Saturday, January 30, 2016

Botanical Wonder

When you have seen one ant, one bird, one tree, you have not seen them all.  E. O. Wilson


Lone Old Oak Tree
Atascadero 




Cork Oak Tree
SLO Botanical Garden




Winter Bloom
SLO Museum of Art




Majestic Eucalyptus Tree
SLO Mission Plaza




Yarn(bombed)* Tree
Yarns at the Adobe LYS, SLO Downtown  
(*Yarn bombing is a type of graffiti or street art that employs colorful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn or fiber.)




A tree is a tree. How many more do you need to look at?  Ronald Reagan



Sunday, January 24, 2016

A Good Rain




So far, so good.

It's raining - not too much, not too quick, not too often; the light rain has been able to soften the drought-hardened ground - no runoff, no flooding, no landslides.

Last Summer's fire along the Cuesta Grade created a landslide concern because of the steep denuded slope so close to the highway.


9/12/15


The gentle showers and sunshine have helped to green up the charred hillside and lessen the landslide risk as the new growth takes hold. Phew, I was not looking forward to driving home along that stretch of road on a dark and stormy night.

We've had a few nights of thunder and lightning. (The dogs have been pretty good about waking us up to let us know.) And one brief, but exciting, teeny-tiny-sized hail shower.




As in years past, the doghouse is still the most coveted shelter from the rain.




Unfortunately, Zeke and Bitsy don't invite Jack into their cozy hideaway. So baby Jack usually follows the chickens to take cover under the deck or takes shelter in the now-too-small-for-him cat carrier we put out for him.

The other day though, we spotted Jack leaning against the garage door, standing in the falling rain. Talk about a sad sight! The Man brought him in the garage, I toweled him off, and he spent the rest of the day inside the garage.

Poor Jack, he needed his own shelter from the rain.

Lucky Jack, he got it.


 




Like I said, "So far, so good."


Saturday, January 16, 2016

Any Old Wind

Last week I mentioned in passing - oh, so casually - that I acquired yarn for Christmas.

This is what I wrote, " (Ahem) Yarn. A crazy good deal on Noro Kogarashi - silk and wool blend, bulky-weight yarn. . . ."

This is what I meant, "ZOMG! I love Little Knits! My virtual LYS (local yarn store)! They offered, I succumbed. Three full bags, five skeins per bag. Noro Kogarashi yarn at 7% off, oops, that's not right. I mean 70% off. Yes, that's right! The yarn normally retails for $20 per skein. Yowzers!"




So what to do with chunky yarn? And not just any ol' chunky yarn but Eisaku Noro's chunky yarn? First you gotta know that Noro yarn translates to: vibrant saturated colors, long, slow striping, and rustic, loosely-plied texture. Oh, yeah, and the occasional vegetative matter. (It ain't synthetic fiber, that's for sure.)

So it's all about the yarn. Keep it simple. Easy-peasy.







By the way, I google searched the translation of Kogarashi. I'm pretty sure Eisaku Noro named his yarn "cold wintry wind", rather than after a weird manga character which also popped up in the google search. At least I hope so. Those Japanese - aren't they a hoot*? (*Hoot: Someone that does something funny, or does something out of the ordinary.)





She'll go sailin' off on any old wind that blows.   Johnny Cash/Dick Feller wrote.

Monday, January 11, 2016

I, I Will Be King

 1/8/47 - 1/10/16


David Bowie is Book Design


We can be heroes, forever and ever.   David Bowie, 1977


Sunday, January 10, 2016

Santa Baby

I must've been an awfully good girl. Looky here:

Very cool sheep breed design canvas tote bag and zippered canvas pouch from Ravelry. It was generously marked down because of a typo - Romeldale - was missing an "L". The misprint items sold out super quick. Crazy knitters. (Psst, it took me a long time to find Romedale/Romeldale.)



 
(Ahem) Yarn. A crazy good deal on Noro Kogarashi - silk and wool blend, bulky-weight yarn, and a few skeins of Cascade Casablanca - a Noro-like worsted wool, silk, and mohair blend.


 

Already started a quick cozy comfy cowl with the bulky-weight Noro.


 

Weaving: Schacht 11" slim Boat Shuttle, Fiber Artist Supply Co. Bobbin winder, and a bunch of plastic bobbins.




Everyone checking out the new weaving loot tools just before The Man stained the unfinished maple wood bobbin winder with danish oil.

 


Santa baby, just slip a Sable under the tree for me;
Been an awful good girl, Santa baby,
So hurry down the chimney tonight.  (Javits/Springer, 1953)

Friday, January 1, 2016

A Great New Moment

It looks like it's going to be another great new day . . .
week . . .
month . . .
a great new year.









Happy New Year, 2016