Fiddleheads

Nature is unfurling one of her great beauties -- fern fiddleheads are breaking ground and stretching for the light in my back yard.

These ferns are special to me for their beauty and because they were my mom's. They also remind me of my brother, the math whiz, who spent some time studying fractals like these. This is not his work, but it will give you an idea of what he did. I don't love math enough to try to figure it out.

It will be a few weeks before my ferns approach the looks of those fractals.

This one will make its music before a background of lilting lily of the valley. And this has narcissus for neighbors to the north and west, moss moseying up to the fern trunk and some hovering hosta beyond. Most of the summer the ferns benefit from the shade of the six large oak trees in a corner of the yard. Those oaks do dry up all the moisture though, so I need to give the ferns some extra when the soil gets dry.

Sandpoo

The kids reveled in the warm spell we've had. Last week it was warm enough to open the sandbox. Then it stayed warm for several days. Eventually it was warm enough that I agreed the Engineer could have some water to add to his sand box fun.

Since it does snow every April, we have not yet turned on the exterior water or connected any hoses or anything. So I filled a large pitcher and set it outside near the sandbox.

Little did I know that on my son's agenda for the day was pretending to wash his hair.

When I called him indoors for dinner I noticed a little sand in his hair. The whole idea of sand in the hair sent cringing tingles down my spine. I told him to bend forward and I thought I'd just tousle it out of his hair and bathe him before bed time.

But the plan changed abruptly when my fingers touched wet sand. Yuck. Then I complied my horror to find there was not just a little of it, but a whole lot, packed in and held in place with water and this thick, wavy, starting-to-get-longish hair.

Just when we needed to eat quickly so the Artist could get to her Tae Kwon Do class.

I tried another tactic. I asked the Engineer to sit down and close his eyes tightly. I went for his comb. The first swipe through his hair was much more difficult than I expected. And the sand-clearing results were not nearly what I'd hoped. In fact, I discovered that more sand than I'd imagined was packed in there. I took this photo after I started to comb. I wanted him to remember this. Well, it was really getting late now, so I had him disrobe on the porch (of course, all the sand I'd dislodged from his hair was now mostly on this clothes), wrapped him in a big towel, and carried him to the tub. Then he had to submit to three separate hair washings with shampoo.

Finally the rinse water washing down his back was not adding to the grit at the bottom of the tub. When he was drying off I was replacing my watch and ring. Then I heard "Oh Great. Now we have to clean out the bath tub."

I jumped on the opportunity! "Yes, and who do you think will clean it?"

With a big grin and a the look a child had when he knows he is announcing the correct answer, "You are!"

I shook my head, "No, I'm not cleaning this tub," and his smile fell. "Who do you think will clean it?"

"Daddy will?"

"Hon, I don't think Daddy is going to clean the tub. Now who do you think should do it?"

"I am," he mumbled as if he could hardly will the words to come out.

"I'm afraid so, but not now. We need to eat quickly"

The next morning, the insult of three shampoos was added to with the insult of having to use the vacuum cleaner hose to clear all the dry sand from the tub. I don't think we will be repeating this episode at our house.

Reek

My neighbor called yesterday morning to apologize for the smell in the air. I thought that was an odd thing to apologize for until she continued.

It was not just a random skunk traipsing through our neighborhood in the pre-dawn hour. No, rather, it was a random skunk attacked by my neighbor's dog and dying in her back yard right next to my garage.

When I was little we had a cat who tried to gift us with a baby bunny one time. My poor friends routinely are gifted with squirrels who trespass the dog's lawn.

The neighbor called me after Animal Control came to remove the mostly dead skunk from her yard. Somehow, she and I were both relieved to find, her dog managed to do this without getting sprayed.

This morning I went out to spray air deodorizer in my car again.

March

I was not terribly impressed with March by Geraldine Brooks. As a novel that provided the story of Mr. March at war it was mildly interesting. I thought the civil war camp scenes were well done. But all in all the book is certainly not worth of being associated with Little Women.

I thought the characters of Mr. and Mrs. March were a little contrived and more seamy than those which could have molded the characters of their daughters as written by Alcott.

Maybe it was just too big a glimpse at the Godless world of Emerson, Thoreau, and others epitomizing the Enlightenment for me. I prefer not to believe Papa was away at war committing adultery, or that Marmee was a vicious-mouthed zealot who slandered Calvinists at every opportunity. She is depicted as having all Jo's faults and none of her virtues.

I'm really glad I read this one first, and saved Rhett Butler's People for last. I'm only about one third into it, and I'm enjoying it. After this I suppose I'll need to read Gone With the Wind. I had seen it on TV as a youngster before I ever knew great movies came from great books.

Fresh Herb

Fresh Herb: So Charlie Chive says to this Blushing Blossom...

The past several days have been beautiful outdoors. Before I hurt myself, I was doing some yard clean up and I noticed the parsley was sprouting, but not near large enough to harvest yet. The chives were coming in so thick and lush, I could not resist.

I clipped a medium size handful of chives and brought them inside. It was rather difficult to rinse them with their being only about 3-4 inches tall. But they smelled so oniony-sweet and fresh. It was invigorating to have something garden fresh to put on the table. Even if it was only slightly more than a garnish.

The chopped chives went into a three-bean salad topped with honey, balsamic vinegar and a half sesame, half olive oil mixture.

I used my last tin or anchovies to garnish my salad bowl. It makes everyone in my family happy if I don't share the anchovies.

Sidelined (Again)

Earlier in the month knee pain put me off the treadmill for four of my walk-days. That got better, and I just started making up the missed miles when...

Last night when I got the kids to bed and settled in to my knitting I put my right leg up on the foot stool, then used my hands to lift my left leg onto the stool.

Wait a minute --

I don't need to lift my leg with my arms!

But I did.

The short of it is that the doctor diagnosed a strained groin and I have trouble walking or getting into a car, anything that requires lifting that leg. Another week-- minimum--off the treadmill this time. Doctor's orders. So much for making up the mileage I missed.

I hope the pain meds work. I did not get any sleep last night what with the pain and the wondering what in the world was wrong. The laughable part of it is I was using the treadmill with hardly any incline and going at a considerably slower rate than I had in past months so as not to stress the knee. The hip must have been working overtime to compensate. And now it has rebelled.

I suppose I can keep up with the ten push ups I've managed to string together.

Kitchen Knits

The Millicent socks still wait patiently while my fingers ply cotton around straight needles making some kitchen knits.

When I was in Tennessee I left my hostess with two hasty dish cloths. I'm making her some more and some for the other homemakers in my family.
So far, I've finished one hanging hand towel and four dish cloths. The hand towel pattern I've made before for myself and I like it very much. I think I'll be making all the towels of this pattern.
I really like the left most dish cloth too. It is called the Checked Slip Stitch Cloth. I think I'll make several more of these, at least one for each homemaker. They look nice and they scrub dishes well.

The peach and brown cloth in the photo is my first attempt at the Honeycomb Washcloth (Thank you, Hakucho, for the recommendation!). It took me some doing to figure out the trick, but then it was off to the races. I think I may write out the pattern for myself in a language I understand because I had learned how to do this same knit-under-the-loop stitch several months ago for a scarf and it did not stick with me. It looks like this cloth will stand up to scrubbing too. Next time I yarn shop I'll have to look for a darker solid color to make with this cloth. The only solid color I had on hand when I began it was the ecru.

The small cloth used up the last of a ball of yarn. It is a simple one in moss rib stitch.

This ecru cloth is a US Coast Guard dish cloth for my cousin's oldest son's family. He is serving in Florida at the moment. Soon he should hear whether or not that will change.I'm starting to watch for some knitting I can bring on an upcoming trip. I'll need to call the airline to see what I may be allowed to bring on the plane.

Few Eggs and No Oranges

Almost exactly one year ago Little Jenny Wren posted about Few Eggs and No Oranges. Her description of the book sparked my interest. Unfortunately, my library system did not have a copy, nor did Cleveland Public Library.

Then just last month ago Jenny Wren mentioned the book again and I tried my luck again. This time I found the book at the University of Cincinnati -- woo hoo! A couple of clicks and it was on its way to me. I love love love inter-library loan.

I was thoroughly engaged by the book. It is a diary of daily life written by one Vere Hodgson, a woman living in London during WWII. She writes to her cousin in Rhodesia. It records how the war changed daily life in ways I'd not through about before. While I was aware of blacking out before, I had never considered being fined for having a Blackout slip out of place in the concussion of a blast in a room where a light was left on while the occupant hastened to a shelter. Numerous other experiences that I have known about intellectually were made much more real through the diary.

I was amused at one entry in which the writer sees the American film Citizen Kane. "His last word on earth was Rosebud, so the film digs back into his life to see what it meant. Never discovered. Most unsatisfactory!" --Well I should think so! Did the theater cut the film short? Was she talking to her neighbor or fumbling in her purse during the last moment of the film? I was surprised at the dismay I felt that this diary-writing woman never saw the solution to the mystery of the film.

In another place her sentiments struck a chord with me, "Margaret is full of enthusiasm about World Citizenship and internationalism--just as we all were 25 years ago. I suppose all young people think they will succeed where their elders have failed. That means another war...because these lessons are not passed on to the Race. It is all disheartening. These youngsters are just as opinionated as I was at their age."

In another part of the book she talks about fulfilling her dream of having Tea at one of the grandest hotels in London. She compares her expectations to the actual experience in a way I'll never forget.

Finally, I was impressed by her recording how she learned that one country or another in Europe was wrested from Nazi control on the morning or evening wireless news. When the announcements were made, the radio played the national anthem for the country in question, and the writer, alone in her flat, stood at attention in respect. I could very much identify with this, but it still filled me with wonder each time I read about her doing it as another nation was freed. How many people all over the world participated in the same private paying of respects the moment the news was brought to them? How many radio stations today could spare the moments of precious air time to play an ally's anthem?

My cousin in Tennessee recommended some more books to me. I've borrowed Rhett Butler's People (by Donald McCaig, with permission from Margaret Mitchell's estate) and March (by Geraldine Brooks) from the library. One tells Rhett's back story. The other tells the story of Mr. March, father of the four Little Women. I expect both to be fun reads.

BBQ

When we were in Tennessee our hosts brought us to a wonderful barbecue restaurant. Calhoun's on the River (Tennessee River) had an enticing menu. I enjoyed my meal so much and I so wished Rick was there to share it with us that I bought a jar of Calhoun's Taste of Tennessee BBQ Sauce for him.

Yesterday I took the slab of ribs out of the freezer and began soaking it in some Dortmunder Gold we had leftover from Rick's birthday. After a few hours of low temperature soak/simmer in the beer, I put the ribs on a broiler rack in the oven for a low temperature bake with the sauce on. We have not yet broken the grill out of its winter home!

We all enjoyed the ribs. It was funny to watch the Engineer try to navigate around his food. And the whole house smelled so good, usual for a barbecue meal.

I rarely use bottled BBQ sauce. I love the way the aroma fills the house when I make my own, whether it be for ribs, beans, chicken, anything. These ingredients combine to make a wonderful robust flavor. Not shown is the little bit of oil I use to saute the onion and garlic at the beginning of the process.

$Bread$

Today I bit my lip and paid $4 for a loaf of light rye sandwich bread at the local produce and deli market. Yikes!

That makes me all the more determined to learn to make pleasantly-textured home made bread. At my current skill level, beginner, the soft texture is achieved on occasion but I have not unlocked the secret to making sure it happens every time yet. The more dense bread is still tasty, but it would not make great sandwiches.

Here is my sourdough starter waiting for a feeding. It has way way way less than $4 of water, sugar (or sometimes honey), and flour involved. When I factor in the cost to bake, I still come out ahead with home baking. Usually I use a mix of bleached white flour and this whole wheat flour in the bread. Even if I changed that practice to using all whole wheat all the time, I doubt my cost would go over $1 per loaf.

Yesterday I wore my new Audrey sweater for about half an hour. Then I learned I needed to attend another funeral, and I had about 15 minutes to get the kids and myself ready. So it sat on my dresser the rest of the day. I figured I could try it again today. I like the way it looks with the gold tank. This angle doesn't really show the wide lace next to the cables that makes the tank necessary.

Unexpected Trip

Yesterday evening the kids and I returned home from the Knoxville, TN area. We left before dawn Thursday morning to attend the funeral for my Uncle Dick on Friday. Despite the sadness of the occasion, it was heartwarming to see my aunt and all three of my cousins at the same time. Seeing any of them is so rare for me, seeing all is so very special.

The little bit of knitting I did on the trip was limited to dish cloths I could leave for my hostess. I also came home with a list of more people to knit for! I met one cousin's oldest child for the first time since he has become an adult, and I was pleased to also meet his wife and little girl for the first time. I was delighted with each of them!

My cousin who hosted us has boys the same ages as my children, so playmates were never wanting and everyone got along wonderfully.

My dear Rick was unable to join us, but he gave me a beautiful welcome home.

Audrey Cardigan

I added more buttons than the pattern calls for because I want to wear the sweater as a top. Last night I found a spool of thread in my grandmother's spool chest that is a closer match than I could have hoped for. I used that to attach the shoulder pads. I'm thrilled with the way the buttons look, and I found the perfect tank to wear under it on Ebay for 99 cents. The yarn has such a luxurious feel -- I'm glad we still have a few colder days left so I can begin enjoying the wearing of this garment right away.The yarn is Knit Picks Cadena in Neptune; 70% wool, 30% superfine alpaca. I used nearly 8 skeins.

In March I walked 19.31 miles, only slightly more than the 19.20 in February. I also shoveled a lot of snow early in the month. Especially the day Rick and I had to clear 4-6 inches of the stuff every three hours because we were expecting guests! Our kids and the neighbor's kids both spent an afternoon sledding down the slopes in our back yards! At the urging of Mossback Meadow I changed the 45 º push ups I'd been doing to traditional push ups, and made a little more commitment to actually do them, at least on the days that I walk. I'm still plateauing at 9.