My life is so exciting, especially in January. At night, I'm darning my socks while we watch tv.
The dogs don't understand why I won't take them for a walk as soon as Jack has gone to school. The sun doesn't rise until 8:42 this morning and I came across this coyote scat the other day. I'm not walking in the woods, in the dark, with coyotes nearby. They don't scare me but I do respect their space.
It's been nice enough the last couple of weeks to take Jack to the dog park with me and Heidi. It's good exercise for him and lots of fresh air. I picked him up from school on Wednesday for early dismissal which means there is enough time and light to go for a walk. He couldn't stay out of the snow, wasn't wearing a coat, and ended up wet and cold, (no coat because it was 13C). He had a warm bath while I made supper. Question, are all boys drawn to deep snow? Or is it all kids?
Yesterday I had a bad day, crying, angry, and then just sad. The world fuckery got to me all at once. Today is good again thankfully and tomorrow the pottery ladies are coming for book club. We read "The Spoon Stealer" by Lesley Crewe and I quite enjoyed it. I'm so looking forward to spending the evening with them.
I love that cartoon! And I'm glad you're up again today. It's okay not to be okay, as you know, when everything falls on you at once.
ReplyDeleteSome days are just like.
DeleteI forgot to say that decorative darning is chef's kiss!
ReplyDeleteThank you Liz. That means a lot coming from you.
DeleteLovely darning!
ReplyDeleteSome days it's just all too heavy and comes down on us. I know this to be true.
I also know your walks probably help immensely.
I do love the existential threat.
Thanks Mary. I bought the right yarn to darn and that's made the difference.
DeleteToday is better and I'm trying not to listen to the news.
Beautiful darning! A work of art. The world, specifically my own country, is getting me down as well. I'm feeling more hopeless and frightened than I have in my entire life. I'm still walking, reading and watching "All Creatures Great and Small" to comfort me. Small distractions. Little kids love lots of snow and stomping in puddles.
ReplyDeleteAnything messy seems to be a magnet for kids. I suppose I was the same.
DeleteThe US is getting scarier and scarier by the day. I can't imagine having to live under that regime.
Pottery ladies? Hell, they must be fragile. As for the coyote scat, any blogposts that contains pictures of shit are fine by me but usually such posts are about the current US president whose name evades me. Is it Plump?
ReplyDeleteThe pottery ladies are the opposite of fragile, they're strong wonderful women.
DeleteScat is such a nice way of saying shit, isn't it?
Existential threat, LOL! Have fun at Book Club!
ReplyDeleteThe world does feel like that right now though, doesn't it? An existential threat. I will have fun at book club, those ladies are amazing.
DeleteAt Jack's age I think it's all kids. As they get older it's defiantly the boys! Your darning looks like the sock was made that way. I haven't been without a headache for a couple of weeks. I'm just on the outskirts of Mpls but my son and his wife live in North Mpls where the latest, as far as I know, shooting happened. We are all carrying around a giant pile of anxiety, anger and worry.
ReplyDeleteOMG Sandra, I am so sorry. That must be so scary.
DeleteIn the lovely looking forest of birch, it would be easy to see a coyote, but not at night I guess.
ReplyDeleteSorry you had a bad day, and nice that you have something to look forward to this evening, which might be now. 3.20pm, not quite yet.
I'm better today, thanks.
DeleteI’m impressed by the darning too! And I’m glad your weather has been nice.
ReplyDeleteIt's always nice to have a reprieve during a long winter:)
DeleteI love your darning too. My poor mom used to darn my dad's socks when I was a kid and while she was a beautiful knitter she couldn't darn for toffee. Dad always ended up with an egg-sized lump under his foot - it's a wonder she didn't cripple him!
ReplyDeleteMaybe her wool was too thick, my past problem. Now I have sock yarn, thanks to Boud, and darning is much easier. I have expensive wool socks and I don't want to throw them out.
DeleteDo you actually use a darning egg when you mend the socks? Or, do you use something else?
ReplyDeleteI am noticing it is staying light just a little longer each day!
The light is wonderful. It's not dark before supper now. Progress.
DeleteI don't have a darning egg. I found a smooth glass tealight holder which was the right size at Goodwill. Very cheap and works well.
Coyote. In Scotland we don't have coyotes but I like the word.
ReplyDeleteNever thought I'd be scrutinizing coyote scat in the snow !
Reminds me of Native American trackers in Westerns, reading the landscape.
Liked looking at the socks too. You have a painter's eye for form & colour.
Sorry you had such a bad day. I'll look out for The Spoon Stealer : great title.
When did 'existential threat' enter the language ? Was it coined by spin doctors
in George W Bush's sinister and secretive administration ?
The term was used shamelessly during Blair's illegal invasion of Iraq.
*Thirty Days : An Inside Account of Tony Blair at War* by Peter Stothard.
A daunting read. Blair alone took Britain into that bloody conflict.
The term 'sexing up' the argument for invasion repelled me.
Coyotes are only native to North America. I get irritated when people leave their dog's shit on the pathways, but coyotes are welcome to. They're marking their territory.
DeleteFor the socks, I just bought some variegated yarn, I like colour.
I think I'll pass on the Tony Blair book, sounds depressing. And existential threat started to be bandied about during the Cold War and since then. I imagine sooner or later, we'll manage to cause our own extinction sadly. Humans are not rational.
Ha! I love the cartoon. What on earth has that coyote been eating? I guess at this time of year he/she has to take what he/she can get!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like that coyote has been eating berries and bird seed. They're not picky eaters:)
DeleteLove the cartoon! It is just before 5 in the morning here and the sun is starting its journey - I do channel your (and everyone's) snow when it gets too hot during the day to think!
ReplyDeleteToo hot and too cold. I'm glad my snow can help.
DeleteBeautiful darning, it looks like confetti. I did not know until now that there is yard to be used for darning. Thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know either and just used any old yarn. The sock yarn is much easier to work with.
DeleteMy mother used to darn my father's dress socks with contrasting color yarn, back in the 1940s. She said it would make him more likely to not take his shoes off where he shouldn't. I had to be quite a little older before I figured out what she had in mind by that. Now it's fashionable!
ReplyDeleteI love your darning
I wonder where your mom didn't want him to take off his shoes. I've come to realize that darning and mending can be beautiful too.
DeleteIt was meant as a joke, And maybe a compliment? He was totally besotted with my mother, But was 10 years older, and very handsome and charming, and had been quite a ladies' man. (And a doctor - - surgeon, urologist, gynecologist) A great catch. Now (around 1950) he was middle-aged and not working due to poor health. I think it was code that my mother thought there were still plenty of women who would like to have him take his shoes off in their bedrooms.
DeleteLOL. It was a sweet joke.
DeleteYour darning gives the socks a whole new sense of style. Brava!
ReplyDeleteThank you Rosemarie. The colours make me happy.
DeleteI too love your darning! Pure art!
ReplyDeleteI regret not rescuing my mom’s darning egg from her donation pile…
That would have been a nice thing to have. I regret so many of my mother's things that I let go, but I was so sad at the time, I was not thinking about the future.
DeleteWe're all on edge -- all of us, all the time. Gotta live each day as it comes -- something you're a master at. That darning! I thought at first that you were knitting an incredibly beautiful sweater!
ReplyDeleteThanks Elizabeth. Just so you know, you remind me everyday to keep fighting the good fight. You inspire me.
Delete