Smatterings

  • winding down

    There is something about September.  I'd like to say that, after the summer, it is a more relaxed time.  That's probably not really true.  Depending on where you are, there is still much to harvest, made even more urgent by the chill of the nights and the knowing that the time left grows short. It's a gardener's roulette, impossible to predict which night will end the game.  If it were August, I'd be covering my beds on nights like these.  Seemingly endless tarps, dragged on at night, and off each morning when the sun reaches the point above the trees where the plants will cook under the plastic. By this time in September, I stop doing that.  Knowing that the end is in sight, somehow takes the pressure off.  it
    will be, what it will.  It is beyond my control.  I didn't always feel
    that way.  Ahead, there's the task of putting the summer's work to bed.  But now, I take what I can of what remains. (I feel a bit differently about the apples, they are just starting, another story.) 

    C and I agreed that Sunday, we would finally take the VW somewhere and do nothing.  Wonderful!  I packed cheese and bread, almonds, cider and some rosemary crusted ham in a cooler.  Used to be, I'd have packed a bottle of wine.  I threw some walking shoes, books, my knitting and a spindle into a bag.  All for an afternoon, imagine.  I figure that covered all possibilities, any whim.  We headed for no place in particular, someplace out of the way, with as few people as possible and a bit of a beach.  We'd know when we got there.  We did.

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    Got my ten minutes in.  I've been lax with my spindling.  Funny how sometimes you don't know how much you miss doing something until you do it.

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    14 responses to “winding down”

    1. Manise

      So true all of it! We briefly went apple picking today and realized there were peaches out there too. Our bag was full of apples so I used the next best thing- my largish shirt turned into a pocket to hold 3 pounds of fragrant yellow peaches. Thank God for higher waisted pants. I adore that photo of you spindling in the breeze!

    2. Sounds like a wonderful afternoon.

    3. Your Sunday sounds wonderful!

    4. DH would love that picnic menu. I must remember it, and plan such a day in mid-to-late October, when Louisiana weather becomes more tolerable. October is DH’s favorite month here – clear blue skies, just a hint of cooler weather to come.
      Thank you for the inspiration!

    5. That sounds idyllic, truly.

    6. That is just the PERFECT day. Couldn’t get any better. Well, maybe with the wine. 🙂

    7. Heh – I think I know exactly where you were. Wonderful spot.

    8. What a great get-away. That looks like Owls Head Light. I love the little beach below it. How is the shawl coming along?

    9. sounds like a heavenly day to me – and makes me want to go buy a ham to bake with rosemary crust 😉 – recipe??
      Love the photos – you found a really perfect spot.

    10. Yes, different rhythms, different goals. Your lunch sounds European. *sigh*

    11. Lovely – and name “Owls Head Light” makes it all the more wonderful

    12. Sounds like a wonderful day! I must remember to make a point of winding down sometime this month, and not get too caught up in the winding-up that needs to be done pre-winter…

    13. Sounds like a perfect getaway. Do you have a Westie? what year is your VW? Ours is an ’80–the last of the air-cooleds. And as long as we’re not on a mountain road, it’s just right for spindling on the road.

    14. I was just thinking about my spindle today. I don’t think I’ve used it since I got the wheel.
      (Except for that once when I had to use if for plying, since I had foolishly filled ALL my bobbins with singles…)
      Looks like a perfect spot for a picnic.

  • three days, whew!

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    That not so long weekend went fast.  What was I thinking, that there actually would (could) be time for knitting on the deck.  I managed not more than 6 rows on Onerva and maybe 20 or so pages of one of the best books I've read in a long time.  More on that.  It was, however, a glorious weekend.  I picked an additional few gallon bowls of string beans, another of blackberries, and a bag of summer squash.  We lunched outdoors, on sandwiches of rosemary and olive bread, filled with melted local cheese, grilled peppers and thick slices of tomatoes and snacked on almost sweet apples that we managed to get before the critters ran out from wherever they're hiding to grab the drops.  Finally, after years of procrastination, the woods roads were cut.  Sunday morning, we put the brush hog onto the tractor, and with me walking ahead (pushing through the underbrush and high ferns) to scout out deep holes, uneven ground and rocks that we wouldn't want to hit with the blades, C drove 'Millie' through the woods.  It looks SO nice.  And it makes it SO easy to walk through the woods.  When I look back at what I'm writing, it sounds rather idyllic, but let me tell you, I am exhausted.  

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    The book.  Last summer (it IS after Labor Day, so last is appropriate), I bumped into a friend that I hadn't seen in a year, at one of the local fairs.  I asked what she was reading and she said that she had just finished one of the most beautiful books she'd read in a long time.  Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett.  She was right.  I enjoyed every minute of this read.  If I had the luxury of reading it in one sitting, I would have.  I used every available free minute I had reading it.  The book isn't long and an easy read.  I'll look for more by this author. 

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    9 responses to “three days, whew!”

    1. Manise

      Beautiful photos! Will have to look up the book.

    2. Sounds idyllic to city folk who don’t have to do all that kind of work. o.0

    3. I was thinking that it sounded like you worked way too hard! I love the photos, especially the one of the deer and the apple trees. And Bel Canto is a fabulous book. I’m glad you enjoyed it.

    4. Beautiful Pictures!!!
      Now I want to read that book too!

    5. I love the mist over the pond, you expect some water nymph or faerie to appear. The books sounds promising, I’ll have to send myself an email as a reminder (there is a series of books that I’m really enjoying right now). Home grown string beans and black berries – sigh.

    6. … summer on the wane kicks production into high gear, eh?
      …sounds like you have been the ant (and not the grasshopper)! Glad you had a good book to relax with, you deserve a rest after all that work!

    7. Lovely view of the pond – I’d love to sit there after a walk with you on your newly cleaned woods trails.

    8. Lovely pictures. Especially the misty ones. But that means we’re really saying goodbye to summer. Always too short a season.
      Adding another book to my reading list. Thanks!

    9. I love these pictures.

  • Hurry up, slow down

    Labor Day Weekend.   It is hard to believe.  The summer was so cold and wet, that the past
    two beautiful weeks feel more like the beginning of the season than the
    end.  The end it is.  Migrating species are on the move.  As Laurie mentioned yesterday in her comment,  the male hummers are gone.  Each evening I walk to the field to count
    the night’s Canada Geese stopovers.  The energy level has upped a notch.  It
    is palpable.  The surge before the fall.  Hunting, and gathering.  Preparations for the seasonal change.  The moon is full and unbearably bright.  The only thing keeping it from waking me at
    night is that it is low enough in the sky to partially hide behind the still
    leafed trees.  Red squirrels are busy eating
    and dropping the pine cones from the highest branches.  Watch out below.  You’re likely to get bopped on the head.  I’m in a constant battle with my apple loving
    neighbors.  The deer aren’t waiting for
    the drops.  I saw a rustle of leaves out
    of the corner of my eye yesterday morning and thought the blue jays were busy
    pecking at the apples.   When I stopped
    to scare them away, there, instead, was a young buck, on hind legs, pulling at
    the red apples hanging within reach.  The
    wild trees are full.  The deer know the
    cultivars are sweeter.


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    With so much activity, I wanted a project that was fairly
    easy.  Something to take onto the deck with
    me at the end of the day to relax. 
    Onerva looked easy and it is after you get going.  I had a bit of trouble figuring out if I had
    all the information I needed to begin. 
    Thank goodness knitting charts cross language barriers.  The notes and expanded charts from other
    knitters on Ravelry helped. 

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    I chose a new yarn I’m trying for Ball and Skein.  It is a silk / sea silk blend, lovely to work
    with and a pleasure to dye.  It isn’t up
    on the site yet, it will be.  Silk can be
    slippery.   I wanted to use a needle with a bit of
    grab.  Not much, but a little bit to keep
    the stitches in place.   Knit Picks Zephyrs are perfect.  The points are sharp and the needles are very
    light weight.  That they are transparent
    tickles me every time I look at them. 
    They are sure to become a favorite of mine. 

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    It promises to be a perfect weekend.  I’m planning on deck time, some kayaking and maybe even a walk in the woods.  No traffic for me.

    Have yourself a good one.


    10 responses to “Hurry up, slow down”

    1. Deck time? Knowing your deck – it sounds an absolutely perfect spot for the weekend. 🙂

    2. I still have male and female hummingbirds.

    3. Guess you are in the southern path. I think that the juveniles are here, too. Have a great weekend.
      J
      typepad@sixapart.com wrote:

    4. How beautiful!! I love the photo of your shawl and the late season peaches — perfect color!

    5. Sounds lovely. Even the deer.
      Harvest time always has an intensity to it. Our hardwires are trained thru the millenia to store or starve.

    6. Manise

      I had one male yesterday going after my lone zinnia on the deck. Probably passing through. I absolutely love your new yarn and the color is exquisite. We’ve had a young doe hanging around- she’s not easily scared by the dogs which explains why my hosta have that sheared look to them- arg.

    7. If only we’d had this beautiful weather in June and July where it belonged…
      Love the color of your yarn. That shawl will be a stunner!

    8. Mary Ellen

      Oh my Goodness that’s Beautiful yarn.

    9. I especially like the first photo with the pinky/peach yarn and the peaches, really lovely composition. With all the heat we have, I’m sure that the hummingbirds will stick around for awhile longer, I usually see them for about 3/4 of the year. I just saw a stellar jay baby with its parent’s. They are the only pair that I’ve seen in my area and I marveled at them. A single pair in the neighborhood is just right.

    10. Really nice photos 🙂
      And the new yarn is looking lovely!
      Our hummers are almost gone…we have an occasional “passer by” in the morning…I’m always torn between leaving the feeder up or taking it down.
      Maybe there is a chance for “Indian Summer”?

Our lives are dyed the colors of our imagination.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

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