40 Days and 40 Nights

We're "enjoying" another week of rain. While it's wonderful that the drought is finally over I am not so much enjoying the catch up process. By the end of May we had a bit over what we might have expected through June in an average year. On the other hand, the lakes take some time to fill up and are really just now getting full. Because we have had so many rain days the temperatures have been mild and we are not running the air conditioning all day and night. I love being able to open the windows into June. Many years we have already seen temperatures above 100 degrees.

We had Miss Vivian and her entourage (the people formerly known as the parents) for dinner last night. In spite of a little timing hiccup cased by getting out of the house on time with a baby, a feat which is demonstrably not possible, it was a really nice dinner. We had a nice visit and it was nice to see Alex and Samantha at my table. Miss Vivian is cuter every time I see her. At this point it looks like blue eyes after all, probably the color of her mother's eyes. She came to dinner in her pajamas, having had a wardrobe malfunction on the way out the door to come visiting. She's interacting a bit more now, although she was getting past her bed time by the time it was time to go home, so she was getting a little sleepy. Rita was fascinated by the baby, and full of advice and instructions for Jamie and Alex. It was a little challenging teaching Rita Vivian's name. After about the fourth try she pointed out to me that "When James named his baby he picked a name I could say". She has agreed that Vivian is every bit as cute as April Rose.

We are having back-to-back dinners this weekend. Early Saturday morning I started cooking the brisket Alex had requested for dinner. After lunch with friends at the Classen Grill, I went to pick up Rita. As soon as we got home it was time to start on the cake for our dinner with Miss Vivian. This morning it's time to create a potluck dish for the church luncheon, then home to make another cake and cooking dinner for the Humphreys and Shana's dad. By the end of the weekend we will be tired of looking at food of any kind. This is a good thing, because we don't have much time for cooking during the week.

Little to no crafting has been happening this week. Hence no image of massive progress or beautiful finished object. I picked up the "Triangles" shawl this week and ended up frogging all previous work. I could not get the count right. I'm about back to where I was when I ripped it out, but I am not happy. I am having a hard time counting and deciding where to place markers, besides which I think there may be an error in one row that throws the whole thing off to the left a couple of stitches. I think I'll tear it out again and go for the Beginner's Triangle from A Gathering of Lace. I think that will suit the yarn, which is basically somewhere between heavy sock weight and sport weight, and the purpose, which is "everyday office shawl". I'm also considering a simple feather and fan patterned stole. If that doesn't work I'll throw it into a corner and cast on for Icarus! I've been pecking at the basic socks, ignoring the purple Monkey Socks in plain sight next to my knitting chair, and that's about it. I printed out the Trellis baby sweater pattern, but have not even read through it yet, so no progress in that direction either.

Return of the Wildwomen

It's Memorial Day, and we have returned this afternoon from the Wichita Wildlife Refuge after a long weekend of camping. The weather was chancy, but we ended up with heavy rains after 10 every night, with only an hour of so of rain one afternoon. We had planned to take a hike this morning before heading back to the city, but the rain started early this morning. We hustled to pack up and load the car because there is little that is less enjoyable than taking down a tent in the rain.

The refuge is gorgeous this time of year, with all kinds of wildflowers in bloom. There was Sneezeweed, Barrel Cactus, Cholla, Verbena, Coreopsis, Monarda, Indian Blanket, and so many more. My old enemy Indian Paintbrush is still in bloom, but I outsmarted it by starting Claritin before we got down there. It's a beautiful flower, and when I am not choking and sneezing I can appreciate its charms. Nearly everywhere we went was just a sea of blooms stretching as far as we could see. Photos really cannot do it justice.

There were two buffalo hanging around the campgrounds all weekend. One of them came through our campsite Saturday morning and hung around just across the street scratching various parts of himself on the trees and the campsite number sign. He was not happy to have people around - two girls came around the road and were rather close before they actually saw him. He stopped scratching himself and turned toward them - when they took another step forward he charged them. They backed up quickly; he was satisfied and went back to scratching himself. Another buffalo came within a few feet of us in another part of the campgrounds without seeming to be particularly disturbed by our presence.

Mad Women of the Prairie Ride Again

This will be a camping weekend. We'll be participating in the Tour De Meers ride on Saturday. Shana and I will be staying through until Monday afternoon, if the rain doesn't get too bad. The forecast is NOT good. Still, we can still have fun in the Taj M'Shana - I'm bringing cards & other indoor entertainments. If it's not absolutely pouring down we can still enjoy a little hike. This picture is from a previous visit. I'll load up some new ones Monday night.

I did visit Miss Vivian today, but as usual my camera would not cooperate so I have no new pictures. She's still might cute, even though she slept through almost my whole visit.

Gotta run - I'm supposed to be packing the car instead of nattering on. I have not even started to get my clothes together and I can't find my binoculars, so I'd better flame on, since I', only 20 minutes from departure time.

My Candidate for Moron of the Year

It has come to my attention that my esteemed representative James Inhofe, he of the "global warming is a hoax" announcement, is blocking two bills in the U S Senate to honor Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring. He apparently thinks she does not deserve the honors because in his opinion she had promoted junk science. I would like to go on record that I did not vote for this moron. I do not understand his knee jerk negative response to anything that suggests environmental responsibility. I do not understand why he has not been voted out of office. I do not understand anything at all.

Tying Up the Loose Ends

Shana's mom has been here since Thursday evening, so I was unsure whether or not I'd be able to finish up any projects. Her visits are usually rather crowded with social activities and elaborate cooking. I seldom have a lot of down time while she's here. This time has been rather low key, with smaller family occasions and a fair amount of down time, so I have been able to get a few things moving along. Thursday Nancy came over, and Friday we went to Nancy's house for dinner. We had the benefit of perfect weather, so cocktails on the patio were a pleasant feature. Today after we took a walk by the lake Inace went out to see some other family members. I stayed home and took some time out to craft.

I had not started my Mothers Day Project embroidery yet, so this morning I took it out to work on while the house was quiet. Apparently I still have the elderly eyes, because I needed reading glasses to do it. I volunteered for the project without a second thought because I had learned simple embroidery as a child. It was only after I saw the small size of the piece that I remembered that I have not embroidered anything more complicated than a sock monkey face for years and years. Once I got started it moved right along, though. I'm pleased with how it came out. I do need to write a little essay to go with it before I send it in, but that can wait a few days. I'll let the ideas roll around in my head for a few days, then get them on paper.

Vivian's sweater is finished, and even has buttons. I think I could have made it up in a bit tighter gauge, and the buttonhole spacing is imperfect, but I think it will be a comfy cozy garment for her. The Plymouth Encore is soft and squishy - it should be quite warm. I had initially intended to put on 5 buttons, but I closed the bottom buttonhole because it does not need any more buttons. Five would be overkill. I have yarn for another one, but I think I will try out another pattern for it, (probably Trellis, from Knitty) and a bit larger, for next spring. I'm going to make a hat to go with it before I take it to her. I'll have to look up how big a hat for an infant should be, though. Left to my own devices I'd surely make the standard man-head size.

I had promised a sketch for a friend at work to use in a flyer for a Desk and Derrick function at the zoo. Desk and Derrick is an organization of women who work in the energy industry. That's another project I was determined to get finished this weekend. The general idea was to make zoo animals look like roustabouts. I decided on the kangaroo early on, because to my eye it seemed to be the animal who would look the most reasonable wearing work gloves. I had a lot of trouble deciding on another animal until I thought of making a snake be the bit. I'm having my doubts about the general appearance of the kangaroo - I think it looks like a dog. Still, I think in a lot of ways I think they do have a superficial resemblance to dogs. I hope it will suit the purpose for my friend.

A Break in the Action

It's finally Friday afternoon - my golden time all to myself. The weather is perfect and Roxy is at Social Club, so I'll be on my bicycle in a few minutes taking a turn around the lake - sprints and intervals if I'm smart. I've already made my ritual appearance at the local Hancock Fabrics - the one near me is closing, so I'm cruising by once in a while to pick up a few things at bargain prices. Today's haul included some buttons, 5 skeins of Lion Brand wool yarn, a little embroidery hoop, a big package of embroidery floss, a packet of fat quarters, and some knitting needles. The entire price was just under $25.00. I'm trying to keep the balance between picking up things I know I will use for a great price and buying a bunch of junk just because it's cheap. They have a lot of fabric still, but I really need to have some projects in mind before I buy any. I don't really do a lot of sewing these days and I don't want to amass a big fabric stash that I have no plans for.

Vivian's sweater is nearly done. The knitting is done, and I lack only the assembly. I picked up a few more buttons to try. The buttonholes came out a little larger than I thought they would, and the garter stitch texture really needed something a little larger even if they had not been so large. I'll have enough yarn to make a little cap to go with it. I'm thinking one with a turn up brim in the box stitch that accents the sweater. I'll put ribbing under the brim to snuggle up to her little head. A pom-pom is not out of the question.

There are a couple of other projects in the works for this weekend. I have a little art project for a friend which I promised for Monday. Also I've offered to be a part of The Mothers' Day Project. This is an art project by Ann Landre which will consist of tote bags featuring the embroidered names of American servicewomen who have died in Iraq. Each name will be embroidered by a different woman. Then tote bags will be assembled with these names. The bags will circulate among the participants to be displayed or shared in any way we choose to call attention to those women lost to the war. I have my name: Regina C. Reali. She was a 25 year old Army Sergeant, killed by an IED in Baghdad.

Why I Don't Ever Have to Feed the Dog

I was minding my own business checking my email and surfing around the Internet when I heard a sound I could not place. Many years of resident boys and dogs have taught me to run immediately in the direction of any sound I have not heard before. This is what I found when I got there. The lid is not removed from the peanut butter jar in the conventional way. The lid is chewed completely off.

This is how it got that way. That creature with the adorable fluffy ears akimbo is the famous Evil Wild Dog of the Prairie. The moral of this story is do not leave a jar of peanut butter in your handbag and your handbag on the floor unless you want to time the dog to see how quickly she can destroy the jar and run her tongue all over the delicious doggy treat within. Why was it in my handbag? Maybe it's better not to know everything.