re wondering about a specific show, TVGuide.com has a handy list of the status of most shows.

• Tags: General • Permalink:Strike-Out // 7 Comments »

My friend Dawn gave me this book for Christmas–Becoming Jane Austen–and I finished reading it today at lunch. (Good biography, by the way, though not the first one I’ve read about her.) And then, this afternoon, the DVD o Becoming Jane arrived. I’d completely forgotten that today was the release date (and that I’d pre-ordered it). Of course, I know that the movie isn’t going to be exactly historically accurate, but still … glad I got the book done first!

I got a bonus half hour home with Chappy today. It’s been lightly snowing since about 10:00 this morning and people started abandoning ship around lunchtime, worried about their roads. So, around 3:00, they sent an e-mail around saying that those of us who remained could leave at 3:00 if we were worried about the roads. I wasn’t, really, but around 3:30, I had nothing much left to do and since most of my co-workers were gone at the point, I wasn’t going to be getting anything, so I figured I’d rather spend that half hour at home than finding something to do at work. Of course, before I could come home, I had to dig my keys out. As I got into the car, I did something I’d never done before–dropped my keys between the console and the seat. I ended up almost kneeling in the snow and leaning into the car to see underneath the seat before I could get them out. (Days to be grateful for relatively slender, agile fingers.)

Once I got home, I took Chappy and his Flying Squirrel outside to play. There wasn’t enough snow to make snowballs (only about half an inch), but there was enough to PLAY in, so he didn’t mind. He even showed off a little for the dog next door who was wandering around her backyard while her people kept calling, “Bailey! Come inside!” We weren’t out there for very long (according to Chappy), but it was fun. And we had to take advantage of what snow there was while it was still out there, because this snow is supposed to change over to a wintry mix/ice any time now. THAT you can’t romp in!

And, finally, this video of “Frozen Grand Central” is courtesy of my sister. Very amusing!

• Tags: General, Reading • Permalink:Timely // 9 Comments »

  So, I come home from a long day’s work, and there are Mom and Chappy, sitting on the couch together. Mom reading her favorite newspaper (The Vineyard Gazette, of course), Chappy sitting with his new toy. Don’t they look comfy? It’s nice to know that they keep themselves busy when I’m not home. (Although, to be fair, she really had only sat down a few minutes earlier.)

Oh, and you can see out the window behind them how very little snow we actually had yesterday, even if we did have a real, blizzard. You can see the merest dusting of snow on the grass out front. It was soooo windy and cold last night, though. It was 7 degrees (F) when I got up this morning . . . and that’s nothing compared to the temps out where Chris is! Which reminds me, I really do need to get her prize in the mail….

And, sheesh . . . again?? I’d better lay in a supply of Liberty Bell Forever Stamps ….

• Tags: Family, General • Permalink:Working Hard // 6 Comments »

The family celebrated Mom’s birthday today. Goulash over spaetzle for dinner, and little, mini ice-cream cakes for dessert. Mmmm…

Chappy, of course, was thrilled to have the whole family in the house. And, naturally, he helped unwrap the presents. (Which reminds me, I need to wrap MY present for Mom for Thursday….)

Now, in between bouts of cooking and eating, I did some spinning on my “Snow Squall” Icelandic roving . . . and, oddly enough, as I spun, it started to flurry. And stop when I stopped. Aptly named color, huh?

But, you really want to talk about a snow squall?

Two pictures for you–one facing the backyard, one facing the front. As you can see, our neighbors disappeared. In fact, you can barely see the street. It was so windy, and the flakes were so fine, it looked like fog.

It didn’t last long, but when it was done, the windows were covered in “snow lace” while there was the merest dusting on the ground. And did I mention that the sun has been playing peek-a-boo games all day? Very strange weather, over all, but this snow squall? One of the weirdest I’vce ever seen. Short of a full-blown blizzard, I’ve never seen white-out conditions in my yard before . . . certainly not with the sun being out 5 minutes before and 5 minutes after, like this! (Although, technically, as Dad pointed out, I believe that this technically did meet the criteria of blizzard conditions–snow plus massive wind equals white-out conditions. No matter for how short a duration.)

Oh, and I only just noticed as I logged in to write this post, but the one I wrote the other night and thought I had posted? Apparently I never did . . . which explains why I got no reaction at all to it. I just published it and made sure the date of the post was correct, but since that puts it several posts “downstream,” I thought I’d give you a link to it anyway. It’s got an update on my Zephyr shawl, anyway, which I can’t wait to get done. The big question right now is whether I’ll have enough on the current skein to finish it. I’ve got more yarn, so it’s not like I’m going to run out, but I’d still rather not have to join a new end if I don’t have to . . . which, since this is Zephyr, probably means I’m going to have to!

And, just because, a picture of the birthday girl with her (two-legged) grandkids. The sweater my niece is wearing might look familiar….

Oh, and remember a couple weeks ago when we had the interesting conversation about whether or not to respond to comments IN the comments? And then Chris picked it up? Well, now Harry is posting about US from the “other” side. Go check it out! At least he admits that we knitters were friendly….

• Tags: Family, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Squall // 16 Comments »

It was a dreary weather day today. It actually started with a smattering of snow and then turned into a misty rain for pretty much the whole day. Very blah.

The bright part, though was that I spent time with my friend Cindy. We saw her briefly last week, but that was just for a few minutes. Today was much more satisfying. For one thing, we went shoe-shopping, which is never a bad thing. Especially when you have a coupon for $20 off and you find a fabulous pair of Franco Sarto ankle boots in the clearance section. (The Mary Janes are by Naturalizer.) And the funny part? While back in the clearance section, I found the exact shoes I was wearing. The same ones I bought at Nordstroms two and a half years ago. Same model, same color, same size . . . but I, um, purposely did not look too carefully at the price.

Oh. And it’s possible I had a coupon at the bookstore, too.

After we were done shopping, we came back to the house to entertain Chappy. Well, that, and I had baking to do. We’re doing the family celebration of Mom’s birthday tomorrow, and of course, there has to be dessert! I made the same mini ice-cream cakes as I did for the last two years. Crumbled chocolate cake–which, of course, I had to bake first, raspberry syrup, and vanilla ice cream. But then, while I was mixing that up, we kind of agreed that brownies sounded good, and since the oven was on anyway . . . I made some brownies, too. Of course, I had planned on sending some home with Cindy, but I forgot. So those are actually in the freezer. Dad’s sulking a little bit because the baking was all chocolate and he doesn’t like chocolate, but, well, it’s Mom’s birthday, right?

Anyway, Chappy was glad I was home, and thrilled to have a guest to entertain. (You know how he is.) Mom and I watched the old movie, Working Girl–the only movie I actually like Melanie Griffith in–and all in all, it’s been a good day. Except, you know, for the now-pouring rain.

Two links for you:

One, the Barilla Celebrity Italian Cookbook. Not only is the download free, but for every copy downloaded between now and February 29th, they’re donating $1 to the Second Harvest food drive.

Two, the first Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm lamb of the season has arrived, and she’s just adorable. Click here to see pictures.

• Tags: Baking, Family, General • Permalink:Soggy // 7 Comments »

Brought to you by:

• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Skagen // 5 Comments »

Slowly it turned, stitch by stitch, inch by inch, it crept closer and closer….

I swear, I don’t think this shawl is ever going to be done. And did I mention that it hates me? I’m just barely getting through two rows a night (that’s one pattern-row and one purl-back row), and it keeps causing problems. You know the reason, right?

Because it’s Zephyr. Beautiful though it is, as many gorgeous colors as it comes in, this yarn just doesn’t like me.

On the plus side, there are only 6 more pattern-rows to go, then the crochet-bind-off, and then it’s finished. Finally. I mean, it is kind of sort of a little bit maybe moving along, but nowhere near as quickly as I’d like–typical for lace at this stage–but it’s also causing trouble every night. Sigh. One more week, right?

I’ve been very restrained, too, in that I haven’t started swatching for a new sweater yet, or even thinking about the next one. The goal, right now, is to get this shawl done before thinking about any other knitting projects. Period! Although there is one pattern that’s got me interested…. Unofficially, you understand.

I stopped on the way home at lunch to snap this picture. (No, it’s not from my usual spot.) I thought about saving it for you for Saturday, but decided to share it tonight instead. The irony of this picture is that, despite all that blue sky and the light, pretty clouds, it was spritzing with rain when I got home 2 minutes later. And, naturally, the sun went behind the clouds for most of our walk . . . though really, Chappy didn’t care. He was just glad to be OUT.

And considering the other wild weather in the country yesterday, I’m not complaining.

Mom and I were watching an old sitcom the last couple of nights. Perfect Strangers. Anybody else remember that one? It’s completely silly, of course, and a little dated, but the chemistry between the two “cousins” is great, and their comedic timing is, well, perfect. My only disappointment? This DVD doesn’t have the Bibi-Babka episode.

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Zephyr Hates Me // 6 Comments »

Other than pointing out Fleegle’s very-entertaining post about modifying her knitting needles to make  running a lifeline easier, again, I don’t have much about knitting to talk about today. I’ve got about 14 rows left of my Japanese Zephyr shawl to go and have so far managed to control myself as regards starting a new sweater. (You have my permission to be impressed.)

I’ve been finding the blog stat charts for my three blogs pretty interesting, though.

Chappysmom, for example (once I finally got the stats working) kind of sort of meanders along the same median–hovering around 200 readers a day. The biggest peak? (Since the move, anyway.) That would be the day Chappy ate the glove and Marnie and Thea gave us a link out of solidarity. (Clearly, she gets a lot more traffic than I.)

Over at Punctuality Rules!, though, I tend to hit around 100 readers a day or so . . . except for those huge spikes when the occasional post gets Stumbled. That big jump up to 1100 readers? That was for my post on Strong Writing.

It’s the Booking Through Thursday stats that I find the most interesting, though, probably because they’re so darn neat. As in, tidy. Since that blog is a weekly meme, it gets most of its hits on Thursdays. (It’s best day, for the record, was back in September–1,393 hits.) But, every seven days, like clockwork . . . the stats spike.

All of which begs the question–do you pay attention to your blog stats? Do you do things to try to boost them? Or do you just go about your business without concerning your pretty little head with these things? What do your stats look like?

• Tags: General • Permalink:Static // 23 Comments »

Well, who can resist the Fibertarian candidate? Of course, Dolores might have waited a little too long to announce her candidacy, what with today being Super Tuesday here in the U.S.

Sheesh. And, really, that’s about all I have to say today…. No, I did not vote in today’s primary because I’m a registered Independent, and even if I had wanted to declare for one party or the other to be able to vote, I would have had to do so in December. But, really, I much prefer to be Independent, so … my vote will keep until November.

So, um . . .

Check out this great link . . . let the page load and be patient–it’s clever and amusing. I got it over at Precarious Tomato, who apparently needed something to do while waiting for her Precious Little Bundle arrived.

I’m also feeling a little enviously green about the MV Fiber Farm Shearing Day, which apparently is going to be huge. Susan says, “The Martha’s Vineyard Ag Society has embraced our little Shearing Day event, which is a really good thing. It is morphing into a full-on fiber festival. Okay, full-on maybe a bit of an exaggeration for the first year, but it is definitely growing by leaps and bounds. All of the Island fiber producers will be invited and the festival will take place at the spectacular Ag Hall.” Tell me THAT doesn’t sound tempting!!

How about a nice picture of Chappy?

He’s a little discouraged that, even though it was in the 40s today, it rained on and off all day. He thinks that’s a cruel trick–to be warm enough for a walk, but pouring rain. Just, mean! And tomorrow might actually be a record-breaking heat day (60 degrees) … but, yep, rain forecast again.

• Tags: General • Permalink:Fibertarian? // 10 Comments »

First, thanks for the compliments on my new sweater. I wore it to work today and, while the sleeves were rather in the way (as I expected), who cared? It looks good, fits well, is a gorgeous color . . . what’s a little sleeve-inconvenience?

With that done, though, well, here’s a look at my knitting bag . . . almost empty, with just that one, lace project waiting to be finished. It is almost done, too. There’s something like 10 pattern rows left, and since I’m getting through two rows per hour (that’s one pattern row and one “purl-back” row), this should take me about a week and a half to finish.

I promised myself that I wouldn’t start my next sweater until this lace shawl is finished. I mean, I did start the poor thing last summer–9 months ago–and it’s not really its fault it’s taking this long. Or, to be clear, it’s only partly its fault. It’s Zephyr, first of all, which I love the look of, love the feel of, but apparently can’t stand actually knitting with. To date, I’ve only actually finished one thing made in Zephyr, and, pretty though it is, how often do you suppose it makes it out of the drawer to be worn? If you guessed “almost never,” you’re spot on.

Speaking of guesses, you’ll remember that I had a contest recently to celebrate 3 big milestones for my blog. There was the 3rd anniversary, the move to a new home here on my own domain at WordPress, and my 10,000th comment. (I know, it just blows my mind–especially the fact that there would BE three milestones so close together.) Anyway, when I actually shut down the comments on the old blog, prior to moving, I was at 9,995, and as of midnight on the 15th, my anniversary, it stood at 10,104. (Currently? 10, 443–quite a jump!)

S0, the winner of the closest guess is, ironically, the first person to have ventured a guess (this isn’t the first time that’s happened). But, who cares? Chris, come on down! Considering how generously you promote other people’s contests, it’s only fair that you win once in a while. The prize will be some . . . Zephyr yarn! (Because, well, the stuff really is gorgeous, and apparently it’s just me that it doesn’t like.) I’ll need your snail-mail address, please–and . . . white? Or purple?

It was a weird day at work today–lots of people celebrating at the Giants’ win yesterday. (Personally, I didn’t watch the Superbowl, I watched Miss Austen Regrets on PBS.) But then, our computer system was having problems, and it took them until almost 3:00 to get the internet/external-email up and running again. Which meant that, not only was I having a slow morning because I wasn’t getting e-mails from clients (or client-services), but I couldn’t browse on the internet to pass the time, either. It worked out all right, though, because I worked on Dad’s webpage . . . irony of ironies, I know, that I, of all people, am designing his website. Because you all KNOW that I’m not a programmer. I am, however, the only one in the family who knows anything about it at all, though, so . . . it’s up to me.

I’m up to November 2005 in my quest to update my archives, and as usual, have found some interesting things. Like this collection of Calvin & Hobbes snowmen cartoons. (Be sure to click on the “in real life” link at the top, too.) Certainly my first experience of a sheep-and-wool festival made an impact. And there was that first experience with Zephyr, too. Lots of cute little-me pictures from past birthdays, as well as a bunch of other firsts….

• Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Just . . . Monday // 8 Comments »

First of all, no, yesterday’s Sky picture was NOT taken yesterday. Our weather from about 8:00 am onward was pretty much freezing rain. All day. Gloomy, wet, dreary day that at least was Friday. I tried taking a couple of pictures from my car on my drive home, but the vibration of the running motor made the low-light shots pretty much impossible, and this was the best I could do. Luckily, though–here at least–while the rain froze to all the vegetation and the sidewalks, the streets were not slippery for driving. Which is good because I don’t particularly like driving on ice. Snow is okay, but ice is kind of scary.

Today’s weather was better, though not as nice as it was supposed to be. They’d forecasted partly-sunny and 45 degrees, and while it did reach the 40s, it wasn’t remotely sunny and it felt cold. We’d already promised Chappy a visit to the park, though, so we bundled up and headed out around 11:00.

We gave him a surprise, though. My friend Cindy lives right next to our favorite park, and while we always call to see if she’s available for a walk, our schedules never coincide. But, today she was waiting for a furniture delivery, so we detoured over to her parking lot so that Chappy could see his friends, Horatio and Princess. Horatio is Chappy’s best friend–he’s three weeks older and they’ve known each other since they were about three months old. Today was the first time they’ve seen each other, though, since Chappy’s 5th birthday, a year and a half ago, when Cindy brought her two dogs and Risa brought her two toddlers and joyful chaos ran amuck for an afternoon.

Anyway, Chappy and Horatio were delighted to see each other, and immediately started doing their signature wrestling . . . which starts as wrestling but very quickly (these days) ends up with Chappy sitting on top of Horatio. Something he doesn’t do with any other dog but which Horatio seems quite content with. Really, they’re very funny together. And thankfully a lot calmer than when they were puppies. That very first visit to the park back in 2001? It would take us 20 minutes to walk 10 feet because they’d continually stop to play. (Hey, when they went to puppy school together, they had to sit at opposite ends of the room, just so they could concentrate.)

After the park, we stopped at Starbucks for some hot beverages to warm us up . . . and a cupcake that we paid for but that didn’t get put in our bag but that we didn’t realize was missing until we got home . . . Chappy got a badly-needed bath, and then I baked a cake.

Cook’s Illustrated had a yellow cake/chocolate frosting recipe that I wanted to try. I love trying different recipes, and I really love the magazine which rarely steers me wrong, so since this is my favorite cake combination, I had to try it. I haven’t tasted the finished result yet, but I will say that I wasn’t impressed with the frosting when I was making it . . . far too runny for a supposedly “foolproof” frosting. As in, it was running down the sides of the cake and off the dish as I frosted it. And the layers kept sliding in opposite directions. Maybe the chocolate was still too warm when I added it to the butter/cocoa/sugar mixture? But it was still this runny even AFTER I added extra confectioner’s sugar in a desperate attempt to solidify it a little (grin). Anyway, Dad–the only one so far to have had a piece–said it was pretty good . . . but it doesn’t compare to the family-favorite Grandma Cake. (As if it could!)

Oh, and then I tried a little modelling. I put on my new sweater and then wandered around the house with my camera and my Gorillapod, trying to get you a decently-lit photo of me in my new sweater. Um. Some of them came out better than others, but here are the top three.

(As you can see, Chappy helped!)

And, lastly, a couple links.

Colleen’s post about a Ravelry thread written by a bunch of, um, overly-devout knitters who entirely misunderstood the point of her subway-pass mittens. It’s really a little frightening in its hilariousness.

The Writing Forward blog has an interesting challenge going–to write a sentence that’s over 100 words long and THEN to write it again in 10-words or less.

And, lastly, speaking of photography (as I was the other day), look at these great tips for flash and lighting things you can do yourself.  Personally, I’m enamored of the diffuser/ring flash made from an old milk carton. For that matter, here’s a page of “best tips” which are darn good all on their own. (Although, some of them require a more advanced camera than I have . . . maybe someday, though!)