Final Day, now it rains

Wednesday - Lily was going to work from home again, so we hd another day sans dog. She made me matcha latte then sent us out. Without Charlie, we could go to the Tenement Museum. This museum is right across the street (Orchard) from Alec’s apartment (tenement) when he lived in the lower east side. It had been on my list for awhile. It’s not a typical museum where you pay a fee and wander from exhibit to exhibit. The founders bought an old tenement building that was largely untouched and restored it. They restored the different individual units into apartments of the some of the people who actually (and not) lived there,-into the era’s they were there. They have since also bough another building for more exhibition apartments. SO, when you go, you watch a short film about the place, and choose a tour. There are 3 walking tours of the neighborhood and a number of apartment tours depending on the day/time you are interested in going. If you are a member, I think you get a discounted rate. It kinds of rubbed me the wrong way, that I would need to pay $30 and only see one part of the building. We signed up for “Family Owned” and got see a restored saloon that was owned by a German couple in the 1860s and their adjoining apartment.

The tour was run by a very engaging 30 something gal and the interaction with her and the others on the tour was very insightful! We got to see about as much about their personal life as was possible to know. In the adjacent basement space, we saw the restored 1930 auction space of a jewish man, Max Marcus. I will be going on tours in the future. This experience made me want to further research my NYC ancestors. I know a lot about them, but where did they live? are the buildings still there? Their churches?

Tuesday was so warm, that Todd headed out Wednesday in just shirtsleeves. As we came out of the museum, the weather was definitely a bit chillier. We were hungry, so headed up to see what the line looked like at Katz’s (too long), so we went around the corner to place called Sweet Chick, where I had the best piece of carrot cake ever.

Brooklyn General Store is another place that had been on my list for a bit. So we took the F train and headed into Brooklyn. We walked down Union chatting with a gal and her standard Poodle who had Charlie’s coloring, of course she was also headed to BG. Inside I got a new DropCloth sampler, and fat quarter set and a 2 yard remnant of lovely Liberty of London. I can’t wait to make myself a shirt.

We walked up Henry toward Brooklyn Heights so that we could brownstone shop lol. If only I had a few more millions.

This place had super nice water garden just inside the railing.

As we walked, Todd got more and more chilly. I was actually OK, since I had worn my brand new Andrew Mowry Tesselated Vest :) I remembered that Alec told us to check out a clothing place in SOHO that had reasonable prices. We got the train on Montague and headed back. The store was reasonable and we stocked up a bit. The self checkout machine could read what we had ?!? I never saw that before. Unfortunately no bathroom, and I was just about dying.

I then walked a mile to a scone place that Alec and Lily suggested in Ukranian Village without noticing the helpful google comment that it wouldn’t be open until the following day. It was now steadily sprinkling.

The rain created multiple small issues,—if it had been clear, Lily and I were going to go to a Yoga class in Bryant Park. More importantly if it had been clear, we could have gone down to the tudor bridge and watched ManhattanHenge. I was SO looking forward to this. Twice a year the sun sets perfectly down 42nd st, and we were going to be there that week!. But it was rainy and super cloudy :(

https://weather.com/news/trending/video/clouds-may-block-new-yorks-manhattanhenge-sunset

There was a backup Yoga class in the building, so Lily and I suited up. The teacher didn’t show :(

Alec did find us a nice place for dinner and a 50% off coupon, so that’s nice. Final nights are so bittersweet. I could have stayed longer, Todd was ready to come home.

The following morning we packed up. Generally we get to Penn Station and take the train to our cheap commuter lot in Morristown. What with Charlie and all the bags, we took the most expensive Lyft ever, and got to the car about 9:30 and we got the kennel at 5:30.

All is well :) It was a good trip.

Goin’ Solo

Not actually- but without the folks that live here- or the dog

Tuesday - Day 4 - Alec and Lily worked from home today- so we left Charlie with them. I think he needed the rest, and we took advantage of his absence to go to some places where he would not be welcome. We took the subway uptown to check out Zabar’s Deli and Cafe. This has been on my list for a couple of years, but we are not often up in the upper west. It has a very fun market, but I did not want to schlepp (lol) whitefish salad around all day. We did go into the cafe.

Todd got a cuban and I got a spinach knish. I ordered it without even thinking about what it was- I probably won’t get it again.

We then walked over to the American Museum of Natural History. Fun fact,—my dad was a collector. After he passed, I went through his numerous cardboard boxes in my mother’s basement. I found many boxes of rocks, fossils, and misc dried items from the sea. Mom told me that as a boy, my dad once wrote a letter to the museum, (maybe c/o fossil man). He asked if they could please send him any extra fossils they might have lying around. All the stuff in these boxes came from them. Just random stuff sent to a kid in New Jersey. I wonder how that request would go over today. Anywho - I haven’t been to this museum since I was a kid. We took advantage of Alec’s “NY residents pay as much as you wish” trick and got in for $1. The experience was well worth it :), except for the annoying field trip kids. So many super loud kids.

My favorite room was the Pacific NW stuff.

After the museum we headed further uptown to see the Nicholas Roerich Museum. I just learned of this artist and his collection a few months ago - it is a lovely small collection in an old house on 107th- lovely lovely lovely, and free! I plan on reading more about his guy soon.

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We headed over to Central Park,

so that we could see the newly COMPLETED renovated conservatory gardens. Last year we saw two of them, but the middle one- the Italianate one, was still being worked on. Now they are all done :).

Todd was hungry - this has happened before in practically the same part of the park. There really is nothing close. We walked over to Lexington, past a bunch of less desirable addresses and ate at a place called Effie’s Kitchen. IMO - very bla, contrary to the google ratings. Next we found the train and headed to Bryant Park.

I really love the trees there - the intrawebs say that they are London Plane trees.

I waited in line for my favorite park bathroom - iykyk. and then down to the garment district to shop for trims and buttons at M&J which supposedly is going out of business and Lou Lou Buttons. I bought a lot. But they’re small. The man from Lou Lou told me that the colorful ones are hand dyed mother of pearl from Japan. I think he said that the dyes were not legal here (?) or he would dye them himself. He had about a million colors and they are lovely.

Then we negotiated our way through the Times Square adjacent traffic, to get back to Silver Towers and the crew. Alec and Lily cooked us a good dinner which also included some of Mrs. Wu's dumplings, and then I fell asleep on the coach. Another long walking day, 22,800 steps and 9.52 miles.

In the groove

Monday felt easy. The day just flowed. The steps by day’s end were nearly the same, yet my feet feel amazingly OK. So much for the minimalist barefoot shoes and hurray to Saucony and technology.

Firstly, Charlie got to catch up on some videos.

Then the humans headed out for diner brunch where I forgot that iced coffee and avocado toast belong to “newish” places - not diners. Then we headed towards midtown so that I could check out an “old world” chocolatier that I saw on IG. Enroute we stopped at an asian pastry shop - I got pitachio meltaways and lily got a matcha cream puff like thing.

Sadly the chocolate lady celebrates Memorial day. On to 5th and the lego store :). I had never been and it was worth the (only 2 or 3 min) wait. I could hang out here for a long time.

Todd and I then visited St Patrick’s, adding another religion to the tour. I went to Sunday Mass here on the overnight college trip. It is so so impressive, yet it’s no Westminster.

We skipped the next 2 stops on my proposed itinerary and took a crazy crowded train to SOHO (south of houston for the uninitiated). And it’s “how-stun” not “hue-stun”.

Lily and I got matcha from Sorate (another place recommended by the intrawebs) and on then back north towards greenwich village so that Todd and Alec could get a cheeseburger, which was eaten on a bench in Washington Square. Alec rated it an 8.5.

At some point in the past couple of years, Lily introduced me to a concoction (I won’t call it a tea since there is no tea) that her mother puts together for her and is purported to have all sorts of healthy benefits. I know that I like the taste. Last year, Lily sent me home with the makings. I’ve since run out and tried to replace the ingredients at the asian market in Kent. I found the chrysanthemum, the goji berries and chinese red dates (jujubes). But I couldn’t find the other ingredient that looked like slivers of a root. Lily asked for me in Chintown yesterday, but they only had large pieces, not slices. Her mom said that she would bring some to me today as well as bring a quantity of dumplings and other assorted homemade delicacies for Alec’s freezer. She texted Lily while we were in the square to tell us that she was enroute from Brooklyn, already on 32nd. We caught the train and headed home.

The mystery ingredient was astragalus - which google says will tonify my qi. So, now I’m all set. Of course she brought ALL the ingredients. I may have a lifetime supply. Come over and I’ll make you a cup of wellness :).

Charlie and Mrs Wu got along famously.

For dinner we went to Ippudo for ramen, very very yummy. I want more ramen in my life and will have to seek out a good place at home. Do you have a recommendation?

Lily and I had planned on getting both matcha and boba Monday and the boba place was in Times Square.

Somehow, and I don’t know how this happened, I thought that “Times Square” was the section of 42nd st that I walk by going to Alec and Lily’s. I can see the H&M building and the TSX building from their apartment. The subway stop there says Times Square. Lily pointed out that that was actually just “times square adjacent”. After dinner we walked to and through true times square - Oh my. I had NEVER seen the likes of this. The pictures do NOT do it justice. The screens are really very incredible. It was 8:30 yet it looked like it could have been daylight.

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We headed to HeyTea for boba, then back home to try to convince a small dog to poo in a small square of mulch. It’s getting late, I’m outside in shirtsleeves- everything is very alright.

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So much Food

The weather concerned me while I was planning for this trip,—It has been nothing but rain and cold for so long, and I figured that would follow us eastward. Saturday had a touch of rain in the afternoon, but yesterday was really very pleasant. Sun and clouds, poncho and no poncho. Completely dry.

My day began with trying to explain to the small dog that these really were the only potty options. Then Todd and I took him to Target, because its perfectly ok to walk your dog around the inside of Target. This place is so odd.

Then we all headed down to Chinatown to eat this and that, which was a request.

Charlie’s first time on the MTA

We meandered around and ended up getting noodles from 2 places - a food cart lady who Lily knows who freshly made an amazing roast pork with egg concoction that was wrapped inside a big rice noodle, very very yummy,—and then we tried to get more noodles at a place I saw online, but the wait would have been an hour. We proceeded to West Rice Roll King and I had curried fish balls on more noodles- interesting and yummy- but no food cart lady.

We ate this on a bench in Roosevelt Park. But there were more stops in Chinatown. There were different kinds of pork buns and shockingly good soy milk and (probably my favorite) mango moochi, which I’ll have to find a picture of.

Alec convinced me that this would be a good weekend to visit, as so many people leave the city for the holiday weekend,—but Chinatown on Sunday morning was very very crowded.

Then we walked through my first buddhist temple, a place I have often walked by wanting to go through. Charlie remained outside.

Over to the lower east side, where there is a restored Synogogue that I wanted to see on Eldridge Street, it didn’t disappoint, though I was the only one who wanted to pay the admit.

We continued to walk, winding through the lower east side up to Alphabet City, stopping at Tompkins Square Park, where Charlie had his first dog park experience. He needed coaxing, like an unsocialized child. These city dogs are pretty great. So very friendly.

We stopped for a beverage at some place on St Marks Place then on Westward bound to Washington Square Park. More snacks (goat!) and general people watching.

Then came a hurried walk up to Chelsea Markets restrooms - still we could take the dog anywhere!, and onto the highline - where we were told that “Dogs aren’t allowed on the highline” - really?? it’s an outdoor walkway?

We went inside chelsea market? and target? and we legit had seen at least 3 or 4 other dogs up there, but whatevs. We exited the highline, found an ATM, and walked through Hudson Yards (the mall), then looked at the honeycomb thing which I guess is called the Vessel. Did not have the willpower to climb it. Only 10 more blocks to home :)

We crashed for an hour or so, then found an Irish Pub in the vicinity for dinner - shepards pie for me.

I think I did 27k steps and was right at 12 miles. My feet are still sore (morning after). Keep in mind, a 17lb dog did most of these 12 miles, with a good deal more actual steps.

NYC

In another place and time

My parents introduced me to NYC. My dad grew up in Bergenfield, NJ with his two sisters. His father worked at a bank in “the city”. I have no idea what he really did. I do know that he started off collecting deposits from businesses in China Town. It was impressed upon me, that this was a potentially dangerous business. Both he and my grandmother were born and raised here. My Grandmother Betty’s (nee Bertha) parents immigrated from Germany and they (along with their extended family) set up a brewery and hotel with beer garden in Brooklyn. I believe my side had the hotel while the uncles had the brewery. Anyway, prohibition came and all was sold, - the brewery uncles made out with more than Great Grandma Widmann did, though she did all right. My grandfather’s family were Irish. His father immigrated twice, becoming the stereotypical Irish beat cop. His mother believed that raw tomatoes were poisonous and was much alarmed when he came home one day after eating one like an apple. These are some of the stories that I grew up hearing.

As stated, my father grew up in Bergenfield watching his father commuting into the city every day. He didn’t want to repeat this. His sisters’ settled in more rural New Jersey and my parents ended up in Ohio, where my dad had a much shorter commute. My dad was a professor, so we had wide swathes of summer time. We often spent 3-4 weeks annually at a cottage in the Hudson River Valley, built on long gone brewery money. (see how this all comes together). Over the years, I had many day trips into NYC as a child. My dad telling the stories related above as well as his time working as a cabby, how rowed a boat across the Hudson as a teenager, how my Great Uncle Ardie,(nee Adolf), would evade the prohibition agents as he smuggled booze into PA. I remember St Patrick’s, FAO Schwarz, the boring boring circle line tour, and feeling very grown up eating oysters at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central. I remember the museums and driving through the park (we always drove into the city). I remember the traffic.

In college, I came to NYC with friends twice. The first was a spring break trip with girlfriends. We stayed with my aunt at the little cottage and commuted in on a bus and had loads of fun; walking around with paper maps, getting bagels, visiting all the art museums, sitting in Washington Square Park smoking. I remember having the best outfit, which ended up killing my feet. The second time must have been during summer break,—we took two cars and Todd came too. I think there also was a stop with Aunt Grace and a commute into the city, but this time we had friends to stay with! We split into 2 groups and ended up sleeping on the living room floor of the tiniest little walk up. I remember being shocked upon learning how many people actually lived in this 2 bedroom apartment. I have many wonderful memories of this time.

I really thought that I would live here some time.

But I never did.

Time went on, and I didn’t visit again for years and years and years. Todd and I got married, we had children, we still visited the little cottage. We thought about bringing the kids down, and we really tried once. We did take them to the Statue of Liberty, but from the Jersey side - I was just panicky about bringing them in.

Our youngest Alec went to college in New York State. He made many friends who lived here. He visited a time or two. He spent 10 weeks one summer interning (!) I was SO envious. I think this was the ony place he was looking for jobs post graduation. He moved here one year into Covid, in a little walk up in the lower east side that was generously called a one bedroom. He and I “toured” the rooms via facetime. At some point he met the lovely Lily, who has lived here most of her life. A city girl! They now inhabit a lovely apartment on 42nd in Hells Kitchen. This would likely have been on my great grandfather’s beat. Since Alec has moved here, we’ve been visiting yearly, (this year maybe twice :) ).

We arrived yesterday, and I am already filled to brim with the spirit of the place. We found out just a day prior that Todd’s neice and her husband will also be in NY for the weekend, so we hung out with them yesterday afternoon,—how crazy.

For the first time, we have brought our little dog Charlie. He has his own set of social issues and bringing him is a bit of a risk. Yesterday he walked on crowded sidewalks and was very overwhelmed. We’re going to be taking him out as much as we can, and then bringing him home to hopefully decompress. Maybe he’ll ride the subway today :)

So this week, I will share our NYC adventures as well as those of Charlie, the potentially psychotic havapoo.

It’s all about Scarcity

You might look at the title and think that this has something to do with money, or food—something tangible. But no, it is once again about my my most precious commodity- Time.

The more time I have, the more time I waste.

Why is it that when I see a day with no commitments committed to —I think, I can do EVERYTHING!. I’ll do this and this and this. and then I’ll look up from the first this and somehow it’s time to make dinner. It doesn’t seem fair.

I am committed to co-host a monthly Tea Cafe for a local ladies’ club. Last Saturday was to be our first one of the season. I literally knew about this for months and I had all last week, with I think nothing that I had to do. I didn’t decide upon a recipe for a salable baked good until 5pm on Friday. It was a yeasted recipe- yet I thought that I wouldn’t start until Saturday morning (?). This is poor planning all around. I realized midway through that there was not a prayer of a chance of getting done and so I started throwing together a coffee cake at 8AM. I needed to be at the event at 9, and I still had to gather all the tea stuff- the table cloths, the tea, the sugar, the water boiler, bla bla bla. I had to make Iced tea.

It finished baking, I got there only a bit late, and the event went off without a hitch. But for crying out loud, what was the point of putting myself through all that.

There are only so many minutes in an hour and only so many hours in a day, regardless if I’m doing something fun or something tedious.

It’s the tedious hours that fool us. They take SO LONG, that there are too many of them in our days and weeks, we forget how long an hour really is. I spend what seems like a lifetime getting a spreadsheet to work the way I want it to, and then I’m under the impression that I can put together a quilt in a couple of days. Here’s a thought- if life is so precious and I love the time so much, and if doing the stuff that I love makes time fly by, should I not do it? am I squandering my precious life by enjoying it? What a dilemma.

Sunday, being Mother’s Day, we went down to Dublin to visit with next generation and listen to Rhuna sing with her choir- so very lovely. Una looks lovely in the new duds, which makes me smile thinking about it.

Euan wants more true play cloths - for climbing rocks and fishing. I expect that I’ll get on that.

His birthday is quickly approaching - 3 already. It seems that time is flying by for him as well. I had an idea to make him (and the family) a reusable birthday banner with some leftover bits and bobs. I’m tickled with it. Instead of attaching the individual pennants to a ribbon, I made casings in the back of them, so that the letters could be rearranged. “Happy Day”, “Pay Day”, “Hardy Happy Bit”, lol. I also made them letters to cover their names. All 4 of their names, only use 7 letters (!)

I enjoyed making these and would enjoy making them again- so, I am adding them to the Etsy Shop - Get some if you like!

Time, Timeliness, Present

So, no great revelations have occurred to me over the past week. I’m trying, and it is a trial, to find better ways to divvy up my days and weeks. I am keeping my stupid daily to do lists, and actually allotting myself blocks of time for good as well as less fun activities. On Monday, I said “I WILL work outside for 2 hours” - then I did. It wasn’t super fun - but that one spot does look a bit better. I’ve said to myself, that I should ride my bike here, here, and here, and get on the treadmill these other days. These remaining days I’m allowed to rest.

Do you remember when you were a kid and you thought that once you were grown no one would tell you what to do? Do also remember the length of summer and its unstructured days?

I basically am making myself a chore chart. This feels so very germanic.

I was sitting in a doctor’s office last week ( another thing that it taking up too much time) and an older lady (probably younger than me lol) was talking to someone. She said something like, “My husband still goes into the office everyday, so I get up and we have breakfast together, then I take care of everything that needs done in the morning and then I have the WHOLE rest of the day for whatever I want! Shopping, lunch out with friends, whatever!” How very civilized. She can look around her life, see what needs to be done and then get on with it. Then on to lunch and afternoon shopping. (She also made mention of her Porsche, so maybe she has outside help for the heavy lifting). Still.

A while back, I spent a couple of days with Sean and family, helping out while Sean was on call. I asked Euan if he wanted to go to the park, he said no, he just wanted to play with trucks at home. I said OK, and started to play with the trucks. Rhuna was impressed with my flexibility (?) . I said that I really didn’t want to go to the park either - it was just something that I thought we “should do” lol. I was fine just laying on the floor parking cars. When Sean ( I mention him because we actually discussed this- the others may feel the same), talks about his childhood, he remembers being unhurried. He does not seem to remember my to do lists. Or I guess the calendar on the fridge that legit had 5 columns to accommodate all of our schedules. I’m glad that he (hopefully they), felt calm and unhurried.

So, I guess I’ll try to live a bit more like my son’s memory and like the waiting room lady. I’m going to strive to allocate a set amount of time to do the crap that I don’t relish, and when it’s done, it’s done (regardless of how far I’ve gotten). And then there will unhurried time for whatever.

What I have been spending loads and loads of time doing- is making a spring/summer wardrobe for sweet Una Baloona. She has clothes from Euan that fit her, but when she wears them people think she’s a boy, (lack of meaningful hair and all). So Rhuna requested girly clothes.

I of course start with a list- what does she have, and what do I think she needs. I’m happiest making these decisions on my own. If Rhuna wants something in particular, she’ll need to ask.

I felt that Una neeeded: 4 pairs of pants, 6 pairs of shorts, 5 knit shirts, 4 flouncy shirts (I only made 3 and 1 is actually more of a dress), 1 sweatshirt, 1 hoody that is like a jacket, and 2 dresses. Then I saw a pattern for an adorable shorty overall with a skirt that can button on top (!!!) so cute. All of these are basically done. I still intend to make her andf her her brother a set of rain pants and jackets from softshell.

I took some down to them before Easter and I have another pile here waiting to drive down to Columbus. So here you go:

In terms of knitting- I have also FINALLY finished the Nordic Mix sweater that I was working on for Lily. It is lovely and of course blocked a bit larger than I thought- this happens to me every stinking time. I worry that something will be too small, I adjust, then lo and behold it’s fine- actually a bit larger than I anticipated since I have forgotten once more about the magical powers of water. I will take this to her late May and will add a “complete” picture then.

So what am I working on now?

Knitting- I have picked up, again, Andrea Mowry’s Tessellated Vest- I was supposed to have gotten this done for Rhinebeck LAST YEAR! but I obviously didn’t. It’s a cropped vest- but it is taking me FOREVER. There are about a million slipped stiches in just about every row- so it actually like knitting maybe 6 vests. This was originally intended for me- I’m not certain anymore. I will wait to see how it fits. This is my first Andrea Mowry pattern. I like the way it looks, (obviously why I chose it) I don’t love the pattern- so many pages- I keep getting lost in them. I prefer to knit from charts- but the way the pages are formatted it forces me to read too much of the row by row- I kind of hate that. Sometimes I wonder- do knitwear designers deliberately add so many pages and “stuff” to their patterns so that I’ll think I am getting a good value? I much prefer EZ’s pith.

Sewing - I have a needlepoint pillow cover (cushion for you UK folks) to put together for a friend, I want to make the rain gear for the kids and I really do want to get the last 2 in process quilt tops done so that I can face the dilemma of quilting.

So enough for now- I must go take care of the junk- so I can get back to the Joy :)

Time

I know this is all very common sense, but it’s been on my mind - Time. It just kind of flows along, right? We have these beliefs on how we should fill it. What is a waste, what is productive. Are we accomplishing anything today? Is it April already? Is April almost gone? What I have done with this time?

So I’m asking - What is needed to feel a sense of accomplishment? Is it items crossed off of a list? Because I am fairly accomplished at making lists. Side Note: Does anyone besides me remember the Frog and Toad story about list making?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_fzS7jRQgo

It’s worth the read. I legitimately will sometimes add something to my list that I have already done- just for the sake of placing the check beside it. So. Very. Satisfying.

During the last week or so at the J, as we lamented the future, some young man said, “ I honestly don’t know what I will do all day long”. How strange. I replied in shock, “Are you kidding me??” He had not yet discovered the fine art of puttering.

put·ter3

/ˈpədər/

verb

North American

gerund or present participle: puttering

1. occupy oneself in a desultory but pleasant manner, doing a number of small tasks or not concentrating on anything particular.

Actually, this is not what I do- though my actions may appear like this to others.

I am not desultory- or not entirely.

There are many, many things that I want to do. I have “some” idea on how to get them started, but I probably am lacking a true purpose; a true plan (sounds like I need some more lists(!)) This weekend I told a friend, “I just want to do what I want when I want to do it” Is that really so hard? But in my head, I think I “should” be doing something else. This “should”, (because I am not going to call it guilt), is not coming from Dear Husband, Todd. He probably would prefer that I clean the house now and then, but he seems perfectly OK with me sewing all day. I don’t think it is originating from a “work ethic” in the sense that I feel that I “have” to have outside employment. I was home for 14 years taking care of kids, I don’t crave a JOB. Purpose, maybe?

This weekend I spoke with (youngest son) Alec and Lily. I was likely rambling. Lily said something like “It sounds like you almost have too many ideas”. And, there it is. Focus, or lack thereof.

Time - How much do we have and how do we really want to spend it? I want to become so many different people and do so many different things. Do I have the time? still? (you knew there would be a list - right?)

1 - Improve Craft (brioche knitting, knitting backwards, garment sewing, quilting) - I’ve been working on this - The knitting stuff- I just need to buckle down and do it- it can’t be that hard lol. The garment sewing stuff that I have trouble with- I think it is just a matter of practice, (no problem finding time for that :) ) and I’ve been loading up on quilting classes.

2 - Write this Blog - I do enjoy this. It sometimes feels like an annoying thing on my to dos- but when I’m writing- it feels very cathartic. This is the weird journal that I am sharing publicly (or among the 5 of you). It’s the promotion of the Blog that I really find a bit cringey. I kind of don’t enjoy the social media crap. But I’m not sure how to promote this thing without it. I am very obviously not as committed as I should be if I want this thing to fly.

3 - Make stuff for me and mine - This I love so much and I have no trouble finding the time to do it. I would likely do it ALL DAY long if I could. I feel actual withdrawal. Last weekend it compelled me to continue sewing a little dress EVEN after I had somehow sewn through my thumb nail- You read that correctly. I somehow got my thumb nail under my sewing machine needle - I sewed THROUGH it (capturing my finger). I manually released my thumb, washed and sterilized the appendage, cleaned the machine to try to find the broken bits of needle, and then continued sewing, had to make sure the machine was ok. So yes, this I truly love. My thumb is (remarkably) fine.

4 - Make stuff for strangers - This is an unknown. I have never never never wanted to monetize my craft. I have never never never wanted to take something that I love and turn it into drudgery (my fear). So, how do I do this exactly? How do I strike a balance? How can I take what I love and somehow do it in a fashion that doesn’t annoy me and still (potentially) make a wee bit of money and give me a wee bit of satisfaction. Do I want to make physical things? or patterns? If I make physical things, do I need to maintain an inventory? Do I need to go somewhere and sell my stuff? and then pack up what doesn’t sell for another day? (This sounds depressing). Do I want to start making commissioned items for people? How on earth would I price that? Do I want to start writing knitting patterns? This I have done before and I liked the process- of course there about a million and one others already doing it. For it to be truly successful (whatever I decide THAT means), would require me to invest more time and energy into the whole social media thing. big sigh. TikTok OMG. My DIL, Rhuna suggested that maybe I could set up an exchange along the lines of - I’ll make you something for X number of social media posts. If you are still reading this and have any such skills - please let me know - it’s not a bad idea.

5 - Travel and hang out with Todd, kids and kids of kids - This is the true ice cream of life. Can I do it everyday please? Would I want to if I did? I would like to give it a go. Maybe when I’m really retired - whatever that means. I want to go literally everywhere. and I also want to just sit still.

6 - Other Enjoyable Stuff - Everything else that I want to do - you know, all the things that you thought that you would like and just haven’t done and the other things that you like - Reading of course, spending time with friends, cooking, gardening, meeting new people, doing slightly scary stuff and surviving. Playing with my dogs. Making a room look the way I had envisioned and everything that I forgot that I wanted to do. This is the grated parm on top of life.

7 - Stupid Crap - My Grandmother had a pill box that said “stupid stuff I have to take”. IMO - this category takes up too much time. This is the cleaning that actually has to be done, the dumb laundry, the weeding, the errand running. My doctor has now made a powerful enough argument for “exercise” - so there’s that. Truly stupid wastes of time (maybe).

I guess the next step is divvying up the day- or the week. What a quandary. How do you manage this? The allocating of our most precious commodity?

Do I have to truly be “retired” in order to feel free to spend it as a I choose? How will I know if I am? Is retired a permanent condition? I thought “staying at home” was, then I went back to “outside employment” for 14 years- am I done? am I not?

This whole post feels a little odd -sorry. Sometime later this week I’ll show you what I’ve been making- I promise :) It’s pretty wonderful. I’m happy to read anyone’s comments or suggestions -

Quiet Days

It seems that I’m settling into the no-day-job routine. I think this is Monday of week 3, (I actually had to check a calendar). I still miss seeing the folks whose chit chat surrounded me these past many years. I miss walking around the path while trying to (re) teach myself french. I miss showing folks what I was knitting over lunch. I miss the feeling when I was able to help solve someone’s problem. There are many, many things I don’t miss. The post-bankruptcy filing months were particularly awful. For a long while, there was basically nothing to do, yet we still had to come in to the office. These weeks were filled with anxiety, doom scrolling and stress eating. Then the last month was just frenzy. Trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to cover the roles of others. The constant jammer of a particular individual stressing that he would NEVER find another job. Stories that just made me feel older by the minute. The teasing that “maybe” we’ll keep you on for a few more weeks- then the nothing.

I physically feel so much better. I am sleeping solidly more often. I have lost the annoying 5 pounds that I had put on since the new year. I am exercising. I’m cooking more - still not every night- but more.

“hanging” out with Una

Last week I went down to Dublin to see the grands and I spent 2 nights (mid-week!). They are so very sweet and perhaps the smartest children ever born. Euan is a bit more than 2 1/2 and little Una is 17 months. They are very busy. They run and smile and tickle and laugh and push cars and hook up tow trucks and cook me fake food and “hot tea”. While there, we went to the playground and had a sunny morning at the zoo looking at polar bears. But mostly, I think we just sat on the floor and talked about monster trucks. There were really very few monster truck discussions at JOANN.

What have I been making, you ask? Well, I started the next session of beginning quilting and have begun it’s accompanying new quilt a week ago. The top should be done by Easter. I’m using a mish mash of stashed fabric. Some Batik fat quarters, a few leftovers from Jubilation, a couple of pieces from a baby layette (smile) and a weird white that I got at sample sale that I’m actually regretting using,—it’s weirdly thick in places. I have 4 blocks done. I also picked up a quilt that I started a year or so ago- I now have a plan in mind to finish it. I’m trudging slowing along with Lily’s Nordic Mix.

Also last week I saw all the cotton flannel that I had stacked about. I saw it more from a sense of “how can I better utilize this space” - and I thought Paper (less) Towels.

A million years ago (or 1996), we had just had our second baby and had decided that the family would function better at home. Meaning that I never went back after maternity leave,- (I am such a stereotype). I came up with schemes for saving money- mostly spent at the grocery store. I felt that one of these money pits was paper products- so I stopped buying napkins and paper towels. (I also cloth diapered- but that’s another story). We went back to paper napkins, but the paper towel thing has stuck. I probably have not bought more than a dozen rolls of paper towels in the past 28 1/2 years.

So, last week I see flannel- and think the world needs more paper(less) towels! I made up a set for Rhuna and myself, then the serger kind of took on a life of it’s own and now there are Paper(Less) Towels aplenty :)

Stack them Up

Then Roll them Up

I’ve decided to share the wealth with you all! and I’ve set up a Etsy Shop :) I don’t know how (yet) to do shopify or I would make the little “shop” tab above work,- no worries! Etsy will do it for me. Check it out :) the shop name is SkeinandSpoolCo

Shetland Wool Week

Have you heard?

As background for the uninitiated there are a multitude of knitting festivals going on all over the world on a semi-regular schedule. There is the Maryland Sheep and Wool in early May, SAFF in Ashville in the fall, and of course NY Sheep and Wool is always held the 3rd weekend in October, in beautiful Rhinebeck. What happens at these shows you ask? Various local yarn sellers, indie dyers, button ladies (!), pattern designers, set up booths to entice me and my BFFs. There may also be sheep, goats, rabbits, alpacas and sheep dogs.

Sometimes there are parades, with nuns, walking sheep.

NY Sheep and Wool Dutchess County Fairgrounds, Rhinebeck, NY

So many people - all wandering around wearing a lot of hand knits. There is a posse of podcasters, with middle aged women fan-girling them. There may be men in kilts. There may be voiceless plays with people dressed as sheep. Folks come up to one another and say things like “I love your Starting Point!” “Is that an Andrea Mowry?” “I think I saw the Sockmatician!” At Rhinebeck, many years ago, I tried to talk the Tsarina of Tsocks into selling me just the pattern, (not the kit) for something. I told her that I had just too much sock yarn. She shouted into the crowd “ IS SOCK YARN STASH?”. The entire booth replied “NO!!!”. I think I have 4 Tsock kits upstairs.

For many years nows- I have dreamt of the mecca of these festivals, SWW (Shetland Wool Week to the unindoctrinated). I think is was in 2023, that I declared that we were going to make it happen in 2025.

This is a newer festival - only 10 years young, and it took a hiatus during Covid. The dates are always a bit varied, late September to early October. Sometimes it is a whole week, sometimes more or less. Sometimes it starts on Saturday, sometimes on Monday. The dates for the following year’s event are not ever released until after the current year’s event.

In case you don’t know where the Shetland Islands are, I suggest that you now look at a map.

It is practically in the middle of nowhere, aka the North Sea. I’m pretty sure that there is not a big Hilton presence. There are only 23k people living on these tiny islands. SWW brings in another 1000. This is nothing compared to the 30k who go to Rhinebeck every year, but it’s a whole lot for these little towns to accomodate.

Last summer, I spent a morning trying to “guess” when would SWW be held in the fall of 25. Then I found an Airbnb that accomodated 4 in Lerwick. Glory be, she offered full refunds. I consulted the “I wanna go!’s”, and booked it. Guess what!?!?! I guessed right !!!! Another 3(!) have also signed on, and found a place in Bressay. We have been booking planes, and 14 hour ferry rides, and calculating how many days to allow for crappy weather. What to pack and what to see.

“A whole week??”, you might say?

My favorite thing differenciating this festival from the others (IMO), is that the “sale day” is only one afternoon - the WHOLE REST of the week is made up of various field trips and activities! I can sign up for a croft tour, or bird watching, or visit some broch, ancient viking textile classes, brewery and shetland woolen mill tours, something called Sunday Tea, fiddlers in pubs, lace making, on and on and on and on. I LOVE TOURISMS. I LOVE TEXTILES. I LOVE OLD ARCHEOLOGICAL THINGS. I am very excited.

This past weekend, my buddy Julia held a SWW planning weekend. 2 folks flew in for it! We got together at her house on Friday and all day Saturday. We got to meet the new peeps, we ate, we crafted, did yoga and played games. One gal had to miss (and we sorely missed her). Andi showed me how to needle felt, and I made this witchy gal who amuses me and I cut the steek on the armholes for Lily’s sweater.

Rousing round of Shetland Jeopardy

I am SO looking forward to the upcoming trip. I think it just might be epic.

Spring- so they say

I know that “complicated” things are not really complicated. They’re just things that I don’t (yet) know how to do - but the complexities of this “blog building” are beginning to wear on me- I thought this would be simpler. The acronyms alone, honestly.

I have been able to do a fair bit of sewing. Over the past few days I have finished 2, yes count them 2 (!) quilt tops! One was a LONG block of the month project begun last summer and the other I started maybe 5 weeks ago. The LARGE one is Studio 180’s Jubilation. This quilt was a serious stretch for me. Before attempting it- I had never been able to keep those points on the triangles. I had a lot of assistance this time and I’m pretty proud of myself. If I’m able to master those triangles and flying geese and all the other bits and bobs then maybe I’ll be able to figure out how to get a comment section in here.

Studio 180 Jubliation

This is a quilt I made while taking Quilt 201 at a lovely local shop https://ohiostarquilts.com/ I used stash fabric, some from JOANN, some from a project that isn’t happening. On the way home from class last week, my water bottle leaked, and I didn’t unpack my bags until morning. That is when I saw the wet fabric and that the red wilmington print had bled onto the white. I hope it comes out. Once its quilted, I’ll do the whole color catcher thing and hope for the best

Ohio Star Quilt - Beginning Quilting 1 - 2nd project

What the red really looks like (maybe I should have grabbed that thread)- and you can see the bleed!

Beginnings

CrossRoads- is that where I am? It feels as though a fork is coming, but other than that it’s a bit foggy. I may currently be in the middle of the S turns. Will it straighten out, or do I need to turn? The facts are that I’m a newly made 60-year-old-woman. I had a plan in place, knowing what “they” say about plans.

So now, I’m in a state of limbo. The folks who work alongside me (and myself) have all received a WARN letter informing us that the place we go to everyday may not be here in the very near future. Maybe beginning on 3/15 we’ll be jobless. The future is now right smack in front of me. Should I find another job? Should I begin my retired life? Should I knit? Should I sew?

I wrote this almost 2 months ago. The fork is here- and my use of “fork” 8 weeks ago now seems problematic. I’m reminding myself that every ending is a beginning. The whole circle of life thing. I’m going to take some time and reassess. I’m going to welcome spring and work with my dogs. I’m going to exercise, and sew, and knit, and write. I would like to share all this with you and maybe you can share your thoughts with me.

This is what is on my needles today,—Laura Dalgaard’s Nordic Mix. It was requested by my youngest son’s girlfriend. When she asks for a sweater- she has a knitting pattern in mind, how very interesting. I’m using de rerum natura GILLIATT - in Sel and Delphineum. The young lady was a bit unsure about the shade of blue. This photo makes it look close to navy - it’s not. And using the sel with the blue, makes it appear whiter than it looked alone. So very odd, that something (or someone) can seem completely different when we place them next to something else. I digress. The gauge per pattern is 18sts x 20 rows- I am knitting about 21- meaning that to get the desired width, I should be knitting the the XL. This also, of course, affects how much yarn I need. I started the neck- and have run out of the blue. I’ve ordered 2 more and a skein of the white for good measure. So here’s the thing,—I started this project with a half skein of the white, a half skein leftover from a prior project for the same young lady. I wanted to use it up—I bought more in order to make this sweater, and now I am realizing that I need more still. What are the chances that I am going to end up with the exact amount that I started with- or even more. One of the stories of my life.

Today I’ll find something else to work on until the (additional) yarn comes in. I also have a quilting project to work on which I will share with you tomorrow. I will go for a walk and continue to regroup-

Wishing you all sunshine and blue skies :)