Forgot to add Robin Williams to the list of things I’m thankful for.

 

Thankfulness, I haz it….

Air America had a humorous list of reasons for progressive Americans to be thankful. Well, humorous if not a bit harsh, and I have my own list, not in any particular order of importance:

I am thankful for halfway decent health for an old fart – despite obesity and a love of red wine;
I am thankful for my family of individuals who still care about each other and for extended family who probably scratch their heads at us but love us anyway;
I am thankful for friends, crazy-assed or otherwise who have remained friends through the years, the kind of friends with whom I can share everything – they make life worth living;
I am thankful for music and having just enough ability to enjoy it and even make some now and then;
I am thankful for my wonderful church community, a community that welcomes questioning and learning in addition to faith and prayer and worship;
I am thankful for the choirs to which I belong; for the music we make, for the friendship we share and for our wonderful SWMBO;
I am thankful to be employed by a wonderful firm of good, decent and hardworking individuals, all dedicated to helping the best clients you could ever have: children:);
I am thankful for my clients from whom I learn more than I ever could have imagined, and for whom I always hope to do better;
I am thankful for seasons; for sunsets; for walks and talks with my best friend; for red wine and good food at the end of the day; for knitting, and spinning, and seeing things grow;
I am thankful for a husband who does far more than his fair share and who has known me for over 43 years and still puts up with me;
For my grandchildren;
For my freedom.
God be with you ’til we meet again:)
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Videos from YouTube by Way of the Twist Collective on Double Knitting

 

Q is for Qalm before the storm….

Well, another work week is done – and not much knitting to speak of! Boo! Good news is, I got a lot of visits done and am better organized on the work front. That’s what a move to the City office has done for me. Unfortunately for our (County) legal assistant/office manager, not so much, but it will get better.
I did take an opportunity to start a &^%* for one of my kids which will hopefully be finished by Christmas. This is as detailed as I can get until then because although Nancy doesn’t read my blog, my kids sometimes do.
Well last night was choir practice and I feel so UNready for Christmas! We – correction: I – sounded like garbage while we were singing “I Wonder as I Wander” a beautiful chromatic rendition of a very introspective spiritual piece of music. Well I was wondering – what the notes were – and I was wandering – all over the scale! So today – a first in a long time without visits, court or meetings – I am going to practice and at least have the notes cold if nothing else. Usually by now I have only one or two pieces that disturb me, LOL. But this year – OY!
To catch up on the online diary aspect of this thing – K and S came over Tuesday evening with little Johnny for a visit – actually K and Johnny came over while S went to a gig. He is so wide awake at night – his poor parents! He’s just at that 6-week phase – chubbing up and on the verge of a real smile – a real delight to hold and play with and give back:) I love the Grandma gig! Should be doing a little bit of babysitting over the weekend:)
Wednesday I did the presentation at EfM on of all things the Holy Trinity and the differences in the Eastern vs. Western views during the fourth – fifth century A.D. To think people killed each other over these esoteric differences! I don’t blame them – by the time I was done figuring out what the issues were, I was ready to kill somebody myself! (JUST KIDDING!)
Next week I have one hearing that looks like it will probably be canceled or withdrawn if I am to believe the representations of the attorney for the state, which of course I do:) It’s Thanksgiving week – both Thursday and Friday are court holidays and Friday is a state furlough day, and many of my clients are out of town or in respite or home on visits, so although I do have a few visits to schedule, there won’t be much to do on the work front. So I will have a chance to do the things I love best: housework DOH NO! Music and knitting:) I may even go to the Sip ‘n Knit meeting on Wednesday since EfM is not meeting that night!
Really, the very thought of all that…. I don’t know how to act!
Well, I’d better at least think about folding some wash and getting something done so I can knit on with impunity (or at least some good yarn!)
Until next time, God be with you ’til we meet again!
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Cool Flashes:)

I’m in my fifties. I’m supposed to be in the midst – or done with – menopause. That means for many hot flashes. Nope. Not me. I’m FREEZING! I was never the person who brought a sweater in to put on the back of my chair at work. I had (and still have) all this, ahem, extra padding that kept me warm winter, summer, spring and fall. I used to wonder why old ladies wore shawls. Now I know why! At least I know why this decrepit old lady does! Perhaps it’s Global Warming and hot summers that don’t prepare one for the winter. I don’t know. The day started out in the 50s and was supposed to rise up the the 60s (Fahrenheit) this afternoon, and when I got home, John had the air conditioner on! Did I tell you I love my Aestlight Shawl? These things we knit really do get put to good use:). And it is nice now and then to have made something for myself, so I’m enjoying it.
Well again, dear .5 readers, it has been a while, so allow me to bring you up to date since my last real update, which was almost two weeks ago, since which time, there have been big doings at Chez FSK:)
Besides the usual rounds of court hearings and visits, there were preparations for the orchestra concert on November 8th, and choir and bell choir rehearsals for that day and for Christmas. To make everything more interesting, there was a memorial service for a departed member of our congregation right in the middle of the time the orchestra was slotted to rehearse! This necessitated a “road crew” to set up for the orchestra around the altar the minute the service was over.
As soon as that was done, yours truly hightailed it home to get dressed for that afternoon for the wedding of one of our EfM leaders and his fiancee’ – both of whom we all know from church. At that wedding of course were the musical stylings of one Nancy S, our wonderful organist choirmaster. To her playing and beautiful voice were added the voices of Donna H and Sally L. I got to sit up in the choirloft with them, as John was unable to attend the wedding and so that I could sit at the reception with Nancy and Rennie and make my leave rather early for reasons soon to be revealed. It was wonderful to see Tom and Sally so happy. I could not have wished a more beautiful autumn day for their wedding and a more lovely evening for their reception at the old Waverly Mansion. The music was terrific! Two friends from church/choir were in the company of new beaus (one was a long-time divorcee’, the other a widow of a few years – it was wonderful to see them both smiling and having fun!)
I left early to be able to get a good start on the next day – two services for the bell choir, set up for the orchestra (yes, again!), set up for the ticket sales and raffles and then home to dress for the concert!
And what a concert it was – an ambitious combination of Ernst Bloch’s Piano Concerto, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, featuring four different violin soloists, and a Mendelssohn Symphony. As a result, the concert was longer than usual, but outstanding. It is hard to believe, even as I sit and type this, that such a wonderful professional endeavor is actually happening in our midst. We had pretty close to a packed house – about 250 tickets sold. Hopefully we will be able to sustain ourselves. I was thinking about how music and the arts manage to allow us to raise our heads above the turmoil of life and to seek higher emotional, spiritual and intellectual ground. How much more so is this true with the economic difficulties and political contentions of this time?
Last week was fairly busy – I think I was in court every day but one. You might think that this is no big deal, but time in court means that much less time to prep cases and visit clients. So… Saturday was a day for visits. I was able to see four clients and a grandson (:)), so I can’t complain.
Sunday, I did the old “Catholic Shuffle” at the late service, running out the door instead of into the Communion line, missing the last hymn, to run to the grocery store, and home, then on the road to Washington, D.C. to see our son, Danny, in the Keegan Theatre’s Production of Of Mice and Men – the same company that toured Ireland. John and I were both fighting back tears as we watched it. Danny’s portrayal of Lennie was awesome. I was so proud of his hard work and great acting. Although the Washington Post review was very complimentary of Dan and not so much with the rest of the cast (very awkward for him to say the least), I don’t think it did the rest of the cast justice – they were all amazing – especially the fellow who played George, Lennie’s caregiver/friend – Mark A. Rhea. Lennie had to have been a challenging role for anybody. Danny revealed that he took a lot of inspiration from his observations of his niece, one of our grandangels, and some of her behaviors. It’s funny how a play from 1937 can impact an audience today. The human experiences in this play are timeless.
After the play, we had drinks with Danny and got him back to his place where he and Casie were hosting a party for the cast members of her play -Tony Kushner’s Angels in America (another play I really want to see – I have the DVD of the HBO production and have watched it a number of times). After dropping Danny off, we drove on home and had dinner with S, J, and K and D with baby John.
Which brings me to today and home where here I sit on a break from my work routine. Soon I will get back to work – an interview with a client who may have to take the stand tomorrow and then home again.

In the meantime, before I leave, dear 1.5 readers, here is a composite of part 1 of 5 of the sweater for Nancy. It’s the back of the Portland sweater from A Fine Fleece. It’s a blast to knit – you’re never bored, but it’s easy enough to be enjoyable. I added one little twist to the pattern: the insertion of a “St. John’s Cross” (or the Nordic symbol for happiness) between the shoulders, thinking that a reminder of St. John’s would be a nice touch (rather than a pain in the neck, yuck yuck yuck…).
Well, that’s all the fun and frolic I have for now. Until next time, God be with you ’til we meet again!
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Oh Lord, who’s next?

I commented on Mel’s blog this evening and felt that this quote was applicable to the loss of inalienable civil rights that the majority of voters of California and Maine seem to think they have the ability to do:

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me.
Pastor Martin Niemoeller

He was speaking about the complacency of the “majority” in the face of Hitler’s rise to power in Germany, but his words make sense today.

So who is next? Women? Non-christians? Christians? Knitters (especially the activist ones)? What is utterly disgusting to me is the role that so-called Christians have had in this debate, causing a dear friend of mine to leave the Christian church altogether. Sigh.

In the immortal words of Forest Gump, that’s all I have to say about that. What I will say is, something I have never written here before: Please don’t bother to post any comments to me about this topic if you think “God hates fags,” or any other such evil putrefaction. I don’t care what you think. Your opinion frankly doesn’t matter to me because the dignity and rights of others don’t matter to you.

The time between blog posts has been increasing over the last few months for a variety of reasons and I finally came to the conclusion that this is OK. I will just keep plodding along, hoping I have more to say, despite the fervent prayers and imprecations of many to the Divinity hoping for a different result, LOL!

Since last I posted, dear 1.5 readers, life has pretty much been going on. The baby is lovely and getting chubbier by the day (but in a good way:)). The other grandangels are marvelous of course and the rest of the family is holding its own. Its own what I don’t know…. (yuck yuck yuck – it’s late, what can I say?)

I have finished the Aestlight Shawl and it came out rather nicely, if I do say so myself. And guess what? I actually decided to keep this for me. I wore it Monday to a training in Annapolis and only one person asked me if I knit it and that was a fellow knitter:) . It makes a great neck scarf and the color is a nice grey. You can find the pattern on Ravelry or search the name here and I think I have a link to the website and the designer.

FINALLY got started on that aran type sweater I’m knitting as a Christmas gift for a friend. Good news is she NEVER reads this blog, so I think I’m safe. It’s a relatively easy pattern – Portland from A Fine Fleece – in that the charts are all 20 rows and the cabling takes place on the right side – the “wrong” you knit the knits and purl the purls. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it:)
Right now I’m at a busy point in the work week, so I haven’t had a lot of time to knit more, but it hasn’t taken much effort to get this far.
Once I’m done with this, I’m going to finish S’s “Buttony” sweater, D’s Lady February Sweater and my Daily Sweater and Sandrine. That oughtta keep me busy ’til next year:)
Well, it’s late, dear readers. Gotta get some sleep so my clients can’t claim ineffective assistance! (God forbid!)
Before I sign off for the evening:
If any of you live or work in or near the Ellicott City, MD area, the Orchestra of St. John’s is providing wonderful entertainment this Sunday in their season’s opener, “Viva Italia,” featuring Vivaldi’s Seasons, and a piano concerto by Ernst Bloch with our own Nancy Stavely as the pianist. For $15.00 per adult (children are free!!!) and free parking, this is the steal of the century! You’d be crazy not to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity for a live classical music performance!

See you soon. In the meantime, God be with you ’til we meet again.

 

OK, I admit it! I have a crush on Al Franken! (Sorry Franni!)

 

Autumn Glory

Things are getting busier as work duties shift, a new person in our lives gets more attention and we go into Fall full force. Most of all, the knitting has been a lot of fun. Last week it felt like I was living at the courthouse, although one day I was free to get some visits with clients in! Monday through Friday was the usual drill, with the occasional joyful music making interlude in bells and choir. We have begun ringing and singing some new Advent and Christmas music and it’s really been lovely. All that searching at the music shop has really paid off:)

Yesterday was a rainy autumnal day, but sometimes the dreariness of the sky makes an even better backdrop to the glory of the changing leaves. I set off to visit our daughter K and little Johnny out in Westminster. A perfect day for an indoor visit. I picked up some lunch for K and I to eat while Johnny slept – eventually. We had a nice quiet time, catching up and taking care of the baby (well, Gram played with the baby, LOL and got to feed him some of the time. K is doing a combination of breast and bottle, which is sensible, given the fact that she’s returning to work mid-December and school in January.

S arrived in the early evening, having spent the day at his church for a funeral. They are still unpacking from the move that took place the day before Johnny was born. He has really “chubbed” back up from his skinny post-birth weight:) Already he has such dark eyes and his hair is starting to lighten to a reddish brown, like his Daddy’s. I think he’s beautiful, of course, and please don’t try to disabuse me of that notion. It won’t work, trust me:) He looks like a little boy to me, too, strangely enough!

When night fell, I left for home, feeling somewhat guilty that I hadn’t stopped to see Madison and Ruby at their house four doors down, but I also knew that D was getting ready for her overnight shift and didn’t want to disrupt things – plus I had to get the car back to John so he could get to his night shift. So homeward bound for a quiet evening with whatever I could stomach on TV and my knitting.

Yesterday’s knitting consisted of a dozen or so more rounds on the Aestlight Shawl and it’s coming along a lot better with the Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in the dark grey. I’ve finally begun the edging, and though right now it looks like a mess o’knitting, I think it will block beautifully. It’s a simple pattern, but like I’ve been told, the simplest ones are often the most beautiful.

I am also working on some Christmas scarves. I started a version of the herringbone pattern found in Henry. I tried that pattern about a half dozen times and frogged over and over again. I think the problem was it was too many stitches for my little mind to keep track of and I needed to turn things around. So, I cast on 48 stitches in the same Encore yarn I used for the Pretty Thing for S. And by George I think I’ve got it! Though I could do the Henry at this point, I think I’m sticking to the more traditional way of knitting up this scarf. And I’m going to change the yarn. First, because I only have a little under 2 skeins for this and this pattern eats up yardage like a gypsy moth on oak leaves. Second, because the drape is a little stiff. So… I thought I’d use my skein of Ultra Alpaca Fine in an autumnal red with the size 8 needles and see how that works. I may need to go down a needle size, but I think it will be softer this way. I’ll take pics and post them here so you, dear 2.5 readers, can be the judge(s).

And finally, here’s something I just started for “shits and giggles” as my daughter, S likes to say (sorry for the bad language). It’s a wrap I’m doing to use up the boxload of aran colored acrylic yarn. I changed the pattern to add a couple of rope cables between the lace pattern and I think it looks rather nice – maybe eventually it will be something for the couch on a cold winter evening. No pressure:)

On the other hand, it may not be a bad idea for a Prayer Shawl. I like to make things that are machine washable for them and this doesn’t look too bad for acrylic (just don’t get up too close, LOL!).
Well I think this evening is going to be a quiet one. There are a number of us who are scheduled to work today, so I may not have a very large dinner to cook. This is probably a good thing since I’ve got to get started on that Christmas sweater I’m supposed to be knitting, otherwise, it’ll be February before the recipient gets it! Pics to come once I get started.
Happy knitting everyone, have a great week, and if I don’t see you, God be with you ’til we meet again!
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Hiatal Hernia?

Is that what they call it when your hiatus has gone on for far too long? Sorry to have been so MIA, dear .5 readers (I figure that’s what’s left, LOL!) But I’ve been gone for a very good reason. We have this new little person in our family and his advent has proved to be longer than anticipated. His mother was in labor on and off, had high BP, all sorts of things that blessedly were not as scary as they could have been. Suffice it to say, little John Cormac Simpson was born on October 5, 2009 at 8:56 PM Eastern Standard Time. He stole all of our hearts almost the second he came upon the scene and continues to do so on a daily basis! He is welcomed by his Nana Simpson, his Gram and Pop Gavigan, his numerous aunts and uncles on both sides of the family and his five cousins on both sides as well, to say nothing of his even greater extended family of great aunts and great uncles, his Great Grandma and Great Grandpa, second cousins and first cousins once removed! No orphan this child. He’s got his posse already in place:) I was not present at the birth, although the hospital would have let me had the parents desired it. But K’s sister, D, had been down the same road before and it didn’t seem fair for only one grandma to be there, so D was with her sister, which was just fine with me!
Life in general has gone on as usual. The day before he was born was a long haul. I did go with the choir (at K’s insistence, since she was going fairly slowly) to an Evensong service, but kept in touch via text messages. My choir family was with me on every update, lol:) At the same time, we were able to have a lovely service – there’s something so wonderful about Evensong. During the break afterward, as we toured the place where we sang (it was a Masonic retirement community in Hunt Valley, Maryland – Bonnie Blink), I sat outside on a bench by myself, thinking about all the relatives who had already died and was sorry they were missing this – but such is life, the ebb and flow of existence. Just this week I was telling someone that no one would remember my name in 100 years. That is actually a very comforting thought because it puts so much of what we worry about on a daily basis into perspective.
We are in full swing with choir and bell choir and Stephen Ministry and EfM. Work is picking up – thankfully all of us will have jobs through the end of next August. I am so happy about that!
Knitting has fallen somewhat by the wayside, but never fear – hours of sitting in the maternity waiting room (so others could stop in and see K and S) have resulted in two finished scarves – both of which have been sitting in the WIP pile for years! There’s another bit of yarn in that bag and I’m going to use it for a scarf for granddaughter R. The other two are for D and M, her mother and big sister, respectively.
S’s “Buttony” soldiers on. I’m at the deadly-stockinette-with-no-end-in-sight phase and it’s killing me! So I had to take a small break to knit this Pretty Thing by the Yarn Harlot herself, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. It
really is pretty – even S likes it!

And this bag o’ yarn is what I hope will be a nice Aran cardigan for Nancy this Christmas (I have no fear she will see this, as she is not a blogger type, LOL!). It’s getting to be a Christmas tradition with me, so that it’s not Christmas unless I’m knitting her a sweater!
While I’m posting for the first time in forever, I figured I’d do another book

review. KnitPicks, Amazon, and Schoolhouse Press (publisher) have Twisted Stitch Knitting: Traditional Patters & Garments from the Styrian Enns Valley and I just received it yesterday. It is a re-print and translation of three booklets (put together into one book) originally in German. And it is certainly a classic! Twisted stitches are created (in Western knitting) by knitting into the back of the stitch. What happens is that you elevate the stitch somewhat, while at the same time stretching it a bit, so that it’s not as bulky as a typical cable stitch, for example. The book is full of stitch patterns, one more beautiful than the next.

It’s just lovely work. I’m actually thinking of substituting some of these stitch patterns in part of the stockinette section of the Lorelei sweater I’m working on (from the Twist Collective).

Well, I’ve just come back from two services this morning and between both of them, we practiced Christmas music:) Nancy and her colleague and good friend, Jan, went to the music store in PA (and they allowed me to tag along and render what little assistance I could. Boy did she find some gems in the music:) We are singing some beautiful pieces for Christmas, plus there were some outstanding pieces for other times of the year. I love going along with them, because (1) it’s a nice change from my regular work, although it is work for them and (2) I am so in awe of people who make a living by their talents, especially musical talents!
Here in Merlin the leaves are changing colors, and the weather has gotten cooler, although we still have our moments of intermittent spring weather. But winter is coming and that’s as it should be.
We are having a full house tonight for dinner, so I’d better get cracking! Until next time, dear 3.5 readers, God be with you ’til we meet again!
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I don’t know why, but I loved this!

Sorry I’ve been AWOL dear 3.5 readers, but we are anxiously awaiting a baby around here and life at work and at home has been so busy, that by the time I am able to even think about what to write, I’ve already fallen asleep. I’ve not fallen off the edge of the flat earth, and will be back, good Lord willing etc. etc….

In the meantime be good and if you can’t – be terrific (and you know who you are, Colin!)
and… God be with you ’til we meet again!