Woolybuns

Last Saturday Sky of 2006

It looks like winter.  And the weather is hinting of winter.  But still the unusually mild season continues.  I can deal with that.  I'm just hoping we don't get slammed in March/April to even out the averages, as New England's caprious Mr. Frosty is want to do.  But, given no other option, I will of course deal with that, too, if it happens. 

Here is a FO I'm quite proud of.  Mom's Moebius.  It's a bit more orange tone in the photo than the lovely pink with green and hints of blue it has in real life.  And hidden in there are a few lace mistakes but the the Moebius came out right.  Wooo!  And currently on the needles: DH decided I've knit enough for other people, he'd like to get in on the action.  So I bought some Misti Alpaca bulky, one ply fawn, the other ply grey, for a warm and cushy 2x2 rib scarf, nice n long, per his instructions.  Very nice on the hands.

And finally, last night's look at Phrag.  She's opening up.  And this morning,
she's giving me a peek inside.  By the time I get back, she'll be in full glorious bloom with that first bud.  How long the bloom will last remains to be seen, but orchids tend to show off be around a long time.  The second bud will open I think sometime perhaps mid to late January.  And with the benevolence of the flower fairies good care, Phrag's third little budlet just beginning to develop might show up in February or early March.  I'm lovin' this!

I wish you all a very promising start to the New Year!

Z Is For

Zephyr
      -noun
      1. a warm, gentle breeze
      2. Literary usage: the west wind
      3. any fine, airy thing of diaphanous nature like a soft floaty fiber

Zephyr is one of my most favoritest words*.  Not so much for it's meaning, but for the way it rolls off the tongue and lingers lightly in the air, sort of vocalizing it's definition.  Yeah, words do that to me. I get all sappy and warm and tingly about words, about how you can string them together and totally baffle each other communicate great feelings  or exchange significant ideas or describe objects in minute detail.  That's part of why I loved the idea of the ABC Along the minute Anne announced it.  C'mon, everyone, let's have a nice round of applause for Anne and her brilliant idea!  She deserves some kind of Zephyrous thing floating in from the east, though, gee whiz.  Golly.  What do I have that might fit that description and be worthy of her notice?

*No, I did not cut and paste that dictionary-like entry from a copyrighted source.  I came up with it on my own, lest someone reach out and smack me.  Copyright law - it's for everybody.

Budding Beauty

The lovely Phrag is progressing.  Only five short days ago, her bud looked like this.  And by yesterday, the bud had fully emerged and begun moving into position, kind of like a baby getting ready.  This morning, the bud is nearing final head down position and she's angled away from the still developing second bud.  She's getting fuller and color is ripening.  I've been watching this growth for 59 days.  Anticipation is building.  A stirring of excitement at pending payoff for the daily dose of water and care and hopes that I could bring this beauty to full glory.  Her big day is fast approaching and I'm giddy with glee.  Tomorrow?  Saturday?  Maybe Sunday or Monday?  And then I remember.  I'm leaving town for several days.  Arrrrrhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Y Is For

YARN, of course.  Glorious, beautiful, addicting and fondle-able YARN.  You see it and you just have to plunge right in.  Grab it and grope. Cop a feel and cuddle up. Naturally, someone else has already featured Y is for Yarn quite nicely.  But she only told you a bit of the good.  Like all things, there is good YARN and there is bad YARN.  Remember when your mother or some other responsible adult told you about birds, bees and certain activities that there are good people and then whispered there are bad people. People who might - ahem - "have" things?  Yeah, that kind of bad, even in YARN.  Faithful readers of my drivel blog will remember my fondle session encounter with such bad YARN.  And natch, Some Little Imp in blogland had to ask "What would you call a STD from YARN?" and prompt this ABC Along entry. You know us bunny babes fiber folk.  Any opening for an off color bit of Yukking it up will do and a full conversation ensued about the possibilities.  Yarnorrhea?  Sounds too much like a digestive disorder.   Yarniphilis?   A city in Greece.  Yerpes would have to be something out of Dr. Suess.  What, oh WHAT could you possibly call a YARN induced STD?  Why, YARmydia.

And Then It Flew By

This holiday thing.  Ya know, it builds to fever pitch in anticipation and then it finally arrives and by golly,ZZZZZZipp!  next thing you know, you're looking back on it.  Gone by in a flash.  Relagated to memory.  Kind of like Children: The Early Years.  This year, our Christmas had a new element.  Adult children coming home for the holiday.  That they could  is wonderful, that they chose to is soul satisfying.  DS the Elder arrived Saturday and is staying a couple more days.  DD lives closer and has Dog Duty that prevents overnighting here - her dang ungrateful dog decided immediately on change of address that my resident canines are former buddies to be slaughtered on sight, so DD did day trips.  I've become a good grandmom to said ungrateful dog: I baked a batch of peanut butter dog treats and packed them in her very own storage container, to be refilled as needed.  This amuses me.  I think it made DD happy.  So did the hat I knit for her.  I hear from a lot of you that the muggles don't appreciate their handknit gifts.  I'm sure the hat I knit for my uncle falls into that category, but DD - yeah, she's a muggle who Gets It.  See that Knit Picks Options set?  A gift from DD to me.  Warms a knitting mom's heart, I tell ya. 

I hope you all have some wonderfully heart warming memories from your holidays!

Hoppy Holidays

From my family to yours!

Saturday Sky

Brought to you today by some minor rain god.  It's calmly grey and drizzly and pretty much wet.  It should be snow this time of year, but at 41* that ain't gonna happen.  And I'm not complaining.  I love a good snowball fight and still build a snowman when the white stuff cooperates.  But all the time I spend out back with the bunnies - yeah, temps just enough too high for snow is much easier.  It doesn't make for gloriously exciting blog pics though.  So I thought I'd show you the sky through my garden window.  Do you see that?  That is the phragmipedium I bought in August.  That there thingie on the top is a flower bud. Actually, there are two flower buds.  I first realized my phrag was sending out a bud when I looked in on it the day after I got back from SAFF.  That was the end of October.  So now, two months later, the plant is still in bud.  It takes orchids a Very Long Time to go from initial bud to bloom.  I figured the thrill of anticipation would get old if I posted it here then (you are thrilled with anticipation, right?  No?  Huh - whatsamatter you?).  I have no idea how much longer before this beauty blooms. Apparently, my Twinkle orchid understands my impatience with bloom timelines because it burst back into bloom to keep me entertained while I wait for phrag. And the great fuss I made over Twinkle's bloom and phrag's promise of bloom must have inspired my paphiopedilum and the phalenopsis because both of them promptly set to making buds too.  Still a long wait for both of them.  Sometime in January would be nice.

X is for

Xanthophylls (pronounced zan-tho-fills).  What the heck are Xanthophylls?  Yeah, I know, you really didn't ask, but I'm going to tell you anyway because I need an X post for the ABC Along they could be important to your eyesight.  Xanthophylls are yellow pigments found in plants, and like the green pigments chlorophyll, they are involved in the photosynthesis process.  Chlorophylls tend to mask the presence of Xanthophylls, so the yellow pigment in leaves only shows up when the chlorophylls are leaving, which means you need to look for dietary Xanthophylls in green leafy vegetables like spinach.  The Xanthophyll  of particular dietary importance is lutein.  I add Xanthophylls to my diet when I think about it as much as I can because they have powerful antioxidant actions which may help protect against macular degeneration.  The scientific community isn't really sure about that yet.  But I am at high risk for macular degeneration.  Green leafy vegetables are known to be good for you absent E. coli circumstances.  Since those same scientists don't have any other really attractive options to prevent macular degeneration, eating my spinach makes sense.  My favorite xanthophyll laden recipe is organic baby spinach salad, with whatever other leafy greens attract my attention in the grocery store, diced  red and yellow peppers, and carrots dressed with a touch of creamy ranch. 

Moe Happy

As any knitter knows, knitting through the stress is a Really Good Coping Technique.  Sometimes just the knitting of endless stockinette is balm enough.  Yesterday, I needed something more.  And there was Moebius calling out.  Moebius is seductive, enchanting.  Delicious!  And Cat Bordhi flirts with you as she sucks you into that magical Moe instructs.  I'm thoroughly smitten!  I love The Moe.  Moe presents perky swoops in the casting on and I swear little pixies giggle in glee with each swish of the swoop.  The act of swoop bathes the brain much like Godiva gloats over your tongue on its way to your soul.  Figment is the perfect being to illustrate how I felt in completing that first round of practice Moe.

That Alternate Universe

This is not a happy post.  Feel free to skip it (as always, of course).  There is an alternate universe that slams into ours with altogether too much freedom.  It's the Fuckyou Universe.   And in this FU, it isn't enough that a 45  year old cheerful nice guy father of young children must battle a particularly nasty cancer with virtually  no hope of long term survival.  The FU slammed him with a stroke 6 days before what will most likely be their last Christmas together.  A stroke that, to the best of my knowledge at this moment, he has survived but not fully intact.  As much grief and pain as I, an outsider who only knows him casually through DH, feel, I imagine those in his immediate circle must be inconsolably hurt and angry and frightened, and filled with a whole host of violent emotions too overwhleming to identify.  I want to offer solace and hope, envelope them in some soothing cushion of comfort to help them all through this awful time.  The simple kick in the gut fact of life is such comfort is just not  possible.