so that’s why that happened

I had a day, two actually, that ended with an, “oooooh!” of comprehension. Yesterday I emailed a friend and invited her to hike later this week at a park where I never hike. I don’t hike there because I like to hike with my dog and that park doesn’t allow dogs. She figured I wanted to try something new so didn’t question my sanity when I invited her to hike at the dogless park. I didn’t even realize I had mentioned that park until she pointed out that I had.

I went to Trader Joe’s today. I had it in the back of my head that I would buy another box of Candy Cane Joe-joe’s (their Oreo-like cookie, but with mint flavoring) but they only had the gluten free. I walked past the display of the Dark Chocolate covered Candy Cane Joe-joe’s and thought I restrained myself. When I got the cashier, he asked how I was doing and I was about to comment that I kept myself from getting cookies right as he was scanning the box of cookies that I put in my cart and then promptly forgot.

Then I came home and had a migraine. The friend I am hiking with said the headache knew I would want them. I think the headache put them in my cart without me seeing. Headaches are sneaky that way.

Advertisement

hats for marching

A friend on Facebook posted a link to the Pussy Hat Project today. I’m a sucker for knitting for a cause so I went out and got some pink super bulky yarn and knit two hats for them today.

That ball of yarn was massive and I am currently crocheting another hat. I suspect that will use it up, or at least use up enough that I won’t be able to make another hat. I also got some worsted yarn so I will get going on that next.

I might need to go back to Joann and get some of this yarn in a color I would want to wear because that hat was super soft and cozy. I also bought a zipper so I can finish off Stefan’s sweater now that it is actually cold outside.

finished!

I have finally finished the August Cozy Blue Stitch Club kit.

Those tiny leaves took a lot longer than I thought. Of course, I was also distracted by knitting a sweater and other parts of life.

Speaking of life, I know I have not been any where near consistent with my daily post goal for November. I added a “blog” line to my habit tracker in my Bullet Journal. Yes, I am one of those Bullet Journaling people. Mine is not pretty and there is no washi tape but I have started using the habit tracker and I like the at-a-glance of my accountability aspect of it. Anyway, if I keep the blog line in my habit tracker then maybe that will remind me to blog more often, or like at all, when it is not November. I am going to place the blame firmly on the election and the emotional aftermath thereof for my lack of daily posts this November. It may sound like a cop out but it is true.

thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from my house to yours!

Might I suggest a donation to The Sacred Stone Legal Defense Fund or The UCSF Mni Wiconi Health Clinic Partnership? The Native Americans fighting to protect the water for millions of people need our help. Maybe we owe it to them.

Also, my pies were great. I hope yours were too!

pies

It is the day before Thanksgiving, so you can probably guess what I was doing.

I tried a new recipe this year. That top pie is Lemon Chess Pie. I have never heard of that kind of pie before but my husband requested lemon meringue. I don’t like making meringues so I compromised with this one. I hope it’s tasty. The other pie is also from King Arthur Flour’s website. I also haven’t used that recipe before but how do you go wrong with a pumpkin pie? You don’t, that’s how.

leaf progress and a reading list

I have made progress on the leaves. See?

I am quite pleased with how they are turning out but I am also looking forward to embroidering something else.

When talk of a Muslim registry started up and was being justified by the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII, I decided that it was time to reread Farewell to Manzanar. A couple of days after I posted that Facebook suggested I might like to see a the Stop Trump Reading List. Sometimes Facebook is really on top of what I would want. I am going to read From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation from that list next. Feel free to read along with me. Knowledge is power, in spite of what others may want you to believe.

nothing but leaves

I am still satin stitching leaves. I haven’t taken another photo because, again, it doesn’t feel like enough progress to document. Last night was my husband’s work holiday party. It was a nice night but also not something I really documented. Today was my younger son’s last soccer game, also not really documented. We all sat with jackets and umbrellas while the kids played in the rain. They didn’t seem too bothered by it except that the grass was slippery.

This hardly feels worth a post but I didn’t want to skip a second day. Perhaps tomorrow will be more ducmentable and/or I will have more to say!

fabric collage

It was fabric collage day in the Textiles class. A lot of the kids just cut out shapes with the stencils we have and glue them down and call it a day, but there is usually at least one kid who gets a bit more creative and I love to see what they do. This year it was this sunset that impressed me.

I particularly liked that the student cut out different shades of reds and oranges and built a sun rather than just choosing one fabric and cutting a half circle out of it. She came up with that idea completely on her own, with no prompting from any of the parents that I saw.

Kids are great.

satin stitching leaves, food for thought

My day: I walked the dog, wrote emails, went to the laundromat to washing sleeping bags and satin stitched leaves.

I also thought a lot about this quote from American Gods by the incomparable Neil Gaiman.

It’s almost hard to believe that this is in the same country as Lakeside,” he said.

Wednesday glared at him. Then he said, “It’s not. San Francisco isn’t in the same country as Lakeside any more than New Orleans is in the same country as New York or Miami is in the same country as Minneapolis.”

“Is that so?” said Shadow, mildly.

“Indeed it is. They may share certain cultural signifiers—money, a federal government, entertainment. it’s the same land, obviously—but the only things that give it the illusion of being one country are the green-back, The Tonight Show, and McDonald’s.”

Not the same country. That explains so much.

solo-ish hike

I didn’t manage to find a hiking buddy today so it was just Docker and I on the trail.

Because I didn’t have someone to talk to, I noticed a few interesting things, like this shocked fence.

A beautiful view (which I do notice even when people are with me).

And a field of clover.

It was a lovely walk.

I did embroider today, I started on the leaves at the bottom of the house. I didn’t take a picture, though, because it didn’t feel like enough progress to document. I will hopefully get more done tomorrow and have more to show you.