Zeneedle...needleart as life

In the All of It

The grrl's just gotta have fun...and we did!!   We beat the heat by enbibing in hot Mexican food and cool, refreshing margaritas.

How was your weekend?

I am...

..very happy when Vicki comes up with a great idea and I can follow in her footsteps.  I am also being lazy about posting, but things are happening in the back ground.  There has been a hick-up (shall we say) with Color Affection, but the end is in sight. By the time I pull my act together I could have 3 F(inished) O(bjects) to show, which might be a first! But then, there must be blocking, picture taking, and all that jazz...so, who knows when posts will come about.  Meantime, the skies are blue, day after day, and the heat is on.  Stay well, my friends!

My First

Tuesday, was a fine day, a beautiful day, the perfect weather, perfect sky kind of day.  It's been a great year for showy, feathery clouds in interesting skies, but Tuesday was especially fine, as I saw my first Sun Dog.

TGIF!  May your weekend be sunny and beautiful!

To the Birds

Monday I had the opportunity to listen to a local radio show* on our NPR station, which was quite fortuitous, as three bookstore owners were giving their personal recommendations for summer reads. The first book mentioned was a new book by Terry Tempest Williams and, after the description, I couldn't wait to purchased the book and hold it in my hands. Within minutes I had picked up my purse and headed out to the LBS. This is a book you need to see, touch, to thumb through, as inside there are beautiful surprises along with the amazing, poetic, and prophetic words.

It doesn't take long to connect my love of the sky to my love of birds, my watching and listening to the feathered ones outside my door. 

Sunday, from inside the house I could hear a constant, almost panicked chirp of a robin. I went to investigate and, in a nearby tree, found two robins sitting side by side on a bare branch, chirping for all they were worth. An eching of their call came from a robin on a power line. In the same tree, also chirping, albeit a little more slowly, sat a pair of gold finches.  The chorus went on for over an hour, as a neighbor and I watched in awe and wonder. 

Every day I have the pleasure of watching three scrub jays play in the cedar bushes on either side of my office door.  Their cries draw me from my office chair for a much needed break, and I often catch sight of their blue wings as they glide from a pine tree back into the cedars.  They never fail to bring a smile to my face.  

I can't wait to step into Terry's book and read her meditations on life, family, love and landscape.  Her words have always filled me with a sense of place.

*The link to the show also has a list of the books recommended by each local bookseller.  Enjoy!

My Weekend Continues...

The errands and chores are finished--my day off continues with an afternoon on the patio, a cup of tea, and my knitting. The weekend was chilly, but today is delightfully warm and sunny. 

Did you have a good weekend? Has summer arrived in your neck of the woods?  Has it arrived to stay? I'm beginning to wonder.

Of Yarn and Books

Snow Drops & Snap Peas was finished a couple of months ago, but I'd knit the medium size and, when blocked, it proved to be a bad decision. I had to face the music, rip back and continued on to make the larger size. The shawl will be better for it (and so will I!).  The yarn is the exceptional MadelineTosh Pashmina, in the glorious "Tart", my favorite color of all MadTosh colors.

My skill set does not include the ability to read and knit, which means when I'm reading I'm reading and whilst, I knit I listen. Foreign Bodies was shortlisted for the Orange Prize, and I'm a big fan of Orange prize nominees. This book is hilarious, with tragic-comic characters living faux lives. The writing is superb and the story really must read tongue in cheek.  I've read all but two of the books on this years shortlist (which I plan to read) and they all have been excellent (save one).

My listening pleasure has been The Healing a mystical story set on an 1860s Mississippi plantation. The narration has made this book even more enjoyable and I've craved more knitting time just to listen. 

Books and knitting, two of my favoite things as I Yarn Along with Ginny.

Of 'Tinis and Scapes

Admittedly, the items on my list of Summer Goals are easily attainable and, with the weather cooperating, the warm and sunny weekend made all but #6 a success. Number 6 is the one item that will stay in waiting...easily ignored until it becomes a must.

The garden has already given us a bumper crop of spinach and lettuce, but this weekend we had a rare and delicious treat.

Last year Manise clued me in on this phenomenon of hard-neck garlic, the garlic scape, which we'd never seen and did not know you could eat. Sunday we roasted a handful of scapes, flowers and all, with a bunch of other veggies and enjoyed their mild flavor and crunch. Most of our garlic crop is of the soft-nech variety, which does not produce scapes, so this was a rare treat.

Before tackling #3 on my list, I had to ponder what sort of glassware would be appropriate for a martini if one did not own martini glasses? Smith came to the rescue, as he has a few of his grandfather's martini glasses (cr1930s). Sadly the shaker and many of the glasses are no long with us, but two of the remaining delicate treasures were perfect suited to our use.  Since I live in a desert of cocktail accoutrements we have not found cocktail sugar to rim the edge, but I'm on the search.  Otherwise, I think we've got this down.