Category Archives: Idle Chatter

Afternoon Storm

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Not in Florida … just a pretty picture! Flox with a bee.

It’s normal here in Florida, in August, to have rain in the afternoon. Today’s is with thunder and it’s sent my little dogs scurrying to the center of the house where they seem to feel safer. Maybe because the TV is on in the living room and the noise helps dull the outside booms.

I am feeling blocked. Haven’t been blogging. Have been knitting but not designing, and certainly not writing new patterns (or writing down the ones that I’ve already written.) What is it about Florida that seems to kill my creativity?

Gone … with my knitting to watch TV.

 

Knitting with Friends

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Camp Smedley – From the Water

We have our first house guests (maybe I should call them “camp guests” since this house is really a “camp”).

Our friend Bob comes up with kids each summer and the kids keep on growing. They’re fun to watch around the lake each year and it’s interesting to witness the excitement that they get when they’re “let loose” at the lake.

Coffee discussion this morning centered around what it is that one of the kids likes about fishing. Talk amongst yourselves….

We decided that Bob was probably “right” in his observation that the joy of fishing is in not knowing what you’ll get. The adventure of the hunt. Walking through the grass and finding a snake or up on the railroad tracks and finding a long-dead porcupine or dipping a hook into the lake over past the boathouse and waiting for the thrill of the first underwater tug. The joy of the unknown? Would that that joy continued into an adventurous spirit in adults rather than fear!

Meanwhile, I’ve had lunch and attended a knitting class with a new knitting friend. My post about the Ravelympics was picked up by a reporter for an Olympics News-related website and I was asked to respond. (Little old me?!)

On my needles … my tunic sweater is growing again after its too-large frogging. 🙂 I really love knitting with my Signature needles. The cord is so flexible. Much more so than the other needles that I have. I’ve finished my first Maine Lobstah sock and must admit it’s a tight fit … not sure if I’ve knitted it more tightly or if the yarn is a bit heavier than typical sock yarn but they’ll be fun. Sock number 2 is cast on and a new WIP. I’ve decided to pull out a few of the older projects and yarn that has been in my stash for a (long) while. I’ve cast on the Gaia Shoulder Hug shawl by Anne Carroll Gilmour. It’s a simple lace design knit in Noro Kureyon Sock (or Silk Garden Sock) and the lace/eyelet rows are knit as the colors transition. The color way that I chose is difficult to knit with as the color transitions are so slight. But, I’ll finish it this time … if for no other reason than to do it. And, last, I’ve pulled out my mohair lace yarn to cast on the lace scarf that I had attempted years ago. I’ve done a successful cast on as required in the pattern and I’m ready to try the pattern again.

Bought a bit more yarn the other day, too! (I don’t know what to say, I can’t seem to help it! Must be just like I wrote above … the wonder in the discovery!)  Ron Miskin had another surprise purchase (with an excellent discount) on The Buffalo Wool Company‘s Facebook page. And, I’ve had an order from that wonderful grandma who won the socks give-away. A little hat and mittens for her grand-daughter for the holidays! More goodness to come! Blessings are all around me!

Gone knitting!

USOC Attorneys Attempt to End the “Ravelympics”

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I just found out from a Facebook and knitting friend that Ravelry is under fire by the USOC.

Here’s a link to the letter written by law clerk, Brett Hirsch.

http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/for-the-love-of-ravelry/2189293

Seems that the use of the “ympics” part of the word “Olympics” MAY be an impingement of the USOC’s exclusive right to use the word Olympics. An obvious blend of Ravelry and Olympics attempting to “falsely suggest a connection to the Olympic Movement” Are you kidding me? This is ludicrous and surely these attorneys have better ways to spend their time than trying to intimidate a bunch of knitting/crocheting crafters and artisans who are, in actual fact, having a little competition of their own in HONOR of the Olympics.

Is not imitation the highest form of compliment?

So, knitters, beware! Do not ever dare knit the Olympic rings into your hats or afghans. They, too, belong to the USOC. The word “Olympics” is not allowed in your pattern titles or posts. The USOC attorneys have nothing better to do than to pick on us as we attempt to stretch ourselves and have a little bit of fun as a community during the Olympics.  (By the way, as we were knitting we were also WATCHING the Olympics.)

While, at times, a bit tongue in cheek, it is certainly not meant to be disrespectful of the athletes. They are all winners by virtue of their participation in the Olympic games.

Gone knitting … with a bitter taste in my mouth.

s@%t!

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Well, we’re up to our eyeballs in it!

A summer home on the lake is lived in for a few months a year. We were here last summer for five months – a rare gift of time in a very special place. This year, we’ll be here two months. Between the times that we’re here, many little critters call it home. And those critters leave feces. Yuck! So, when people move back into the house, cleaning has to happen … especially in the kitchen but I’m a bit of a clean freak and I like to clean all over because we have dogs and I don’t want them eating yucky stuff. I had a miniature panic attack/meltdown when I finally decided to clean the bottom cabinets in the kitchen. Thank goodness N. took pity on me and finished the worst part for me. Ugh.

Mouse-infested before ... clean now!

And then there’s the age of the house which contributes to its awkward angle on land. The house is about 100 years old and it’s been sinking on its “fishing camp” (negligible) foundation for 99 of those years. So, you walk into the house, up over a rock, down into the bedroom. Up over a rock, down into the bathroom. Don’t drop anything in the living room that might roll … or you’d best be ready to chase it toward the lake!

View over the septic tank

The result of the sinking house is that the septic tank doesn’t work properly and despite having had it pumped three times in the last 12 months, we had some lovely water in the shower. And now we’re having a new “platform” added to the bathroom (we will have a true throne) so that we can “fix” the problem. (Long-term fix is lifting the entire house up about 24 inches and putting a more sturdy foundation under it … at a frighteningly high price tag and with a huge permitting question as the “new” set-back is over 100 feet from the lake front.)

Throne in progress! And you thought I was kidding?!

So, there you have it – we’re happily (most of the time) dealing with s@*t …

Gone knitting!

Messalonskee – 4:30 a.m.

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Sometimes I have trouble staying asleep (and it’s usually after two martinis.)

So when I woke up in the middle of the night last night and couldn’t go back to sleep I was able to take this photo for you! The sunrise is way down at the left end of the lake now. Give it a couple of months and it will be across the lake. Nowhere else do I know where to look for the sunrise (or sunset) and how it moves through the season. One day I hope we’ll know where it is in all four seasons.

Gone knitting.

Memorial Day (and Every Day) Gratitude

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Boathouse ... Our Flag Flies Every Day

Ned painted the flag on the side of our boathouse several years ago. Some days we go about our business without so much as a glance. Days like today, however, I look at it and feel so grateful to my father and the other Veterans (and soldiers) who have fought and are fighting for our freedom.

My father fought on a battleship in World War II. He was a gunnery soldier and shared stories about living on the ship where they had a pet monkey and the men dressed in drag to perform plays for fun. Dad didn’t like monkeys (they were dirty) and he never ate another hotdog, having had them “up to here” during his service.

The captain of Dad’s ship was a “drunkard” and I have pages and pages in his handwriting of charges that dad would have filed against the man. We may never know if any of those charges of abuse, drunk and disorderly, etc. were officially filed or if my dad just wrote them down for himself. (He did become a lawyer, after all!) Somewhere I have a map of his tour of the South Pacific that he made and I’m sorry to have given away or sold his uniforms and the “treasures” that he brought back with him. Only now do I recognize their value. Family heirlooms today that I would be grateful to hold and preserve for my family.

Many of my Rockwell forebears were also soldiers. Bits and pieces of historical documents  are in my safe-keeping and one day I’ll get them scanned and shared in another blog. One a soldier in the Revolutionary War who was called to duty in the summer of 1776 … check this out! From the State of Connecticut 1907. I believe that Julia L. Rockwell was my grandfather’s sister or his mother making the soldier my great or great-great-grandfather … though I don’t have the genealogy to confirm that here! (I will confirm at a later date.)

What!? You can’t read the old handwriting?! 🙂 I had to work at it, but here is what I think it says:

Oct. 24,1907 

Dear Madam, 

Enclosed find corrected certificate. (a clerical error in former) Records at best are somewhat meagre, Troops were hastily summoned from the floors and the workshops and in this particular case company with, other was raised to serve “until the exigency was over” In summer of 1776. Washington was in need of a large force to meet the enemy’s threatened attack upon New York.

 Very Rightly, (?)

 William EF Landers

Adjutant General

Cool, yes?

Suffice it to say that I am proud to be American today – and every day. I am grateful to my family members who have answered the call. My father, my great- or great-great-grandfather (?), Bud King (who is the Grand Marshal of the Oakland, ME parade today … he’s the oldest living veteran in Oakland) and Bethany, Jordan, and all the rest who have served or are serving  … Thank you for your service!

Gone knitting!

And the Winner IS ….

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I made these darling Circle of Life socks for my nephew- or niece-to-be and then I went and hit 200 “likes” on my Facebook page. SO, without a second thought, they became my give-away.

And after randomly selecting a winner from my 200, the winner is Mimi Steele from Ohio (Go Bucks!) who, I just happen to know, is a new grandmother! I hope her little darling will enjoy wearing the socks. No, Mimi, they won’t fit you! 🙂

I will message you privately for your address for mailing! Watch your mailbox! … and congratulations!

Breastfeeding Mom War of Words

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http://cdnapi.kaltura.com/index.php/kwidget/wid/0_vwhob22n/uiconf_id/5590821

Who are we to criticize another woman for doing what she feels is best for her family and children?

I am annoyed and offended by those who feel it’s their place to decide whether breastfeeding a child is appropriate or not … unless it’s their own child and their own breasts they are deciding for. What’s the difference between judging this woman for nursing her three-year-old and a male (or female, for that matter) government representative who would vote against female reproductive rights? Isn’t it all just another form of judgement?

This woman (and any other woman) has a right to breastfeed her child/children until she decides not to nurse him any longer. She also has a right to choose NOT to nurse her child. If it’s working for her then shame on those who are holier than thou and would decide what she’s doing is “gross” or “inappropriate” or “abusive” or whatever other comments have been made. This is HER child! Do you want someone telling you how or what to feed your child?

Time Magazine put a very sensational picture on their cover. That’s what media does. This article is divisive and disempowers women by bringing their child-rearing choices into the light and offering those choices up for criticism. Parents have nursed children well into childhood for decades (dare I say, centuries?) The “family bed” or “attachment parenting” or “Dr. Spock” or “tough love” or “wet nurses” (among others) are all different ideas that parents have a CHOICE to follow or not.

Mind your own business, ladies and gents. Be concerned about your very own (sometimes abominable) behavior. Stay involved in your own business and leave others alone. Worry about whether you’re texting while driving, if you are on Facebook at work, or whatever else you have control over in your own “house”.

We’d all be so much better off if we’d be supportive of our sisters’ rights to nurse their children and get off of our judgmental high horses.

OK. I’m done.

Gone knitting.

i(have a new)Phone

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I got an early Birthday gift from my sweetie and as a result, I’ve lost a day (and a half if I’m really being honest) of work with play … well, it’s sort of play and sort of brain exercise. 🙂

I have a new iPhone and I’m trying to figure out how to connect to the Cloud and get my emails to work and putting the calendar on it and all that good stuff.

Long story short, if you call me … I know I can answer the phone!

I feel like such a techie!

Gone knitting!

En Français

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I have a French daughter.

OK … so she’s not really my daughter by birth but she feels like she’s one of my children. And she’s really French – born in France, lives in Paris.

Reunion 2011

Last summer Flo and her family (husband, Francois and baby boy, Oscar) arrived for a visit in Maine. It had been years since I’d seen her. Lots of years! Enough time for her to go from teenager to business woman, to wife and then mother.

We had a very sweet reunion in Maine … this picture is of the two of us in Bangor airport. What fun it was to see her again.

Today they’re coming back over and to Florida. I am leaving to meet them at the airport in a couple of minutes and the anticipation is making me crazy – crazier than usual! They’ll be here with us for a couple of days and then they’re headed to Miami and to see a bit of the state.

Boulette 2011

Last year in Maine it was freezing cold and rainy. Today in Florida it’s super hot and humid. Warm enough for a swim! Last year, Boulette was just starting to think about walking and he had a bath in the kitchen sink. This year he’ll be walking and dancing and we have a tub in this house. And a pool (I bought him some swimmies!)

I can hardly wait!