The dark and why we live here

It is that time of year again - the clocks are fallen back and the evenings (well, really the afternoons) have been chopped by an hour. I would be an endorser of this if it mattered in the morning. I run in the morning and I really find running in the dark less fun, um, more of a drag, well, really almost impossible. In addition to overcoming my desire to stay in bed in general, when it is dark, I have to drag myself out. In the middle of the summer, of course, we get the opposite of this situation. The sun comes up at 4:15 and sets at 10 something. I have much more energy and feel better about everything. No problem (okay, it still isn't fun) getting up at 5:00. But the winter means rain and dark. I really understand why people invented festivals of lights. If I had to guess, the northern peoples had the festivals that were then adopted by people closer to the equator and woven into other mythologies. I am ready to hang lights NOW. But it is before Thanksgiving. Have to wait.

Back from our Spain/Portugal trip

Ah - great vacation, but good to be home. I learned a lot from this vacation. Some of the time the lessons were hard won - LEARN A $%^#^%@%$#&^%# LANGUAGE other than English - and some were of the lighter variety - Vinho Verde Very Good. 3 weeks is probably too much for one post so I will start with Barcelona. We spent 4 days there - just enough time to get a little comfortable but not enough time to actually know the place. That was okay - we had a lot of ground we wanted to cover - but I have decided one needs to spend a week somewhere to get something serious and lasting from the place. That is short, but enough (like our time in Levanto Italy). 2 days and you just don't have a clue - can really only get some highlights and a very superficial look. After the 3rd day I think you start getting yourself situated, recognizing landmarks, walking past something enough times to notice it, recognizing people and places. In a country where one doesn't speak the language, it gives you time to hear the language; recognizing separate words at least rather than just a long stream of sound. (It is still very hard (at least for me) to be unable to communicate with someone else in their language.)

We really loved Barcelona - it is such a thriving and vibrant city. Of course, the Gaudy stuff is fascinating but so are the beautiful shops and downtown area. We happened across fascinating experiences in the Park, watched people along the boulevard, and strolled along the water. Barcelona seems to have a sense of its history and is working on preserving it. However, the fact that they are building a train line under the Sagrada Familia doesn't bode well for that amazing structure.

And it is an amazing structure. Words and pictures do not do it justice - the man was a genius and the experience is divine. I hope I can see it finished.

Real Rain and Spain

It is really raining. Yes, I know. If you move to Seattle, what do you really expect it to do? however, September is usually beautiful and a very well-kept secret. People think it rains all the time in Seattle and September is usually blue sky and sun all month long. Not this year. It POURED last night. It rained so hard that the chimney leaked. drip... drip... drip... Callie got up to go outside (unfortunately she needs my help) and all I could hear was drip... drip... drip... I just could not get back to sleep. So I worked. I guess I need that vacation.

Which is going to be in SPAIN. We leave on Thursday for 3 weeks. That is a big trip. To a place I don't know at all. Where I don't speak the language. I wonder if that is why I am nervous about the trip. Or if it is because things are tough at work. Or if it is the long plane ride. Or if it is how much organization I need to pack for 3 weeks in a little roll-on suitcase. Or if it is just that I am freaked out. Oh well, what usually happens - once I get there I am fine and we have a great time. Will that happen? I sure as heck hope so because it is sunny there and it isn't work so there should be lots of good that comes from it.

So here is to Gaudy, flamenco, and fado. More from the other side of the Atlantic.

Another day, another dollar

Can you believe that it was dark and rainy again this morning? Is that even possible? As I drove down the road on the way to work, I started calculating - how much money would I need to retire, to find another reason for being, explore new horizons (or even just clean up the old ones)? My problem is my yarn habit. I have it and I have it really really really really bad. There just is not a yarn skein - oops, let's stop there.

First of all, I am really picky about the yarn I like. I like soft yarn mostly. Texture is very important to me. I love to plunge my hands into alpaca, or feel silk slide through my fingers. A good wool is lovely to feel. Bamboo can be amazing as well. But acrylic? Even the really soft and fluffy stuff feels funny after a while. I can feel the artificial component. I don't know why it happens but it grows worse over time until it is like fingernails on a blackboard. (hmmm - wonder what they refer to now that no one uses chalk and all the boards are white?)

So soft, but color is important too. I have this favorite yarn store - lots of hand-dyed goods - but just because it is done by hand doesn't make it good. I like a broad range of colors (from vibrant hues to soothing pastels) but some colorways just should not be allowed. According to my artist friends, there are rules. I don't know the rules - my hands just reject the stuff. I have noticed a tendency to stay away from colors I can't wear myself (don't get me started on orange) but then I will find a skein that manages to hit just the right note and I make an exception.

I also like a broad range of weights. Bulky has it place (although less now then when I first started). And you can't knit a good gansey without an aran weight. Baby clothes have to be in DK or smaller. But fingering and laceweight are my current sirens. I am in a sock and shawl mood and have been churning them out - the more complicated the pattern the better.

So what is a person to do? Very necessary to keep working - can't afford to buy the next batch otherwise - so, another day, another dollar. ;-)

Haste makes waste

It is a weekend of fiber arts. Labor Day weekend and the weather is gloomy. I am happy to run and jump and play, even in the rain, but we all have our limits. I have reached mine. So I decided to make lemonade out of lemons and pretend that I never wanted to go outside in the first place. Here is what I planned to do:

1. Friday - My Plan: Meet Erik for a drink and do the First Friday Art exhibits. Then home for a dinner cooked by Erik - well, actually I had thought about eating out, but Erik wanted to go home and offered to cook. Find all the places to stay in Spain for our trip.

What I actually did: Ferry line took FOREVER! We did cruise the art - which was pretty fun this time - but no drink. Erik did cook a yummy dinner - and then trip planning - which was very frustrating and ended a little uncertainly.

2. Saturday - Plan: Run. Mordant wool for dyeing. Get wool for sweater. Get a few more pots for dyeing. Finish sock. Complete trip planning. (buy the tickets for the flamenco IN ENGLISH this time.

What I actually did: Run. Went to west seattle for wool (yes another round trip on the ferry), and the fish market and the antique mall (they had some cool pots for dyeing), and the re-sell-it shop and gas. Ferry line. Home to dog mess on the floor. Grocery shopping. Home to dog mess on the floor. Mordant wool - lots of it - with alum. Forgot to eat lunch.

3. Sunday - Plan: Run. Dye the wool, do bills, make lamb shanks, start felting process, knit, weave. Ha!

What I actually did: Run. Dye the wool. Make and EAT the lamb shanks. Bed. Totally knackered.

4. Monday - Plan: Run. do the felting.

What I actually did: Run. Ruin the felting. Nap?

Car Day

I really like my car, but it must have known I was having disloyal thoughts. I have been suffering Mini Cooper Lust. There is something about a Mini that just calls to me. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the ferry system is talking about giving discounts to small cars. Can't you just see a little chocolate brown mini cooper with caramel colored stripes? Yeah - I can too! But it is not meant to be.

Today I took my car to the dealership. It is a Lexus ES300 that is a little over 8 years old. We've been together that whole time and had some pretty wild rides. I had a few things I thought the dealer could fix more cheaply and easily and it had been a year since my last visit. So I made the appointment and my husband dropped the car off. At about 9ish, the phone rang at work.

"Hi, this is John, the service person at your Lexus dealer. Turns out your air conditioner is not working because there is a hole in the condenser. That will run you about $800. Oh and your brakes are getting pretty worn - we recommend they be replaced." I think he quoted me another $500 - the room had started spinning.

"Ouch," I said. "I wasn't really planning on spending that money, but oh well. It is summer." Not that you would know it - see previous blog post :-( - and not that it will be hot ANY TIME SOON.

"One other thing," he mentioned. "Your car is up to 85K miles and we recommend changing the timing belt/chain at 90K. It is actually over due by age, since we recommend changing it at 7 years and yours is 8 years old. That will run about $1200 with all of the other belts and changes."

Any visions of trading the car in on a mini were now dashed. Of course, one has to change one's timing chain/belt when it is time. And, having invested (altogether) about $3000 in this latest service appointment, none of which will ever be recouped, well, I can't even think about a new car. This is obviously a clever ruse by Lady Lexus to stay living with me. While I am honored by the loyalty, could we have come to this spot by some other route? One that did not include crushing my joy of life and pinching my budget? One that left open the possibility of sharing the parking pad with another? One that perhaps allowed me to buy a skein of yarn rather than a belt/chain that I will never see?

Sigh. Just remember: don't think the words "timing chain" or "trade-in" just prior to a service appointment. It will doom you.

The ultimate in heavy weather

I actually know that what I am about to write about is NOT really the ultimate in heavy weather. Actually, our weather here is quite mild. BUT IT IS SO BLOODY GREY! "What," you say, "someone is complaining about Seattle being grey? How simply over done!" But it has been a dreadful spring and now summer is here and it is STILL GREY! I am really not a fussy person, and, while I don't like rain anywhere near as much as my mother-in-law (who counts every day without rain as a drought), I really handle the weather pretty well most of the time. My main tool to cope is remembering my 10 years in Minnesota. Generally, anywhere where the range of temperatures is modestly less than -40 F/C to 100 F seems like temperate to me. And Seattle isn't even close - we swing probably from 22 F to 85 F. Mild, right?

But I grew up in the Midwest. In the Midwest, we have WEATHER. And summer means hot nights, violent thunderstorms, and the sweet smell of the air after the storm is over. Okay, I know it also means oppressive heat and high humidity, but it is summer after all. And the sun shines a lot. Here - well, it is the last day but one of June and the sun comes out for minutes now and then. In fact, it seems to shine the most at about 8 pm. Not exactly when you can enjoy it. And June 20th was the darkest day of the year. I mean that we got less solar energy than any other day. What part of the civilized world even knows that it has had the darkest day and darkest month?????

Sigh. Ready for summer.

The grass likes it though.

My very first post

Memorial Day Weekend and I am coming down off a great book rush. It is raining AGAIN and I am trying to work up the energy to go for a run. Liquid sunshine - harumph. The great book is Steig Larsson's The Girl Who Kicked a Hornet's Nest. It is the 3rd in his series and last. It was too good to put down! I am totally bummed that I finished it. Which should give you a little sense of one of my passions.

Another passion is knitting. Somehow I can't stop. I also can't keep my hands off yarn. That helps explain why I like weaving as well. Knitting is much more portable but weaving has a speed advantage. Except when I can't find time to warp. Which is often. Nothing really on the loom today. On needles - that is a different story. I am a ravelry person. So much of my work is posted there - this is not really a knitting blog - plenty of those to go around. Or maybe it will be. Guess we will have to wait and see.

My picture today is of my daughter's graduation.